Itinerary

Day 1: Ushuaia

Today is your arrival day, so feel free to get here at any time. The voyage price includes accommodation in a hotel, but please note that no meals are included today. Accommodation: If you arrive earlier or wish to extend your stay and need accommodation please ask Gecko’s or your agent for details and costs.

Day 2: Ushuaia - Embarkation Day

Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 dinner

You will be transferred from your hotel or town centre to the pier. Once there, you will board the ship. Full details will be sent with your final joining instructions. Listen to a brief welcome from the expedition team and once you are settled in we’ll begin our journey from Ushuaia, charting our course through the Beagle Channel.

Day 3-4: Drake Passage

Meals included: 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners

Keep an eye out for an abundance of seabirds as we cross the Drake Passage. There are optional presentations over the coming days, which prepare you for the upcoming adventure. Listen to talks on wildlife, ice and polar history and feel the excitement build as we cross the Antarctic Convergence. Huge icebergs loom on the horizon, as the cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean meet the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Prepare for a noticeable drop in temperature and look overhead for sightings of albatross and petrels.

Day 5-8: South Shetland Islands and Antarctica

Meals included: 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners

We’ll make the most of the Zodiac boats at this point in the journey, as we attempt to leave the ship and cruise the bays, channels and landing sites with wildlife always at the forefront of our minds. We will visit penguin rockeries, scout for humpback and minke whales, orcas and a number of the southern seal species, including the mighty leopard seal. The Peninsula’s mountains will engulf you also as travellers get the chance to scramble up to vantage points. One of these in particular, in Orne Harbor, gives the opportunity to visit a Chinstrap Penguin colony high up on a ridge. Whilst some may be hiking, others may find pleasure in sitting quietly on a pebbled beach as curious penguin chicks approach. If you are brave enough you can take part in the Polar Plunge, taking a dip in the frigid waters of an icy Antarctic bay. Heading towards the mainland prepare to be left awestruck by the massive icebergs that come in many different shapes and sizes. You might see some that have eroded into natural ice sculptures as well as city-block sized 'tabular' bergs which break from the thick ice shelves. Fingers crossed for good weather, so that we get the chance to set foot on the Antarctic continent, where the lights of the southern sky bathe the landscape in an eerie luminescence. The days are long and the nights are short, with wonderful twilight in between. On board we’ll get to spend plenty of time on the bridge or on the deck, soaking up the incredible views. 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 in Neko Harbor.

Day 9-10: Drake Passage

Meals included: 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners

The journey back across the Drake Passage again provides time to spend out on the decks watching the seabirds and scouting for whales, attending presentations by our Expedition Team or simply relaxing and reminiscing about your experiences.

Day 11: Ushuaia

Meals included: 1 breakfast

We’ll arrive back in Ushuaia in the morning, and this is where our cruise ends. Please do not book flights before 12pm. Transfers: If you are extending your stay please contact Gecko’s or your agent.

More information from Gecko's Grassroots Adventures:

• View trip on provider's website
  www.geckosadventures.com/antarctica…
• Company profile, experience, and history
• View all of their trips