The Great Southern Expedition—Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula

Boarding in the afternoon from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, on the banks of the Río de la Plata.

We’ll make the most of our days at sea to observe marine wildlife: albatrosses, puffins, and petrels follow in our wake, while dolphins and whales are a regular sight in these waters. This will be a unique opportunity to attend lectures on our major stops, featuring landscapes, history, and wildlife.

We are in the Falkland Islands, in the strait that separates this archipelago of 750 islands, home to just 3,000 people and 550,000 sheep. Lost in the middle of the ocean, these islands with coastlines carved by fjords are a birdwatcher’s paradise. At Grave Cove and West Point, we’ll visit colonies of Gentoo penguins. Albatrosses and rockhopper penguins are also sure to be there.

Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, began as a whaling port and later became a vital stopover on the route around Cape Horn; the docks and promenades still bear witness to that era through the many shipwrecks still visible in the channel that runs alongside the city. Squid fishing, the military presence, and livestock farming are the pillars of the economy, along with tourism, as approximately 60,000 people visit this natural gem each year. This city was at the center of the Falklands War. We’ll set sail in the afternoon toward South Georgia, leaving the coastline of this much-coveted archipelago behind us.

We’re heading into the coldest and most abundant waters—a chance to identify the shearwaters, prions, checkerboard petrels, albatrosses, and gulls on deck, and to prepare for the action-packed days ahead in South Georgia.

In addition to its fascinating history—from whaling to the epic exploits of Sir Ernest Shackleton—South Georgia is best known as an extraordinary resting and breeding ground for wildlife: it is the world’s richest sanctuary, home to 2 million elephant seals (50% of the global population), 30 million seabirds—including 7 million penguins and 250,000 pairs of albatrosses…Cruises typically spend 2 to 4 days there, but we’ve chosen to treat you to a 5-day stay, exploring the bays, fjords, and coves where wildlife is sometimes so abundant that it’s impossible to set foot ashore. We plan to go ashore at Right Whale Bay, Salisbury Plain, Gold Harbor, Elsehul…

This will give us a wonderful view of the landscapes and wildlife; elephant seals, reindeer, and above all, the vast colonies of king penguins will welcome us. In Fortuna Bay, we’ll follow in the footsteps of the famous explorer Ernest Shackleton, whose epic journey became legendary, as he saved his expedition in the early 20th century by traveling from the Antarctic Peninsula to South Georgia, which he had to cross by traversing mountains and glaciers before landing at Grytviken; he later died and was buried on the island. In Grytviken, the island’s “capital,” we’ll visit the former Norwegian whaling station, the small museum, the post office, and Shackleton’s old grave.

We’ll see many sea lions again and witness the spectacular courtship displays of the great albatrosses, true giants among seabirds. Salisbury Plain is home to a colony of 37,000 king penguins set against an extraordinary backdrop of peaks and glaciers. On the beaches, elephant seals and sea lions lounge in the sun. We’ll sail through the Drygalski Fjord region and see our first icebergs.

South Georgia is renowned for its wildlife, which we’ll discover as we explore its beaches and bays: various species of albatrosses, puffins, and petrels; fur seals; elephant seals; seals; rockhopper penguins; and various other penguin species... South Georgia offers us splendid landscapes of glaciers clinging to alpine peaks and bays whose beaches are teeming with penguins, fur seals, and elephant seals...

After a few busy days filled with lectures and observations at sea—these marine areas are so rich in prions, petrels, and albatrosses—we’ll also be introduced to the Sandwich Islands, among the most isolated in the world. We’ll make our way toward the Antarctic continent, passing through the convergence zone where cold and more temperate waters meet; that’s when we’ll see our first giant, tabular icebergs, having broken away from the ice shelves of the Weddell Sea. Sea ice will also begin to appear near the Joinville Islands and the northern part of the Peninsula, toward the Weddell Sea. It was in the Weddell Sea that a colony of emperor penguins was discovered about 15 years ago. At this time of year, these winter breeders have their chicks and are spreading out across the pack ice, where we’ll try to spot them.

We are in the South Shetland Islands, surrounded by white, ice-bound landscapes, with stranded icebergs and waters teeming with Gentoo, Chinstrap, and Adélie penguins; landings and Zodiac cruises throughout the archipelago and on the Antarctic mainland at Brown Bluff.

Deception Island is home to one of the very few volcanic craters in the world that can be navigated by boat. At Bailey Head, there is a colony of hundreds of thousands of chinstrap penguins, while Cape guillemots, petrels, gulls, and other seabirds are also abundant. For the more adventurous, a swim near the hot springs offers a chance to experience the waters of Antarctica. We will, of course, visit the remains of this whaling station, located inside a still-active crater, whose eruptions devastated the Norwegian station.

We’ll be out on the decks to watch the whales arriving in Antarctica and the birds of the open oceans: giant petrels, screaming albatrosses…

It will be in the evening that we’ll catch our first glimpse of Cape Horn to the west, before arriving late in the evening at the entrance to the Beagle Channel: a chance to encounter Commerson’s dolphins, Magellanic penguins, and black-browed albatrosses…

Arrival at the port of Ushuaia during the night, followed by a transfer and return flights to Buenos Aires and Paris.