Shackleton’s Southern Passage

Fly overnight to Santiago de Chile where you will be met at the airport and tranaferred to your included hotel for a one-night stay. The following day, transfer to the airport for your Silversea charter flight to Puerto Williams where you will embark Silver Wind and begin your expedition.

Puerto Williams has the feel of a true frontier town, situated on windswept Navarino Island facing out across the Beagle Channel. The surrounding mountains offer a spectacular backdrop for hiking and kayaking, while to the south lies the infamous Drake Passage and, beyond that, the frozen continent of Antarctica.

West Point Island is located in the northwest of the Falklands archipelago, and is also known as Albatross Island thanks to the many black-browed albatross that nest on the spectacular cliffs. The island is also a working sheep farm, and is home to a large colony of rockhopper penguins.

Saunders Island is graced with some of the most dramatic scenery in the Falklands, including the sandy isthmus known as The Neck. The island also supports an incredible bird population, with species including black-browed albatross, black-necked swans and four different types of penguin.

The rugged and windswept Falkland Islands make for a fascinating stop on the way to or from Antarctica. Over 80% of the population lives in the capital, Stanley, though humans are far outnumbered by other creatures, including penguins, sea lions and albatrosses.

Remote and virtually uninhabited, the island of South Georgia is a beautiful and fascinating place. The landscape of jagged, snowy peaks and dramatic fjords is home to an abundance of penguins and seals, as well as ghostly abandoned whaling stations and the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Named after the elephant seals that live along the coast, Elephant Island is synonymous with the early days of Antarctic exploration. It was here that Ernest Shackleton and his men were stranded for four months, and a monument to their bravery now stands on the island, often surrounded by Gentoo penguins.

The Antarctic Sound is a 37-mile channel that separates the Joinville Island group from the Antarctic Peninsula. Prepare to be amazed as you sail among vast icebergs that have broken free from the Larsen Ice Shelf, and look out for wildlife including Gentoo penguins and whales.

Antarctica is the world’s last great wilderness, an alien landscape of snow-covered mountains, jagged icebergs and extraordinary wildlife. Visiting at the beginning of the cruise season in October or November means bigger icebergs and pristine snowy landscapes, along with the chance to see breeding elephant seals. There may still be sea ice around the Antarctic Peninsula, and temperatures are cold.

Icy and remote, the South Shetland Islands are situated about 100 miles north of the Antarctic peninsula. The archipelago is home to a scattering of research stations, along with thousands of penguins, seals and sea lions, and you can still see the remains of Ernest Shackleton’s ship the ‘Endurance’ on the south west shore of Elephant Island.

Puerto Williams has the feel of a true frontier town, situated on windswept Navarino Island facing out across the Beagle Channel. The surrounding mountains offer a spectacular backdrop for hiking and kayaking, while to the south lies the infamous Drake Passage and, beyond that, the frozen continent of Antarctica.

Disembark your voyage in Puerto Williams and transfer to the airport for your charter flight to Santiago. Here enjoy an overnight hotel stay before continuing your journey with a flight back to the UK the following day.