In Shackleton's Footsteps

Step aboard Polar Pioneer in the late afternoon to a warm welcome, and set sail along the Beagle Channel bound for Antarctica. Additional Information: We recommend you arrive into Ushuaia at least one day prior to your expedition start date. A luggage transfer from your Ushuaia hotel to the ship is included today. Ushuaia port is a short walking distance from town; you are required to make your own way to port for boarding this afternoon.

As we cross Drake Passage, we keep watch for giant petrels, wandering and black-browed albatross and our first icebergs. Our on-board historian introduces us to Shackleton and fur seals and penguins pepper the sea surface as we approach our first landing in the South Shetland Islands.

An autumn dawn greets us in spectacular Antarctic Sound where we may stop at towering Brown Bluff before pushing on into the Weddell Sea. There’s a strong fossil focus this time of year, as the pack ice movement may allow a continental landing and visits to the world-renowned fossil beds of Seymour, Vega and James Ross islands, and Nordenskjold’s Hut on Snow Hill Island.

So exposed is Cape Wild on Elephant Island, landings are rare, but we’ll try, if only to pay tribute to the man who’s leadership kept Shackleton’s men alive for four months while awaiting rescue. We keep watch for great whales while sailing the Scotia Sea to South Georgia.

We enter King Haakon Bay and attempt a ceremonial landing at Cave Cove, Shackleton’s first landfall before continuing up past Peggotty Bluff, where Shackleton, Worsley and Crean set off to cross the island

While our “Crossers” negotiate Shackleton’s historic route, we immerse ourselves in one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles. King penguin rookeries half-million strong, chinstrap, gentoo and macaroni penguin colonies, wandering albatross on nests, beaches thick with elephant and fur seals. We hope to walk the final leg of Shackleton’s epic, from Fortuna Bay to Stromness, before visiting “The Boss’s” grave and whaling museum in Grytviken.   

Crossing the Scotia Sea, we watch for whales and enjoy entertaining talks by our expedition team as we cruise back towards the Falklands Islands. On this leg we are usually travelling into the prevailing weather so it is difficult to estimate our arrival time in the Falklands.

Dawn greets us in the Falkland Islands capital, Stanley. After an early breakfast, we bid farewell to Polar Pioneer and transfer to Stanley airport for our onward flight to Santiago or Punta Arenas, Chile. Or choose to stay on in the Falkland Islands to continue your adventure.