15-night Antarctic Cruise

The question is not how low can you go, but how far south can you go before falling off the planet. Lying across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia at "the end of the world," this town is a rag-tag collection of colorful tin-roof houses, ice-capped peaks, scenic beaches, and a naval base. Sitting on tiny Navarino Island, no phone lines stretch between earth and sky, which is all the better for the penguins, geese, and albatross. Pristine hikes lead past beech forests, bogs, and hidden streams. Sailors and kayakers ply through quiet waters with snow-covered mountains looming on all sides.

The Drake Passage is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn and Antarctica. It forms part of the Southern Ocean. It is named after 16th century English explorer Sir Francis Drake.

The Drake Passage is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn and Antarctica. It forms part of the Southern Ocean. It is named after 16th century English explorer Sir Francis Drake.

When the Endurance was crushed by the ice of the Weddell Sea, it is on Elephant Island in the South Shetlands that Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew sought refuge, floating on three small boats through mammoth icebergs and landing between steep cliffs. For 105 days, 22 members of the crew endured hardship as Shackleton pressed forth on a harrowing search for help. Here, expedition photographer, Frank Hurley, took his striking photo of the crew waving at Shackleton as he set off.

The Antarctic Peninsula thrusts out past the Antarctic Circle, lunging vainly towards the Andes, across the infamous Drake Passage. As far as the Antarctic is concerned, the peninsula is the most densely populated location on the continent, sprinkled with vast research bases and minute outposts alike. At the height of the summer season, the human population numbers over 3,000 - not counting tourists. That figure shrinks to less than 1,000 during the intensely chilly winter.

The Antarctic Peninsula thrusts out past the Antarctic Circle, lunging vainly towards the Andes, across the infamous Drake Passage. As far as the Antarctic is concerned, the peninsula is the most densely populated location on the continent, sprinkled with vast research bases and minute outposts alike. At the height of the summer season, the human population numbers over 3,000 - not counting tourists. That figure shrinks to less than 1,000 during the intensely chilly winter.

The Drake Passage is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn and Antarctica. It forms part of the Southern Ocean. It is named after 16th century English explorer Sir Francis Drake.

The question is not how low can you go, but how far south can you go before falling off the planet. Lying across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia at "the end of the world," this town is a rag-tag collection of colorful tin-roof houses, ice-capped peaks, scenic beaches, and a naval base. Sitting on tiny Navarino Island, no phone lines stretch between earth and sky, which is all the better for the penguins, geese, and albatross. Pristine hikes lead past beech forests, bogs, and hidden streams. Sailors and kayakers ply through quiet waters with snow-covered mountains looming on all sides.

The question is not how low can you go, but how far south can you go before falling off the planet. Lying across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia at "the end of the world," this town is a rag-tag collection of colorful tin-roof houses, ice-capped peaks, scenic beaches, and a naval base. Sitting on tiny Navarino Island, no phone lines stretch between earth and sky, which is all the better for the penguins, geese, and albatross. Pristine hikes lead past beech forests, bogs, and hidden streams. Sailors and kayakers ply through quiet waters with snow-covered mountains looming on all sides.