Title
Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica - Photographic Special
Start – End
Tripcode
OTL21-25
Language
English speaking voyage
Ship
Embarkation / Disembarkation
Puerto Madryn - Ushuaia
Nights / Days
20 nights
All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on ice, weather, and wildlife conditions. Landings are subject to site availabilities, permissions, and environmental concerns per IAATO regulations. Official sailing plans and landing slots are scheduled with IAATO prior to the start of the season, but the expedition leader determines the final plan. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises. The average cruising speed for our vessel is 10.5 knots.
Short description
A cruise to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia & the Antarctic Peninsula. Visit some of the most beautiful arrays of wildlife on Earth. This journey will introduce you to at least 6 species of penguin and a whole lot of Antarctic fur seals!
Photographic special: -
This voyage encompasses some of the most spectacular, wildlife-rich places in the world with magnificent scenery, making it the ultimate photographic adventure. Antarctica and South Georgia are truly other-worldly places that every photographer with a keen interest in wildlife, landscapes and adventure should visit at least once in a lifetime.
This voyage is deliberately timed to be early in the season to ensure pristine snowscapes, soft light and greater chances of breath-taking sunrises and sunsets. Nonetheless, you can expect the weather to be unpredictable and fast changing, but this can result in the most dramatic images if used to your advantage.
In terms of wildlife, we hope to encounter displaying albatrosses, courting and nesting penguins in their several thousands, beaches covered in jostling seals and an array of different whales and dolphins. You may even be lucky enough to see some of the enormous Southern Elephant Seal beachmasters duelling for supremacy in South Georgia. One thing is for sure, the photographic opportunities will be endless.
Days will be long with extended landing times, giving photographers ample time to create their master pieces whilst maximising the best photographic light at either end of the day.
The team will be carefully hand-picked to ensure we have the most competent Zodiac drivers who understand photographers’ requirements, whilst being on hand to give photographic guidance at crucial moments.
During our days at sea, there will be photographic tutorials, image review and editing sessions, alongside the regular programmes of wildlife, geographical and historical lectures to ensure the most rounded insight into these incredible destinations.
This truly is an expedition like no other, perfect for the avid photographer or wildlife enthusiast alike.
Day 1: Sandy Argentine beaches
You embark from Puerto Madryn in the afternoon, your prow aimed for the Falkland Islands. Golfo Nuevo is renowned for its visiting southern right whales, so you have a good chance of spotting one as you sail toward the open ocean.
Day 2 – 3: Sea life, sea birds
Though you’re now at sea, there’s rarely a lonesome moment here. Several species of bird follow the vessel southeast, such as albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters, and diving petrels.
Day 4: Finding the Falklands
The Falkland Islands offer an abundance of wildlife that is easily approachable, though caution is always advised. These islands are largely unknown gems, the site of a 1982 war between the UK and Argentina. Not only do various species of bird live here, but chances are great you’ll see both Peale’s dolphins and Commerson’s dolphins in the surrounding waters.
During this segment of the voyage, you may visit the following sites:
Steeple Jason – Home to the world’s largest black-browed albatross colony (roughly 113,000), Steeple Jason is a wild and rarely visited island buffeted by wind and waves. Weather and swell conditions dictate the journey here.
Carcass Island – Despite its name, this island is pleasantly rodent-free and hence bounteous with birdlife and many endemic species. Anything from breeding Magellanic penguins and gentoos to numerous waders and passerine birds (including Cobb’s wrens and tussock-birds) live here.
Saunders Island – On Saunders Island you can see the black-browed albatross and its sometimes-clumsy landings, along with breeding imperial shags and rockhopper penguins. King penguins, Magellanic penguins, and gentoos are also found here.
Day 5: The seat of Falklands culture
The capital of the Falklands and center of its culture, Port Stanley has some Victorian-era charm: colorful houses, well-tended gardens, and English-style pubs are all to be found here. You can also see several century-old clipper ships nearby, silent witnesses to the hardships of 19th century sailors. The small but interesting museum is also worth a visit, covering the early days of settlement up to the Falklands War. Approximately 2,100 people live in Port Stanley. Admission to the museum is included.
Day 6 – 7: Once more to the sea
En route to South Georgia, you now cross the Antarctic Convergence. The temperature cools considerably within the space of a few hours, and nutritious water rises to the surface of the sea due to colliding water columns. This phenomenon attracts a multitude of seabirds near the ship, including several species of albatross, shearwaters, petrels, prions, and skuas.
Day 8 – 11: South Georgia journey
Today you arrive at the first South Georgia activity site. Please keep in mind that weather conditions in this area can be challenging, largely dictating the program.
Sites you might visit include:
Salisbury Plain, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour – These sites not only house the three largest king penguin colonies in South Georgia, they’re also three of the world’s largest breeding beaches for southern elephant seals. Only during this time of year do they peak in their breeding cycle. Watch the four-ton bulls keep a constant vigil (and occasionally fight) over territories where dozens of females have just given birth or are about to deliver. You can also see a substantial number of Antarctic fur seals here during the breeding season (December – January).
Fortuna Bay – A beautiful outwash plain from Fortuna Glacier is home to a large number of king penguins and seals. Here you may also have the chance to follow the final leg of Shackleton’s route to the abandoned whaling village of Stromness. This path cuts across the mountain pass beyond Shackleton’s Waterfall, and as the terrain is partly swampy, be prepared to cross a few small streams.
Grytviken – In this abandoned whaling station, king penguins walk the streets and elephant seals lie around like they own the place – because they basically do. Here you might be able to see the South Georgia Museum as well as Shackleton’s grave.
In the afternoon of day 11 and depending on the conditions, we will start sailing southwards in the direction of the South Orkney Islands.
Day 12: Southward bound
There may be sea ice on this route, and at the edge of the ice some south polar skuas and snow petrels could join the other seabirds trailing the vessel south.
Day 13: The scenic vistas of South Orkney
Depending on the conditions, you might visit Orcadas Base, an Argentine scientific station on Laurie Island in the South Orkney archipelago. The personnel here will happily show you their facility, where you can enjoy expansive views of the surrounding glaciers. If a visit isn’t possible, you may instead land at Signy Island’s Shingle Cove.
Day 14 - 15: Entering the Antarctic
Enormous icebergs and a fair chance of fin whale sightings ensure there’s never a dull moment on this last sea voyage south. Also, your best chance to spot Antarctic petrels is here. Depending on conditions, we aim to begin activities the afternoon of day 15.
Day 16 – 18: Awe-inspiring Antarctica
If conditions aren’t favorable to enter the Weddell Sea from the east, the ship will set course for Elephant Island and head into the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetland Island's and the Antarctic Peninsula.
The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they nonetheless offer many subtle pleasures. A wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels) live here.
On Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you can find an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels. A number of kelp gulls, brown skuas, south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns can be spotted too. Wilson’s storm petrels and black-bellied storm petrels also nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. As an alternative, you can take part in activities near Telefon Bay, further inside the caldera.
This extended voyage gives you the chance to sail even farther down the icy coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula. There are several opportunities for great landings where you might set foot on the Antarctic Continent, surrounded by an epic landscape of alpine peaks and mammoth glaciers calving at sea level. Gentoo penguins, leopard seals, Weddell seals, humpback whales, and minke whales are often seen here.
Day 19 – 20: Familiar seas, familiar friends
Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.
Day 21: Earth’s southernmost city
You arrive and disembark in Ushuaia, commonly held to be the world’s most southern city. It is located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, nicknamed the “End of the World.” But despite this stopping point, the wealth of memories you’ve made on your Antarctic expedition will travel with you wherever your next adventure lies.
Highlights you might experience
On select voyages, professional photographers will help you get the most out of your personal camera equipment
The capital of the Falkland Islands and a common stop during our voyages in this area
Contrary to what its name may suggest, Carcass Island is a lively place for viewing breeding Magellanic and gentoo penguins
An impressive remnant of early 20th-century whaling, Grytviken is a well-preserved former station abandoned by Norwegian hunters after they had exhausted the local whale population
Known for its colossal king penguin colony, Salisbury Plain is a longstanding favorite in our South Georgia expeditions
Named both for its elephant-head shape and the seals that once populated its shores, this icy-peaked island lies near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula
These hygienic divers are the only penguin species whose population is currently increasing along the Antarctic Peninsula
Second in size only to the emperor penguin, these colorful divers look so different than their own chicks that they were once thought to be a different species
These timid feather-shedders are named after the famed Portuguese explorer whose crew spotted them in 1520
One moment these golden-haired divers are sleeping on the water, the next they can be swimming so fast they launch themselves ashore onto their bellies
Named after the British navigator and sailor James Weddell, these extensively studied seals live farther south than any other mammal
So efficient in the air that their in-flight heart rate barely rises above resting, these sub-Antarctic birds pack a stomach full of oil they can spit at would-be attackers
m/v Ortelius
The ice-strengthened Ortelius is thoroughly outfitted for polar exploration and, when necessary, helicopter flights.
Full ship info »Activities you can participate in
Photo Workshop
Participants with a special interest in photography will bring their personal photo equipment. The workshop must be pre-booked prior to departure.
Cabins & Prices
Quadruple Porthole
- Cabin size between 12,4 m² and 14,1 m²
- 2 portholes
- 2 upper / lower berths
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
57000 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Sharing berth
14250 USD
Share your cabin with others for the best price.
Triple Porthole
- 2 portholes
- 1 upper / lower berth + 1 single lower berth
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
52350 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Sharing berth
17450 USD
Share your cabin with others for the best price.
Twin Porthole
- Cabin size between 11,4 m² and 15,1 m²
- 2 portholes
- 2 lower berths
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
34900 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Single cabin
29665 USD
Price for the complete cabin occupied by 1 person (1.7x the shared rate).
Sharing berth
17450 USD
Share your cabin with others for the best price.
Twin Window
- Cabin size between 17,5 m² and 17,7 m²
- 2 windows
- 2 lower berths
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
36300 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Single cabin
30855 USD
Price for the complete cabin occupied by 1 person (1.7x the shared rate).
Sharing berth
18150 USD
Share your cabin with others for the best price.
Twin Deluxe
- Cabin size 17,7 m²
- 3 windows
- 2 lower berths
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Small sofa
- Refrigerator
- Coffee & tea maker
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
39100 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Single cabin
33235 USD
Price for the complete cabin occupied by 1 person (1.7x the shared rate).
Sharing berth
19550 USD
Share your cabin with others for the best price.
Superior
- Cabin size between 18,4 m² en 20,4 m²
- 2 windows (minimum)
- 1 double bed
- 1 single (sofa) bed
- Private shower & toilet
- Desk & chair
- Flatscreen TV
- Telephone & WiFi (supplemented)
- Refrigerator
- Coffee & tea maker
- Hair dryer
- Safe deposit box
- Ample storage space
Complete cabin
42000 USD
Price for the complete cabin, fully occupied.
Single cabin
35700 USD
Price for the complete cabin occupied by 1 person (1.7x the shared rate).