Day 15
We arrived in Ushuaia in the morning and disembarked the ship after a last breakfast. Time to say goodbye...
Day 14
All voyage long the Drake Passage has been very gentle with us. Sun and clouds changing throughout the day we enjoyed the last art sessions, science and general recaps and some more workshops and lectures today, before the captain gave his farewell speech. In the afternoon we were lucky enough to wa...
Day 13
An early morning arrival for which it was definitely worth it getting out of bed. Landing on a beach next to an old shipwreck and a little, well-maintained museum, this island serves as nature reserve. Walking across the island we arrived at cliffs hosting uncountable birds: imperial shags, black br...
Day 12
Trying to land with one zodiac on Saunders Island turned out not to be a feasible option, given the wind and swell we encountered. We therefore continued sailing towards West Point, a more sheltered place, inhabited by two very friendly sheep farmers. A longer hike led us to a rocky cliff which serv...
Day 11
The friendly capital of the Falkland Islands welcomed us with lots of wind. When taking part in the community walks along the main street of Stanley, we learned a lot about history and life at this remote place. Some Upland geese were grazing along the way while we walked along the cathedral with it...
Day 10
Another sea day on the Drake Passage packed with onboard program. A few sea birds were flying around the ship like the snowy albatross, while the expedition team was preparing us for our arrival at the Falkland islands. We learned about the history of the Falklands and about its vegetation, its bird...
Day 9
A "Drake Lake" awaited us, allowing us to sail gently through the waters of this often turbulent ocean. Many seabirds, including different kinds of albatrosses, as well as whales were sighted during the morning. A diverse onboard program kept everyone interested busy, ranging from lectures to art se...
Day 8
Making our way further North we arrived at Whalers Bay on Deception Island in the very early morning, one of the islands of the South Shetland Islands. The special feature: Deception Island is still an active volcano today, its crater being filled with sea water allowing us to sail into it. A former...
Day 7
The overnight campers were picked up from their beautiful campsite at Kerr Point (Ronge Island) in the early morning. While sailing along with a wonderful sunrise and mirror-like waters, icebergs were passing by as well as wildlife (many birds, seals, humpback whales and many penguins jumping throug...
Day 6
We spent the morning ship cruising in Paradise Bay before we reached our destination Orne Harbour. Orne was the only time this trip where we set foot on the Antarctic mainland. Already upon arrival (and thereafter), many humpback whales were greeting us closeup in the bay. We were quiet and listened...
Day 5
In the morning we stopped shortly at Palmer station (a U.S. research station) in order to help them exchange their station leaders (we would give them a transport in between their station and Ushuaia). When we arrived at Damoy Point, we were lucky to visit the British Damoy hut with its interior des...
Day 4
We arrived at the Antarctic Peninsula! More and more icebergs showing up, some whales in the distance, until we sailed through parts of the amazing Lemaire Channel, in which we turned the ship around to head back towards Port Charcot. At Port Charcot, we started cruising around icebergs and landing...
Day 3
Another calm day on the Drake Passage. Several sea birds crossing our way. Lots of onboard activities were preparing us for our arrival in Antarctica.
Day 2
A day on the Drake passage - sailors would have called it "Drake Lake" as it was really calm compared to many other days where the Drake is rather shaking the ships through its waves. The nearest land being Cape Horn, still far away out of sight and lots of water underneath the ship (at noon it was...
Day 1
Arriving in Ushuaia on a beautiful, calm day, we started off our voyage through the Beagle channel. Some Magellanic penguins were swimming close to the ship and many other sea birds like albatrosses were greeting the ship or kept drifting along on the water.