Shackleton Route in Luxury

Embark in the afternoon and set sail down the Beagle Channel

Watch for marine mammals and birds from deck or enjoy lectures and onboard facilities.

West Point Island: Located slightly northwest of West Falkland, West Point Island is used for sheep farming and nature observations. Peale’s dolphins and the distinctive black and white markings of the Commerson’s dolphin can usually be seen in the waters around West Point Island. Rolling moorland and steep cliffs make for great photographic opportunities, but the main attraction is the Devil’s Nose, a cliffside colony of Black-browed Albatrosses nesting side-by-side with feisty Rockhopper Penguins. Magellanic Penguins and Magellanic Cormorants can also be found on the island.

Saunders Island: Saunders Island is the fourth-largest of the Falkland Islands in the western portion of the archipelago. The island’s topography is unusual, being made up of three peninsulas linked by narrow necks, and three big upland areas. Today the island is run as a sheep farm, but has historical importance as the location of the first British settlement in the Falklands. Saunders’ wildlife is also impressively varied. It is possible to see Gentoo and King Penguins in the open dune and sand-flat area, while Rockhopper Penguins (with the odd pair of Macaroni Penguins in between them), Imperial Shags and Black-browed Albatrosses frequent Mount Richards, the highest point on the island at 457 m (1500 feet).

Stanley is a small, colourful city with very British characteristics. Visit the excellent museum and the cathedral and maybe have a drink in one of the local pubs.

Watch for marine mammals and birds from deck or enjoy lectures and onboard facilities.

South Georgia is a breathtaking destination of towering snow-covered mountains, mighty glaciers, and low-lying grasslands that attract an astounding concentration of wildlife. It is possible to find southern fur seals, southern elephant seals and a variety of albatross species including black-browed, light-mantled sooty, grey-headed and the spectacular wandering albatross, plus thousands of king and macaroni penguins. South Georgia is also linked to the early Antarctic explorers. Captain James Cook first stepped ashore in 1775, but perhaps more famous is Ernest Shackleton’s arrival in 1916 following the loss of his ship Endurance in the Weddell Sea.

More relaxing days at sea. Watch for marine mammals and birds from deck or enjoy lectures and onboard facilities.

Elephant Island is home to awesome glaciers and several chinstrap penguin rookeries, as well as 2,000-year-old moss colonies. Weddell seals and macaroni penguins can also be spotted. In 1916, when Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was crushed in pack ice in the Weddell Sea, the crew was stranded here for more than 4 months finding shelter under two upturned lifeboats on the spit of land Shackleton’s men named ‘Point Wild’. The bust of the Chilean captain Luis Pardo has been erected here to commemorate the successful rescue in the tug Yelcho.

In the Antarctic Sound, we hope to visit Hope Bay or Paulet Island. At Paulet, Hope Bay and Brown Bluff Adelie and gentoo penguins breed, as do kelp gulls and Cape petrels, snow petrels and skuas. The Sound’s main attractions are the spectacular tabular icebergs that come from the Larsen Ice Shelf further south. We plan at least two zodiac excursions each day with landings or cruises around the ice spotting penguins, birds and marine mammals.  There may also be opportunities to land and visit one of the international research stations in the area.

Last opportunities for bird watching and looking out for whales as we cross the Drake Passage.

Arrive in the morning and disembark