Land on Antarctica! Your Expedition Leader and Captain will create a flexible itinerary based on weather, ice, and opportunity to include as much of the diversity of the Antarctic Peninsula as possible.
Spend Christmas Eve at Elephant Island, the most notorious island in Antarctic history, where 22 bedraggled members of the Endurance expedition lived under two upturned lifeboats for 135 days. Weather permitting; attempt to land at the historic Cape Wild, now home to chinstrap penguins .
On Christmas Day, wake in the astounding ice field of the Weddell Sea, where the majestic emperor penguin is a likely sighting. Huge tabular icebergs calved from the ice shelves of the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula will challenge the limits of your appreciation for nature.
Continue landings and cruising in the Antarctic Sound. Known as “Iceberg Alley”, the sound is an astonishing assortment of floating ice both large and small as well as a large concentration of Adélie penguins. Visit the Adélies at Brown Bluff or Hope Bay.
Visit Neko Harbor, sheltered Paradise Harbor, the Humpback Whale favored Wilhelmina Bay, the striking Lemaire Channel, the wildlife-filled Penola Channel, or the majestic Neumayer Channel. Stop in an active scientific base, such as Poland’s Arctowksi or Ukraine’s Vernadskiy, as well as an historic base such as U.K.’s Port Lockroy or Wordie House. Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins abound, and Weddell, Crabeater and Elephant Seals are often found hauled out to rest along with the predatory Leopard Seal and the aggressive Antarctic Fur Seal.
Spend New Year’s Eve among the icebergs and bid adieu to Antarctica.
