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Polar Regions Antarctica Atlantic Odyssey
Atlantic Odyssey
Atlantic Odyssey - Ushuaia – Ascension Island – Praia, Cape Verdes - Madeira
Ushuaia – Ascension Island
PLA32, March 29 – April 28, 30 nights, aboard Plancius
Day 1: Ushuaia (March 29)
In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia and sail through the Beagle Channel.
Days 2 & 3: at sea
In the Drake Passage we witness a multitude of Albatrosses, Petrels and Fulmars.
Day 4: Antarctica – continental landing
If the sea ice conditions allow we will try and reach Hope Bay or Brown Bluff at the Northern tip of the Antarctic Continent. In this area chances are good for encounters with Gentoo Penguins, Weddell Seals, Leopard Seals and Orcas.
Day 5: Paulet Island
If ice conditions allow, we will sail to Paulet Island where we will observe the last individuals of a large Adelie Penguin colony near the ruins of the Nordenskjöld Expedition from the beginning of the 20th century. Depending on the sea ice we sail east or west of the Danger Islands to the north.
Day 6: at sea
At sea, we will sail towards the South Orkney Islands. Our exact navigational course will be determined by the prevailing ice conditions, in terms of both extent of sea ice and density of icebergs, which vary from year to year.
Day 7: South Orkney Islands
We are
planning on a visit to Orcadas station, an Argentinean base located in the South Orkney Islands. The friendly base personnel will
show us their facilities and we can enjoy the wonderful views of the
surrounding glaciers.
Day 8: at sea
At sea, on our way to South Georgia, we witness a multitude of Albatrosses, Petrels and Fulmars.
Days 9 – 11: South Georgia
In South Georgia we begin our visit with zodiac excursions in the magnificent Drygalski Fjord and Larsen Harbour. In Cooper Bay we will observe Chinstrap Penguins and Macaroni Penguins and breeding Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses.
On Salisbury Plain we will see a huge King Penguin colony, elephant seals and fur seals. On Prion Island in the Bay of Isles we can see breeding Wandering Albatrosses. At the end of our time in South Georgia we will visit the abandoned whaling settlement in Grytviken, where now the penguins walk through the streets, and King Edwards Point where the grave of Shackleton lies.
Days 12 – 16: at sea
In the Westerlies we have a pleasant tailwind. On both sides of the Antarctic Convergence, we observe many species and great numbers of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds.
Day 17: Gough Island
Today we plan to approach the unique Gough Island for zodiac cruising around the island, as always weather permitting. In previous years we managed to circumnavigate all but four miles of the 33 mile circumference of the island in the ship, saw spectacular scenery and an unprecedented abundance of wildlife. We felt very privileged to be among the few visitors who have been able to experience Gough and in particular, to see it at such close quarters and in such favorable conditions. We hope to be lucky to repeat this unique experience with you.
Days 18 – 20: Tristan da Cunha
In the Tristan da Cunha archipelago we plan to call on the settlement at the west side of the main island. We will also try to make landings at Nightingale Island and Inaccessable Island with millions of seabirds ranging from Yellow-nosed Albatrosses to Brown Noddies. We allow one day in reserve for bad weather. Please note that we will try and approach for landings, however due to the weather conditions this is not always possible.
Since we began our Atlantic Odyssey's (1998) we failed during 30% of the voyages to make landings in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, due to adverse weather.
Day 21 – 24: at sea
At sea, we now enter sub-tropical waters with their own species of seabirds and dolphins.
Days 25 – 27: St. Helena
St. Helena has a good anchorage and landing site. On this island, we will have ample opportunities to enjoy local culture, pleasant climate, and endemic plants and birds. We will visit the place where Napoleon lived in exile. There will be opportunities to explore the Island on your own and for snorkelling; in the shallow surf where we can find a lot of fishes.
Days 28 – 29: at sea
At sea.
Days 30 – 31: Ascencion Island ( April 27 - 28 )
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. We will try to climb the moist summit of Ascension Island and make a zodiac-cruise around Boatswain Bird Island offering also great opportunities for snorkelling. We may witness egg-laying sea turtles coming ashore at night. Some of our passengers may disembark and fly with the scheduled RAF (Royal Air Force) flight to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, UK. Others may proceed with their voyage to the Cape Verdes
Ascension Island – Praia, Cape Verdes
PLA33, April 28 – May 05, 07 nights, aboard Plancius
Day 1: Ascencion Island (April 28)
In the evening the vessel will depart from Ascension Island.
Days 2 – 6: at sea
At sea, we witness
the northbound spring migration of northern birds like Arctic Terns and
Long-tailed Skuas who join us in crossing the Equator (“the Line”).
Day 7: Fogo
We land at Fogo. This is the great vulcanological laboratory of the Cape Verde Islands. Here we shall see lava as fresh as is possible because it emerged from the ground within the last 10 years and with the dry atmosphere of the islands there is little weathering taking place. We shall land a short distance from the capital, Sao Felipe and shall take an excursion into the very crater to the village of Portela where the people, unbelievable as it seems, make wine. This is perhaps not, one of the greatest vintages of the world but it deserves tasting because of its curiosity. On returning to Sao Felipe we shall relax for a while before re-embarking. After which we shall try an early evening seabird survey to see the sea birds return before dark.
Day 8: Praia ( May 05 )
Praia on Sao Tiago, the main island of the southern group, has a character of its own. We shall make an excursion to Cidade Velha, steeped in history, and shall observe the massive fortress on the hill, built to deter English marauders in the period when the Crowns of Portugal and Spain were united and Portuguese possessions became as fair game to the likes of Drake and Raleigh as were Spanish ones. We shall see the ruins of the Cathedral, the oldest Christian Church in the tropics, and the slave whipping post in the main square. The village is well watered and there are plantations of sugar cane, which support a rum distillery, and several species of birds. We shall have another guided stroll around the City of Praia, which is the capital of the Cape Verdes, and which has given rise to a unique variety of folk music, which we shall hear as we pass the various bars!
Shortly after midnight (Day 9, May 06) you will fly to Lisbon in Portugal (not included in the cruise rate).
Passengers can also disembark in Praia, on the evening of Day 8 and stay for a day or more in a hotel in Praia and take a later flight to Lisbon.
Pelagic West Africa
Praia (Cape Verdes) – Funchal (Madeira)
PLA34 , May 06 – May 13 07 nights aboard Plancius
The Cape Verde Islands lie 375 miles off the coast of west Africa and are all volcanic in origin. The islands display a wonderful variety of landscapes and scenery from the spectacular rugged mountains of Santiago, Santo Antao and São Nicolau to the flat salt pans of Sal and Maio. The Cape Verde Islands were ‘discovered’ by the Portuguese between 1455 and 1461. Because of their strategic position in the Atlantic, on the crossroads of all major sailing routes to North America, South America and Asia, the islands quickly became an important port for shipping supplies, and stop-over for the international trade of gold, ivory and slaves. An interesting account of the history of the Cape Verde can be found in the museum in central Praia. The isolation of the Cape Verde islands has resulted in a number of endemic species, particularly of birds including Cape Verde Swift, Raso Lark, Cape Verde Warbler and Cape Verde Sparrow.
Day 1: Praia ( May 06 )
On the prevcious day ( May 05 ) the passengers have arrived at Praia, the capital of the Cape Verde Islands and stayed in a hotel ( not included in the ships arrangement ). At 13.00 hours they transfer to the MV Plancius for embarkation and lunch, our home for the next 7 nights. Praia is located on the southern island of Santiago, one of the largest of the 10 islands (plus 8 islets) that make up the Cape Verde archipelago. The ships sails from Praia at about 15.00 hours towards the small islands of Raso and Branco, approximately 120 miles from Santiago, a journey that will take the rest of the day and much of the night. We will, however, be crossing prime seabird and cetacean waters and there will be plenty to enjoy en route, especially in the evening when the shearwaters and other seabirds begin to return to the islands after a day feeding out at sea. With the volcanic cone of Fogo off to our port side and flying fish scuttling over the waters surface in front of our ship, we will be looking out for the Cape Verde Shearwater - an endemic race of Cory’s Shearwater-plus North Atlantic Little (Boyd’s) Shearwater, Fea’s Petrel and Bulwer’s Shearwater. These waters are also home to an exciting variety of cetaceans including Short-finned Pilot Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin and perhaps Pan-tropical Spotted Dolphin and Sperm Whale
Day 2: Raso and Branco
We will spend this morning circumnavigating the small rugged islands of Raso and Branco, located in the north-west of the archipelago between the larger islands of São Nicolau and São Vicente. Cape Verde Shearwaters are common here and nest in large numbers on the islands along with Little (Boyd’s) Shearwater and both Madeira and White-faced Storm Petrels. Our main target this morning, however, will be the beautiful and graceful Red-billed Tropicbird which also nest on Raso and can be seen here and gliding along the precipitous slopes of Branco. Brown Boobies are another key species frequently seen around the islands, although locating one of the endemic Raso Larks from the ship may prove somewhat trickier! Throughout our voyage we must also keep our eyes open for cetaceans.
Early in the afternoon we must head east, away from the Cape Verde Islands and towards the continental shelf off West Africa. Sadly, sailing times do not permit us to pass by the island of Boavista, home to the Western Palaearctic's only Magnificent Frigate birds, but these birds forage widely and are far ranging in their travels. Although only one or two pairs remain – in the entire east Atlantic population - they are seen occasionally between the islands and, if fortune favors our group, this afternoon we may get lucky! There will, however be plenty of commoner seabirds to enjoy, plus more opportunities to look for dolphins, pilot whales and perhaps some of the larger cetacean species.
Day 3: at sea
At sea. Today will be spent mostly over deep water cruising from the Cape Verde Islands to the West African shelf edge off Mauritania. Seabirds and cetaceans will be the order of the day and we hope for an interesting selection of seabirds as we head east.
Days 4 – 6: at sea
We will spend the following 3 days cruising north along the shelf edge off Mauritania and Western Sahara. Here we should expect the unexpected, for these rich waters are rarely visited by naturalists and their wildlife has been poorly documented. We hope that by ‘chumming’ (a potent mix of fish scraps and oil) at key points along our route we will enjoy close views of plenty of the commoner species plus, we hope, a few surprises! All four species of Northern Skua - Great, Arctic, Long-tailed and Pomarine - should be common with the latter especially numerous along the Mauritanian shelf edge. Groups of Grey Phalaropes are also a common sight here, along with flocks of Sabine’s Gulls, European Storm-petrel, Kittiwakes and Black Terns.
These northern breeders are joined from the south by numerous Wilson’s Storm-petrels, plus Sooty Shearwater and - for the fortunate - perhaps even South Polar Skua; a species recently shown to head north into these waters during our spring and summer months. Any of the rarer seabirds breeding on the Macronesian Islands are possible, along with an exciting range of cetaceans which may include Fin Whale, Sperm Whale, Northern Bottlenose Whale, Curvier’s beaked Whale, Common Dolphin and the outside chance of rarer species such as Rough-toothed Dolphin, Blainville’s Beaked Whale and Pygmy Sperm Whale. Other pelagic wildlife to look out for includes Sunfish and even the occasional turtle.
Day 7: Approaching Canary Islands
We next cruise through the Canary Islands looking out for Bulwer’s Petrel, Little (Barolo’s) Shearwater and Cory’s Shearwater, plus more cetaceans, before spending an evening cruising around the remote Selvagens. These isolated islands, which lie 80 miles north of the Canaries, are perhaps the ultimate destination for anyone interested in Western Palaearctic ‘tube-noses’. Huge numbers of petrels and shearwaters breed here including approximately 15,000 Cory’s Shearwaters, 5,000 Bulwer’s Petrels, 2,000 Little (Barolo’s) Shearwater, 60,000 White-faced Storm-petrels and 1,500 pairs of Madeira Storm-petrels. Since many of these species gather off shore in the evening before returning to their nest sites after dark, our evening cruise here should be one of the ornithological highlights of this holiday. If conditions permit we will launch the zodiacs for an evening zodiac cruise to enjoy the seabirds and cetaceans at close range.
Day 8: Ilhas Desertas & Funchal
We end our voyage with an early morning cruise around the Desertas Islands. The Desertas belong to the Madeira archipelago and are located 21 nautical miles from Funchal harbor. In 1990 they became a Nature Reserve, comprising the islands themselves and the surrounding sea to a depth of 100 metres. The reserve is divided into two protected zones of which the southern half of Deserta Grande and Bugio are strictly forbidden to visitors even by boat. On Deserta Grande there is a permanent research station with three wardens, who are the only human inhabitants on the islands today.
The Desertas were designated as an SPA (Special Protection Area) for their internationally important seabird populations. Cory’s Shearwater, Bulwer’s Petrel and Madeira Storm Petrel all breed here along with Fea’s and the endemic Zino’s Petrel. Splitting the two latter species at sea will test our ID skills to the limit but both are possible in these waters, along with an exciting selection of cetaceans including Common Dolphin, Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Short-finned Pilot Whale and perhaps a Fin or early Bryde’s Whale. Sperm Whales are the mostly frequently seen large whales in these waters and spend most of the year here feeding on squid from the deep water canyons and trenches that surround the islands. A small population of around 23 Mediterranean Monk Seals also live around the Desertas, although it would take a degree of luck to find one of these critically endangered mammals.
Finally, we arrive in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, where you will disembark the MV Plancius and transfer on your own to the airport to catch an early afternoon flight home (flight not included in cruise rate). Alternatively you stay for some time in Madeira.
