Antarctica Cruise - Emperor Penguin Snow Hill Island Safari - Weddell Sea - Ice-Breaker / Helicopter trip Emperor Penguin Rookery, Gentoo and Adelie penguins, set foot on continental Antarctica
14 Days   |   Departures: 10/8/08, 10/20/08, 11/1/08  |   From $11 500

Day 1: Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Ushuaia is a picturesque community with excellent restaurants and intriguing museums. You’ll spend the night at your host hotel, so you’ll have time to explore.

Day 2: Embarkation Day
After boarding in the afternoon, you’ll follow the Beagle Channel into the open waters of the Drake Passage.

Days 3-4: Crossing the Drake Passage
Emperor Penguins will be on your mind while you cross the Drake Passage. By the time you reach the Weddell Sea, you’ll be a well-rounded expert on birds of all kinds. In addition to the biology, habitat and behaviour of Emperors, our ornithologist will make presentations on the pelagic birds that accompany the ship. Your photographer-in-residence will prepare you for the special lighting conditions you will encounter during your visit to the rookery.

Days 5-7: The aristocrats of the Antarctic
Reaching the Snow Hill rookery under the best possible conditions is the goal of the expedition. The Captain and Expedition Leader consult charts, weather bulletins and satellite images to determine where to park the icebreaker for efficient helicopter flights to the rookery.

In 2007, visitors to the rookery saw Emperor chicks, many sitting on the feet of the adult caring for them. Hopefully, you will repeat this unique opportunity! Helicopters will be used to ferry adventurers to a landing site about 2 km (1.2 miles) or more from the rookery. You’ll walk a well marked path through a sculpture garden of towering ice. Adult Emperors tobogganing to the sea to feed have the right of way!

Days 8-11: Discovering the White Continent
While the Emperors are the priority, you will also visit the Antarctic Peninsula. Your exact route will be determined by local conditions.

You plan to sail Iceberg Alley. Use your newly acquired photographic skills to snap pictures of massive tabular icebergs until your camera beeps a warning that the memory is full. While passing through Antarctic Sound, you will see more fantastic ice sculptures from pure white to deep blue. A soulful silence may engulf you, unless a glacier calves or an iceberg over turns--then suddenly, everything is noise and waves.

While visiting the Peninsula, you may explore penguin rookeries under construction. Adélie, Chinstrap, and Gentoo Penguins court, lay eggs, and raise their young during the austral summer. Your voyage takes place at a time when these smaller penguins are selecting nesting sites and choosing partners.

Days 12-14: Recollection and Reflection
On the return to Ushuaia, you’ll be recalling the details of the voyage. These memories will stay with you, as clear and powerful as the day they were formed. The existence of the Emperor Penguin is more than a story of survival and endurance. It is the triumph of life itself.


Notes:

Read this itinerary as a guide only; the exact route and program varies according to ice and weather conditions - and the wildlife you encounter. Flexibility is the key to the success of this expedition.

Mandatory Travel Insurance: Passengers travelling on this expedition are required to be covered by a travel insurance policy that includes emergency evacuation coverage. As this voyage travels to remote regions of the world, we recommend that the policy’s emergency evacuation benefit be higher than minimum.

Included:
One pre-cruise night hotel night with breakfast (The number of guests per room is the same as cabin occupancy on the ship. Due to limited availability, travellers who reserve a suite on board are accommodated in standard rooms at the hotel.); Shipboard accommodation with daily housekeeping; All meals on board throughout voyage (Please inform us of any dietary requirements as far in advance as possible. Unfortunately, the ships’ galleys cannot prepare kosher meals.); All shore landings and Zodiac excursions per the daily program; Formal and informal presentations by Expedition Team and guest speakers; Photographic Journal on DVD; A pair of rubber expedition boots on loan for shore landings. (So you don’t have to pack any.); Hair dryer in every cabin; Expedition parka to keep; 24-hour coffee, tea, cocoa, and bottled water; Comprehensive pre-departure materials; Group transfers from the hotel to the ship at the embarkation port, and from the ship to the local airport on disembarkation – plus all baggage handling aboard ship; All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the program; Polar Arts Program featuring an artist-in-residence who gives presentations and may conduct workshops in digital photography or traditional media (e.g. pastel, watercolour, oils, pens and ink); All helicopter transfers and aerial sightseeing according to each day’s program on the icebreaker.

Not Included:
All airfare; Passport and visa expenses; Government arrival and departure taxes; Any meals ashore with the exception of breakfast at the host hotel before embarkation; Baggage, cancellation and travel insurance (please note that emergency medical insurance is mandatory); Excess baggage charges; laundry, bar, beverage and other personal charges; Telecommunications charges; Customary gratuity at the end of the voyage for stewards and other service personnel (guidelines will be provided); Any possible helicopter flying time in excess of that offered for the group will be charged at an hourly rate to be announced on board.