HIGHLIGHTS
- Explore
the spectacular Antarctic wilderness in a casual atmosphere of
like-minded travelers
- Experience
abundant wildlife including immense penguin colonies and other
seabirds, seals and even some of the great whales at close range
- Cruise
in comfort along towering icebergs, serrated maritime mountains and
luminous glaciers
- Zodiac
landing craft allow visitation on remote shorelines and otherwise
inaccessible areas
- Ship
allows an "open bridge policy" to observe its sophisticated navigation
equipment and provides an excellent location to view wildlife and the
landscape (subject to weather and critical navigation maneuvers)
- Expert
naturalist guides
DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person
|
| Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
|---|
| Jan 06, 2025 | Jan 16, 2025 | 8,650 |
8,992 |
| Mar 03, 2025 | Mar 13, 2025 | 8,650 |
8,992 |
Rates are listed per person
|
| Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
|---|
| Jan 06, 2025 | Jan 16, 2025 | 8,650 |
8,992 |
| Mar 03, 2025 | Mar 13, 2025 | 8,650 |
8,992 |
ITINERARY
Day
1: End of the world, start of a journey
Your
voyage begins where the world drops off. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to
be the southernmost city on the planet, is located on the far southern
tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this
small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of
the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for
the remainder of the evening.
Day
2-3: Path of the polar explorers
Over
the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same
experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted
these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale
spouting up sea spray.
After
passing the Antarctic Convergence – Antarctica’s
natural boundary formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with
warmer sub-Antarctic seas – you are in the circum-Antarctic
upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, but the avian
life also changes too.
Wandering
albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses,
light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars,
Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels
are a few of the birds you might see.
Day
4-7: Enter the Antarctic
Gray
stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and
dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the
snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between
Brabant and Anvers Islands.
Sites
you may visit include:
Danco Island
– Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on
the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be
found nearby.
Neko Harbor
– An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless
wind-carved snow, Neko Harbor offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise
and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine
peaks.
Paradise Bay
– You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling,
ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance
you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales.
Port Lockroy
– After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a
chance to visit the former British research station – now a
museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island.
You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point,
meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags. There are great
opportunities also for kayaking and camping here, and when conditions
are right, you can even snowshoe around the shore.
Day
8: Scenes of South Shetland
The
volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked
in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide
variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small
amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant
petrels). In Deception Island, the ship plunges through
Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you find
hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape
petrels – along with kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas,
and Antarctic terns. A good hike is a possibility in this fascinating
and desolate volcanic landscape.
As
an alternative, you may be able to engage in activities near Half Moon
Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto
the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research
station. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of
departure.
Day
9-10: Familiar seas, familiar friends
Your
return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake,
you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered
from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you
now, and you to them.
Day
11: There and back again
Every
adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end.
It’s now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that
will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.
Plancius (Expedition, 108-guests)
MV Plancius offers a restaurant/lecture room on deck 3 and a spacious observation lounge (with bar) on deck 5 with large windows, offering full panorama view. The vessel has large open deck spaces (with full walk-around possibilities on deck 4), giving excellent opportunities to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. She is furthermore equipped with 10 Mark V zodiacs.
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Voyage
aboard the indicated vessel as indicated in the itinerary
- All
meals throughout the voyage aboard the ship including snacks, coffee
and tea
- All
shore excursions and activities throughout the voyage by Zodiac
- Program
of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced
expedition staff
- Free
use of rubber boots and snowshoes
- Luggage
transfer from pick-up point to the vessel on the day of embarkation, in
Ushuaia
- Pre-scheduled
group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly
after disembarkation)
- All
miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the program
- Comprehensive
pre-departure material
ADVENTURE
OPTIONS
- Kayaking:
USD 470
- Camping:
USD 195
- Polar
Diving: USD 535 (Offered
only on the February departure)
