Please NOTE that this departure embarks Ushuaia and ends with a flight from Port Stanley, Falklands to Santiago, Chile.

This itinerary will give you a brief idea of what you may encounter on this voyage. However we stress that this is an "expedition" style cruise. Our emphasis is on wildlife encounters, personal contact with the environs, visiting sites of historical interest and to a lesser extent scientific stations. Polar Pioneer is not a luxury ship although she is very comfortable with well-appointed cabins and common areas. She is maneuverable and strong, ideally suited for the sea passages between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The bridge is open to us at all times unless there is some tricky navigational situation.

Our actual program will vary to take best advantage of local conditions, spontaneous opportunities and wildlife. No two voyages are the same; there is always an element of the unexpected. This journey combines the best of the sub-Antarctic with the beauty of the Antarctic Peninsula.

In Ushuaia we will board Polar Pioneer around 4.00 pm for a 6.00 pm departure. Sailing down the Beagle Channel, we will settle into shipboard life, enjoy our first meal, and set our course for the Antarctic Peninsula.

At sea, albatross, plunging dolphins and flighty petrels mesmerize us, while Zodiac and environmental briefings prepare us for landings.

All eyes are peeled for our first iceberg and we feel the rush of adrenalin as we approach the South Shetland Islands and a possible landing.

We make full use of daylight hours, taking every opportunity to explore the Peninsula’s wonders. Our expert guides will lead us ashore as kayakers paddle amongst the ice, and, if the weather permits, anyone with the desire to camp out. Zodiac cruises, whale watching and a continental landing are on our wish list; flexibility is the key. We may visit scientific stations and historic sites, but our focus is close encounters with nature.

We enter the whale-rich waters to Elephant Island, hoping to take Zodiacs near Point Wild, where Shackleton’s men wintered over.

If pack ice allows, we go ashore in the dramatic South Orkney Islands before heading north towards South Georgia.

Our South Georgia landings are mostly along the northeast coast. We’ll see: the world’s largest king penguin rookeries, wandering albatross on nests, beaches of elephant and fur seals, macaroni and rockhopper penguin colonies, walking Shackleton’s route from Fortuna Bay to Stromness and visiting Grytviken’s whaling museum.

Cruising towards the Falkland Islands our lecture program continues.

Today we aim to visit some of the southern, most isolated islands in the Falklands. Between the penguins' nests are gentle black-browed albatross sitting serenely upon beautifully molded mud nests. The air is filled with soaring albatross, turkey vultures, skuas and many species of sea birds.

Dawn greets us in Port Stanley. We enjoy an early breakfast before being taken on a tour of Port Stanley and transferred to the airport for our flight back to Santiago.