Great Antarctic Voyage

This is the ultimate voyage to the southern polar region, taking in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Drake Passage. It’s the Antarctic adventure to end all Antarctic adventures.

Home to great colonies of sub-Antarctic penguins such as Magellanics and southern rockhoppers, the Falkland Islands is your first destination. You spend two days here watching birds such as giant petrel, Falkland's steamer duck and black-browed albatross. As you sail from island to island, you’re accompanied by bowriding Peale’s and Commerson’s dolphins, with their intriguing markings.

Your next destination, South Georgia, has some of the greatest concentrations of wildlife on the planet, perhaps best demonstrated by Salisbury Plain, home to an estimated half a million king penguins during the breeding season.

Southern elephant seal bulls face off against each other in sustained and bloody battles for dominance, and the world’s largest flying bird, the wandering albatross, nests here, too.

Continuing to the Antarctic Peninsula, the two-day crossing provides plenty of time to watch for humpbacks, blue whales and albatrosses riding the waves in their epic journeys around the pole. If weather and sea conditions permit, there will be a stop at the remote and jawdroppingly scenic South Orkney Islands.

Upon reaching the Antarctic Peninsula, a 1,300-kilometre talon of land sticking out from the continent, you spend four days exploring its rugged west coast. The summer snow melt provides breeding grounds for various birds, including the diminutive chinstrap, gentoo penguins, and numerous other seabirds.

Sailing from the peninsula, you arrive at Elephant Island, the location made famous by Sir Ernest Shackleton. It was here he left the crew of the Endurance after his ship had sunk to sail with five other men across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia.

Passage there are yet more opportunities to view a variety of petrels, prions and albatrosses, either from the outer deck or the warmth of the bridge. With luck an array of cetaceans are also possible.

Itinerary

Day 1: Embark in Ushuaia.

Day 2: At sea, towards the Falkland Islands.

Days 3-4: The Falkland Islands.

Days 5-6: At sea, towards South Georgia.

Days 7-10: Explore South Georgia.

Day 11: At sea, towards the Antarctic Peninsula.

Day 12: South Orkney Islands.

Days 13-16: Explore the Antarctic Peninsula.

Days 17-18: Drake Passage.

Day 19: Disembark in Ushuaia.

19 days, from £12,865 (voyage only)

Departures: Oct - Feb

See pages 54-55 for dates

Embark/Disembark: Ushuaia/ Ushuaia

Vessels: Plancius, Ortelius, Ocean Adventurer, Magellan Explorer, Sylvia Earle & Greg Mortimer

Why book Great Antarctic Voyage?

A comprehensive Antarctic experience with time in the Falklands, South Georgia and on the peninsula.

ཀྵ Intimate wildlife encounters

ཀྵ Breeding penguins

ཀྵ Sculpted icebergs

ཀྵ In the footsteps of history

Wildlife Highlights

ཀྵ Seven species of penguin possible

ཀྵ Leopard seals

ཀྵ Southern elephant seals

ཀྵ Wandering & many other albatross species

ཀྵ A variety of cetacean species

Activities

Ocean cruising, Zodiac trips, island landings, sea kayaking, photography

There are insufficient superlatives to describe the awe of being amongst the sheer abundance of wildlife and magnificent scenery of the Antarctic. Each stop left me utterly speechless, emotional and with far too many photos!

Helen Cox, Wildlife Travel Consultant