Ushiaia Acension Island Antarctic South Georgia

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The M/V Plancius will also be making this cruise - same dates and price. Please inquire.

The Atlantic Odyssey from Antarctica to Europe takes 50 days and is a unique voyages that includes not only the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands but also seldom visited islands such as Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Ascension Island.

The Atlantic Odyssey can be sub-divided into two voyages:

Part 1 is a 32 day voyage (itinerary below) from Argentina to Ascension Island.

Part 2 is an 8 day voyage from Ascenion Island to Cape Verde. This portion can only be taken as a continuation of Part 1, as it is not possible to embark at Ascension Island.

During the first part of the Atlantic Odyssey we will visit the Antarctic

Peninsula, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena before we arrive at Ascension Island.

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.

The island of South Georgia (together with the South Sandwich Islands which lie four hundred miles to the southeast) is one of the remotest of the United Kingdoms Overseas Territories. Huge numbers of seabirds and marine mammals breed along its tussac fringed shores.

Save for the rusting remnants of the old whaling stations, the Island is virtually unspoilt by man and so offers unique opportunities to observe the wildlife and scenery of this most beautiful part of the Southern Ocean.

Itinerary

In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world located at the Beagle Channel and sail through this scenic waterway for the rest of the evening.

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.

At Deception Island, we will try to land at Baily Head home to a colony of ten thousands Chinstrap Penguins (please note this landing is not always guaranteed and is only possible in good weather conditions). 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. 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, many Dominican Gulls, Brown Skuas and Antarctic Terns. Wilson’s Storm Petrels and Black-bellied Storm Petrels nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay.

At Hope Bay and Brown Bluff we hope to set foot on the Antarctic Continent. In this area chances are good for encounters with Gentoo Penguins, Weddell Seals, Leopard Seals and Orcas.

If ice conditions allow, we will sail to Paulet Island where we will observe the last individuals of a large Adelie Penguin colony near the ruins of the Nordenskjöld Expedition from the beginning of the 20th century. Depending on the sea ice we sail east or west of the Danger Islands to the north.

We will sail towards the South Orkney Islands. Our exact navigational course will be determined by the prevailing ice conditions, in terms of both extent of sea ice and density of icebergs, which vary from year to year.

We are planning on a visit to Orcadas station, an Argentinean base located in the South Orkney Islands. The friendly base personnel will show us their facilities and we can enjoy the wonderful views of the surrounding glaciers.

On our way to South Georgia, we witness a multitude of Albatrosses, Petrels and Fulmars.

In South Georgia we begin our visit with zodiac excursions in the magnificent Drygalski Fjord and Larsen Harbour. In Cooper Bay we will observe Chinstrap Penguins and Macaroni Penguins and breeding Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses. On Salisbury Plain, we will see a huge King Penguin colony, elephant seals and fur seals. On Prion Island in the Bay of Isles we can see breeding Wandering Albatrosses. At the end of our time in South Georgia we will visit the abandoned whaling settlement in Grytviken, where now the penguins walk through the streets, and King Edwards Point where the grave of Shackleton lies.

In the Westerlies we have a pleasant tailwind. On both sides of the Antarctic Convergence, we observe many species and great numbers of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds.

Today we plan to approach the unique Gough Island for zodiac cruising around the island, as always weather permitting. In previous years we managed to circumnavigate all but four miles of the 33 mile circumference of the island in the ship, saw spectacular scenery and an unprecedented abundance of wildlife. We felt very privileged to be among the few visitors who have been able to experience Gough and in particular, to see it at such close quarters and in such favorable conditions. We hope to be lucky to repeat this unique experience with you.

In the Tristan da Cunha archipelago we plan to call on the settlement at the west side of the main island. We will also try to make landings at Nightingale Island and Inaccessible Island with millions of seabirds ranging from Yellow-nosed Albatrosses to Brown Noddies. We allow one day in reserve for bad weather. Please note that we will try and approach for landings, however due to the weather conditions this is not always possible. Since we began our Atlantic Odyssey's (1998) we failed during 30% of the voyages to make landings in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, due to adverse weather.

We now enter sub-tropical waters with their own species of seabirds and dolphins.

St. Helena has a good anchorage and landing site. On this island, we will have ample opportunities to enjoy local culture, pleasant climate, and endemic plants and birds. We will visit the place where Napoleon lived in exile. There will be opportunities to explore the Island on your own and for snorkelling; in the shallow surf where we can find a lot of fishes.

During these sea day, we sail enroute to Ascension Island.

Ascension Island is a dry volcanic island with a moist and richly vegetated top. The Sooty Tern (wide-awake) colony sometimes consists of more than 1 million breeding pairs. We will try to climb the moist summit of Ascension Island and make a zodiac-cruise around Boatswain Bird Island offering also great opportunities for snorkelling. We may witness egg-laying sea turtles coming ashore at night. Some of our passengers may disembark and fly with the scheduled RAF (Royal Air Force) flight to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, UK. Others may proceed with the voyage to the Cape Verdes. In the evening the vessel will depart from Ascension Island.

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