Expedition Antarctica

Fly overnight from London to Buenos Aires.

On arrival, transfer to the 4-star Hotel Emperador for an overnight stay. This afternoon, enjoy a sightseeing tour of the cosmopolitan capital. With myriad Spanish-era churches, and the stately Plaza de Mayo at its centre, view the Casa Rosada (Government House) and Cabildo (City Hall), and visit the Metropolitan Cathedral, the country’s most revered Catholic church, where Pope Francis presided as Cardinal of Buenos Aires. Continue to the city’s oldest district, characterful San Telmo; and to arty La Boca, where the colourful Comenito is an open-air street gallery for local artists.

Take an early morning flight to Ushuaia, tucked between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel, and transfer to the port to embark on the MS Fridtjof Nansen for your ten-night Antarctic adventure. Meet the Expedition Team for a briefing aboard, and enjoy your first sight of the Tierra del Fuego’s spectacular shoreline, where condors and petrels are seen in the skies.
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The journey starts in the calms of the channel, weaving through the waterways of the Tierra del Fuego. With plenty of time to relax at the spa or bar, maximise your polar experience with a visit to the ship’s on-board Science Centre and talks by the experts on the region’s history, ecological projects, and the impact of climate change and pollution, as you begin your crossing of the mighty Drake Passage.
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The wind and the waves make a dramatic journey across the Drake, which even seasoned sailors consider a challenging achievement, but the polar ship is purpose-built for stability at sea, delivering a smoother ride through the sometimes rollicking conditions, as you cross the Antarctic Convergence where the cold Antarctic clashes with the warmer waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. From this point, wildlife multiplies, with sightings of seals, whales, and seabirds, including the iconic albatross.
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Enter Antarctica for five days of unforgettable exploration. The experienced captain will continually monitor conditions to create the best possible itinerary for the voyage, and the ship’s robust landing-craft can sail safely to shore in uninhabited bays and rocky outcrops, but the order and locations of visits are subject to the vicissitudes of Nature.
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With giant icebergs and looming glaciers, Antarctica is steeped in a silence and stillness, broken only by the wildlife. Marking the start of the earth’s ‘Last Continent’, and exposed to the rage of the Southern Ocean, the first clustered islands here are the South Shetlands archipelago, their rugged rocks providing a haven for seabirds from Giant and Storm Petrels to Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins.
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During your discovery of the frozen continent, each day holds something surprising or thrilling, as you join the Expedition Team for landings and ice-cruises, perhaps with a chance to go kayaking among the icebergs. Among a sprinkling of isolated dots in the ocean, volcanic Deception Island wraps around a circular caldera, with a navigable opening into the sheltered natural harbour of its flooded interior.
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The closer we get to the Antarctic Peninsula, the greater the number and range of wildlife becomes, at sea and on shore. Weddell, fur, and leopard seals are often seen; huge colonies of penguins defend their nests on land, and humpback whales breach among the icebergs of the Gerlache Strait.
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Tracing the ragged shoreline south, orca pods visit the calms of Lemaire Channel, and Petermann Island looks across the narrow strait to the pristine peninsula. The ship sails north today, beginning its return journey to Argentina. 
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Savour the memories of your time in ‘the seventh continent’, and enjoy the on-board facilities as the vessel retraces the Drake Passage journey, northbound toward Ushuaia.
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 Close to journey’s end, pass Cape Horn (aka Isla Hornus), wild, wind-whipped, and desolate, with the lighthouse its only inhabited building, and, on the rocks, a haunting artwork of the albatross in flight, a maritime symbol of the souls of shipwrecked sailors.
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Arrive in Ushuaia this morning, disembark the vessel, and transfer to the airport for the flight to Buenos Aires and a final overnight stay at the 4-star Emperador Hotel. A tour of the city’s La Recoleta district drives past its beautiful parks and up-market avenues to see the Floralis Generica at United Nations Park, and visit the 19th-century cemetery, known for the sculptures, vaults and mausolea of writers, presidents, and national heroes; and continue to up-tempo Palermo, to stroll through the streets of trendy boutiques and bars. This evening, enjoy a Tango class with wine tasting, before a Dinner and Tango Show at Querandi-Tango House.
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Time at leisure until transfer to the airport for your homeward overnight flight.
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Arrival in London.