Linblad Expeditions

Antarctica - the White Continent

Our journey to the “White Continent" offers six days of exploration on the incomparably beautiful Antarctic Peninsula and the surrounding islands and waterways. The sights, sounds and emotions will stay in your mind forever — enormous tabular icebergs, hillsides covered with thousands of penguins and the excitement on deck as someone shouts, “Whales!”

Explore the vibrant capital city of Santiago, round Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, and sail past the islands of Tierra del Fuego. Learn about the Lindblad legacy of exploration in Antarctica as you travel with our experienced expedition staff, which includes an Undersea Specialist. Zodiacs and kayaks further our ability to examine this remote wilderness.

Ship

Detailed Itinerary

Day 2 - Santiago
We arrive in Santiago this morning. With the soaring Andes as a backdrop, Santiago makes a spectacular and welcoming first impression — as does our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Santiago, located in a gracious residential neighborhood. The morning is free for resting up or exploring on your own. Santiago offers an intriguing blend of European, Spanish Colonial and innovative modern architecture. Its sun-mellowed facades and stately palms invite leisure walks. After lunch, join a guided excursion of Santiago, including the Pre-Columbian Museum, the Presidential Palace and historic cathedral area. We’ll head up into the San Cristobal hills for a panoramic city view, sure to inspire photographers. We return to the Hyatt for a relaxing dinner.

Day 3 - Santiago/Ushuaia, Argentina/Embark Ship
The morning's flight offers some fascinating and rare views as we fly over the vividly rugged terrain of Patagonia before landing in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. This windy and desolate outpost is awe inspiring in its starkness. As our luggage is transferred to National Geographic Endeavour, we'll head to the nearby El Restaurante Relincho for a lunch that includes Argentina's traditional barbecue.

Tierra del Fuego National Park at Lapataia Bay is our afternoon destination. Bordering the Beagle Channel, it is home to an array of plants and animals that are rarely seen anywhere else in the world, including the Tierra del Fuego red fox and the chungungo otter. After our walk, return to town and board the National Geographic Endeavour, your seafaring home for the next several days. As you step aboard, surrounded by Ushuaia's soaring mountains, you'll be aware in an exciting way of the fact that you're a long way from home. Settle into your cabin before joining your first dinner onboard. It's time to start our voyage toward Antarctica.

Days 4-5 - At Sea
We leave Ushuaia with Argentina and Chile behind us, and head to the Drake Passage. Lying between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula, the Drake holds a unique place in maritime lore and legend. From the National Geographic Endeavour's bridge, observe expert navigation at work as our skilled Captain and officers sail these historic waters. Sometimes misty and gray, other times calm and clear, crossing the legendary Drake Passage is unforgettable — a milestone in any adventurer's personal travel history.

National Geographic Endeavour's library, gym and guest e-mail station become welcoming haunts. Watching for seabirds on deck in the fresh air, socializing in the Lounge, as well as attending informal lectures given by the naturalists onboard, are among the opportunities that make your time at sea an active and engaging preparation for the adventure ahead.

Days 6-11 - Antarctica
With nearly 24 hours of daylight at this time of year, we are able to luxuriate in our six days exploring the Antarctic Peninsula and its surrounding islands. And what a light it is — ranging from brilliantly blue-skied to the famous "golden hour" light prized by photographers, and the shades of gray, from pearly to pewter.

Our expedition style of travel means that our schedule is completely flexible, adapting to give you the best experience during your time with us. Out there, amid the splendor of the ice, surrounded by penguins and snow-capped mountains, our ship will freely roam in the most spectacular environment on earth. Our expedition team is a veteran one, and their knowledge of Antarctica's waters enables us to take advantage of prime conditions as we find them. Perhaps to explore an inlet this year that was blocked by ice last season, or drop kayaks in a small cove for a more personal, "penguin level" expedition. Sometimes we're even able to take you places where no one has ever been before — places for which our Captain and Ice Master might make a "mud map" that will eventually be published by maritime authorities as a guide for other mariners. We may also be able to enter Lindblad Cove, named in memory of Lars-Eric Lindblad, a pioneer in Antarctic tourism.

Sail through the incomparable Lemaire Channel, also known as Iceberg Alley, where a hush falls over onlookers as bergs of beauty and scale drift by. Cruise in Zodiacs to make landfall on Deception Island, where we'll walk along the beach, in the shadow of high black hills, through the spectral ruins of an abandoned whaling factory which once employed 100 men. And visiting historical places such as Elephant Island, a name known to anyone familiar with the story of Ernest Shackleton, and his legendary feat — bringing every member of his crew safely back home after the wreck of his expedition ship Endurance and a two-year ordeal.

As we voyage, we'll see all the creatures that thrive in this polar habitat. Seabirds — from pintado petrels to albatross with their magnificent wingspans. We may see orcas and minke whales, Weddell seals and fearsome leopard seals. And we will see — penguins. We'll see gentoos, Adélies and chinstraps in unimaginably large numbers, visiting their colonies and observing their antic hunting, gathering and parenting behavior firsthand.

We'll be out daily — experiencing Antarctica with all our senses as we walk, cruise in Zodiacs, and paddle kayaks through berg fields, hearing the "Antarctic seltzer" (gases escaping from dissolving icebergs) around us, the cries of the penguins, and the huge, nurturing silence of this perfectly pristine place.

Day 12 - At Sea
As we sail back to Ushuaia, an albatross or two may join the avian escort of fulmars, petrels and other seabirds that cross our bow in a mesmerizing, balletic display. There'll be plenty of time to enjoy a massage, log some time in the gym, or catch up on the book you haven't had a minute to read. If you did manage to finish it, you'll find hundreds of others to peruse in National Geographic Endeavour's extensive library. During our time at sea, our Expedition Leader and naturalists offer talks and presentations that add depth and dimension to your experiences. And our Undersea Specialist will show rare footage of the seldom-seen creatures that inhabit these icy waters.

Day 13 - Cape Horn
Today, we round Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. This legendary seafaring spot marks the point where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet. Standing on deck, marking our passage through and marveling at this historic, even infamous, locale, the mind plays over what we've seen and where we've been. How comfortably and with what apparent ease we traveled to a place legendary for its hardships and danger. And perhaps, even think: How easy it would be to simply stay put in one's ordinary routine. How enlivening not to do so and to continue to live adventurously — putting oneself in the right place to experience exceptional moments.

Day 14 - Ushuaia/Disembark/Santiago
As we disembark in Ushuaia, a location that mere days ago seemed wild and remote, is now, in contrast to the "farness" of Antarctica, cozily familiar. After our time at sea, our visit to the Maritime Museum in Ushuaia will have a richer context. We then proceed to the airport for the flight to Santiago, and the subsequent overnight flight to Miami.

Day 15 - Miami
Arrive in Miami at sunrise. As we board connecting flights home, we will each carry vivid memories of our adventure.

Cost of This Itinerary

The least expensive cabin costs:
$606 per person per night in low season and
$635 pp pn in high season

The most expensive stateroom costs:
$1018 per person per night in low season and
$1056 pp pn in high season