Trip date: March 2025
Having left the area of the South Shetland Islands the night before, we then had 7 days of sailing through the Southern Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula onboard the Atlas World Navigator. It would be too lengthy to detail every single amazing thing we saw and experienced so I will highlight each location instead.
Luckily our expedition crew kept a big board with a list of all known wildlife that would be possible to encounter and checked each species that was seen. The ship did not announce wildlife sightings, unless something was very extraordinary, because it would have been constant announcements!
By the end we had seen 29 different species of Antarctica wildlife, including 6 species of seals, 3 species of whales, 3 species of dolphin, 3 species of penguins, 6 species of petrals, and various albatross, cormorants, gulls, & skua.
We made a total of 11 expeditions, 6 on land and 5 by Zodiac, which surpassed all my expectations!
Day 4: "Good morning, good morning..." I was woken up by Expedition Leader Jonathan's whisper from the in-room speakers. It was very early, the sun was barely up, he was acknowledging that but saying that the ship was sailing thru a field of HUGE icebergs on our way to the Antarctic peninsula and there were mimosas to go along with the sighting up on the deck.
I chose to enjoy the view of these giants from my room. They were so massive, and so many, it looked like we were sailing past some giant cliffs!
Later that morning our group loaded into Zodiacs and cruised Hope Bay, our first destination at the tip of the Antarctic Sound. It was a stunning day to zip around!
The Esperanza science station is here, owned by Argentina, it is a permanent, year-round home to researches and their families; they even have a school. This is also the birthplace of the first person born on the Antarctic continent!
We were all thrilled to see our first elephant and weddell seals as well as another leopard and fur seal as well as more gentoo penguins!
In the afternoon the ship sailed to Gourdin Island. This small rocky island is home to all 3 of the northern Antarctic penguins: gentoo, chinstrap, and Adelie. We started with a Zodiac cruise around 1/4 of the island, checking out lots of smaller icebergs- the variation of colors, shapes and sizes was just awesome!
Then on our way to the island we had a few rafts of penguins racing our Zodiac!
Because of its location, this island takes the brunt of the extreme weather of the Antarctic Sound- high winds, heavy swells, shifting pack ice- it's rare to get to land there, but we did! You also have to be either with the Government or an IAATO Member vessel, so again, good to book with a cruise company with that status.
As soon as we disembarked on the gravelly beach we saw a big fur seal having a snooze just feet from us. Gail and I set out to hike up the steep hill to get a better look of the surroundings and also check out the various penguin colonies. As they would do before each hike, the guides had already marked out a trail with orange cones to protect both us and the wildlife.
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| Gentoo penguins |
Day 6: "Good morning, good morning..." Up until this day we had been landing and hiking on islands. But today we would be on Continental Antarctica! And it was spectacularly sunny! We were also offered a laundry special for $40 so the whole day was exciting! :)
Besides the included excursions on the World Navigator, people could sign up for kayaking and/or overnight camping at additional costs. We chose not to do either but the folks who did the kayaking really had a great time and had some incredible close-up whale experiences! The folks who did the camping said it was the coldest night of their lives!
Our Zodiac landed near the concrete footing remains of the old British Cape Reclus hut which was located here back in the late 50's. Immediately we set out with poles to hike up the snowy slope.
Once on top of the ridge we followed the trail around to an area they call the iceberg graveyard. The bay here is shallow and the big icebergs get stuck and slowly melt. The sound of them melting, moving, and breaking up was awesome. And so beautiful in the sunlight!
We continued on to the point where one of the Excursion Guides had brought his Antarctica flag and took our photos. It was absolutely thrilling to be standing there ON ANTARCTICA! Truly something I never thought I would get to do.
From the point we had to hike back up to the ridge before descending to the landing site and while a few folks were catching their breath one person sat down. Immediately one of the Excursion Guides came over and reminded them that you are not allowed to sit, or have any of your gear touching the ground, to prevent spreading pathogens (like avian flu) and introducing foreign microorganisms to the ecosystem. We never brought anything that could fall out of our pockets, like snack wrappers, etc. also.
We passed a lot of weddle and fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks and on the way back to the boat there was one chilling on an iceberg. You could also hear whales calling and the glaciers cracking! Unreal!! And we had a minke whale swim up next to our Zodiac, the only one we would see.
That afternoon we anchored at Recess Cove so we could all go do a Zodiac cruise. For me, this was the most stunning of all the stunning scenery that we saw. It felt like a movie set.
We saw soooo many humpback whales on our outing it was fantastic! I saw my first breech off in the distance, and we also hung out with a whale that was sleeping (called logging)! And sometimes you could hear them calling as they were diving like in this video!
We were so close to so many! And then back on the ship there were more and more humpbacks! I honestly could not even guess how many we saw this day!
Another excursion that was offered complimentary was a Polar Plunge. Just like it sounds, they tether you to a line and let you jump into the icy Southern Sea fed by 5 surrounding glaciers. I chose not to go and have zero regrets!
Sunsets were around 8pm and we had some real pretty ones!
Day 7: "Good morning, good morning..." We were up early for an 8:30am landing at Damoy Point. Our first stop was the site of the old British Antarctic Survey hut. This time we got to go inside the tiny building; I can not imagine living out here! It is now a historical monument.
Day 8: "Good morning, good morning..." We were at sea all day and the Drake was letting us know it. No crazy waves but enough movement to knock a few things around, 10 foot / 3 meter seas.
I spent a very lazy day mainly in the cabin watching lectures broadcast from the auditorium; Endurance 22 with our Assistant Expedition Leader Chad Burtt who was on the team who found Shackleton's shipwreck (!!), I mean tell me your Princess Cruise has this kind of talent!! Whales & Dolphins with Holly Selman, a marine mammal expert who is a member of ORCA protection charity, and one on Pinnipeds with Alejandro (Alex) Sands, expedition guide and diving instructor.
We had a last group dinner with the friends we had made onboard and then I headed back to bed to watch a movie. Those rolling seas had me conked out!
Day 9: "Good morning, good morning..." Another full day at sea, we were still in the Drake Passage but as we got closer to the Beagle Channel things were much calmer. And it was a gorgeous sunny day, perfect for hanging out in the Dome Lounge for some whale watching. And there were SO MANY WHALES!
I had packed a fabric book bag in my suitcase which was great for carrying my Kindle, journal, glasses, etc. around on the ship. Each cabin had a pair of really good binoculars for us to use so we would throw those in there too. Easy to corral all my "toys".
This was the day we handed out tips. Even though they were included in our booking we did end up giving some extra to the crew members who we felt went out of their way for us - our cabin steward (butler), bartender and bar waitress, room service waiter, dining room waiter, and dining room captain. I had brought about $300 in cash, broken down in $5s, $10s & $20s for sublimental tips. I also bought a book on penguins written by Fernando Tarapow, one of the expedition guides and law professor from Argentina. Having a little cash made it very easy.
There was one last lunch on board, one last Recap with the entire expedition team presenting their fave moments, Captain Filipe Sousa had a little goodbye cocktail party, and then we arrived in Ushuaia for the night. This was done purposely as the weather on the Drake was going to get really bad in the next 24 hours and our Captain did not want us to be stuck in it. And neither did we!
Gail and I decided to have an early dinner on the ship before heading out to explore the town. To be honest we didn't find a lot to do there besides shop for souvenirs which we didn't need. There's also a Hard Rock and an Irish Bar!
We headed back to the ship and met up with our friends for last drinks in the bar before heading off to finish packing as our luggage would be picked up from the hallway at 1am.
Day 10: "Good morning, good morning..." Now get off!
Well not quite, but if you've been on any kind of cruise you know they get you off pretty early! We had breakfast in the dining room and then sat around with some mimosas until our group disembarked at 10am.
Our flight was late so they took us all on a little bus tour around the town so that the crew could do their job in peace. And a good thing we had come in early the night before because news of the Drake Passage was that all ships scheduled to leave that evening were not allowed to sail because of the treacherous weather!
We hung out in the Priority Plus lounge in the tiny airport for about 3 hours with some other onboard friends before finally flying to Buenos Aires on the FlyBondi charter. Again, a very basic experience.
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