Antarctica, South Georgia & Falkland Islands

You arrive at Buenos Aires via Ezeiza International Airport and take a group transfer to your hotel,  Alvear Palace Hotel or a similar. Often called the "Paris of South America," Buenos Aires blends European elegance with Latin American energy. Explore streets filled with street performers, tango dancers, colorful murals, and bustling markets. Admire the mix of historic and modern architecture, a skyline dotted with ultra-modern buildings, and the vibrant port area. Buenos Aires also has one of the busiest live theatre scenes in the world, with over 300 theatres active on weekends. Founded in 1580 by Juan de Garay, the city reflects a rich cultural history shaped by both Old and New World influences.

You take a group transfer from your hotel to the airport in Buenos Aires. Board the included air charter from Buenos Aires (AEP) to Ushuaia. Upon arrival, transfer from the airport to your ship for embarkation. Known as the southernmost city on Earth, Ushuaia sits along the Beagle Channel and is often called "the end of the world." Colorful houses contrast with snow-capped mountains, including the jagged peaks of Monte Olivia rising 4,530 feet. The surrounding terrain ranges from dense Southern beech forests at sea level to alpine ecosystems above. Ushuaia serves as the gateway to Antarctica and offers opportunities to explore indigenous history, local culture, and nearby natural wonders, including the trails of Tierra del Fuego National Park and exhibits at "The End of the World" museum.

Optional Excursions Available for purchase after booking
Optional Kayak Expedition
Image Masters - Four Day

Spend the next two days at sea as you sail south toward Antarctica. Relax onboard and enjoy the ship’s amenities while observing the changing ocean and sky.

This is no ordinary day— with no fixed itinerary, the day unfolds like a secret whispered by nature herself. Depending on weather, ice conditions and reported wildlife distribution during your voyage, your Expedition Leader will craft a bespoke adventure, guided by tides and instinct for you to discover.

Included Antarctica by Zodiac & Walks Ashore
At the very edge of the world, hop into the Zodiacs with an Expedition team driver-naturalist for a journey like no other. Here, in the vast desolation of Antarctica, you explore among iceberg giants dwarfed by behemoth tidewater glaciers.

Zodiacs provide an astounding vantage point from which to experience this icy wonderland. Seascapes of wild blue, punctuated and pierced by mesmerizing ice forms sculpted by the Southern Ocean, captivate even those most widely traveled. Icebergs drift aimlessly, sheltering seals and penguins from killer whales on the prowl.

Some days may include landings. Whether a strenuous hike up to a glacier viewpoint or a short walk along a beach to admire penguins, the Expedition team guides your steps and your processing of this extraordinary moment. Both ashore and aboard the ship, biologists, geologists, glaciologists, and historians interpret this remarkable continent that teems with the hardiest of life.

Seabourn is a member of IAATO, a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote, and uphold the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. Potential highlights of your visit to Antarctica include:

Ice landscapes: The White Continent is etched and shaped by its abundant glaciers — raw power unleashed within a harsh landscape to soften and burnish its edges. Shades of blue and grey, set against a vast whiteness, create delicate patterns in the snow and ice. Expedition staff guide you ashore to point out the glaciers' activity and their icy footprints.

Penguins: Absurdly comical and utterly serious at the same time, penguins are a delight to watch. They waddle about, busily collecting rocks with which to build their nests. Here, they will lay eggs and raise their ever-hungry chicks. They create actual penguin highways, treading down the snow with their tiny webbed feet. The mission of the moment could be preening, courting, stealing rocks from their neighbor's nest to embellish their own, or even running away from their own chicks in search of a moment of peace — it seems every parent has limits.

Marine mammals: Crabeater or leopard seals rest on ice floes, and Weddell seals sometimes sneak ashore for a snooze on the sand. Watch for minke whales feeding on crustaceans and small fish, humpback and fin whales sifting plankton with their baleen mouths, and killer (orca) whales patrolling in search of unlucky penguins or hapless seal pups perched on the lip of an iceberg. These giants are not afraid of the Zodiacs and can often be sighted at close range.

Seabirds: Pelagic birds, such as petrels and albatrosses, soar merrily overhead in the Drake Passage. Years spent at sea make them happy, and gusty days are their best friend, allowing them to surf air currents and remain effortlessly aloft, through a process called 'dynamic soaring', so that they can watch you and delight in your presence as you do in theirs.

Human endeavors: The history of humans in Antarctica is brief. Research stations belonging to many different countries from all over the globe are manned — sometimes year-round and sometimes seasonally. Catching a view of these provides an interesting perspective on the world of science. Life for station workers can be easy and sociable or harsh and lonely, depending upon the circumstances. A few historic remnants of the whaling era can still be seen — the skeleton of a wooden boat tasked with delivering water to factory ships, mooring chains on the shoreline, or a rudimentary hut stocked for explorers. If you are lucky enough to glimpse these, consider them a last gasp of those who tried to commercialize this unforgiving continent.

Please note: Included Expeditions cannot be booked in advance. The ship's Expedition team will communicate finalized content and departure information. Dress warmly in layers with a windproof and waterproof outer layer; bring a warm hat, gloves and a scarf. Life jackets are provided and must be worn. Wildlife sightings are likely but are not guaranteed.

Spend two more days at sea as you sail from Antarctica toward South Georgia. Relax aboard the Seabourn Pursuit, enjoying the ship’s amenities and panoramic ocean views.

The South Georgia Islands Group, one of the least visited destinations on earth, is a gem in the heart of the sub-Antarctic. Comprising of South Georgia Island and its smaller surrounding islands and rocks, this untouched paradise houses a rich tapestry of wildlife, thriving in a climate that is as harsh as it is beautiful. Despite the presence of ice and snow, these islands are remarkably green, their vegetation a stark contrast to the icy expanses of Antarctica. This is a Lost Eden where nature reigns supreme, teeming with an array of wildlife that includes vast colonies of king and other penguin species, fur and elephant seals, albatrosses, giant petrels, and other seabirds. Offshore, whales, orcas, and dolphins thrive in the nutrient-rich waters, making this the most diverse marine ecosystem on earth.

Your journey through the South Georgia Islands Group is carefully curated by your Expedition Leader based on local conditions and wildlife reports. You'll venture to historic communities like Grytviken, visit the sprawling breeding colony of king penguins on Salisbury Plain, and explore the rarely-visited, lesser-known sites nature allows.

Included South Georgia by Zodiac & Walks Ashore
Remote and forbidding South Georgia, the most rugged of all sub-Antarctic islands, digests the fury of the surrounding stormy seas. The frigid Southern Ocean is the most nutrient-rich on Earth, attracting whales by the thousands, legions of elephant seal, flotillas of fur seals, masses of penguins, and clouds of pelagic birds to both dine at the endless buffet, and to be dined on — a beautiful, brutal world of nature most raw. Leave the ship to explore one or more of the many potential environments on South Georgia with a Zodiac expedition, a ship cruise, a beach landing, or a walk ashore at a wildlife hotspot.

Grytviken: Grytviken, encircled by steep, rugged mountains, is the only settlement on South Georgia. Founded in 1904 as a whaling station, it was once home to 300 souls. Nowadays, Grytviken resembles a ghost town, strewn with a curious range of rusted tanks, oil processing plants, flensing tools, and the skeletons of derelict whaling vessels. The house of the station manager doubles as the South Georgia Museum, while the Lutheran church ages staunchly, standing proud in a field of senescence. Among the white crosses of the cemetery, a monument marks the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton. This failed explorer became an unlikely hero after snatching inconceivable victory from the jaws of crushing defeat. Grytviken has its own post office, which sells rare South Georgia stamps, and across the cove is the British Antarctic Survey scientific station at King Edward Point. Marching across the hinterland, dramatic glacier-covered mountains rise sharply to be crowned by Mount Paget at 6,900 feet (2,935 m).

Wildlife: Amid the vastness of the Southern Ocean, South Georgia is a place of pilgrimage for penguins — a place to feed, to breed, and to rear their young. Hundreds of thousands of king penguins nest on the beaches and flat plains — a mosaic in motion and a chaotic cacophony. Other penguins, along with skuas, petrels, albatrosses, and pipits, roost along its shores. A few million fur seals loll about like puppies, and hundreds of thousands of elephant seals jostle for a snooze-worthy scrap of sand.

Please note: Included Expeditions cannot be booked in advance. The ship's Expedition team will communicate finalized content and departure information. Dress warmly in layers with a windproof and waterproof outer layer; bring a warm hat, gloves and a scarf. Life jackets are provided and must be worn. Wildlife sightings are likely but are not guaranteed.

Spend two days at sea as you sail from South Georgia toward the Falkland Islands. Relax aboard the Seabourn Pursuit and enjoy the ship’s lounges, observation decks, and onboard amenities.

There is nowhere else in the world like the Falkland Islands. This archipelago is a remote, wind-swept place of stunning landscapes, dazzling white sand beaches, magnificent wildlife, and a rather gregarious mix of people. Over 200 islands surround the two main islands of West and East Falkland. These isolated and treeless shores are home to an overwhelming abundance of birdlife: albatross, penguins, caracaras, geese, and many others. Perhaps it was the very remoteness of the islands; the allure of its barren landscapes, pure in their austerity and colorful in their details, and the immensely large open skies that attracted settlers to its shores long ago, the islands have an accumulated a wealth of maritime and military history. More than three hundred shipwrecks litter its shores, while the stark white crosses of both British and Argentine soldiers stand as a silent reminder to the war of 1982. Numerous claims for the islands have been put forward in the course of their history. Nowadays the Falkland Islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory.

Included Falkland Islands Walks Ashore
Join the Expedition team for a Zodiac landing and a walk ashore in potential locations such as West Point Island, Saunders Island, Carcass Island or Steeple Jason to explore the remarkable Falkland Islands. Actual destinations will vary.

West Point Island: On West Point Island, albatrosses have long captured the imagination of sailors, roaming the vast oceans, embracing storms and winds far from the safety of land, so at ease in the vilest sea conditions. In summer, a large colony of black-browed albatrosses forms to breed here, alongside rockhopper penguins residing between the rocky ledges and among the tussock grasses. Fur seals and sea lions congregate in testy proximity on the shoreline, while dolphins zip effortlessly about the small harbor. Lily and Roddy Napier own and operate West Point Island as a traditional sheep farm. Step inside their modest farmhouse for perhaps the most remote cup of tea you will ever enjoy.

Saunders Island: Wild and remote Saunders Island was the site of the earliest British settlement in the Falklands. Port Egmont was founded in 1765, and its small population remains dedicated to traditional sheep farming. Join the Expedition team for a Zodiac landing here, venturing into a remarkable wilderness that offers incredible close-range wildlife encounters. Various penguin species — king, macaroni, gentoo, rockhopper and Magellanic — nest and raise their young despite the presence of elephant seals, black-browed albatrosses, and a whole range of Falkland wildlife. Additionally, five hundred steamer ducks, white-bridled finches, and 22,000 black-browed albatross breed on the island. Dolphins often visit the harbor, while southern right whales are often spotted offshore.

Carcass Island: Named for the 18th-century Infernal-class Royal Navy bomb vessel HMS Carcass, Carcass Island lies to the northwest of the Falkland archipelago. It is a predator-free wildlife haven, whose sandy bays, rocky points, and steep cliffs are home to the endemic Cobb's wren, Gentoo and Magellanic penguins, ruddy-headed geese, and freshwater wildfowl. More than a hundred plant species cloak the island in green. Offshore, pint-sized Commerson's dolphins joyfully race each other through inky waters.

Steeple Jason Island: Steeple Jason boasts some of the most breathtaking landscapes in town — twin pinnacles rising sharply to 1,000 feet, both separated and connected by a low-lying saddle of tussock-covered rock. Highly prized for its abundance of wildlife, Steeple Jason is not easy to reach, but it's worth persevering, as it is home to the largest colony of black-browed albatross in the world. Striated caracaras, skuas, and southern giant petrels make their home here alongside several colonies of Gentoo penguins scattered haphazardly about the island.

Please note: Included Expeditions cannot be booked in advance. The ship's Expedition team will communicate finalized content and departure information. Dress warmly in layers with a windproof and waterproof outer layer; bring a warm hat, gloves and a scarf. Life jackets are provided and must be worn. Wildlife sightings are likely but are not guaranteed.
 

Spend your final day at sea as you sail from the Falkland Islands back toward Ushuaia. Relax aboard the Seabourn Pursuit, enjoy the panoramic ocean views, and reflect on the extraordinary wildlife and landscapes you have explored.

You disembark in Ushuaia and take the included transfer from the ship to the city. Then transfer to the airport and fly on the included Ushuaia air charter to Buenos Aires (EZE). Buenos Aires, often called the "Paris of South America," is a vibrant city known for its mix of European architecture, lively street culture, and rich theatre scene.