Itinerary

Day 1 • Ushuaia, Argentina

Fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, and spend the night. (Meals Aloft)

Day 2 • Embark Clipper Adventurer

Prior to our afternoon embarkation in Ushuaia, you have a morning at leisure to explore. After embarkation in the late afternoon, begin your Antarctica expedition cruise by sailing down the Beagle Channel. Keep watch on deck for seabirds, penguins and rainbows. Later in the evening everyone should be on deck to watch the sure-footed Channel pilot clamber down to the boat sent to collect him. (B,D)

Days 3 & 4 • Drake Passage

Prepare for rough water, but do not be disappointed if your crossing is smooth sailing. We cross the Drake Passage, where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet, accompanies perhaps by petrels and soaring albatrosses. How will you know when you are in Antarctic waters? When the ship crosses the Antarctic Convergence, also known as the Antarctic Polar Front. This biological boundary is unique to Antarctica. Encircling the continent, it is an irregular, invisible curve where the cold, northward-flowing Antarctic waters meet and mix with the warmer waters of the Indian, Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. The zone is about 20 to 30 miles wide, somewhere between 48° and 61° S. Our knowledgeable Expedition Team will brief us on the history and science of Antarctica. They will also prepare us for the Zodiac cruising and hikes that will be part of our daily activities. (B,L,D Daily)

Days 5-8 • South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula

Deception Island, Lemaire Channel, Neko Harbour and Paradise Harbour — these are the names that conjure iconic images of the Antarctic Peninsula! Towering, glacier-capped mountains rising from a brilliant blue sea, dotted with ice floes. Many factors play a role in shaping the expedition’s progress. During our Antarctica adventure cruise, we attempt to leave the ship to explore in a range of activity levels at least twice a day. Perhaps, you’ll feel salt spray on your face as the Zodiac weaves in and around grounded icebergs in Pleneau Bay. You could scramble to the top of a craggy hill for an unforgettable view of an icy chasm near Port Lockroy. You could sit quietly on a pebbled beach and wait for a curious penguin chick to approach or plunge into the frigid Antarctic waters. 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. As you sail from island to shore to bay during four days in the Peninsula, the Antarctica Expedition Team provides opportunities for contemplation. Working with the weather and ice conditions, our explorations will include any number of interesting sites. (B,L,D Daily)