Antarctica, South Georgia & Falklands cruise
Description of Antarctica, South Georgia & Falklands cruise
There are 80-200 passengers on board our expedition cruises, and every room has a large window for iceberg-viewing – though on this amazing cruise you’ll spend most of your time on deck, out and about in Zodiacs, and walking on Antarctica itself.
You will visit the Antarctic Peninsula, but two other amazing stops, both crucial for wildlife. The Falkland Islands, home to 5 species of penguin, huge colonies of albatross, and Elephants seals, Sea lions and Fur seals.
Then there’s South Georgia, which once played a vital role in early 20th century Antarctic exploration. The grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton, found on the island, marks the final resting place of the explorer, who led a series of extraordinarily brave polar expeditions. South Georgia has as many as 400,000 Elephants seals, approximately half of the world’s population, and the big bulls can weigh in at 4 tonnes! However they are hugely outnumbered by penguins. Some 4 million penguins usually make South Georgia their home, including 3 million Macaronis, nearly a million Kings, 200,000 Gentoos and a few Chinstraps. Salisbury Plain alone is home to 250,000 King Penguins in the breeding season, as we well as tens of thousands of Elephant and Fur seals, all surrounded by mountains and glaciers.
None of this will really prepare you for the Antarctic peninsula itself. Antarctica is on a different scale - It’s a beautiful, otherworldly place of pristine icy, glassy water and whales rolling slowly through the waves. Using zodiacs you’ll go ashore or cruise the bays and inlets, spending hours just exploring the waters, watching whales, the amazing shapes of icebergs and the colonies of friendly penguins, before a stop at Deception Island on your way home.
Your cruise is supported by expert staff. During the time at sea the on board experts will give talks and lectures on the wildlife, history and geology of the lands that await, and how we must protect it in the coming years. ‘Life-changing experience’ doesn’t really begin to cover it.
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Responsible Travel
Planet and people
We use small ships on all of our cruises which minimizes the detrimental impacts of our cruises to any part of the world. In the Antarctic it is only permitted for 100 passengers to go ashore at any one time, which controls and minimizes the impact that tourists can have on the land. All of our cruises in this region are accompanied by an Expedition Team that comprises experts in a range of fields such as zoology, polar history, marine biology and glaciology, and usually photography.All of the ships we work with in Antarctica are managed by companies who are members of IAATO, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. IAATO is a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate and promote the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. IAATO has resolved to set the highest possible tourism operating standards to protect the Antarctic. This effort is unique, and the challenge to maintain environmentally responsible tourism exists to this extent in no other region of the world.
Journeys to Antarctica bear an extra responsibility for the traveler to respect and protect the environment. The Antarctic environment is unique in that man is an intruder on the whole continent, and that binds us with an extra responsibility to make sure we have absolutely no detrimental effect on the environment. The expedition team are responsible for your safety and entertainment, but also your education about all aspects of the Antarctic, and especially its conservation and current conservation issues affecting the Antarctic. They will accompany you on excursions ashore, explaining and pointing out the wildlife, physical features and any historical highlights.
Some of the guidelines we adhere to include:
Protect Antarctic Wildlife
-Never taking, harming or interfering with Antarctic wildlife.
-Not using aircraft, vessels, small boats, or other means of transport in ways that disturb wildlife, either at sea or on land.
-Never feeding, touching, or handling birds or seals, or approaching or photographing them to alter their behaviour. Special care is needed when animals are breeding or moulting.
-Not damaging plants, by example by walking, driving, or landing on extensive moss beds or lichen-covered scree slopes.
-Keeping noise to a minimum to avoid frightening wildlife.
-Not bringing non-native plants or animals into the Antarctic.
Keep Antarctica Pristine
-Not disposing of litter or garbage on land.
-Never disturbing or polluting lakes or streams. Any materials into the sea are disposed of correctly.
-Never painting or engraving names or graffiti on rocks or buildings.
-Never collecting or taking away biological or geological specimens or man-made artefacts as a souvenir.
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