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NEW Trip – Ladakh Mountain Biking AdventureView Trip Details

11 Days$8650USD

Activities
  • 10 days cruising plus optional kayaking and camping
Accommodation
  • 10 Nights aboard Plancius
Meals
  • 10 Dinners
  • 9 Lunches
  • 10 Breakfasts
1
Discovery and Cruising
 
 

Trip highlights


  • The most wildlife-rich part of Antarctica - penguins, whales, seals, sea birds
  • Narrow sheltered waterways and fjords
  • Spectacular mountains rising directly out of the sea
  • Icebergs and active glaciers
  • Historic sites
  • Active scientific stations
  • Great variety of terrain over short distances
  • Optional kayaking and camping

This expedition offers you the ideal introduction to the Great White continent. Albatross and petrels will escort us across the Drake Passage until we spot our first huge icebergs and we eagerly anticipate land. Our planned landing on King George Island will give us our first taste of Antarctica before continuing onto the Peninsula via the Bransfield and Gerlache Straits and Neko Bay. As we head further south the magnificence of the natural beauty of Antarctica is truly breathtaking. Besides the magnificent scenery you can expect to see a wide variety of wildlife including seals, whales and an abundance of penguin and other birdlife. The journey is not only focussed on wildlife; after cruising through the Neumayer Channel, we hope to have a chance to visit Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. Once a British research station, it now houses a fascinating museum and also serves as the world's most southerly post office, certainly a unique place from which to send a postcard! Our journey is rounded off with a dramatic entry via Neptune's Bellows to the bay at Deception Island, a place which has no equal anywhere in the world. The ring-shaped island is in fact the top of a volcano, a caldera. Imagine walking straight into a wildlife documentary and you could well be on Deception Island amongst a teeming colony of hundreds of thousands of Chinstrap Penguins.

Trip Code: ODW

In the afternoon we embark from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. The voyage will depart through the Beagle Channel and sail through this scenic waterway for the rest of the evening.

Meals:  D

During these two days we sail across the Drake Passage. When we cross the Antarctic Convergence, we arrive in the circum-Antarctic up welling zone. In this area we may see Wandering Albatrosses, Grey Headed Albatrosses, Black- browed Albatrosses, Light- mantled Sooty Albatrosses, Cape Pigeons, Southern Fulmars, Wilson’s Storm Petrels, Blue Petrels and Antarctic Petrels. Near the South Shetland Islands, we spot our first icebergs.

Meals:  B,L,D

Gray stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between Brabant and Anvers Islands. Sites you may visit include: Danco Island – Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found nearby. Neko Harbour – An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks. Paradise Bay – You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales. Port Lockroy – After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit the former British research station – now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point, meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags. There are great opportunities also for kayaking and camping in this area, and when conditions are right, you can even snowshoe around the shore and to the old ski-way at nearby Damoy Point.

Meals:  B,L,D

The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels). In Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels – along with kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns. A good hike is a possibility in this fascinating and desolate volcanic landscape. As an alternative, you may be able to engage in activities near Half Moon Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research station. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Meals:  B,L,D

In the Drake Passage we have again a chance of seeing many seabirds and to take advantage of the knowledge of our lecture team.

Meals:  B,L,D

We arrive in the morning in Ushuaia and disembark.

Meals:  B


Inclusions

  • 10 breakfasts, 9 lunches and 10 dinners
  • specialist expedition staff
  • comfortable cabin accommodation on cruise
  • all activities while on cruise including zodiac excursions, lectures, videos, slide and film shows and guide services
  • use of all ship facilities and public areas
  • medical services (there is a resident medical officer and infirmary on board)
  • port taxes and port charges imposed by government authorities
  • pre-scheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia (directly after disembarkation).
  • pre-departure information

  • air transport and transfers before and after the cruises (except for prescheduled group transfer from the vessel to the airport in Ushuaia, directly after disembarkation).
  • passport and vaccination charges, reciprocity fees and airport departure taxes
  • bottled water, aerated and alcoholic drinks
  • laundry, postage, personal clothing, medical expenses, travel insurance and items of a personal nature such as bar charges, wine and phone calls
  • customary end of voyage tips and gratuities
  • accommodation and meals or other services not included in the ship cruise itinerary
  • emergency evacuation charges

Cabins


Departure dates


Notes

CP
Camp
K
Kayak
1
Snowshoeing and Photography workshops are free of charge on this voyage

Priceper person from

$8650USD

Options & Supplements*
  • Twin Private with PortholeUSD$10700
  • Twin Private with WindowUSD$11150
  • Twin DeluxeUSD$11800
  • SuperiorUSD$12650
  • CampingUSD$225
  • Kayaking OptionUSD$560
*Prices listed are per person

Essential Information

Ready to book? Make sure you download and read the detailed Antarctic Peninsula Adventure on Plancius trip notes which contains all the essential information you need to know before booking. Once you’ve booked, we will supply you with a Pre-Departure document which contains a detailed gear list and other important information to help you prepare for your adventure ahead.


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Why travel with us

Award Winning Adventures

Enhancing your journey with authentic experiences, genuine cultural exchange and real exploration are the focal points on all of our adventures. In 2019, we were crowned by our peers as the best in adventure travel at The Travel Awards in Sydney.

Thoughtful Travel

Our vision is to leave the world a better place by following our sustainable active outdoor travel charter. All our adventures are 100% carbon offset and our Regenerative 2030 Project aims to integrate ‘regenerative’ projects into every one of our global operations by 2030.

Ultimate Value

 When you book one of our adventures, you will receive quality services at the best prices with plenty of inclusions. There are no hidden costs, single travellers don’t pay more and you’ll enjoy many ‘extra touches’ that ensure your holiday is excellent value for money.

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Antarctic Peninsula | World Expeditions

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