Discovery Series: Antarctic Peninsula Exploration by Luxury Ship (Silver Explorer)

View some of Buenos Aires’ most beautiful public buildings built during the period 1890 and 1930, most originally constructed as homes for wealthy Buenos Aires families. The Museum of Decorative Arts was the former home to the Errazuriz-Alvear Chilean-Argentine family, decorated in eclectic style including neo-Classical, Louis XIV, Rococo and Louis XVI. Circulo Militar, designed in Paris and built in Buenos Aires for the Paz family who owned the La Prensa newspaper, is now used for public and private activities. The French Embassy was owned by the Ortiz Basualdo family until 1939 and the Brazilian Embassy by the Pereda family until 1944. The Vatican Embassy was the home of the Fernandez de Anchorenas—all wonderful examples of French influence in the city’s architecture. The Palacio San Martin—today the Foreign Affairs Ministry—belonged to the Anchorena Family, and the Palacio Estrougamou is now a condominium building. Many others are used now for business and social events, such as the Bencich and Aberg Cobo homes, among others. During the tour you will enjoy a lunch in Sorrento and you will make at least one inside visit.

Have a special night out in Buenos Aires and enjoy an exclusive Tango show and dinner at Gala Tango!

Gala Tango offers you one of the best shows in Buenos Aires and a Gourmet  À la carte dinner consisting of grilled Argentinian meet and international dishes accompanied by great wines from Mendoza. A brief (15 minutes) Tango lesson will also be available to guests arriving early.

Enjoy a private airport transfer in Buenos Aires with a professional driver and English speaking Guide.

Fly from Buenos Aires domestic airport to Ushuaia. Note flights are subject to changes based on availability. The flight duration is approximately 3.5 hour.

Enjoy a private cruise pier transfer with vehicle, English speaking guide and driver.

Partake in a half day private tour with your own vehicle, driver and guide to explore the Tierra del Fuego National Park, situated 11 km from Ushuaia. The park was established in 1960 with the intention of protecting the southernmost portion of the sub Antarctic forest and is made up of 63000 hectares. Unlike many other parks, it combines the ocean, forests and mountains. The biological richness of the Tierra del Fuego Island with its beautiful scenery is simply stunning. You can find animals such as red foxes, cauquenes, ducks, Patagonian wood peckers and more than 90 species of birds that are part of the Fuegian fauna, as well as beavers and rabbits, which were introduced to the island by colonizers. The forest is formed by lengas, guindos, ñires and valleys of peat and lichens. Ensenada Bay, Lake Roca and Lapataia Bay (the end of the Pan-American Highway that connects Alaska and Tierra del Fuego) give color to this unique place where we can still find reminders of the ancestral inhabitants: the yámanas. At the end of the tour you will be brought back to your hotel.

Enjoy a private cruise pier transfer with vehicle, English speaking guide and driver.

Welcome aboard!

Take some time to get settled in to your stateroom and explore the length of your ship. Your first onboard dinner tonight will provide an ideal opportunity to meet some of your fellowcruisemates.

As you set sail on your initial transit, familiarise yourself with your elegant ship and the friendly Expedition Team members. Attend wildlife, geography and history discussions hosted by expert naturalists and guest lecturers that will prepare you for the exciting adventures that lie ahead. When available, visit the Bridge to observe the navigation skills of the onboard officers and Captain.

The Drake Passage has a notorious reputation for its turbulent seas due to the Antarctic Convergence, a natural boundary where cold polar water flows northward and warmer equatorial water moves southward. When they meet, nutrients are pushed to the surface, often attracting a multitude of seabirds and whales. Spend some time on deck watching the horizon and the variety of seabirds that glide in the air currents of our ship’s wake such as the black-browed albatross, sooty shearwaters and white-chinned petrels. Have your camera ready to capture the magical colour of a midnight sunset.

Your next five days exploring the Antarctic Peninsula will take place in one of several combinations of islands and stops, dependant on conditions, and navigation by the Captain.

The Aitcho Islands, just off the Antarctic Peninsula at the entrance to the English Straight, is a likely spot to be greeted by local penguins. You'll step off a zodiac to explore the island, with gentoos and chinstrap penguins, and potentially the company of a leopard seal or southern seal, swimming alongside your zodiac.

Brown Bluff is an ice-capped, 745-metre-high, flat-topped mountain with a prominent cliff of reddish-brown volcanic rock. Adelie and gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, and pintado petrels use this as a breeding area. Birds such as the all-white snow petrel and skuas may be seen from a distance. As you explore the area, a Weddell seal may be seen basking in the sunlight. Wait long enough and you might see the Adelie penguins standing along the rocks, finally making their way into the surf.

Paradise Bay is well named for its spectacular scenery of mountains, glaciers and icebergs. From the ship, observe Argentina’s Base Brown, one of many Antarctic research stations. Here, you will actually set foot on the continent of Antarctica. View the wildlife from sea level while cruising in your Zodiac with one of our experienced Expedition Team members. There’s a good chance you’ll come across a crabeater seal relaxing on a nearby ice floe, or if you’re very lucky, your Zodiac driver may locate a pod of Minke whales.

Arriving to Paulet Island, you may well be amazed by the sight of Adelie penguins covering the entire island. The island is home to 80-90 thousand Adelies that come here to breed. On a nearby hill, view a massive colony of blue eyed shags. Listen as your Expedition Team guide tells of Otto Nordenskjold and his party that over-wintered on the island in 1912. Remnants of their hut still remain. If time permits, take a Zodiac cruise to view impossibly blue icebergs, Crater Lake and the Adelie penguins making themselves at home on the ice floes.

Deception Island is home to a collapsed volcano and an excellent example of a caldera where it is believed that the volcano’s summit collapsed with one section sinking far enough to allow the sea to flood the interior. Plan to sail inside this breached wall through a narrow entrance called Neptune’s Bellows. The resident geologist will take the opportunity to explain the unique volcanic features of the area while our historian will introduce you to the whaling history of Deception Island. Still visible on the island are the boilers used to make whale oil in the early 1900s.

Navigating your return through the Drake Passage, watch for seabirds and wildlife we may have missed on the first trip. Take this opportunity to attend additional presentations offered by the Expedition Team lecturers and to swap photos with new friends as we travel towards Ushuaia.

Your final stretch of the Drake Passage is sailed today, as the southern tip of South America is visible on the horizon. Enjoy a final day at sea, relaxing as you continue back to Ushuaia.

This morning you'll disembark from your expedition vessel, back in Ushuaia where your journey began.

Bid farewell to your fellow cruisemates as you make landfall.

Meet your driver for a private airport transfer with vehicle, English speaking guide and driver.