Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica

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, followed by seabirds.

At sea, in the Westerlies the ship is followed by several species of albatross, storm petrels, shearwaters and diving petrels.

In the Falkland Islands, we plan to spend the whole day on the fascinating western side of the archipelago. A hike along the shore of Carcass Island will give us views of magellanic and gentoo penguins, as well as close encounters with elephant seals, water fowl, night herons and passerines. In addition, on Saunders we will be able to observe four species of breeding penguins - gentoo, king, Magellanic and rockhopper,as well as black-browed albatross and king cormorants.

In Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, we can experience Falkland culture, which has some South American characteristics as well as English charm. In Stanley and the surrounding area we can see a number of stranded wrecks from a century ago and geese, giant petrels and other birds.. All passengers are free to wander around on their own. We recommend a visit to the local museum (admission fees not included) and perhaps a drink in a typical pub.

On our way to South Georgia we will cross the Antarctic Convergence. Entering Antarctic waters, the temperature will drop by as much as 10 degrees in the time span of only a few hours. Near the Convergence, we will see a multitude of southern seabirds near the ship; several species of albatross, shearwaters, petrels, prions and skuas.

In the afternoon of day 7 we arrive at our first landing site in South Georgia. We might visit the bay of Elsehul, with its very active fur seal breeding beach, and then set course to Right Whale Bay, Salisbury Plain, Godthul, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour, Cooper Bay and Drygalski Fjord to give you a good opportunity to see a wide spectrum of landscapes and wildlife, like the introduced reindeer, elephant seals, fur seals, king and macaroni penguins. At Salisbury Plain you will see tens of thousands of king penguins and elsewhere, several varieties of nesting albatross. You will also be able to walk amongst colonies of elephant seals.

The ship is again followed by a multitude of seabirds. At some point we might encounter sea-ice, and it is at the ice-edge where we would have a chance to see some high-Antarctic species like the McCormick skua and snow petrel.

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.

Spend time on deck watching for whales, swimming penguins and various seabirds and participate in the programme of expert lectures.

We will sail into the Weddell Sea through the ice-clogged Antarctic Sound. Here, on this eastern side of the Peninsula, there are huge tabular icebergs. We plan to visit Brown Bluff where we may set foot for the first time on the actual continent. In good sailing conditions we may decide to extend our time in the Weddell Sea.

Charlotte Bay on the west coast of Graham Land was discovered by Adrien de Gerlache during the 1897-99 Belgica expedition and named after the fiancee of Georges Lecointe who was Gerlache's executive officer, hydrographer and second-in-command of the expedition. The topography of the surrounding area is mountainous, with nunataks rising through the ice. Charlotte Bay is often filled with icebergs. Mostly we see seals on floes in Charlotte Bay, and occasional, kelp gulls, skuas, shags, or penguins. In Wilhelmina Bay we will admire the rugged ice coated mountains of the Arctowski Pensinsula.

 At Deception Island our ship braves into the entrance of 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 are hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, thousands of Cape pigeons and many Dominican gulls, brown and south polar skuas and Antarctic terns. Wilson's and black-bellied storm petrels nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. We leave from here and sail through the Shetland Islands (Half Moon) to the Drake Passage.

On our way north we are again followed by a great selection of seabirds while crossing the Drake Passage.

We arrive in the morning in Ushuaia and disembark.