Le Commandant Charcot

Ushuaia - Dunedin
SHIP: Le Commandant Charcot
Departs 15 Jan 2023 - 13 Feb 2023, 30 days

The all-new half-circumnavigation of the Antarctic, an unforgettable trip into the heart of the ice and a continent full of extremes. Explore some of the most little-known islands in the world: Charcot Island, Peter I Island and the Marie Byrd Land Islands. Le Commandant Charcot is the most sustainable and technically advanced ship in the world.

Charcot, Bellingshausen, Dean, Fisher, Ross, Amundsen… Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, the names of these legendary explorers resonate at every moment. Thanks to its unique capacity to sail into the very heart of the ice, Le Commandant Charcot invites you, with respect and humility, to set off in the footsteps of these great Antarctic figures during an all-new and unrivalled half-circumnavigation that will sail from the far south of the American continent to New Zealand.

Antarctic exploration cannot be separated from the pioneers who travelled in these territories at the edges of the Earth. They left their names everywhere. Inaccessible and elusive are certainly the adjectives that best describe these lands that are among our planet’s most little-known and remote. Like a real explorer, you will cross the legendary southern seas of Bellingshausen and Amundsen, approach Marie Byrd Land, one of the last Terra nullius of our planet, and attempt to reach the Charcot and Peter I Islands, enveloped in their blankets of ice. Very significant in the history of South Pole exploration, the Ross Sea is also the world’s largest marine protected area, the kingdom of prodigious wildlife. As a privileged witness, keep a watchful eye and observe the Antarctic petrels, whales, orcas, seals and penguins that are to be found here.

The power of the polar world will conquer you, leaving you with unforgettable memories of the impressive Drygalski glacier scattered with blue, the endless and constant Ross Ice Shelf, the majestic Witkins and Getz ice shelves, and the ice floe taking over the Amundsen Sea. Here and there, you will notice clues to the past presence of Shackleton and Scott who have forever marked this continent of extremes with their historic exploits. At the foot of Mount Erebus, the highest volcano in Antarctica, their memory becomes tangible: the former base camp has remained intact.

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The all-new half-circumnavigation of the Antarctic, an unforgettable trip into the heart of the ice and a continent full of extremes.
• The exploratory approach to some of the most little-known islands in the world: Charcot Island, Peter I Island and the Marie Byrd Land Islands.
• A dive into the history of the conquest of the South Pole, from the Bay of Whales, a natural harbour that served as a base for Roald Amundsen’s victorious expedition in 1911, to the scientific station in McMurdo, which is still active today.
• The crossing of three southern seas: Bellingshausen, Amundsen and Ross.
• Outings and shore visits in a zodiac dinghy or hovercraft with a reinforced team of naturalist guides.
• The landscapes: ice shelves, including that of Ross, surrealist glaciers, monumental icebergs, immersion in the heart of the ice floe.
• The wildlife: crabeater seals, leopard seals, Weddell seals, humpback whales, orcas, royal penguins, king penguins and Adelie penguins.
• Many activities: kayaking, hiking or snowshoeing, polar plunge without suit, polar swim with a drysuit, participative science. Discover all the activities in the “Ponant Activities” tab.