Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica

Arrive in Ushuaia. Overnight at hotel including welcome dinner.

Today, enjoy a boat trip on the Beagle Channel and disembark in Tierra del Fuego National Park for nature hikes surrounded by dramatic scenery. Or, enjoy a city tour in Ushuaia, with free time to explore on your own. Board the Island Sky this afternoon and set sail for the Falkland Islands. 

Spend time on deck looking for birds and attend the first expert lectures.

On Saunders Island, you will find colonies of gentoo, rockhopper, and Magellanic penguins, as well as nesting black-browed albatross. 

Attend lectures and spend time looking for birds and marine mammals

Flexibility in this area is a must. Many of our leaders have been to South Georgia numerous times and, if the weather is in our favour, may offer a landing before breakfast or even after dinner. Call at some of the many islands, bays, and coves where you will see outstanding birdlife and elephant and fur seals close at hand. The following is a list of places we plan to visit on South Georgia:

Elsehul Bay – This beautiful bay is home to thousands of fur seals as well as macaroni penguins;
Salisbury Plain – Two glaciers flank Salisbury Plain on South Georgia’s north coast. Here, more than 200,000 king penguins congregate and breed;
Stromness Bay – Site of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his party’s arrival after their harrowing crossing of the island’s glaciers on foot;
Grytviken – Go ashore to discover the ruins of this once-active whaling station. The cemetery holds a special fascination, as it is here that Shackleton is buried. Seabirds, penguins, and marine mammals can also be found here;
Gold Harbour – At the foot of the Bertrab Glacier, Gold Harbour is often referred to as the “jewel in the island’s crown.” In addition to a large king penguin colony, you are likely to see elephant and fur seals, gentoo penguins, giant petrels, and with luck, light-mantled albatross.

Catch up on lectures and wildlife viewing.

Today arrive at Elephant Island, made famous by the Shackleton expedition. Awesome glaciers, speckled with pink algae, create a dramatic backdrop. Weather permitting, enjoy a Zodiac cruise around the island and the opportunity to view a thriving chinstrap penguin colony.

As you cruise the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula and its adjacent islands, here are some of the places we hope to visit:

Brown Bluff – Located on the Antarctic continent, Brown Bluff rises 2,450 feet above an ash beach littered with bizarrely shaped boulders. Some 20,000 pairs of Adelie, and hundreds of gentoo penguins, make their home here. Skuas and pintado petrels nest near the top of the cliff and kelp gulls fill the air with perpetual sound and motion;

Deception Island – As you approach Deception through Neptune’s Bellows, a channel just wide enough for the ship to navigate, southern fulmars and pintado petrels soar overhead. Weigh anchor inside a volcano whose collapsed cone was filled by rushing seawater;

Lemaire Channel and Pleneau Island – Cruising the beautiful Lemaire Channel, keep watch for the humpback and minke whales frequently spotted here. This narrow channel is one of the most visually impressive areas of the Antarctic Peninsula. Steep mountain peaks jut out of the sea on both sides, and the waters are often choked with icebergs and frequented by crabeater seals. A stunning labyrinth of grounded icebergs lies in the shallow waters west of Pleneau Island, presenting a superb Zodiac cruising experience. Crabeater and leopard seals haul out on the ice, and elephant seals and gentoo penguins occupy the island itself.

Spot albatrosses and other following seabirds as you return to Ushuaia

Disembark and transfer to airport for flight to Buenos Aires.