Antarctica Adventure Cruise Vacation

   
 
 

Polar Circle & Antarctica Peninsula Aboard the Ortelius

South Shetlands & Antarctic Peninsula

12 Days / 7 locations in Argentina, Chile, and Antarctica

The Antarctic Peninsula offers you the most dramatic scenery and biggest variety of wildlife in Antarctica. In the southern summer large ice-free areas provide breeding grounds for very large numbers of seabirds and seals.

From King George Island and Penguin Island we will sail down to the beautiful Paradise Bay, where you can go ashore on the Antarctic mainland.

The narrow and spectacular Lemaire Channel is surrounded by mountains and glaciers and a popular passage for several species of whales journeying up and down the sheltered Antarctic Peninsula waterways. In the Antarctic Peninsula Minke Whales, the smallest of the rorqual whales, and ferocious-looking Leopard Seals are common.

Itinerary

 
Day 1     Ushuaia - Beagle Channel
On Board the M/V Ortelius
Meals: Dinner

In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia and sail through the Beagle Channel.

 
Days 2 - 3     Drake Passage
On Board the M/V Ortelius
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

During these two days we sail across the Drake Passage. When we cross the Antarctic Convergence, we arrive in the circum-Antarctic up welling zone. In this area we may see 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. Near the South Shetland Islands, we spot our first icebergs. The Master of the vessel may decide to sail the narrow English Strait between Robert Island and Greenwich Island or Mc Farlane Strait between Greenwich Island and Livingston Island if the conditions are favorable. Then we might be able to enter Antarctic waters in the late evening of the third day and see Aitcho Island at the South Shetlands. If the conditions do not allow us to manoeuvre through the English Strait then we continue sailing South of Livingston. These volcanic islands or the South Shetlands are windswept and often shrouded in mist and fog, but do offer subtle pleasures. There is a nice variety of flora (mosses, lichens and flowering grasses) and fauna, such as Gentoo Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins and southern Giant Petrels.

 
Days 4 - 9     Deception Island - Lemaire Channel - Antarctic Peninsula - Petermann Island
On Board the M/V Ortelius
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

We may start our first day in Antarctica with a landing at Hannah Point, where we will find a nice variety of Gentoo penguins, Chinstraps and southern giant petrels, as well as Elephant seals hauling out on the beach. At Deception Island, we will try to land at Baily Head home to a colony of ten thousands of Chinstrap Penguins. Deception itself is a sub ducted crater, which opens into the sea, creating a natural harbour for the ship. Here we find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, thousands of Cape pigeons and many Dominican gulls, Brown and South Polar Skuas and Antarctic Terns. Wilsons Storm Petrels and Black-bellied Storm Petrels nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. Good walkers may hike from Baily Head over the ridge of the crater into Whalers Bay, while our ship braves its entrance into the crater through the spectacular Neptune´s Bellow into the ring of Deception Island. On our way further South we will sail to Orne Islands with large colonies of Chinstrap Penguins and a beautiful view across the Gerlache Strait or to Cuverville Island, a small precipitous island, nestled between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula and Danco Island. It contains a large colony of Gentoo Penguins and breeding pairs of Brown Skuas. In Neko Harbour and Paradise Bay with its myriad icebergs and deep cut fjords, we have the opportunity to set foot on the Antarctic Continent. We shall have the opportunity for zodiac cruising between the icebergs in the inner parts of the fjords. We sail through the spectacular Lemaire Channel to Petermann Island offering Adelie Penguins and Blue-eyed Shags. We also try to land at Pleneau Island with Elephant Seals and fair chances to encounter Humpback, Minke and Fin Whales. We head south along the Argentine Islands to Crystal Sound, south of the polar circle. The landscape is very impressive with very high mountains and huge glaciers. At the Fish Islands we land at one of the southernmost Adelie Penguin and Blue-eyed Shag colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula. A base visit will also be provided, to give you an insight about the life of modern Antarcticans working on the White Continent. At Detaille Island, south of the Polar Circle, in Crystal Sound we reach probably our farthest south. Sailing north again through Neumayer Channel and Gerlache Strait, we arrive at the Melchior Islands with a very beautiful landscape and again possibilities for zodiac cruising among the icebergs, where we may encounter Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals and whales.

 
Days 10 - 11     Drake Passage
On Board the M/V Ortelius
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

In the Drake Passage we have again a chance of seeing many seabirds and to take advantage of the knowledge of our lecture team.

 
Day 12     Ushuaia
Meals: Breakfast

We arrive in the morning and disembark in Ushuaia.

 

Notes

All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice and weather conditions and in order to take advantage of opportunities to see wildlife.

Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises.

Price Includes
Tour Escort
Meals Daily Shipboard
Sightseeing and Entrances Per Itinerary
Shore Excursions
Services of Expedition Guides
Port Charges & Tax
Accommodations in Select Cabin Category
OCE-1269
1.28.15.WP26