Bouvet Island

In the afternoon embark in Ushuaia and sail through the Beagle Channel.

In the Drake Passage witness a multitude of albatrosses, petrels and fulmars.

In the South Shetland Islands land on King George Islands, where you will visit the Chilean, Russian, Chinese and Korean stations. In this area chances are good for encounters with gentoo penguins, Weddell seals, leopard seals and orcas.

Sail along the sea ice drifting north out of the Weddell Sea. Witness a multitude of albatrosses, petrels and fulmars.

In the rarely visited and uninhabited South Sandwich Islands (British), land on Southern Thule Island, a volcano with a caldera, where you can land near the derelict Argentinian base. Other islands are Cook Island and Bellingshausen Island, named after the discoverers who reached them. These volcanic islands, with an ice cap on the top, are windswept and often shrouded in mist and fog, but do offer subtle pleasures. There is a variety of flora (mosses, lichens and flowering grasses) and fauna, such as gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, and southern giant petrels. Elephant seals and sur seals also haul out at the beaches. Around the islands see large blue icebergs which have drifted there from the Weddell Sea. In blue ice grottos gentoo penguins congregate.

At sea in the westerlies have a pleasant tailwind. Near the Antarctic Convergence, observe many species and great numbers of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds.

Due to the unpredictability of landings at Bouvet, 48 hours are being allocated to be able to have multiple opportunities to land at Bouvet Island (Norwegian territory), another volcano in Antarctic waters topped by an ice-cap, with a rich fauna of seabirds and seals near the coasts. At the southwest side of the island you should have the best opportunities to land at Larsöya and Kapp Norvegia, which have some protection from the swell from the west. A third possibility is at Nyröysa, but this area is more exposed and partly out of bounds, as it is a nature reserve. These two days are reserved for landings at Bouvet Island.

At sea in the westerlies witness side winds. On both sides of the Antarctic Convergence, observe many species and great numbers of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds. You also arrive now in more temperate waters with their own brand of species.

Today plan to approach the unique Gough Island for zodiac cruising around the island, as always weather permitting. In previous years the ship has managed to circumnavigate all but four miles of the 33 mile circumference of the island in the ship, seeing spectacular scenery and an unprecedented abundance of wildlife.

In the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, plan to call on the settlement at the west side of the main island. Also try to make landings at Nightingale Island or Inaccessible Island with millions of seabirds ranging from yellow-nosed albatrosses to brown noddies. Please note that your expedition team will try and approach for landings, however due to the weather conditions this is not always possible. Since Ortelius began voyages to Tristan da Cunha in 1998, 30% of the voyages were not able to make landings in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago due to adverse weather.

Enter sub-tropical waters with their own species of seabirds and dolphins.

St. Helena has a good anchorage and landing site. On this island, have ample opportunities to enjoy local culture, pleasant climate, and endemic plants and birds. Visit the place where Napoleon lived in exile. There will be opportunities to explore the Island on your own.

Spend these two days at sea heading towards Ascension Island.

Ascension Island is a dry volcanic island with a moist and richly vegetated top. The sooty tern (wide-awake) colony sometimes consists of more than 1 million breeding pairs. You may witness egg-laying sea turtles coming ashore in the evening. Disembark and fly with the scheduled RAF (Royal Air Force) flight to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, UK.