Antarctic Circle Crossing: Deep South Expedition

This morning is yours to explore Ushuaia or the nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park before you embark your expedition ship in the afternoon. After settling into your cabin and meeting the crew and expedition team, the ship casts off and sails east down the historic Beagle Channel, snow-capped mountains rising on either side as cormorants and petrels escort you towards the open sea. Over a welcome dinner you meet your fellow expeditioners and expedition leader, who explains the adventurous, ice-led nature of this deep-south voyage. As Tierra del Fuego slips astern and the ship turns south into the Drake Passage, excitement builds for the legendary crossing and the wild frontier beyond. As the first night at sea arrives, rest well as the expedition begins.

Today you sail south across the legendary Drake Passage, the wild stretch of ocean between South America and Antarctica. The expedition team fills the day with lectures on the penguins, whales, seabirds, ice and history ahead, and on the challenge of reaching the Antarctic Circle, while out on deck you watch wandering albatrosses, giant petrels and cape petrels wheel around the ship. Whether the Drake is calm or lively, there is a real sense of adventure as you cross this famous sea into the deep south. The naturalists point out seabirds and answer questions, and the air grows steadily colder and crisper as the first icebergs may appear. As you sail ever deeper into the Southern Ocean towards the White Continent, rest well aboard your ship.

As you continue south the temperature drops, the light changes and the first great icebergs appear, glowing on the horizon, an unforgettable moment as the White Continent draws near. By late today you approach the Antarctic Peninsula and, conditions permitting, make your first Zodiac cruise or landing, perhaps among gentoo penguins or beneath dramatic ice cliffs. The expedition team briefs you thoroughly on biosecurity, Zodiac safety and how to move among wildlife, and issues your expedition boots. Because this is a deep-south voyage, the leader is already studying the ice charts, planning how far the ship can push towards the Antarctic Circle in the days ahead. The thrill of that first Antarctic landing is indescribable. As the long polar day fades, savour your arrival in one of Earth's last great wildernesses.

Today you begin your push southward, and, ice permitting, sail through the breathtaking Lemaire Channel, a narrow, mile-wide passage between towering cliffs and glaciers so beautiful it is nicknamed Kodak Gap, where the ship glides through mirror-still water reflecting the peaks. You may land at Petermann Island, home to Adelie and gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags, or cruise by Zodiac among the icebergs of the region, with leopard seals on the floes and whales surfacing nearby. The scenery grows wilder and more spectacular as you head into the deep south, and the ice thickens. The expedition team helps you make the most of every landing and cruise. As the day ends amid this overwhelming beauty, deeper south than most travellers ever go, savour the profound polar silence. Rest well aboard your ship.

Today is the goal of the expedition, the attempt to cross the Antarctic Circle at latitude 66 degrees 33 minutes south, ice permitting. As the ship pushes ever southward through increasingly ice-choked waters, nosing through pack ice and seeking leads between the floes, anticipation builds on deck. When the ship crosses the Circle into the realm of the midnight sun, the moment is celebrated with a toast and a ceremony, a genuine achievement few travellers ever share. Around you the wilderness feels wilder still, the ice thicker and the solitude deeper. Adelie penguins throng the southern shores and seals lounge on the floes. If ice blocks the way, the leader finds the finest alternative amid the pristine deep south. As this landmark day ends, savour the profound satisfaction of reaching the far south. Rest well aboard your ship.

Today you explore the wild, pristine waters south of the Antarctic Circle, a realm few ever see, with the flexible route shaped entirely by the ice. You might cruise by Zodiac through Crystal Sound or among the Fish Islands, land on a remote shore among Adelie penguins, or nose the ship deep into ice-choked bays where grounded bergs and brash ice glitter in the endless polar light. Crabeater and Weddell seals lounge on the floes, whales feed in the rich seas, and the solitude and grandeur are overwhelming. This is Antarctica at its purest and most untouched, a genuine frontier. The expedition team seizes every opportunity the ice allows. As this magnificent day in the deep south draws to a close, savour the profound stillness of a place almost untouched by humanity. Rest well aboard your ship.

Today the ship turns north again, and you explore more of the spectacular Antarctic Peninsula as you make your way back towards the Drake Passage. The expedition leader chooses the finest landings and Zodiac cruises the ice and weather allow, perhaps a bustling gentoo or chinstrap penguin colony, a sublime harbour such as Paradise Harbour cruised beneath immense glaciers, or a landing on the continent itself. Whales surface in the bays, seals lounge on the floes, and the scenery of black peaks and blue ice is overwhelming. For the brave, there may be a chance of a bracing polar plunge. You savour the wildlife and grandeur of the Peninsula, reflecting on how far south you have travelled. As another magnificent day among the ice ends, rest well aboard your ship.

Today you make the most of your final explorations in Antarctica before turning out into the open sea. The expedition team seizes every last opportunity for a landing or Zodiac cruise, perhaps a final penguin colony, a last drift among the icebergs, or a further whale encounter, in the South Shetland Islands or the northern Peninsula. You drink in the scenery and wildlife one more time, committing to memory the penguins, seals, whales and endless ice of the deep south you have reached. By late afternoon the ship turns her bow northward and begins the crossing of the Drake Passage, and you gather on deck to watch the mountains and icebergs of Antarctica slip slowly astern. As the White Continent fades into the polar light, savour the profound satisfaction of having pushed to the far south. Rest well.

Today you sail north across the Drake Passage towards South America, retracing your route through the great Southern Ocean. Once again albatrosses and petrels escort the ship, and the expedition team continues its programme of lectures, reflecting on the ice, wildlife and the achievement of crossing the Antarctic Circle. There is time to relax, sort through your photographs, enjoy the ship's facilities and share stories with the friends you have made. The naturalists recap the whales, seals and penguins encountered, and the mood is one of contentment and quiet pride at having reached the deep south. Keep an eye out for seabirds and the occasional whale as the ship rolls northward. As Antarctica recedes far behind you, rest well, carrying the wild solitude of the far south with you.

Your final full day at sea takes you back across the Drake Passage towards Cape Horn and the tip of South America. Conditions permitting, you may sail close to fabled Cape Horn, where the great sailing ships of old battled the wildest seas on Earth, a fitting climax to your deep-south adventure. The expedition team hosts a final round of lectures and a farewell recap of the voyage, and this evening you enjoy a captain's farewell dinner, toasting the extraordinary journey you have shared and the crossing of the Antarctic Circle. Land comes into view as the ship approaches the Beagle Channel once more. As your last night aboard the expedition ship arrives, reflect on the wild ice, remote solitude and Adelie penguins of the far south. Rest well ahead of disembarkation tomorrow.

This morning your expedition ship returns to Ushuaia and, after a final breakfast aboard, you bid farewell to the crew, the expedition team and your fellow travellers before disembarking. You are transferred to the airport for your onward flight, carrying memories that will last a lifetime. You leave having achieved something few ever do, a genuine deep-south expedition that crossed the legendary Drake Passage, pushed far beyond the northern Peninsula through wild, ice-choked seas, sailed the sublime Lemaire Channel and crossed the Antarctic Circle into the realm of the midnight sun. The images stay vivid long after you land, the thick pack ice, the Adelie penguins, the grounded bergs glowing in the endless light, and the profound solitude of the far south. You depart already dreaming of a return to the ends of the earth.