DAY 1

There is an unexpected charm to Ushuaia, our gateway to Antarctica. The streets are as steep as any in Pittsburgh. The backdrop of snow-capped mountains rivals Vancouver. The numerous restaurants serve a delicious range of international foods. Arrive as early as possible to explore the city at the end of the world. Then settle into your comfortable hotel room for the night. 

The night at the hotel is included in the expedition rate, so your room is ready should your flight to Ushuaia not arrive until midnight – just one of the details that sets Quark Expeditions apart.
Hotel Albatros

DAY 2

Anticipation is high when you board the bus for the transfer to the pier. Will you be the first to spot the members of the Expedition Team waiting to direct you to your cabin?

Once you’re satisfied your luggage has arrived safely, explore the ship. The observation decks afford fine views of the deckhands releasing the lines, and the panorama of Ushuaia harbor.

After the essentials – the lifeboat drill, the welcome briefing, and your first dinner aboard – return to the deck. Take note of the low, subtle rumble of the engine under your feet. Feel the moist sea air on your skin. Listen for sound of water breaking against the hull. As the ship steams down the Beagle Channel, the cares of the world slip into the background. The rhythm of life at sea has begun.
Clipper Adventurer

DAYS 3-4

Crossing the notorious Drake Passage is as much a part of the Antarctic experience as penguins and krill.With the right weather conditions your passage will be relatively easy, but pack your seasick medicine just incase the Drake lives up to its reputation.

After breakfast, the in-depth education program begins. The range of subjects is diverse, but all are chosen to prepare you for the activities in the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Unlike cruise voyages where the schedule of onboard activities is replicated exactly on each sailing, every Classic Antarctica expedition is unique. The Expedition Team changes the content of the education program and the presentation schedule to take advantage of the personnel aboard, their background, interest and style. This keeps our presenters fresh and their presentations dynamic.

Spend part of the day on deck watching the Petrels and Albatrosses that accompany the ship, gliding for miles, never appearing to move a muscle. Carry your camera and binoculars with you. Our shipboard naturalist will be on deck from time to time to assist you with the identification of the marvelous creatures.

One of the briefings will cover the Antarctic Conservation Guidelines. Quark Expeditions is a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), actively supporting the organization’s efforts to mitigate the impact of tourism in Antarctica. You help achieve that goal by adhering to the IAATO conservation guidelines that cover everything: boot washing, numbers of visitors on shore, and human behavior around wildlife.

The choice of activities in the evenings aboard ship is varied. Over a drink in the bar, get to know your fellow adventurers, who come from all over the world – Europe, Australasia, South America, North America and Africa. Watch a movie in the presentation room, or borrow a book about Antarctica from the library and curl up in your cabin as the sound of waves lapping against the hull drifts through the window.
Clipper Adventurer

DAYS 5-8

The first shore landings in the Peninsula region are often in the South Shetland Islands, as they are the closest islands to the Antarctic continent when you sail from Ushuaia. Activities, which are announced in advance in the daily program, are scheduled at any time of day. The Expedition Team takes advantage of the long hours of daylight that occur so near to the Antarctic Circle. One possible activity could be cruising along a volcanic ash beach in a Zodiac in the shelter of the flooded caldera of Deception Island.

Adélie, Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins breed on the islands of the South Shetlands. Elephant seals are known to haul out near the rookeries. Leopard seals patrol the water’s edge waiting to prey on a sick or inexperienced penguin that enters the water. Skuas, predators that dive from the sky, squawk and fly about. The breeding season is short in Antarctica, so activity is continual. The type of activity changes as the austral spring becomes summer.

Early in the season, the penguins will be building nests and courting. Observe the rituals, which to your eyes may appear comical, but is to the penguins serious business. When the chicks hatch, the parents invest considerable energy feeding them, waddling or tobogganing to the sea, where they feed on krill. They return to the rookery, often climbing steep inclines to regurgitate their dinner into the mouth of their demanding chick. So frequent is this activity that the birds create “highways”. By the way, penguins have the right of way in Antarctica.

In late summer, the chicks fledge, and the adults molt. During the molt, the energy they expend is internal, because the birds live off the blubber they have accumulated. They would die if they returned to the sea, before the new feathers grow in.

Establishing a research station in Antarctica is an important step on the road to becoming a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty. The original signatories have been conducting research for decades at their bases on the Continent and in the South Shetland Islands. We try to include a visit to a research station in this expedition. Please note that permission to visit is granted locally and that many elements can influence if and how a visit takes place.

As you sail the strait that separates the South Shetland Islands from the Antarctic Peninsula, spend some time on deck watching for icebergs. They are classified according to their shape. There are secluded bays in the Peninsula known as iceberg graveyards, where small icebergs run aground. When the conditions are right, we lower the Zodiacs and cruise at a proscribed distance around them – an unforgettable sight!

Life clings to the edges in the Antarctic Peninsula. Rare rocky shorelines are jealously guarded by its denizens, as inhabitable real estate is rare. Mountains rise steeply from the sea. Their summits glisten when the sun strikes the snow that covers them. Fog could descend, obscuring their height. In a sheltered bay, drifting in a Zodiac – its engine turned off momentarily – you experience a silence so complete that you may hear the beating of your own heart. If a seal or whale pops out of the water to gaze over the pontoon at you, your heart quickens.

Antarctica is surprisingly colorful. The evening sky can paint snow rose or orange. The rich greens of moss vibrate beside the rusty red of lichens growing on rocks. Icebergs range from turquoise through azure to violet in different light. The seawater can appear inky one moment and clear as glass another. Carry a camera. The opportunities for photography are extraordinary.

As you explore Antarctica, your Expedition Team hold recaps of what is experienced during landings. These recaps provide opportunities to relive the adventures; share your experiences and ask questions of our shipboard specialists. Traveling with a small number of like-minded travelers in a ship for an extended period of time is a recipe for friendships that last a lifetime. Each new adventure shared builds upon the last. Every moment of laughter or awe becomes a memory you cherish. The expedition experience can only be truly understood by participating. We are often asked, “When is the best time to visit the Antarctic Peninsula?” The answer depends on what has drawn you to the place.

If you seek a pristine wilderness of ice and snow, then you should choose an early November to mid-December expedition. As the austral summer sun heats up the Peninsula, the snow and ice retreats, until there is little left of the snow that fell the previous winter. The austral spring is also the time that penguins return to their rookeries to court and build nests. If you wish to see fluffy penguin chicks, then mid-December to the end of January is the time for you. From the end of January to mid-February, rookeries are alive with life as the chicks become increasingly independent.

In addition to being the best time to spot whales and seals, the end of the austral summer is the best time to witness two phenomena: Gentoo Penguin chick feeding behavior and red snow.

Gentoo Penguins are the only species of penguin to feed their chicks well into adolescence. In late February, early March, some of them look as if they are wearing Mohawks, strips of down run from the top of their heads along their backs to their tails. These adolescents wander the beach front calling for a parent. When their parent returns from the sea with a craw full of krill to share with the hungry chick (just like teenagers, they are always hungry), the parent stops at the shoreline and calls out. The biological chick and a number of other chicks that know that they have just heard the dinner bell, squawk, then tumble head first across the beach to greet the parent prepared to satisfy a chick’s hunger.

The parent continues to call until the chicks are close enough to be seen. Sensibly, the parent turns and dashes away. A chase ensues until there is only one chick left. Scientists have determined that the biological chick is always the one that remains at the end of the chase. Unbelievable, but true!

Algae live in Antarctic snow. They blossom toward the end of the summer, staining the snow so green that it appears to be a patch of grass. The algae-infested green snow can be surrounded by white ice and snow.

Scientists still haven’t determined why the algae just appear in patches. More puzzling still is that a portion of the green algae appears red. Great patches of red snow can be seen from miles away. It is as if a painter has spilled a bucket of crimson on the landscape.

To determine the best dates of travel to realize your Antarctic dream, call one of our polar professionals.
Clipper Adventurer

DAYS 9-10

Continuing recap sessions provide opportunities to discuss how you, a newly-minted Polar Ambassador, can help to preserve Antarctica for future generations. When packing day arrives a briefing is held, final remarks are made and instructions for disembarkation are delivered.
Clipper Adventurer

DAY 11

A small vessel comes alongside and a local pilot boards the ship to help navigate the last stretch of water en route to Ushuaia.We suggest that you watch if the weather is fine. You’ll enjoy the soft, light of an austral summer day. After breakfast aboard ship, you are transferred by bus to the airport.

Itinerary Changes

Please bear in mind that this is a sample itinerary and the actual sites and islands visited and shore excursions offered will vary due to the weather and other factors.  We reserve the right to alter the itinerary and unforeseen circumstances that mandate change may arise.  Itinerary changes are made to improve the tour and your experience.

Night 1

Hotel Albatros
Ushuaia, Argentina

A comfortable and well appointed hotel offering a health club and spa with massage services, sauna and gym, international dining featuring traditional dishes from Patagonia.  (Please note: an alternate, similar style hotel may be used.)

Nights 2-10

Clipper Adventurer
Antarctica

Designed to carry travelers in comfort to the most remote corners of the world, Clipper Adventurer is a 100-meter ice-strengthened ship that carries 122 guests.  Your Main Deck Twin Cabin offers ocean views, affording ideal vistas with almost 24 hours of daylight.  Amenities on board include a spacious lounge, two bars, a window-lined dining room, library, presentation room, exercise equipment, massage services, and hairdryers and bathrobes for use during the expedition.  Ship-to-shore communications via satellite and Iridium phone, email, FAX, mail and internet capabilities are available with restrictions.  A clinic with a licensed doctor is also available on board.

Laurie Dexter

Originally from Scotland, Laurie immigrated to northern Canada where he lived with the Inuit for 13 years. He now works as an expedition leader and lecturer on ship based adventures to the North Pole, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Svalbard, Ireland, Scotland, northern Canada, Labrador and Newfoundland, and over 90 trips to Antarctica. He has also skied to both the North and South Poles.

- Expedition Leader

Emily Schindler

For the last eight years Emily has been involved in ship based tourism as an Expedition Leader and zodiac driver. She is an all-weather driver and has worked on trips to the UK including the Faeroe Islands, Norway, Svalbard, Iceland, Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and the Chilean Fiords.

- Assistant Expedition Leader

Graeme Snow

Graeme began his polar career with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) as a Radio Technical Officer in 1990, wintering at Casey in 1991. Since then he has spent time on seven different Antarctic bases assisting with many science programs in the field; working with penguins, seals, sea-bird observations, whale acoustics and observations, krill biology, glaciology and oceanography.

- Ornithologist

Mikolaj Golachowski

Mikolaj lives in Warsaw, Poland. After graduating from the University of Warsaw, he worked there as a lecturer and researcher of various carnivores. His studies kept him in the field for the best part of Seven years and in 2002 he earned his PhD. His first Antarctic overwintering in 2002-2003 was the beginning of his study of the Southern Elephant Seal. Mikolaj returned to Antarctica for three more seasons to the Polish Antarctic Station Arctowski and served as Station Commander in 2007-2008. When he is home in Poland, Mikolaj writes about natural history, lectures and translates books and studies the gentle arts of Aikido and Tai Chi.

- Marine Biologist

Gustavo Rodriguez

Gustavo has worked at many Antarctica research stations including Esperanza, Marambio, Jubany, Orcadas and Matienzo; wintering on some of them and staying for a short while on the others. He specializes in geophysics, psychology and history and has also collaborated with Argentinas Antarctic Institute Department of Life Sciences since 2004. This will be Gustavo’s third season with Quark.

- Geology

Mariano Curiel

Mariano has been working on board expedition cruise ships in the Polar Regions for more than six years. Drawn by his family history Mariano began working for Quark Expeditions as a zodiac driver at the age of 22. As a lecturer he specializes in Antarctic geographical and maritime history. Participating in over 60 expeditions to Antarctica, South Georgia, Falkland Islands, Valdes Peninsula, the Strait of Magellan, the Andes, Newfoundland, Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, and the Canadian Arctic; Mariano accumulated experience in adventure activities in remote regions as part of diving, kayaking and ice-camping teams. He is certified as a Fast Rescue Boat Driver by IMO and also worked in logistic operations in the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula.

- Historian