Our school in Ushuaia offers many touristic activities at a convenient price. Among them, city tour, National Park tour, sea lions watching in yatchs, beavers watching, trekking, montain bike, trekking on glaciers, boat trips through Beagle Channel towards the penguins’ rookery, visit to typical ranches of Patagonia, horse-riding,
canoeing and fishing tours.
SPECIAL PROGRAM: ANTARCTICA (please, write us to request price and dates)
Day 1 – Depart from Ushuaia
In the afternoon. Sailing along the famous Beagle Channel and the scenic Mackinlay Pass.
Days 2 – 3 – Crossing the Drake Passage
As we sail across the passage, our guides will be out with you on deck to help you to identify the amazing variety of seabirds, including many albatrosses. The USHUAIA’s open bridge policy allows you to join our officers on the bridge and learn about navigation, watch for whales, and enjoy the view. A full program of lectures will be offered as well.
The first sightings of icebergs and snow-capped mountains indicate that we have reached the South Shetland Islands, a group of twenty islands. With favorable conditions in the Drake Passage our lecturers and naturalists will accompany you ashore as you experience your first encounter with the penguins and seals on Day 3. If conditions are favourable you will make your first landing either in the afternoon or evening of Day 3.
Days 4 to 8 – Exploring South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula
The South Shetland Islands have penguin rookeries, beaches ruled by Antarctic fur seals and Southern elephant seals which make every day spent in this amazing island group unforgettable. Sailing through the narrow passage into the flooded caldera of Deception Island is truly amazing. King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, features colonies of nesting Adélie and Chinstrap Penguins, Kelp Gulls, Blue-eyed Cormorants, Antarctic Terns and Southern Giant Petrels and is home to scientific bases of many different countries. Macaroni, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins as well as elephant seals await you at Livingston Island. The Antarctic Peninsula’s remarkable history will provide you with a type of excitement often only associated with the early explorers. You will have plenty of time to explore this amazing scenery, a pristine wilderness of snow, ice, mountains and waterways, and an incredible wide variety of wildlife. Apart from penguins and seabirds you are very likely to see Weddell, crabeater and leopard seals as well as Minke, killer (orca) and humpback whales at close range.
We navigate some of the most beautiful waterways (depending on the ice conditions): the Gerlache Strait, the Neumayer Channel, and the Lemaire Channel, the latter are narrow passages between towering rock faces and spectacular glaciers. We plan to make at least two landings per day and possible landing sites may include:
Paradise Bay: is perhaps the most aptly named place in the world and we attempt a landing on the continent proper. After negotiating the iceberg-strewn waters of the Antarctic Sound, we hope to visit the bustling Adélie Penguin (over 100,000 pairs breed here) and Blue-eyed Cormorant colonies on Paulet Island. The Nordenskjöld expedition built a stone survival hut here in 1903. Today its ruins have been taken over by nesting penguins. Further exploration may take you to Melchior Island, Cuverville Island, Portal Point, Neko Harbour, Pléneau Island and if ice conditions permit, to Petermann Island for a visit to the southernmost colony of Gentoo Penguins.
Days 9 – 10 – At sea, crossing the Drake Passage (Northbound)
We leave Antarctica and head north across the Drake Passage. Join our lecturers and naturalists on deck as we search for seabirds and whales and enjoy some final lectures. Take the chance to relax and reflect on the fascinating adventures of the past days on the way back to Ushuaia.
Day 11 – Arrive at Ushuaia
We arrive at the port of Ushuaia in the early morning and disembark in USHUAIA after breakfast.