ANTARCTICA EXPEDITION - AWE-INSPIRING BEAUTY

18 Night Cruise sailing from Ushuaia roundtrip aboard Plancius.

M/v "Plancius" will be comfortable and nicely decorated, but is not a luxurious vessel. Our voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic regions are and will still be primarily defined by an
exploratory educational travel programme, spendingas much time ashore as possible. This vessel will fully meet our demands to achieve this.

M/v "Plancius" is manned by 30 international crew members (inc. 10 stewardesses/cabin cleaners), 6 hotel staff (4 chefs, 1 purser and 1 steward-barman), 6 expedition staff (1
expedition leader and 5 guides-lecturers) and 1 doctor.

Note: All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice and weather conditions and in order to take advantage of opportunities to see wildlife.
Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises.

Cruise Itinerary:

Day 1
In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world located in the shadow of the Andes and right at the Beagle Channel shore. We'll sail through this scenic waterway during the
afternoon .

Day 2
At sea, in the wester lies the ship is followed by several species of albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters and diving petrels.

Day 3
A typical itinerary in the Falklands - South Georgia, and Antarctic Peninsula could be as follows. This is a sample only, the final itinerary will be determined by the Expedition Leader on board.

In the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) we plan to spend the whole day on the fascinating western side of the archipelago. A hike along the shore of Carcass Island will give us instead views of Magellanic and Gentoo-Penguins, as well as close encounters with water fowl and Night herons. In addition, on Saunders we will be able to observe Rockhopper Penguins, Blackbrowed Albatrosses and King Cormorants.

Day 4
In Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, we can experience Falkland culture, which has some South- American
characteristics as well as Victorian charm. In Stanley and surrounding area we can see a quite important number of stranded clippers from a century ago.

Day 5 & 6
At sea, on our way to South Georgia we will cross the Antarctic Convergence. Entering Antarctic waters, the
temperature will drop as much as 10 degrees C in the time span of only a few hours. Near the Convergence we will
see a multitude of southern seabirds near the ship; several species of Albatrosses, Shearwaters, Petrels, Prions
and Skuas.

Day 7 - 10
In South Georgia we shall visit the bay of Elsehul, with it´s very active fur seal breeding beach, and then take course to Right Whale Bay, Salisbury Plain, Gold Harbour and Cooper Bay to give you a good opportunity to see a wide
spectrum of landscapes and wildlife, like the introduced Reindeer, Elephant seals, King and Macaroni Penguins. At
Fortuna Bay we might try to follow in the footsteps of the great British Explorer Ernest Shackleton and hike over to
Stømness Bay. There and at Grytviken we'll see and abandoned whaling village, where King Penguins now walk in
the streets and seals have taken over the buildings. At Grytviken we´ll also offer a visit to the Whaling History
Museum as well as to Shackleton´s grave near by. One of the highlights might be our visit to Prion Island, where we
will witness the breeding efforts of the huge Wandering Albatross and enjoy watching their displays.

Day 11
At sea, where the ship is again followed by a multitude of seabirds. At some point we might encounter sea-ice, and
it is at the ice-edge where we might have a chance to see some high-Antarctic species like the Maccormick Skua,
Snow Petrel and the elusive Emperor Penguin.

Day 12
We are aiming for a visit at Orcadas station, an Argentinean base located in the South Orkney Islands. The friendly base personnel will show us their facilities and we can enjoy the wonderful views of the surrounding glaciers.

Day 13
At sea

Day 14 - 16
We will sail into the Weddell Sea through the ice-clogged Antarctic Sound. Huge tabular icebergs will announce
our arrival to the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. We plan to visit Paulet Island with a million pairs of
Adelie Penguins and the remains of the Nordenskiöld expedition. At Brown Bluff we can put our feet on the
continent.

At Deception Island, we will try to land at Baily Head home to a colony of ten thousands of Chinstrap Penguins.
Deception itself is a sub ducted crater, which opens into the sea, creating a natural harbour for the ship. Here we
find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, thousands of Cape Pigeons and many Dominican Gulls, Brown
and South Polar Skuas and Antarctic Terns. Wilson's Storm Petrels and Black-bellied Storm Petrels nest in the
ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. Good walkers may hike from Baily Head over the ridge of the crater into
Whalers Bay, while our ship braves its entrance into the crater through the spectacular Neptune's Bellow into the
ring of Deception Island. In the afternoon we may land at Half Moon Island, where we can obsereve Elephant,
Weddell and Fur Seals as well as Chinstrap Penguins, Blue-eyed Shags, Wilson's Storm Petrels, Kelp Gulls,
Snowy Sheatbills, Antarctic Terns and Antarctic Brown Skuas.
On our way West, we sail to Cuverville Island, a small precipitous island, nestled between the mountains of the
Antarctic Peninsula. It contains a large colony of Gentoo Penguins and breeding pairs of Brown Skuas. Time and
conditions allowing we hope to be able to sail further South to Neko Harbour in Andvord Bay and through Paradise
Bay with its myriad icebergs and deep cut fjords, while having chances of seeing large Whales. We will have
opportunities for zodiac cruising between the icebergs in the inner parts of the fjords.

Day 17 - 18
On our way north we are again followed by a great selection of seabirds while crossing the Drake Passage.

Day 19
We arrive in the morning in Ushuaia and disembark.