The Antarctic Peninsula, the Weddell Sea, the South Orkneys, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale Island, St. Helena and Ascension Island - a roll call of some of the most remote and romantic places in the world. Add Gough Island and the legendary Inaccessible Island and you surely have the ultimate pelagic.

 

Most of these South Atlantic islands have enormous populations of seabirds and some have endemic landbirds.  The huge sea areas between them are home for much of the year to a great variety of albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters and prions, not to mention whales and dolphins.  Among the many highlights should be Lesser Snow, Antarctic and Spectacled Petrels, Northern Rockhopper Penguins and thousands of other penguins in Antarctica and its islands. The ultimate ocean travellers – Wandering Albatrosses – pass close to the ship and we may even get a chance to see the greeting ceremony of these massive seabirds on their nesting grounds. Cetacean highlights have included Humpback Whales and Orcas next to the ship in the ice, Southern Rightwhale Dolphins (2005), Spectacled Porpoise, Strap-toothed Whale, and Arnoux’s Beaked Whale, two Blue Whales, and dolphins galore.

 

Remote islands with colourful histories which few people get an opportunity to enjoy. In the last five years we visited and Zodiac-cruised Gough Island, seeing its two endemic land birds, the moorhen and the bunting, but this was eclipsed by landing on Inaccessible Island in 2003, 2004, 2006 & 2007 (heavy swell prevented landing in 2005), yielding amazing views of the delightful and diminutive flightless Inaccessible Island Rail. Between forty and fifty species of ‘tubenose’ have been logged in every one of the past six Odysseys. In four trips a total of thirteen Emperor Penguins were encountered on ice at close range, and hundreds of Lesser Snow and Antarctic Petrels have been seen over the drift ice. Successful landings have also been made on Nightingale Island in the Tristan group, where the endemic Tristan Thrush, Tristan Bunting and endangered Grosbeak Bunting are to be found.

 

 The opportunity to do all this, at a price well within many people's reach, is thanks to the annual repositioning cruise of the comfortable, ice-strengthened Professor Molchanov (48 passengers).  In the spring she travels north from her expedition cruising in the Antarctic to her summer cruising in the Arctic. You start this trip with parkas and boots and finish in shorts and T-shirts - from the freezer to the oven in just one month.

 

The Atlantic Odyssey starts in Ushuaia. Simon Cook will lead the 2008 and 2009 expeditions, taking over from Tony Marr who pioneered this voyage back in 1998. He has many years of experience of working on expedition ships and has probably spent more time at sea in the last fifteen years than any other UK leader, Simon also drives Zodiacs and has a very keen personal interest in seabirds and cetaceans (with pretty impressive personal life-lists of both!) and the ability to share his enthusiasm with beginners and more experienced birders alike. On board ship Simon will be joined by the rest of the Expedition Team and you can be assured that the standard of sea-watching, lectures – on the wildlife, island histories and physical geography – will be very high indeed. The opportunities for photography are excellent throughout this trip.

 

 

Now acknowledged as the pelagic which seabird enthusiasts cannot afford to miss, in March 2008 and 2009 the vessel will again be departing from Tierra del Fuego for the epic Atlantic journey, finally ending in the Cape Verde Islands in early April. The main WildWings group will disembark in Ascension, after a journey of nearly 6000 nautical miles (9600 kilometres), and fly home to the UK with the RAF to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. For a supplement, you may stay on the vessel to the Cape Verde Islands. Flights from the Cape Verdes are via Lisbon back to the UK.

 

An optional birding excursion from Ushuaia to the Tierra del Fuego National Park will be offered, at a cost of about £55, on the day prior to sailing. The National Park holds a good variety of South American birds, including  Red-Chested Dotterels, Southern Lapwings , Steamer ducks, Ashy-headed and Kelp Geese and Magellanic Penguins. We will seek the retiring Austral Pygmy Owl, spectacular Magellanic Woodpecker, Andean Condor and White-throated Caracara amongst other species.

 

 

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Itinerary

Day 1: In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia and sail down the Beagle Channel where we hope to see Magellanic Penguin and Magellanic Diving Petrel. The expedition begins at the southern tip of Argentina and sails to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Days 2-3: At sea in the Drake Passage, an excellent selection of seabirds can be expected, including Kerguelen, Blue, Soft-plumaged and White-chinned Petrels, Wandering, Black-browed, Grey-headed and the elegant Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses; Cape Petrels and Antarctic Fulmars and Slender-billed and Antarctic Prions, to name but a few.  A number of Cetaceans can be expected in these wild oceans. A landing on the South Shetland islands is possible.

Day 4: We may land on the south side of the Bransfield Strait. After cruising through the Antarctic Strait, we plan to land at Hope Bay or Brown Bluff, to set foot on the Antarctic Continent. In this area chances are good for encounters with Adelie Penguins, Weddell and Leopard Seals and Snow Petrels. Sei, Fin and Antarctic Minke Whales may be seen here too, as we sail through these forbidding ice-filled waters and into the Weddell Sea.

Day 5: In the morning we hope to slowly cruise the semi–frozen waters of the Weddell Sea, birthplace of huge tabular icebergs, and startling blue ice blocks. Among this icy wonderland we will search for Snow Petrels, Antarctic Terns and haul outs of Crabeater and other seals. This route covers areas Shackleton and his men saw, it truly is a privilege to be in such a historic and pristine wilderness. At Paulet Island we should find some late Adelie Penguins near the remains of the Nordenskjold Expedition’s hut, and an Antarctic Shag colony.  Our time here in Antarctica will be entirely dictated by weather and ice conditions.

Day 6: On our way north, we spend the day at sea, hopefully encountering drift ice which may hold the elusive Emperor, and where we should see hundreds of Antarctic Prions, our first Black-bellied Storm Petrels , more Pintado Petrels and Antarctic or Southern Fulmars. 

Day 7: We plan a landing at one of the islands in the South Orkneys, and we may be able to visit the staff of an Argentinian Station or of the British Antarctic Base at Signy Island. In 2002 and 2003 we landed on Coronation Island and encountered the only two species of flowering plant to be found on the Antarctic continent.

Day 8: On our way to South Georgia, we should witness another multitude of seabirds and cetaceans in the Scotia Sea.

Days 9-11: In South Georgia we plan visits to the abandoned whaling settlements at Grytviken, the King Penguin colony on Salisbury Plain, and the breeding Wandering Albatrosses in the Bay of Isles.  We will visit or Zodiac cruise Macaroni Penguin colonies, set against stunning snow-capped peaks where Southern Elephant Seals fight and wallow near the Antarctic Fur Seals, which have cute young pups here. We have three wonderful days on this beautiful sub-Antarctic island where the endemic South Georgia Pintail and South Georgia Pipit can be expected too.   Blue Whales topped our cetacean sightings here in 2002 and 2006.

Days 12-16: In the westerlies we should have a good tailwind, and on both sides of the Antarctic Convergence we will observe many species and great numbers of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic seabirds.  Many of the seabirds previously seen will be encountered, plus Fairy Prions, Grey-backed, Black-bellied and White-bellied Storm Petrels, Atlantic, Grey and Great-winged Petrels, Great and Sooty Shearwaters, Common and South Georgian Diving Petrels, Southern and Northern Giant Petrels and up to eight forms of albatross (Wandering, Tristan, Grey-headed, Black-browed, Sooty, Light-mantled Sooty, Shy and Atlantic Yellow-nosed). Our first of the handsome but seriously endangered Spectacled Petrels should be encountered along with Little Shearwaters of the silver-winged race ‘elegans’.

Day 17: We will head for Gough Island, a World Heritage Site, remote and spectacular home to millions of breeding seabirds. Landing is not permitted, but subject to weather conditions we plan to Zodiac cruise close to the shore and look for the endemic Gough Moorhen and Gough Bunting.

Days 18-20: In the Tristan da Cunha archipelago we plan to call at the settlement of Edinburgh at the north-western corner of the main island. We allow a reserve day for bad weather, which is common here.  Known as the remotest inhabited island in the world, Tristan has hardly any birds of its own left now, thanks to rats and cats, so we plan to visit nearby Nightingale Island where Great Shearwaters nest in their thousands, criss-crossing the island and emerging from the eight-foot high tussock grass. Tristan Thrushes and Tristan Buntings should be hopping around our feet and the much scarcer Grosbeak Bunting may be seen. We will also encounter Atlantic Yellow-nosedAlbatrosses and Northern Rockhopper Penguins breeding. We hope to gain permission again to visit Inaccessible Island (weather and landing conditions permitting) with its amazing mouse-like Flightless Rail.

Days 21-24: At sea again, we now enter sub-tropical waters with their own brand of seabirds and dolphins, and with many of the participants  (birds and passengers) changing from winter to summer plumage on this sector. We will leave many seabird friends behind now, most sadly the last of the albatrosses amongst them. Spectacled Petrels stayed with us the longest last year. New species should include Madeiran Storm Petrel and the bat-like Bulwer’s Petrel, whilst flying fish definitely add a tropical edge. Expect calm seas and balmy days.

Days 25–27: St. Helena has a good anchorage at Jamestown. This is another island with few birds owing to man’s activities.  Just 11 landbird species breed here, nine of which have been introduced.  The most important is the Wirebird, a small thin-legged plover breeding in fields in the centre, where we will find them holding territories in the local pastures. White Terns nest all along the coast and in town in the trees. Red-billed Tropicbirds and noddies fly around our vessel at anchor, whilst Pantropical Spotted Dolphins can often be seen in the distance, occasionally leaping several metres into the air, hanging motionless for a few seconds and then spinning back into the water. The WildWings group will enjoy a cruise in a local boat for the dolphins and breeding seabirds, as well as undertake an optional full-day tour, including endemic botany and some of the Napoleon sites (approx cost £20). Optional dinners ashore in local restaurants are highly recommended.

Days 28-29: At sea, the infamous ‘doldrums’, with more lazy balmy days. Cory’s Shearwaters and Sooty Terns should start to appear.

Days 30-31: Ascension Island is a dry volcanic island with a moist and richly vegetated top known as Green Mountain. The Sooty Tern (Wide-awake) colony can hold up to one million breeding pairs when the birds are present. We will Zodiac cruise Boatswain Bird Island, an offshore stack where the endemic Ascension Frigatebirds hang in the air in squadrons of thousands, and Masked, Red-footed and Brown Boobies and the beautiful White-tailed Tropicbirds also compete for space to breed. In the evening we hope to witness egg-laying Atlantic Green Turtles coming ashore.

Day 31: RAF scheduled flight departs Ascension to Brize Norton in the evening, to arrive next morning (Day 32). Please note that the date this service will operate is subject to final confirmation for 2008 & 2009. The service can be also subject to operational delays, so passengers should be flexible at the end of the voyage. Full confirmation is normally expected in January for April of the same year. If the RAF change their operational dates, passengers will have to stay on Ascension until the next flight. We would be able to arrange accommodation for you.

Or stay onboard the ship:

Days: 32-36: At sea (cross the Equator with King Neptune)

Days: 37: Fogo, Cape Verde Islands (Fea’s Petrels, Little Shearwater of the race ‘boydi’and Cape Verde Shearwaters )

Day 38: Sao Tiago, Cape Verdes. Disembark ship at Praia.

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Holiday Information

Tour Leader :  Simon Cook plus the ship’s Expedition Team

Dates:   9th March – 8th April (Ushuaia – Ascension), 8th – 15th April (Ascension – Praia, Cape Verdes) 

Triple berths with washbasin	£3525	£3999
Twin share with washbasin	£4139	£4689
Twin share private facilities	£4779	£5385
Twin share superior p.f.	£5329	£5589

 Single cabins x 1.7 of twin share price

All prices per person.

Deposit 10%

Advance register for 2009, TBA March – TBA April for £50 per person (refundable).

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