Like an outstretched hand the Antarctic Peninsula reaches north to offer the warmest, most accessible welcome to the continent.

Surprisingly diverse, the peninsula reveals lush emerald moss beds, rock faces splashed orange with lichen and the most boisterous wildlife spectacle on earth. Its waters teem with whales, seals, fish, birds and krill. Ice-free areas host throngs of breeding birds, from penguins to petrels, skuas to sheathbills.

Board our ship Polar Pioneer in the afternoon. Sail down the Beagle Channel in the evening.

Overnight, we enter Drake Passage. Lectures on the continent's natural history and briefings about landing in Antarctica are scheduled through the day, allowing plenty of time to watch graceful albatrosses and other seabirds from the outer decks.

We cross the Antarctic Convergence, the biological boundary of Antarctica, and may see our first icebergs. In the evening we approach the South Shetland Islands, a possible location for our first landing.

For five days we will explore the deep bays and fjords of the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula in our extremely manoeuvrable ship. Using our Zodiacs, we make close contact with whales, penguins and seals in the vicinity of Deception Island, Gerlache Strait, Paradise Bay, Andvoord Bay and the Lemaire Channel. There is time to visit scientific stations and historic sites but our emphasis is on the natural wonders.

Cruising out beyond the South Shetland Islands, we head north into the Drake Passage.

At Sea. Our last day of lectures and a final opportunity for revelling in the rich seabird life of the Southern Ocean. If the weather permits, we will cruise past Cape Horn before enjoying a farewell dinner.

We travel up the Beagle Channel in the early morning to disembark in Ushuaia where we say farewell to our new friends.

On the 12 Day trips, one additional day will be spent around the Antarctic Peninsula.