Active Antarctica: Adventure Tourism
on the M/V Greg Mortimer or Sylvia Earle

15 days - 14 nights

Day 1 - Ushuaia

Pickup at the Ushuaia airport and transfer to your hotel. On this day, you must collect your luggage tags at the hotel assigned by the cruise line and confirm whether you wish to take the Escondido Lake tour tomorrow. A cruise line representative will provide embarkation details. The remainder of your time is free. All meals today are at your own expense.

Day 2 - Embarkation

This morning, enjoy breakfast and checkout. Please ensure your carry-on luggage is equipped with cabin tags clearly labeled with your name and cabin number. Please bring your carry-on luggage to the hotel reception, either before or at checkout. Your luggage will be stored and transferred directly to the port for clearance, to be placed in your cabin prior to your arrival onboard. Please keep your valuables or personal items with you throughout the day. Those wishing to join our Escondido Lake tour today, please meet in the hotel lobby at 8:45 am. This tour offers an unforgettable scenic drive through great glacial valleys, evergreen and deciduous forests, waterfalls, and rivers, in the immensity of the Andes Mountains. We will depart from the city of Ushuaia toward the northeast of Tierra del Fuego, driving through peat bog valleys to reach the Garibaldi Pass, only accessible by a winding road that will take us to a panoramic point. From here, we will have incredible panoramic views of Escondido Lake and, weather permitting, Fagnano Lake. We will begin our northeast descent to reach the shores of Fagnano Lake, where we will visit a local estancia. After appreciating the scenery, you'll have the opportunity to enjoy a typical Fuegian lamb roast. Enjoy free time there before returning to Ushuaia for embarkation. Alternatively, enjoy your day at leisure and meet in your hotel lobby or at the meeting point in the parking lot near the pier (our ground staff will provide details at the hotel) to be transferred to the pier for embarkation. Once onboard, you'll have time to settle into your cabin before our important mandatory briefings. As the ship pulls away from the port, we'll gather on deck to begin our adventure with spectacular views of Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego. Tonight, meet your fellow expedition members and the friendly expedition team and crew at a welcome dinner to celebrate the beginning of an exciting adventure in Antarctica.

Day 3 to 4 - Crossing the Drake Passage

As we begin our journey through the Drake Passage, we make the most of our time getting used to the movements of the sea. Our expedition team prepares you for our first landing with important wildlife guidelines and biosecurity procedures, and our lecture program begins to help you learn more about Antarctica's history, wildlife, and environment. Our wildlife experiences begin as we enjoy observing and photographing the many seabirds, including the majestic albatrosses and giant petrels that follow our ship. On days at sea, you can enjoy the ship's onboard facilities, including the gym, sauna, and whirlpools, or relax in one of the observation lounges. As we approach the South Shetland Islands and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on the afternoon of day four, the excitement is palpable as everyone converges on one of the viewing platforms to observe our first iceberg. The ocean takes on a whole new perspective once we are below the Antarctic Convergence and are surrounded by the surreal presence of floating ice sculptures. The memory of your first sighting of a large iceberg is likely to stay with you for a lifetime. Time and weather permitting, we may attempt our first landing in Antarctica in the late afternoon. We will be advised that we will wait until 12:00 on the day of landing in case of delays.

Days 5 to 12 - Antarctic Peninsula

It's almost impossible to describe the feeling of arriving in Antarctica. Seeing your first iceberg and taking a deep breath of the purest, freshest air on Earth is an experience that will stay with you forever. The Antarctic Peninsula is a metropolis teeming with wildlife in late spring, but despite the hectic pace of life for the locals, you'll have plenty of time to immerse yourself in the wonders of your surroundings. Over the next eight days, you'll grow accustomed to the natural rhythms of life on the Antarctic Peninsula. With additional time to explore, we plan to show you our favorite spots along the peninsula and possibly discover new future favorites along the way.

Once we arrive, the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands will be open to exploration, and we have a wide variety of options available. Because we're so far south, we'll enjoy approximately 18 to 24 hours of sunlight, and the days can be as busy as you'd like. The experienced expedition team, who have made countless trips to this area, will use their expertise to design your trip day by day, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, ice conditions, and wildlife opportunities.

We generally make landings or Zodiac excursions twice daily. We recommend wrapping up warmly before joining Zodiac cruises around spectacular ice cliffs or among stranded icebergs, paying special attention to whales, seals, and penguin porpoises. Zodiacs will also take you from the ship to land, where you can visit penguin colonies, discover historic huts, and explore some of our favorite spots along the peninsula. While on land, our goal is to stretch our legs, strolling along pebble beaches or perhaps snow-covered ridges to viewpoints with mountains towering overhead and ice-flecked oceans below. If you've chosen an optional activity, you'll have the option to participate whenever conditions permit, and of course, polar diving enthusiasts will have the chance to fully immerse themselves in polar waters—conditions permitting! The polar plunge can take place at any time during the voyage, so be on the lookout for the expedition team's announcement and prepare for the most exciting dip of your life.

In addition to Zodiac cruises and shore excursions, we can sail by boat through some of the narrow, spectacular straits that separate the islands from the mainland, or stop in picturesque bays to marvel at sculptural icebergs and photograph spectacular landscapes. This is a great time to enjoy the observation lounge or head to the bridge (open at the captain's discretion) for uninterrupted views of Antarctica in all its splendor. Hear the creaking and deep rumble of glaciers as they calve into the sea. Take a quiet moment to experience the wonder of the pristine paradise of the splendid white continent.

Day 13 to 14 - Heading north to the Drake Passage

Enjoy a final morning landing in the South Shetland Islands before re-entering the Drake Passage for our return journey to South America. With lectures and film screenings to round out our Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of the Southern Ocean and the life that inhabits it. There is time for reflection and discussion about what we have seen and experienced. We hope you'll become ambassadors for Antarctica and tell your family, friends, and colleagues about your trip to this magical place, advocating for its conservation and preservation so that they can one day visit the region and experience what you've been fortunate enough to see and do here. As we approach the tip of South America, our captain may sail near the legendary Cape Horn, weather permitting.

Day 15 - Ushuaia

During the early morning, we will sail through the Beagle Channel before arriving leisurely at the Ushuaia pier, where we will disembark around 8:00 a.m. We will bid farewell to your expedition team and fellow travelers as we continue our journey, hopefully with a renewed sense of the immense power of nature. Upon disembarkation, for those continuing their travels in the region, hotel transportation will be arranged exclusively for guests who have booked their accommodations through Aurora or for those staying in downtown areas near the port. Expedition members departing on flights before 12:30 p.m. will be transferred directly to the Ushuaia airport; those with flights after 12:30 p.m. You'll have the opportunity to explore Ushuaia before an afternoon transfer to the airport. Transfer procedures and details will be communicated onboard prior to disembarkation. At the end of your trip, we don't recommend booking flights departing Ushuaia before 12:00 p.m. on the day of disembarkation in case of delays.