Linblad Expeditions

Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia

Antarctica is a wild, pristine place with unlimited photographic opportunities. Penguins by the thousands are of course the real stars here. Their comical antics are truly captivating. A visit to South Georgia and the Falkland Islands is the perfect complement for a voyage to Antarctica. The Falklands, whose windswept terrain is reminiscent of Scotland, are a wildlife-rich area with species not seen elsewhere. Visit one of the largest albatross colonies in the world, and see gentoo, rockhopper, and Magellanic penguins.

Ship

Detailed Itinerary

Day 2 - Santiago
We're fortunate to arrive in Santiago in the beautiful light of 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 seeing the city on your own. Santiago is an intriguing blend of European, Spanish Colonial and innovative modern architecture. Its sun-mellowed facades and stately palms invite walking and any stroll will be a photogenic one. The morning is all yours, to do with as you wish. After lunch, we'll have the opportunity to see the city on a panoramic exploration, including city locales such as the Presidential Palace and the historic cathedral area. Later on, as the afternoon sun casts its magic over everything, we'll drive up into the San Cristobal hills for a spectacular view of Santiago that is sure to excite the photographer's instincts — from the novice to the professional. After an interesting afternoon in Santiago, we return to the Hyatt Regency Hotel for a relaxing dinner.

Day 3 - Santiago/Ushuaia, Argentina/Embark Ship
Fly to Ushuaia, where you'll embark National Geographic Endeavour and set sail.

Day 4 - At Sea
Whales beneath you, spectacular birds above you, it's time to gear up for your first day at sea. This is a time to spend hours on the deck or the bridge watching the sky and the sea. The ever-changing light presents endless photographic possibilities. The winds and weather are handled with complete aplomb by National Geographic Endeavour's experienced Captain and crew. Whether you're a veteran of sea voyages or new to the experience, it's always interesting to watch the workings of a small ship making a crossing. During this time at sea, we will cross the Antarctic Convergence where the cold waters of the Antarctic meet the warmer waters of the South Atlantic. From here south, the waters will be the coldest and densest on earth and with biological productivity that is the highest found anywhere.

Days 5-6 - The Falkland Islands
Discover the wildlife-rich Falklands Islands. Visit Port Stanley with its photogenic tin-roofed, Victorian-style houses. See the Anglican Cathedral with its organic archway of whalebones and the Falkland Islands Museum. Visit islands such as Carcass and New and see species you won't find anywhere else in the world.

Day 7 - Port Stanley
See the colorful houses of Port Stanley. Visit the Britannia House Museum and the Cathedral.

Days 8-9 - At Sea

Days 10-13 - South Georgia Island
Once in South Georgia, we are in the heart of the experience you joined this Antarctic expedition for. We're also at the famed location where Ernest Shackleton landed in 1917 after the most famous navigational feat in history — an 800-mile open ocean crossing from Elephant Island in a mere 22-foot boat, the James Caird. Seeking help for his stranded crew, he and two of his men traversed the never-before-crossed Trans-Antarctica mountain range in just 36 hours, reaching the whaling station on the other side of the island. He ultimately saved all 22 men he'd left on Elephant Island.

Famous footsteps are part of the appeal. Teeming wildlife and breathtaking scenery are another part. Soaring cliffs filled with bird life are the dramatic vista that greets our ship. And hundreds of young Antarctic fur seals are on hand to greet our Zodiacs as we make landfall. At St. Andrew's Bay, you may come upon 100,000 king penguins with their yellow-crested heads. Picture white, black, steel blue and orange bodies covering every inch of an enormous beach. Some of our guests find that the only way to photograph the enormity of this scene is to hike up onto a hill, looking down on the multitude of penguins. Look closely for a reindeer or two. Sometimes they graze among the penguins. Dramatic skies abound on this island rife with wildlife and rich in seafaring history.

Days 14-15 - At Sea
Voyaging south, you'll see icebergs in the long slow process of melting, as they head north from Antarctica. Some measure up to a mile long as they pass by in all shapes and sizes. From your spot onboard, you'll feel like you're visiting an ever-changing museum of ice sculptures. Photographers head for the bridge or assume their spot at the deck rail, as one spectacular shot after another composes itself before us. 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. Each day we're at sea, our Expedition Leader and naturalists offer talks and presentations that add depth and dimension to your experiences, helping you to make the kind of connections that will make this experience as meaningful as it is extraordinary.

Day 16 - South Orkney Islands
Since they're so isolated and often icebound, the South Orkneys are rarely visited. As we enter the vicinity, the shapes and shades of ice are endless. Although it is such a cold and frozen world, the wildlife is surprisingly abundant. Penguins float by on icebergs. Leopard seals pass by, as well. Snow petrels and pintado petrels make the skies come alive as they weave through the sky, seemingly curious about our shipboard activities. Seabirds such as sheathbills fly alongside our ship for extended periods of time, allowing us to get a special, longer view. While we're out exploring on the Zodiacs, seabirds actually land on our boats, finally coming to rest on the floating ice. The knowledge of our leaders make these islands once known as the "Inaccessible Islands," accessible to us. In their capable hands, we are able to experience the South Orkneys' remote and rugged beauty.

Day 17 - At Sea

Days 18-21 - Antarctica
With nearly 24 hours of daylight at this time of year, we are able to turn our four days here into what feels like much more, as we explore the Antarctic Peninsula and the surrounding islands. The many hours of light and its unique qualities are especially intriguing to the photographers on board. 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, you'll only ever see here in Antarctica.

Our expedition style of travel means that our schedule is completely flexible. Out there, alone, amid the splendor of the ice, surrounded by penguins and distant black snow-capped mountains, our ship will freely roam in the most spectacular, magnificently uncluttered 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 honor of Lars-Eric Lindblad, a pioneer in Antarctic tourism, depending on where the ice is this season.

We'll see the famous Antarctica sights — sailing at a majestic pace through the incomparable Lemaire Channel, also known as Iceberg Alley, where bergs of such beauty and scale drift by that a cathedral-like hush falls over everyone as we watch from the deck. Cruising through the bergy bits 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 in the days when whale hunting was an industry. Our earlier visit to South Georgia and the gravesite of Sir Ernest Shackleton comes alive when we visit Elephant Island, where after giving the order to abandon the expedition ship Endurance, Shackleton and his crew drifted by lifeboat and landed in 1916. From here, Shackleton and five others set off in one of the lifeboats to South Georgia in search of rescue, ultimately bringing every member of his crew safely back home after a two-year ordeal.

As we voyage, we'll see all the creatures that inhabit this austral world. Seabirds of all stripes — from pintado petrels to albatross with their magnificent wingspans. We may see orcas and minke whales, Weddell seals and fearsome leopard seals, that prey on penguins. And we will definitely see what so many yearn to — penguins. We'll see gentoos, Adιlies and chinstraps in unimaginably large numbers, visiting their colonies and observing their antic hunting, gathering and parenting behavior firsthand — and up-close.

We'll be out with our cameras daily — experiencing Antarctica with all our senses as we walk, cruise in Zodiacs, and paddle our kayaks through the 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.

Days 22-23 - At Sea
These days at sea will give us a chance to relax and reflect on all we've seen and done before our farewell cocktail party and dinner. Catch up on writing in your log, head to the library to curl up and finish your book. Visit the Bridge to watch for marine life and listen to talks from our staff.

Day 24 - Ushuaia, Argentina/Disembark/Santiago
We disembark in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. This windy and desolate outpost is awe inspiring in its starkness, but in contrast to the "far-ness" of Antarctica, is cozy and comfortable. After spending so much time at sea, our visit to the Maritime Museum in Ushuaia will have a richer context. After exploring the city, we board our exclusively chartered Lan Chile flight to Santiago, and the subsequent overnight flight to Miami.

Day 25 - Arrive Miami
You'll land in Miami at sunrise, feeling inevitably that you are, as some guests describe it, re-entering the world. As we board our respective connecting flights home, we will each in our own way carry the contrast between what we see here and now, and what we saw and didn't see there - in Antarctica.

Cost of This Itinerary

The least expensive cabin costs:
$625 per person per night

The most expensive stateroom costs:
$1115 per person per night