Cruise to Shackleton’s Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands Islands

See whales, wildlife and wonders of Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands on a close–up voyage to the White Continent. This 19-day tour visits the equally remote Falkland Islands and South Georgia, vital breeding ground for seal, penguin and albatross.

The comfortable MS Fram is especially designed to cope with polar exploration making for a very safe and stable but nonetheless thrilling voyage, while our Polar Cirkel inflatable boats enable us to land just about anywhere.

Lectures and talks led by experts on the region’s fascinating heritage, natural history and polar exploration will prepare you for the visual feast that the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica itself present, from vast colonies of penguins to iceberg-lined channels to historical sites frozen in time.

It is from Buenos Aires that Shackleton and his crew of intrepid explorers first set sail towards South Georgia, on their incredible journey on board the Endurance. We too begin our voyage of discovery here, with a flight to Ushuaia where we embark on the ice-classed ship MS Fram.

As we voyage down the coast of Argentina, our on board team of expert guides will give talks on wildlife, the history of exploration, geology and ecology of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica – with emphasis on the fragility of this environment and the guidelines which must be observed during our visit.

South Atlantic Islands: On the Falkland Islands we look out for the black-browed albatross, elephant seal, southern sea lion, five species of penguin including the king penguin and visit the capital Port Stanley.

Next stop is South Georgia, and a truly wild landscape of snowcapped peaks, blue glacier ice and emerald green bays. Here we hope to see Grytviken Whaling Station with Shackleton’s grave. South Georgia’s wildlife is world-famous, and we have a great chance of seeing the smallest polar penguin, the rockhopper, cape and giant petrels, as well as fur and elephant seals.

Solitary icebergs greet our arrival to Antarctica and as we get close to the Antarctic Peninsula, our specially adapted ship and experienced Norwegian crew navigate expertly through the cool waters. Beneath the Antarctic sun we will witness humpback whales breach as huge blocks calve off the front of glaciers into the calm waters below.

Wide eyed seals blink as they wake from their daydream to watch us pass, and curious penguins patter by as we make our regular landings.

We will marvel at the vistas, step through abandoned settlements, possibly take a polar dip in the hot springs at Deception Island, and – with luck – visit the narrow, silent and starkly beautiful ice-lined Lemaire Channel. Finally we head north, past Cape Horn, to the Argentine town of Ushuaia.

More information about MS Fram