Stella Australis Cruise / Punta Arenas - Ushauia
5 Days / 4 Nights - Per person on a double basis - Code AUS006
Navigation through the legendary Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel. Navigation through the glaciers, channels and fjords of the Darwin Mountain Range. The areas declared by the United Nations as the most virgin ones in the world. Flora and Fauna of great beauty: native forests, sea lions, seals, cormorans, exotic flowers, dolphins, etc. One of the largest penguin colonies in the southern hemisphere. Cape Horn, the point where the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans merge. That United Nations declared as the most virgin one in the world.
Day 1 - Punta Arenas Check in at Magallanes 990, Punta Arenas, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Stella Australis Cruise ship boarding at 6:00 p.m. The Captain and crew give a welcome cocktail reception on board. Immediately afterward, the ship departs for “the uttermost part of the earth”. Our excursion will take us through the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel to explore one of the most breathtaking wilderness regions in the world: Southern Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego. We have just embarked on a Great Adventure!
Day 2 - Ainsworth Bay – Tucker Islet At dawn, we continue navigating through Almirantazgo Sound until finally arriving near Marinelli Glacier in Ainsworth Bay, where we enjoy a walk to discover a beaver dam in the midst of a marvelous Magellanic forest. On the beach we observe a colony of elephant seals. Later we visit Tucker Islet, where we view colonies of Magellanic Penguins and Cormorants from the Zodiac boats. The islet’s penguins migrate in April; as a replacement we visit Brookes Bay, for a short walk to see a glacier.
Day 3 - Pia Glacier - Glacier Alley We navigate through the main part of Beagle Channel to reach Pia Bay, where we disembark near Pia Glacier. We take a short hike to a lookout point with a spectacular view of the entire glacier tongue, stretching from high in the mountains all the way to the sea. After this unforgettable experience, we sail again along the northwest arm of Beagle Channel through majestic “Glacier Alley”: Spain, Romanche, Germany, Italy, France and Holland glaciers.
Day 4 - Cape Horn – Wulaia Bay We sail through Beagle and Murray channels to reach and disembark in Cape Horn National Park (weather permitting). Cape Horn, on Hornos Island, is a sheer, 425-meter (1,394-foot) high rocky promontory. This mythical place is known as the “End of the Earth”; a visit is a singular privilege. The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in June 2005. In the afternoon, we go ashore in historic Wulaia Bay, once the site of one of the region’s largest aboriginal settlements. This area is also renowned for the mesmerizing beauty of its vegetation and geography. We walk through a Magellanic forest of Lengas, Coigües, Canelos, ferns and other native vegetation to reach a lookout point.
Day 5 – Ushuaia Arrival to Ushuaia, Argentina’s most important city on Tierra de Fuego, and the southernmost city in the world. We disembark at 8:00 a.m., enabling you to get an early start on visiting the city and national parks, and on continuing your trip through Patagonia.