Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica

In the afternoon, we embark in Puerto Madryn and sail through Golfo Nuevo. Southern Right Whales are often seen in these waters and may be our first marine mammal sightings.  

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. Depending on conditions, we hope to land on rarely visited Steeple Jason Island, where there is the world's largest colony of black-browed albatross.Alternatively, a hike along the shore of Carcass Island will give us views of Magellanic and gentoo penguins, as well as close encounters with 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), 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 Victorian charm. In Stanley and the surrounding area we can see a number of stranded clippers from a century ago. All passengers are free to wander around on their own. We recommend a visit to the local church and museum (admission fees not included).

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 8 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.

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.

We will sail into the Weddell Sea through the ice-clogged Antarctic Sound. Huge tabular icebergs will announce our arrival to the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. We plan to visit Brown Bluff where we may set foot on the 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, 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 we find 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 open sea with direction Ushuaia.

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.