Atlantic Odyssey

Departure from Ushuaia 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.

We will sail directly to “High Antarctica”, passing the Melchior islands and the Schollaert Channel between Brabant and Anvers Island. On Cuverville Island, a small precipitous island, nestled between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula and Danco Island, we will find a large colony of Gentoo Penguins and breeding pairs of Brown Skuas. If we land on Danco Island we can observe Chinstrap Penguins and possibly Weddell and Crabeater Seals. In Neko Harbour we will have the opportunity to set foot on the Antarctic Continent in a magnificent landscape of huge glacier and enjoy the landscape during zodiac cruises. When sailing to Paradise Bay, with its myriad icebergs and deep cut fjords, we will have the opportunity for zodiac cruising between the icebergs in the inner parts of the fjords. In this area we have good chances to see Humpback Whales and Minke Whales. After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, we hope to get permission to visit the British research station and post office Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. Close to Port Lockroy we may also offer a landing on Jougla Point with Gentoo Penguins and Imperial Shags. We sail through the spectacular Lemaire Channel to Pleneau and Petermann Island where we can find Adelie Penguins and Blue-eyed Shags. In this area, there are good chances to encounter Humpback Whales, Minke Whales and Fin Whales. A visit to one of the scientific stations in Antarctica will give you an insight about the life of modern Antarcticans working on the White Continent. Further south we may visit the Ukrainian Vernadsky Station, where we will receive a warm welcome from the station crew. Sailing north through Neumayer Channel we arrive at the Melchior Islands with a very beautiful landscape with icebergs, where we may encounter Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals and whales.

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 pick up passengers for our odyssey, to depart in 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 petrels, Southern fulmars, Wilson’s Storm petrels, Blue petrels and Antarctic petrels. Near the South Shetland Islands, we spot our first icebergs.

We begin our visit We aim to visit some of the major King penguin rookeries in the World. The late season offers an outstanding chance to see the King penguins on eggs and with small chicks. The rookeries are packed at this time of year and the traffic to and from the beach is astounding. Salisbury Plain offers this scenario in mind boggling quantity. We will see the huge King penguin colony along with Elephant seals and endless numbers of fur seal pups playing in the surf. On Prion Island in the Bay of Isles (the island is closed for visitors during breeding season from 20 Nov – 07 January) we can see breeding Wandering albatrosses. We will also find time to visit the old whaling settlement in Grytviken, where now the penguins walk through the streets. Grytviken is home to a small, but highly informative museum and also offers a chance to visit the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton who is buried here alongside his trusted friend and companion Frank Wild. We will attempt to land Gold Harbour and St Andrews Bay with stunningly beautiful scenery and a wildlife density second to none. King penguins are truly Kings here! We end our South Georgia experience in the spectacular Dryglaski Fjord.

In the Westerly’s 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 a zodiac cruise around Quest Bay, as always weather permitting. Gough Island is a strictly protected nature reserve and landings are not allowed. However, the intended Zodiac cruise have proven to offer spectacular scenery and a great abundance of wildlife not easily seen elsewhere in the world. In previous years we managed to circumnavigate all but four miles of the 33 mile circumference of the island by ship. 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 favourable 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 where millions of seabirds ranging from Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Nortern Rockhopper penguins to Brown Noddies breed. 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 at James Town. On this island, we will have ample opportunities to enjoy local culture, pleasant climate, and endemic plants and birds. We will visit Longwood House, the place where Napoleon lived and died 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 multitude of tropical and sub-tropical fish species.

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. Near the anchorage at Georgetown we also have great opportunities for snorkelling. We aim to 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