ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION & PATAGONIAN FRONTIERS

As Your Tour Manager, Denise Van Sever Welcomes You On This Journey

Your Accompanying Tour Doctor For This Journey is Dr Victoria Hayes

Settle into The Singular Santiago. Get to know your fellow travellers during a Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant.

After breakfast at our hotel this morning, we board a scheduled flight for the city of Puerto Natales in southern Chile. We are soon met with mountainous panoramas as we arrive at The Singular Puerto Bories Hotel. Our rooms also allow us unimpeded views of the waters of Last Hope Sound and the Patagonian fjords. This residence does not want for any measure of tranquillity. Chef Laurent Pasqualetto sources the finest local produce and prepares it with inimitable flair. Within the elegant surrounds of The Singular’s restaurant, we savour award-winning cuisine. After dinner, perhaps adjourn to the bar for a cocktail or two, augmented by still more views of Patagonia’s exceptional nature.

The next two days are set aside for our immersion into the spectacular natural world of Patagonia. We are presented with several options, enabling us to direct our day according to our interests.

Make the most of your time in Patagonia with a choice of these Your World experiences:

— Explore Torres del Paine National Park, where spectacular stone spires that share the park’s name loom large. Stand in wonder before a family of guanaco. You may also spy some of the park’s other striking wildlife, including flamingos, Darwin’s rhea and Andean condors.
 
— The four-kilometre hike from Puerto Consuelo to Puerto Prat takes you along the banks of the Eberhard Fjord. Along the way, take in the incredible views of the 
Zona Austral’s mountain range. 

— Set out on a tour of Puerto Natales. Admire the charming Maria Auxiliadora Church in the city’s main square. You will also see the Municipal Historical Museum and the Etherh Aike handicraft market. 

— Take a tour of our hotel’s Cold Storage Plant, which has been restored by relatives 
of the pioneers who settled the area. The hotel’s owners have preserved machinery here that was originally imported from England at the turn of the 20th century. 

— Simply relax as you are pampered in our hotel’s spa. Select from a range of massage and facial options or enjoy a sauna or hydrotherapy session.

Awake this morning to a perfect Patagonian panorama from the comfort of your room. On our final day in this awe-inspiring region, we have the opportunity to select another of the Your World experiences from yesterday. We return to our hotel having witnessed almost as much natural beauty and wilderness as one could hope for. This evening, our hotel’s discerning chef once again treats us to a sumptuous dining experience.

The mountainous landscape soon gives way to a sprawling, level topography as we drive to Punta Arenas. Here, we check into Hotel Cabo de Hornos. We attend a briefing from our Antarctic Expedition Team, in preparation for tomorrow’s voyage. This evening, we dine with our fellow cruise guests.

At the confluence of the Pacific, Atlantic and Southern oceans, the Drake Passage can be a treacherous stretch, but it must be crossed to reach Antarctica. While others steel themselves for two days at sea, Silversea’s chartered 50-seater BAE-146 aircraft makes light work of the crossing and we touch down on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands and the gateway to Antarctica. We are whisked away by Zodiacs to join our waiting ship, Silver Endeavour, our home for the next six nights.  

The profound vastness and isolation of Antarctica can only ever be fully appreciated at close range. This is an experience enjoyed by only a fortunate few. We begin our voyage at the northernmost tip of the White Continent, as we cruise into Antarctic Sound. We glimpse the jagged profiles of scattered icebergs, while anticipating the excitement of a whale’s splashing tail. As we draw nearer to huge slabs of ice, keep watch for colonies of gentoo penguins. While up above, graceful petrels soar. When conditions prove favourable, we climb aboard Zodiacs, accompanied by our Expedition Team, for closer inspection of this world of wonder. Secure inside our warm expedition gear, we may also have the opportunity to kayak amid the rugged ice and polar seas.

Our captain charts a route determined by weather and ice conditions. Irrespective of nature’s vagaries, our scenery never fails to leave us in awe. We explore regions few have seen firsthand; the only other humans we may sight from afar are those stationed at the occasional research base. Our vessel escorts us by colossal icebergs and glaciers tinged a subtle shade of blue. Expansive mountain ranges punctuate the boundless landscape, the occasional proud peak displaying a surface of exposed rock. As we trace the shoreline aboard our trusty Zodiacs, we keep watch for a waddle of Adélie penguins. Should conditions permit, our Expedition Team may lead us ashore for a hike in this pristine environment.