Voyage to Antarctica with Rose Gray

Welcome to Argentina! Upon arrival, transfer to your overnight hotel. Your evening is at leisure to discover Argentina’s big, cosmopolitan capital city. Its center is the Plaza de Mayo, lined with stately 19th-century buildings, an iconic presidential palace and many other attractions and museums.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight. Arrive in Ushuaia, where your hotel is available for mid-afternoon check-in.

Meal: Breakfast

Wake up at the “End of the World,” situated on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Once a secluded outpost and penal colony, Ushuaia is now a growing community thriving on timber, fishing, and tourism. Perhaps venture into Tierra del Fuego National Park to learn about its bountiful flora and fauna. With the Chilean Andes as the backdrop, the scenery is nothing short of spectacular. Later this afternoon, embark the Ocean Atlantic for a nine-night cruise bound for the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. This evening navigate the Beagle Channel as the expedition staff welcomes you on board with a welcome cocktail, dinner, and briefing.

Meal: Breakfast, Dinner

During the next two days, cross the famed Drake Passage, a body of water that marks the intersection of the cold Antarctic with the warmer Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Throughout the voyage, enjoy a multitude of lectures on the ecology of area and the wildlife found here from the expert team of Naturalists on board. As you sail closer to the South Pole, the excitement builds as Antarctic wildlife comes into view. Weather permitting, catch the first sight of seals, whales, and penguins and make your first zodiac cruise and landing! The area is also well-known for its abundance of birds.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Keep an eye out for more Antarctic marine life as we continue to cross the Drake Passage. The passage received its English name from the 16th-century privateer Francis Drake during his circumnavigation. The passage is a deep waterway, 600 miles wide and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans between Cape Horn (the southernmost point of South America) and the South Shetland Islands, situated about 100 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Over the next two days, explore the sub-Antarctic islands of the South Shetland chain and be marveled by the captivating landscapes that you will encounter along the way. Weather permitting, the projected landfalls and zodiac cruises include: King George Island where the majority of research stations are located; Deception Island, an extinct volcano with waters warm enough for a polar swim; and Half Moon Island with nesting Wilson’s storm petrels and chinstrap penguins. Other wildlife sighting here includes elephant, Weddell, and leopard seals, and Adelie and Gentoo penguins. Please note: The itinerary and activities over the next few days depend on weather and ice conditions. All outings and landings rely on weather, sea, and ice conditions being favorable both for the ship to access the sites, as well as for the zodiacs and kayaks to maneuver under adequate conditions, ensuring the safety of all passengers and staff.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We continue our exploration of the area today. King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands and lies 75 miles off the coast of Antarctica. King George Island now serves as an aerodrome for flights to Antarctica and is known as the unofficial capital of the continent. Deception Island is a sunken volcano, the crater of which, about 10 miles in diameter, forms one of the best anchorages in the Antarctic. The island has also served as a whaling and seal-hunting station from 1906 to 1931 and as a British military base during World War II. Half Moon Island is a crescent-shaped island that lies in the entrance to Moon Bay, between Livingston and Greenwich Islands. It is also home to much bird life including breeding Antarctic terns, skuas, kelp gulls and blue-eyed shags.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

As the white shimmer of Antarctica looms on our horizon, the presence of wildlife multiplies by tens of thousands with many species of lively penguins, inquisitive seals, nesting birds, and the spray of marine mammals. Wildlife abounds along the Antarctic Peninsula: leopard, fur, and Weddell seals of Cuverville Island; humpback whales of Gerlache Strait; Paradise Bay; the dramatic Lemaire Channel’s orcas and much more. The cruise will make as many landfalls and zodiac cruises as weather permits in this region. There will also be an opportunity for the bravest to take the polar plunge into the ice-cold Antarctic waters!

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Since its discovery, the Antarctic Peninsula has been one of the central locations of polar exploration. Roald Amundsen was forced to overwinter just west of the peninsula in 1897, Otto Nordenskiöld’s Swedish Antarctic Expedition landed on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1902, and Ernest Shackleton’s vessel, Endurance, was crushed by sea ice near the peninsula in 1915. Research stations began appearing in the Antarctic Peninsula around World War II, and most bases on the continent are concentrated there due to the area’s comparatively milder climate. Tourism came to the peninsula in the 1950s, and in 1961 the Antarctic Treaty established Antarctica as a scientific preserve protected from nuclear testing, waste disposal, and industrial development.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Depart Antarctica and spend two days at sea on your way back to the calm waters of Beagle Channel and Ushuaia. En route cross Drake Passage and cruise past Cape Horn, a legendary maritime landmark and the southern tip of South America.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The wealth of Drake Passage wildlife will give you no shortage of animals to gaze at. The Drake is densely populated with plankton, which allows for healthy populations of dolphins, whales, and seabirds. Dolphins aren't terribly common on the Drake Passage, but there's always the possibility you'll see a few hourglass dolphins bounding over the water. Whales are slightly more common, with humpback, orca, minke and fin being the most likely to appear.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Arrive back in Ushuaia this morning and disembark the ship. After disembarkation, transfers are provided for your flight to Buenos Aires. Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, your tour ends with your transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Meal: Breakfast

Today your journey draws to an end with your arrival in Milwaukee. This exotic and exciting once-in-a-lifetime adventure will be full of memories unlike any other!

Hotels and tour itinerary are subject to change. All outings and landings rely on weather, sea, and ice conditions being favorable both for the ship to access the sites, as well as for the zodiacs and kayaks to maneuver under adequate conditions, ensuring the safety of all passengers and staff.