Antarctic Expeditions

The Antarctic Peninsula is an 800-mile (1,300 km) stretch of land and ice extending northward from the Antarctic continent towards South America. First-time visitors are typically overwhelmed by the staggering beauty of the Antarctic Peninsula: glaciers, snow-covered mountain tops, deep blue waters and icebergs of every conceivable shape and size.

Patagonia is a sparsely-populated, wildlife-rich region in the southern part South America. The Andes Mountains form the natural divide between Argentine Patagonia and Chilean Patagonia, where Quark Expeditions focuses its explorations. This western part of Patagonia that lies in Chile is known for its glaciers, fjords, mountains, channels, waterfalls, lakes, verdant forests and abundant wildlife. Torres del Paine National Park, the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, Cape Horn and the Diego Ramirez Islands are popular destinations for visitors to Patagonia.

Snow Hill Island, off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, is home to a colony of 4,000 pairs of breeding Emperor penguins. Reaching Snow Hill is challenging. Travelers must navigate the icy Weddell Sea by icebreaker and then take a helicopter flight before completing the trek on foot to reach the penguin rookery.

South Georgia, which is 1,300 km (800 miles) south-east of the Falkland Islands, has a handful of temporary human inhabitants. The crescent-shaped, mountainous island is known for its diverse wildlife (including a massive king penguin colony at Salisbury Plain), glaciers and fjords. South Georgia is often called the “Galapagos of the Poles” because of its biodiversity.

The sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas, is known for its wildlife—penguins and bird species are plentiful—as well as its dramatic history. Sovereignty disputes between the United Kingdom and Argentina led to the 1982 Falklands War. There’s everything from Magellanic penguins to military history to pique the interest of polar travelers.