Trails of Antarctica & Patagonia

Arrive in Ushuaia, where you will be met by a representative of Aurora Expeditions and transferred with your fellow expeditioners to your assigned pre-voyage hotel. If you are already in Ushuaia, we ask you to make your way to your hotel. Check-in is from 3.00 pm. This afternoon, visit the Aurora Expeditions hospitality desk in the lobby at Las Hayas Ushuaia Resort, Luis Fernando Martial 1650, between 3.00 pm and 7.00 pm, to collect your luggage tags, and confirm if you wish to join our Beagle Channel and Isla de Los Lobos Cruise (sea lion island) tomorrow. Our team will confirm details regarding your embarkation day, answer any questions and provide you with information on where to dine or purchase last minute items.

Expeditioners arriving after 7.00 pm will find a welcome pack waiting for them at check-in. We ask you to visit our hospitality desk tomorrow between 8.00 am – 10.00 am.

The remainder of your time is at leisure. All meals today are at your own expense.

Assigned accommodation: To be confirmed

This morning, enjoy breakfast and check-out. Please ensure your cabin luggage is fitted with cabin tags clearly labelled with your name and cabin number. By 11.00 am take your cabin luggage to hotel reception, prior to, or at check-out. Your luggage will be stored and transferred directly to the port for clearance, to be placed in your cabin ahead of your arrival on board. Please keep any valuables or personal items with you throughout the day.

Your morning is at leisure to explore Ushuaia.

Those wishing to join our afternoon catamaran cruise, meet back at the hotel lobby at 12.15 pm ready to transfer to the port at 12.30 pm. Here we board our catamaran and sail the Beagle Channel, towards the city’s iconic Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Crossing the Bridges Archipelago we’ll slow down to watch colonies of sea lions and imperial cormorants sun themselves on the rocky outcrops, while gulls, rock cormorants, skuas, petrels, albatrosses and cauquenes are often sighted. Our cruise offers panoramic views of the city and the surrounding mountain range, in addition to hearing tales of the people and communities of the region.

Alternatively, enjoy your day at leisure and meet at your hotel lobby at 3.00 pm, or 3.30 pm from the meeting point at the parking lot near the pier (details will be given by our ground staff at the hotel), to be transferred to the pier for embarkation.
Once onboard, you’ll have time to settle into your cabin before our important mandatory briefings. As the ship pulls away from port, we’ll gather on the deck to commence our adventure with spectacular views over Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego.

This evening get to know your fellow expeditioners and friendly expedition team and crew at a welcome dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure to Antarctica.

As we commence the Drake Passage crossing, we make the most of our time getting comfortable with the motions of the sea. Our expedition team prepare you for our first landing with important wildlife guidelines and biosecurity procedures and start our lecture program to help you learn more about Antarctica’s history, wildlife and environment.

Our wildlife experiences begin as we enjoy watching and photographing the many seabirds, including majestic albatrosses and giant petrels following our vessel. On sea days, you can enjoy the facilities on board the vessel including the gym, sauna and jacuzzis or relax in one of the observation lounges.

Nearing the South Shetland Islands and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on the afternoon of day four, the excitement is palpable with everyone converging on one of the observation decks watching for our first iceberg. The ocean takes on a whole new perspective once we are below the Antarctic Convergence and are surrounded by the surreal presence of floating ice sculptures. The memory of your first big iceberg sighting is likely to remain with you for a lifetime. Time and weather permitting, we may attempt our first landing in Antarctica by late afternoon.

It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of arriving in Antarctica. Spotting your first iceberg and taking a deep breath of some of the most fresh, crisp air on earth is an experience that will stay with you forever.

The Antarctic Peninsula is a bustling metropolis of wildlife in late spring, but despite the frenetic pace of life for the locals, you have ample time to immerse yourself in the wonders of surrounding environment. Over the next eight days you will settle into the natural rhythms of life in the Antarctic Peninsula.

With extra time for exploration, we plan to show you our favourite spots along the peninsula and possibly discover new future favourites along the way.

Once we arrive, the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands are ours to explore, and we have a host of choices available to us. Because we are so far south, we will experience approximately 18-24 hours of daylight and the days can be as busy as you wish.

Your experienced expedition team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to design your voyage from day to day, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, ice conditions and wildlife opportunities.
We generally make landings or Zodiac excursions twice a day. You will want to rug up before joining Zodiac cruises along spectacular ice cliffs or among grounded icebergs, keeping a close watch for whales, seals and porpoising penguins. Zodiacs will also shuttle you from the ship to land, where you can visit penguin rookeries, discover historic huts and explore some of our favourite spots along the peninsula.

While ashore we aim to stretch our legs, wandering along pebbly beaches or perhaps up snow-covered ridgelines to vantage points with mountains towering overhead and ice-speckled oceans below. If you have chosen an optional activity, you will have the option to do participate in the activity whenever conditions allow, and of course keen polar plungers will have the chance to fully immerse themselves in polar waters – conditions permitting! The polar plunge can take place at any time during the voyage, so listen out for the announcement from the expedition team and get ready for the most exhilarating dip of your life!

In addition to Zodiac cruises and shore excursions, we may ship cruise some of the narrow, dramatic straits separating offshore islands from the mainland, or linger in scenic bays to marvel at sculptural icebergs and photograph spectacular scenery. This is a great time to enjoy the observation lounge or make your way to the bridge (open at the captain’s discretion) for uninterrupted views of Antarctica in all its splendour. Listen out for the creak and deep rumble of glaciers as they carve into sea. Take a quiet moment to experience the wonder of the pristine paradise of the splendid white continent.

Enjoy a final morning landing in the South Shetland Islands before we re-enter the Drake Passage for our return journey to South America.

With lectures and film presentations to complete our Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of the Southern Ocean and the life that calls it home. There is time for reflection and discussion about what we have seen and experienced. We hope you become ambassadors for Antarctica telling your family, friends and colleagues about your journey to this magical place, advocating for its conservation and preservation so that they might one day visit the region to experience what you have been lucky to see and do here.

As we approach the tip of South America, our Captain may sail close to legendary Cape Horn, weather and time permitting.

During the early morning, we cruise up the Beagle Channel, before quietly slipping into dock in Ushuaia, where we will be free to disembark around 8.00 am. Farewell your expedition team and passengers not continuing with the land portion, hopefully with a newfound sense of the immense power of nature.

Expeditioners departing on flights prior to 12.30 pm will be directly transferred to Ushuaia Airport, those with flights after 12.30 pm will have the opportunity to explore Ushuaia before an afternoon airport transfer, and the transfer procedures and details will be communicated onboard before disembarkation.

Fly to El Calafate to begin your small group trek. On arrival into El Calafate, transfer to the group hotel (details will be provided in your final documents).

Note: At the conclusion of the voyage, we do not recommend booking flights departing Ushuaia prior to 12.00 pm on the day of disembarkation in case there are delays.

This township, founded in 1927, is best known as the ‘national capital of the glaciers’ and is the gateway to the Patagonian Los Glaciares National Park including the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. Today is at your leisure to explore the town or walk down to Lake Argentino to watch the waterbirds. You will have a briefing in the afternoon to meet your guide and learn about your upcoming adventure, before having the first dinner with your group.

Overnight El Calafate. (D)

This morning, we depart very early to the breathtaking Perito Moreno Glacier to watch and listen to the frequent ice calving. Later, we drive across the arid Estepa Patagónica to El Chaltén (approx 4 hours).

The village of El Chaltén is in the north of Los Glaciares National Park and it’s from here that we make our day trips. We enjoy dinner together this evening.

Overnight El Chaltén (B,D)

Over the next two days we enjoy day walks to the base camp of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Mount Fitz Roy is found at the northern end of the park and is part of a range of bizarre peaks including the needle like rock pinnacle of Cerro Torre. For a climber it looks to be one of the most unclimbed peaks in the world – in fact it was only scaled for the first time in 1974. To the south runs a great chain of massive glaciers that basically follows the line of the Chile/Argentina border.

The dramatic rock spires beckon and our days here will be a highlight of the trip. The beautiful valleys hold crystal clear streams and are home to a multitude of bird life. During the short summer the beech trees and the flowers bloom profusely and we are here at the best time to enjoy it.

Overnight El Chaltén (B,L,D)

Key Trekking Highlights
FITZ ROY BASE CAMP / LAGUNA DE LOS TRES (Los Glaciares National Park)
Difficulty: Medium/High
Description: Short drive to Hostería El Pilar next to Río Blanco 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of El Chaltén. The trail follows Río Blanco, pass Piedras Blancas glacier and up to Río Blanco base camp. Piedras Blancas glacier is a hanging glacier that descends from the base of Fitz Roy. Lunch stop will be in the vicinity of Río Blanco or Poicenot base camp. To return to town the group will follow the trail and pass Laguna Capri to enjoy even more views of Mount Fitz Roy.
Duration: 8 hours Distance to cover: Approx 20 km (12.5 miles) Elevation gain: Approx 700 metres (2,297 feet)

CERRO TORRE LAGUN & GLACIER (Los Glaciares National Park)
Difficulty: Medium
Description: Hike along the Río Fitz Roy valley to reach the Laguna Torre at the end of the valley. Get as close as non-climbers can get to the mystical Cerro Torre. You will also visit the base camp where climbers wait for the good weather to attempt the climb.
Duration: 7 hours Distance to cover: Approx 22 km (13.7 miles) Elevation gain: Approx 250 metres (820 feet)

Today, we leave El Chaltén and Argentina as we cross the border into Chile, driving across the pampas to Puerto Natales. Set on the shores of Seno Última Esperanza, this city is the gateway to the famous Torres del Paine National Park. The afternoon is at leisure and this evening you may like to sample King Crab in one of the seafood restaurants.

Overnight Puerto Natales. (B)

This morning we leave Puerto Natales and journey towards Torres del Paine National Park and its fabulous scenery. We board a boat and travel down the fjord, pausing at the Balmaceda Glacier en-route. We then change onto Zodiacs and continue along the Serrano River before reaching Torres del Paine.

Overnight Villa Serrano (B,L,D)

Over the next few days we plan to view the highlights of the park on foot. The first day we explore the park on a bus to reach the most remote areas, with stops for short treks. On the second day we will do a long and amazing trek to reach the base of Las Torres peaks.

The next two nights are spent in Torres del Paine National Park (B,L,D)

NOTE: The trekking level will depend on the group’s level of fitness, bearing in mind that many of the highlights of these parks require a 7-8 hour walk (round trip). There are other walks we can choose which are easier and provide excellent views of the parks, however as with any trek, the fitter you are the more you will enjoy the day. The whole experience of trekking in Patagonia will spoil you!

KEY TREKKING HIGHLIGHTS
LAS TORRES BASE (Torres del Paine National Park)
Difficulty: Medium/High
Description: You will explore the Ascencio Valley, walking through a beautiful Lenga forest and getting up close to the astounding Torres del Paine viewpoint. Throughout the trek you will walk through bushes, streams and glacier moraines.
Duration: 7 hours Distance to cover: Approx 20 km (12.5 miles) Elevation gain: Approx 900 metres (2,953 feet)

We drive for approximately 3-4 hours across the steppes following the face of the Andes. The scenery is breathtaking, with great rolling hills dotted with stunted beech trees. We plan to arrive in Punta Arenas in the late afternoon. The remainder of the day is at leisure, with time for last minute shopping or indulging the ‘dulce de leche’ a dessert you will by now be familiar with!

Overnight in Punta Arenas (B,D)