• Perfect for first time visitors to Antarctica.
• Peninsula highlights.
• Small ships.

Explore the highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Duration: 12 days
Embarkation and Disembarkation: Ushuaia, Argentina

The Antarctic Explorer provides a magnificent opportunity to explore the offshore islands of the Antarctic Peninsula - the South Shetland islands - and some of the wonderful waterways abutting the mainland. Given good weather you will also be able to set foot on the Frozen Continent itself, for the experience of a lifetime. The South Shetland islands and Antarctic Peninsula boast an abundance of spectacular marine mammals and birds.

The area is home to six species of seals, including the Southern Elephant Seal, the Antarctic fur seal and the predatory Leopard seal. The region also contains massive penguin rookeries with huge numbers of Gentoo, Adelies and Chinstraps hatching and rearing their young in a sea of sound and commotion. There are also a significant number of whale species in the area and a wide variety of seabirds, including albatross, petrels, shearwaters and skuas. The landscapes are spectacular. There are large icebergs, some of which contain natural caves, shrouded in an eerie, translucent light.

There are chunks of broken pack ice dotting the water, and there is a sweeping ice-cap masking mountains and filling trenches, binding together a continent that is about the same size as Africa. One can only marvel at the resolve of the early explorers in their quest to conquer this beautiful but inhospitable land. One of our passengers made the statement "it blows your brain" last summer; we know what she means.

Antarctica is everything south of the Antarctic convergence, a biological boundary that fluctuates between 50° and 60° South. Travelers gather in Ushuaia in anticipation of their expedition to Antarctica. Overnight in Ushuaia.

After embarkation in the late afternoon, the vessel will sail down the Beagle Channel. Travelers keep watch on deck for seabirds, penguins and rainbows.

Prepare for rough water, but do not be disappointed if the crossing is smooth sailing. The Drake is always changing.

Many factors play a role in shaping the expedition’s progress. We attempt to leave the ship to explore in a range of activity levels at least twice a day. Perhaps, travelers will feel salt spray on their face as the Zodiac weaves in and around grounded icebergs in Pleneau Bay. They could scramble to the top of a craggy hill for an unforgettable view of an icy chasm near Port Lockroy. They could sit quietly on a pebbled beach and wait for a curious penguin chick to approach, or strap on a harness for a polar plunge into the frigid waters of an Antarctic Bay.

Explore the highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula with adventurers who enjoy camping, kayaking, cross–country skiing, mountaineering and other active pursuits. Over the course of the austral spring and summer, the sun lingers longer and longer, melting snow and ice. Wildlife abounds: chicks hatch and fledge, and pods of whales breach in a deep bay where a calving iceberg has churned up krill, the local delicacy.

The natural cycle of life ensures that every expedition is different. And that every expedition is full of surprises! In Antarctica, silence is so complete that interruptions become indelible memories: noisy penguins squabbling over prized pebbles, the boom and crack of a calving glacier near Petermann Island. Then there is the sound of breathing as arms pump and legs power up an incline on cross-country
skis. As travelers sail from island to shore to bay during four days in the Peninsula, the Expedition Team provides opportunities for contemplation, to test endurance and engage curiosity.

Activities during the return voyage depend on the conditions of the Drake. A smooth crossing is a busy crossing.