22-Day South America & Antarctica Holiday

Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities of Latin America, a major world port, and Argentina’s commercial and social center. Heavily industrialized, he city is one of the world’s leading exporters of processed foods. It was founded in 1536, abandoned, then resettled in 1580, and was the first Latin American city to revolt (1810) against Spanish rule.

Officially independent in 1816, it became the capital of a united Argentina in 1862. It grew into an urban colossus in the late 19th century, when railroads into the agriculturally abundant pampa to the west began to supplement the great inland river transportation system that linked the city with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, and immigration from Europe increased. Famous landmarks include the 19th century cathedral, the opera house, and the many beautiful municipal parks.

The Drake Passage is the body of water from Cape Horn to the Antarctic Peninsula. During the crossing of the Drake Passage, you pass your first icebergs, wildly carved by the wind and water, and observe wandering albatross and other seabirds skimming the swell, while whales breach the surface. Passing through Drake Passage is a scenic adventure.

Montevideo is on of South America’s major ports, and Uruguay’s only large city, with nearly half its population. It is a specious beautiful city with amazing architecture and spectacular beaches.

Stanley is a miniature capital, where the masts of old sailing ships stick up haphazardly out of the little harbour and the government house is a little more than a medium-sized victorian home. There is little to remind visitors of the Falklands war.

Be sure to visit the post office to purchase the extraordinary Falklands commemorative stamps. Many of them depict the Island’s rich variety of wildlife. Unhampered by human encroachment, the Falklands’ huge populations of penguins, black-browed albatross, sea lions, fur seals amd elephant seals are totally unafraid of visitors.

The Chilean Archipelago is a spectacularly beautiful wilderness region very much like Alaska’s Inside Passage – but with its own unique collection of fascinating flora and fauna. Mist-shrouded islands, deeply-cleft fjords, hanging glaciers and the snow-covered peaks of the Andes create a magnificent setting for hundreds of bird species including black-necked swans, flightless steamer ducks and Andean condors. Not far from Puerto Chacabuco is Coihaique, capital of the Aisen Province. In a thrilling drive through the Reserva Nacional Rio Simpson, watch cascading waterfalls tumble over steep canyon walls.

Sailing north Along Argentina’s scalloped shores, you find seaside cities seemingly plucked from Wales. In Puerto Madryn your ship may be greeted by dolphins and whales.

Puerto Montt is the gateway to Chile’s Lake District, an Alpine region noted for its crisp air and breathtaking mountain scenery. Gaze at the pristine beauty of towering Mount Osomo; view the rushing falls and rapids of Petrohue; or enjoy a calm interlude at lake Todos Los Santos.

From here, planes fly to the White Continent: Antarctica. Spectacularly situated at Chile’s southern end, La Cruz Hill affords commanding views of the Straits of Magellan. There is a Patagonian Museum to see, the City Museum run by Salesian Friars, a cemetery graced with cypress groves and ornate mausoleums and, naturally, penguins.

The Strait of Magellan is a channel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, separating the southern tip of the South American mainland from the island of Tierra del Fuego. The strait was discovered by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520.

Visit Beagle Channel by yacht charter and see glaciers & icebergs.

Situated on the southern shore of the island of Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia is the southernmost town in Argentina. It faces the Beagle Channel, where Captain Fitzroy and Charles Darwin encountered the now extinct Yaghan Indians. In the magnificent Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, discover hanging glaciers, verdant beech forests, towering mountains, bottomless sphagnum bogs, crystal clear lakes and spectacular rushing rivers. And look for Andean condors, albatross, upland geese, guanaco, beavers and maybe a puma or two.