Antartica Expedition Youth Travel

Enjoy lunch in the park before returning to Ushuaia in the afternoon to embark the ship. Then set sail on the Beagle Channel, named after the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his South American voyages. In the early evening we set sail, bound for Antarctica and the adventure of a lifetime.

Cross the legendary Drake Passage, enjoying time to get familiar with the ship and deepen your knowledge of Antarctica. Our Smithsonian Experts and the team of naturalist guides on board will present insightful lectures on the history and wildlife of the world’s oldest continent. Watch the crew navigate on the ship’s bridge, and spend time on deck with our naturalists observing seabirds such as albatrosses and cape petrels. Once we reach the Antarctic Convergence, where cold Antarctic currents merge with warmer waters of the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, watch for breaching fin, humpback, and minke whales as well as seabirds feeding on plankton and krill.

King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, named after King George III. The coastal areas of the island are home to a comparatively diverse selection of vegetation and animal life, including elephant, Weddell, and leopard seals, and Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins. Several other seabirds, including skuas and southern giant petrel, nest on this island during the summer months. Human habitation of King George Island is limited to research stations.

Elephant Island, located in the Weddell Sea near the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, gets its name from the many elephant seals that cover the island. This tiny island played an important part in Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance story.

Coronation Island is the largest of the South Orkney Islands. Named in 1821 in honor of the Coronation of King George IV of England, this large island is full of bays, glaciers, and a high central peak of over 4,000 feet. Chinstrap Penguins and the Southern and Cape Petrels are prominent here.

After departing Coronation Islands we cruise east towards our point to view the Total Solar Eclipse. Enjoy onboard amenities, a full lecture series, informal discussions, and time to check equipment.

Weather permitting, L’Austral will cruise to the ideal location to view the Total Solar Eclipse.

We’ll arrive at a region with a reasonable prospect of clear skies at the center line.

Cruise to the Danger Islands, a group of islands lying 13 nautical miles east-south-east of Joinville Island near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The Danger Islands have been identified as an "important bird area" by BirdLife International because they're home to over 1.5 million Adélie penguins and a host of seabirds.

Brown Bluff is a towering, ice-capped volcanic cliff located on the southeast side of the Antarctic Sound. Brown Bluff is an Antarctic Continent landing, and after seeing the elephant seals on the shoreline, you will encounter an active colony of Adelie Penguins. Paulet Island is a small circular volcanic island located to the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. On Paulet Island, there are over 100,000 Adelie Penguins thriving and also the blue-eyed shag and the Southern Giant Petrel.

Weather permitting, enjoy your second continental landing at Bernardo O'Higgins Station, named in honor of Bernardo O'Higgins, a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. The permanently staffed Chilean research station is located in Antarctica and is the capital of Antártica Commune. It lies about 30 km south-west of Prime Head, the northernmost point of the Antarctic Peninsula, at Cape Legoupil.

Deception Island is merely the top of a previously much larger volcano that is mostly submerged. Port Foster is a breached caldera that formed when the center of the volcano collapsed below sea level after a huge prehistoric explosive eruption. Eruptions have continued at irregular intervals, the first historically recorded by Wilkes in 1842, which saw the entire south rim of the crater on fire.
On the way out of the caldera of Deception Island of the South Shetland Islands, weather permitting, we will stop at Bailey Head, home to a colony of Chinstrap Penguins, located on the black sand beaches of this headland.

In the early morning we arrive back in Ushuaia. After disembarkation you are transferred to your Ushuaia hotel or the airport for your onward journey.