During the crossing of the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands you will enjoy onboard lectures about Antarctica - its history, environment, and wildlife.

Of course weather conditions will determine the exact programs and schedules of your Antarctica cruise. The "White Continent" is more than half the size of North America, a land of endless wilderness and unending tour possibilities. You might experience any of the following:

• Deception Island, a flooded volcanic caldera in the South Shetland Islands that's home to Whaler's Bay, an abandoned whaling station and former U.K. base.
• Cuverville Island, with the largest known colony of Gentoos in Antarctica.
• Neko Harbour, a favorite Minke whale feeding ground.
• Paradise Harbour, named for its beauty and home to Gentoos and Chinstraps as well as Argentine and Chilean bases.
• Lemaire Channel, considered one of the most beautiful passages in Antarctica-with Humpback and Killer whales, Elephant seals and all types of penguins.
• Petermann Island, favored by the southernmost Gentoo colony as well as Blue-eyed shags (Imperial cormorants) and Adelie penguins.
• Port Lockroy—where you can visit a museum run by the Antarctic Heritage Trust and mail postcards stamped and canceled with rare Antarctic stamps and frank.
• Wilhelmina Bay, scenic resting place of Norwegian whaling ship Guvernoren, which ran aground and burned here in 1915.
• The 30-mile-long Antarctic Sound—dubbed "Iceberg Alley," it's a startling assortment of floating ice, including mile-long tabular icebergs.
• Brown Bluff, a 2,450-foot-high cliff at the tip of the peninsula that draws Adelie and Gentoo penguins, Kelp gulls and Weddell seals.

Bow pointed north you cross the 500-mile-plus Drake Passage back to Ushuaia. During this time, enjoy more captivating lectures that recap your Antarctic tour experience.

Arriving back at South America's southernmost point, you begin a four-day exploration of this rarely visited, but rich, region. The magnificent Chilean fjords and their mighty glaciers are unvisited by all but a few expedition vessels. Safety and weather will determine the final program and schedule of your Chilean fjords expedition, but highlights should include the following:

• Diego Ramirez, a collection of islands once thought to be the southernmost landmass in the world and an important nesting site for Black-browed Albatross, Shy Albatross, Grey-headed Albatross, Rockhopper Penguin, Southern Giant-Petrel, and other seabirds. 
• Cape Horn, the desolate, southernmost point in mainland South America (at nearly 56° South), where—weather permitting—we will attempt the sometimes hazardous landing.
• Puerto Williams, a picturesque island town of 2,400 named for a Chilean admiral.
• The Beagle Channel was named for the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried 19th century British biologist Charles Darwin on his famous voyage of discovery. The channel is 149 miles long and about three miles wide at its narrowest point.
• The 347-mile-long Magellan Strait, named for the Portuguese seafarer who found it, is of permanent significance for navigation between the oceans and for domestic maritime communication between Chile and Argentina.
• In the strait, we'll find Magdalena Island, a nature reserve and one of Chile's most important Magellanic penguin breeding sites.
• You'll also call at Punta Arenas, a charming and historical center of trade, seafaring and culture, that's home to more than 130,000 inhabitants.

After breakfast you will disembark at Ushuaia where this amazing Chilean fjords and Antarctica cruise will end. Transfer for flight to Buenos Aires where you will enjoy a day at leisure.

Voyage price includes 1 night hotel pre and post cruise as well as a roundtrip charter flight Buenos Aires - Ushuaia.

15-day Chilean Fjords & Antarctica: Nov 19 and Dec 3, 2010

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