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13 Días / 12 Noches
Ushuaia - Antarctica Cruise - Drake Passage
USD 9189
Expedition cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, & endeavor to cross the Polar Circle.
Arrival at Ushuaia airport and transfer to your accommodation. Rest of the day at leisure.
Embark in the afternoon and meet your expedition and lecture staff. After you have settled into your cabins we sail along the famous Beagle Channel and the scenic Mackinlay Pass.
Named after the renowned explorer, Sir Francis Drake, who sailed these waters in 1578, the Drake Passage also marks the Antarctic Convergence, a biological barrier where cold polar water sinks beneath the warmer northern waters. This creates a great upwelling of nutrients, which sustains the biodiversity of this region. The Drake Passage also marks the northern limit of many Antarctic seabirds. As we sail across the passage, Antarpply Expeditions’ lecturers will be out with you on deck to help with the identification of an amazing variety of seabirds, including many albatrosses, which follow in our wake.
The Ushuaia’s open bridge policy allows you to join our officers on the bridge and learn about navigation, watch for whales, and enjoy the view. A full program of lectures will be offered as well.
The first sightings of icebergs and snow-capped mountains indicate that we have reached the South Shetland Islands, a group of twenty islands and islets first sighted in February 1819 by Capt. William Smith of the brig Williams. With favorable conditions in the Drake Passage our lecturers and naturalists will accompany you ashore as you experience your first encounter with the penguins and seals.
Exquisite beauty and unspoiled scenery await you on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.
We look forward to cruising through some of the most beautiful waterways the area has to offer such as: Gerlache Strait, Errera Channel, Neumayer Channel and the extremely narrow Lemaire Channel.
Possible landing sites may include: Paradise Bay, Cuverville Island, home to the largest colony of Gentoo penguins on the Peninsula.
As further exploration will take us far south of the Lemaire Channel in search of the polar circle, we might also visit the Ukrainian Vernadsky Station, the former British Faradey Base where the ozone hole was first detected, the rugged Yalour Islands and the south of the Polar Circle Detaille Island.
On our way north we plan to explore the South Shetland Islands.
We leave Antarctica and head north across the Drake Passage. Join our lecturers and naturalists on deck as we search for seabirds and whales and enjoy some final lectures. Take the chance to relax and reflect on the fascinating adventures of the past days on the way back to Ushuaia.
We arrive at the port of Ushuaia in the early morning and disembark after breakfast. Transfer to the airport.
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