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Antartica Packages

The Full Circumnavigation of Antartica
Part II - The Peninsula, Phantom Coast and the Ross Sea
January 3, 2003 - February 1, 2003
Ushuaia to Deception Island and further to Lyttelton, New Zealand

"Glittering white, shining blue, raven black. In the light of the sun the land looked like a fairy tale. Pinnacle after pinnacle, peak after peak - crevassed, wild as any land on our globe, it lies unseen and untrodden". (R. Amundsen)

Passenger Transfer At Deception Island
Expeditioners joining for the second segment of our voyage will arrive in Ushuaia, Argentina on January 3 and transfer independently to a local hotel. Embarking aboard the transfer vessel on January 4 they sail in the afternoon. The adventure begins on deck navigating the Beagle Channel accompanied by a myriad of seabirds. Over the next two days the journey continues through the Drake Passage en route to our rendevouz with the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov at Deception Island on January 7.

January 8, Antarctic Peninsula
We navigate dramatic Neumayer Channel, where Britain established an early meteorological station at Port Lockroy - a favorite anchorage of the whalers and home to a thriving colony of Gentoo Penguins and Blue-eyed Shags. Later we will navigate Lemaire Channel, a narrow geologic fault between the towering mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula and Booth Island - some of the most dramatic scenery in all of Antarctica. We may also visit Vernadsky Station, where the depletion of the world's ozone layer was first discovered in 1983 by British scientists. Today operated by the Ukraine, we are warmly welcomed by the station members and shown around their base.

January 9-10, Crystal Sound & Marguerite Bay
We continue across the Antarctic Circle to a rarely-visited region of pack ice, impressive mountains, huge icebergs and amazing wildlife far to the south. Only a fully classed polar icebreaker can safely navigate this area. You experience firsthand the expert abilities and the power of the Kapitan Khlebnikov in polar, ice clad waters and learn how the ship breaks and navigates through ice. Ice depending we enter the extremely narrow Tickle Channel and continue to the British Rothera Station, scenically located in the northern part of Marguerite Bay.

January 11-13, Bellingshausen Sea & Peter I Island
En route to the pack ice of the Amundsen Sea we hope for good conditions and a landing at Peter I Island, a remote outpost discovered by Bellingshausen in 1821. Few have ever seen the magnificent mountains and glaciers of this island, home to Adelie and Chinstrap Penguins, Storm Petrels and southern fulmars.

January 14-19, Amundsen Sea & Phantom Coast
During these days we expect thrilling hours breaking through the pack - and perhaps Emperor Penguins and Ross seals. Should conditions permit, you will board the helicopter for views of the Kapitan Khlebnikov sailing through this remote fairyland of ice. We hope to be able to approach the Phantom Coast and Getz Ice Shelf, a virtually unexplored and exciting sector of the continent. The Kapitan Khebnikov returns here for the first time since the pioneering voyage in 1999. Depending on ice conditions, which can be very challenging, we will attempt to surround impressive 10.000-foot-high Mount Siple. En route to Cape Colbeck, we hope to traverse the spectacular region off Cape Burks, where large concentrations of tabular icebergs lay grounded on the shoals below.

January 20-21, Bay of Whales & Ross Ice Shelf
Excitement builds as we approach the Bay of Whales, the furthest south possible for a ship, less than 700 miles away from the South Pole. From here Amundsen started his way to the Pole, pioneering a new route up to the polar plateau from the Ross Ice Shelf. Eighteen years later the Bay of Whales became the starting point for another triumph, when American flyer Richard Byrd, together with three other men, reached the Pole on November 29, 1929. Sailing along the immense Ross Ice Shelf, which is equivalent to the size of France, we hope to land by helicopter on top of the 100-foot high ice barrier.

January 22-23, Ross Island & McMurdo Sound
Pushing south we anchor along the ice fronting McMurdo Station, the sprawling United States facility in the shadow of Mount Erebus. We are invited to tour the station, a center for logistics that houses 1.000 people in summer. The base surrounds Scott's remarkably preserved 1901-1904 Discovery Hut. The New Zealanders may also offer a tour of Scott Base, their station a few miles away on the other side of the bay. Pods of orcas are often seen along the ice edge, where Minke whales and Weddell seals patrol in search of food.
We also plan to visit the site of Sir Ernest Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds, which was built during his Nimrod polar attempt, 1907-1909. Though the legendary explorers are long gone from the area, the hut is far from deserted. It has been reclaimed by the original inhabitants of the area - thousands of Adelie Penguins - in the world's southernmost penguin rookery. At Cape Evans we have the opportunity to visit the historic site of Scott's hut which has been beautifully preserved by staff from the Antarctic Heritage Trust in New Zealand. It stands as a testimony to the rigors faced by pioneering explorers. Inside the hut you witness the living conditions almost exactly as they were when Scott, Wilson and Ponting occupied these quarters almost a century ago. Behind the hut, famous Mount Erebus looms above us.
Weather and ice conditions permitting, we also hope to offer helicopter flights to one of the most spectacular and seldom-visited areas of Antarctica, the Dry Valleys. This remote region offers an amazing landscape of wind-eroded rocks and desert scenery unlike anywhere else in the world.

January 24-26, Ross Sea & Cape Adare
Located between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue, Terra Nova Bay was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition under Scott in 1901-04. The Bay is the site of an Italian summer research station. Dense pack ice often challenges vessels near Cape Hallett, site where the United States and New Zealand established a now-abandoned base during the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year. We hope to land near the former base which is now surrounded by Adelie Penguins. Views of the 12,000-foot Admiralty Range herald our arrival at Cape Adare. Behind the broad open beach, you see the 1899 hut where Carsten Borchgrevink was the first to overwinter on the Antarctic Continent. Cape Adare is home to 260.000 pairs of Adelie Penguins, the largest colony anywhere of this species - an absolutely staggering sight.

January 27-29, Balleny Islands & the Southern Ocean
It is here, along the shores of the Balleny Islands, that we plan to "tie the knot" on our way back to Lyttelton, thereby completing the second Full Circumnavigation of Antarctica - after nearly two months and many incredible adventures all around the continent! We prepare for celebrations before heading north into the Southern Ocean.

January 30,
Campbell Island, New Zealand
We sail into Perseverance Harbor, a drowned volcanic caldera that cuts across the island, and anchor off the small New Zealand meteorological station located here. A boardwalk leads you from the station over the tussock grass to the hilltop observatories of the Royal Albatross. Each austral summer, 15,000 of these huge birds nest among clusters of brightly colored megaherbs.

January 31,
At Sea
From the decks of the Kapitan Khlebnikov, we watch numerous seabirds trailing in our wake welcoming us home from our adventurous journey. Plan to spend time on deck with naturalists who help us to identify the various species.

February 1, Lyttelton, New Zealand
Arriving in Lyttelton today, we disembark in the late morning and transfer to Christchurch airport for our flights to Auckland. We continue home individually. Air arrangements are available upon request.

*** End Of Our Services ***

Airfare is not included in the program. Some group flights are available on request.
Please note: Read this itinerary as a guide only; our exact route and program varies according to ice and weather conditions - and the wildlife we encounter. Flexibility is the key to the success of this expedition.

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