Cruise South America & Antarctica (2024)

It was amazing to sail away out of the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina. On deck of the cruise ship Norwegian Star we witnessed the sunset over the skyline of Buenos Aires.

Occasionally we witnessed some really large birds circling the cruise ship Norwegian Star while cruising along the Argentinian coast towards the city of Ushuaia. Here we have a Southern giant petrel flying close by.

Sailing on the Norwegian Star along the South American coastline towards the city of Ushuaia in Argentina. The seas were calm and we were waiting for something that could be a good sunset.

Great to see snow in the mountains surrounding the city of Ushuaia we are approaching on the cruise ship Norwegian Star in the Beagle Channel, Argentina.

We really enjoyed our catamaran trip to the Faro les Éclaireurs lighthouse in the Beagle Channel near the city of Ushuaia in Argentina. The small island is home to many sea lions. Here we witnessed a sea lion pup going ashore.

Leaving the sea lions at the Faro les Éclaireurs lighthouse and continuing our catamaran trip through the Beagle Channel in Argentina.

Les Éclaireurs Lighthouse is a slightly conically shaped lighthouse standing on the northeasternmost island of the five or more Les Éclaireurs islands. It is a popular tourist attraction, reached on short boat tours from Ushuaia. It is known to the Argentines as the Lighthouse at the End of the World (Faro del fin del mundo).

It was fun being on a catamaran through the Beagle Channel near the city of Ushuaia in Argentina even though the weather could have been a bit better. Apart from the incredible nature all around us we saw so many birds. Here we have a lot of South polar terns on the move.

We loved our trip on the End of the World (Fin del Mundo) train. At the La Macarena station we were waiting for another train to pass. The train runs from the city of Ushuaia in Argentina to the borders of the National Park.

On board the train we travelled along an old path used by the inmates of the Ushuaia prison more than 70 years ago, when they collected firewood for the town. During the 7 kilometers of the trip, we saw peat bogs, forests of lengas and ñires, and the Macarena waterfall, a place where we were allowed to get off the train to go up to a panoramic point.

A train leaving La Macarena station near the city of Ushuaia in Argentina. The Southern Fuegian Railway, better known as the End of the World Train, is a steam railway located in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province.

Amazing sunset over the Faro les Éclaireurs lighthouse while sailing through the Beagle Channel on the Norwegian Star in Argentina. It was great to see the sun's reflection in the water highlighting the lighthouse.

A little iceberg fighting the waves in the Croker Passage in the Antarctic Peninsula. It will not be long before this little iceberg has totally melted away.

Details of a passing iceberg while cruising through the Croker Passage in the Antarctic Peninsula. It's clear this one is already affected by the erosion of wind and water.

Icebergs are generally created by huge chunks of ice breaking off a glacier. We passed this one while cruising through the Croker Passage in the Antarctic Peninsula.

While cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula it's not just icebergs that one sees. The coastal details are just as spectacular, like this part in the Gerlache Strait.

The longer an iceberg is in the water, the smaller it gets as a result of the forces of wind and water. A baby iceberg like this one must have been floating around in the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula for a long time already.

We noticed some extraordinary patterns on this blueish iceberg situated in a somewhat foggy environment while cruising through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula.

We were pretty pleased when we passed this triangular iceberg while cruising through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula. Finally an iceberg that actually looked like one.

Even though we didn't see much of the sun while cruising through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula it was clearly there, peeking through the clouds. The ice sheet on these rocks were perfectly highlighted by the sun.

We really loved how this iceberg looked all pretty in blue, contrasting with the mountains in the background. This one too was spotted while crusing through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Passing some roughly shaped icebergs while cruising through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula. Wind and water did not have too much effect on them yet suggesting they were relatively recently broken off the ice sheet.

We did see quite a lot of wildlife while cruising through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula. Many, many humpback whales and even orcas, but most magical were the penguins, especially when we spotted them on an iceberg like this single penguin on a huge iceberg.

We loved it when smaller icebergs collided creating a bit of a spectacle by itself. These two for instance were splashing away while we passed them sailing through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula.

It's hard to believe that these are the extraordinary details of a random passing iceberg while sailing through the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Some of the icebergs that were floating by were truly exquisite pieces of art. Look at the spectacular details on this massive iceberg in the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica is uninhabited except for a number of research stations around the continent. This here is Brown Station, an Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research station named after Admiral William Brown, the father of the Argentine Navy. It is located on Sanavirón Peninsula along Paradise Harbor, Danco Coast, in Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula.

Passing the impressive ice sheet covering the underlying mountainous terrain while cruising Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula. The blue cracks in the ice sheet clearly show the ice is 'working' so to speak and parts will break off eventually, turning into new icebergs.

Passing a pretty flat iceberg, small compared to the cliffs, while sailing through Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula.

We couldn't get enough of the deep blue crevices in the ice sheet near the coastline of Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula. It looked like huge pieces could break off at any time which would have been truly spectacular to be honest.

Blue light emitting from inside the crevices on the massive ice sheet in Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula. It's the result of how ice absorbs and scatters light. Specifically, the ice absorbs longer wavelengths of light (red, orange, yellow) more effectively than shorter wavelengths (blue, violet). This selective absorption means that as light travels through the ice, the redder colors are absorbed, leaving behind the blue light to be transmitted and scattered, giving the ice its blue appearance.

Sailing past the serene coastline of Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula was truly magnificent. Beautifully sculptured ice sheets covering the rocks underneath revealed unimagineable beauty like this ice cave entrance for instance.

Zooming in on the coastline at Paradise Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula allowed us to look deep into the blue crevices, showing off the age old ice in there. There's a lot of beauty in these massive ice sheets.

The amount and shapes and sizes of icebergs kept amazing us all day while sailing through the Antarctic Peninsula. This one here in Paradise Bay looks like a floating castle.

Late afternoon we passed Lautaro Island while sailing the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula. We spotted many penguins on the rocks shuffling around.

We were continuously being amazed by the sizes and shapes of the various icebergs we passed while sailing the Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic Peninsula. This one here had incredible blue details which even reflected in the sea.

Currently, the largest iceberg is A23a, which has an area of approximately 4.000 square kilometers, and according to the captain this truly massive block of ice was probably the second largest. It's hard to imagine a few of these are flowting around in the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula.

The cruise ship got pretty close to this gigantic massive iceberg so we could see it up close. The details in this iceberg are phenomenal to look at. We passed quite a few of these huge blocks of ice floating around in the Weddell Sea while sailing the Antarctic Peninsula.

Although it's magnificent to see these huge icebergs they are blocking the view on Elephant Island. There were quite a few of these giants floating around in the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula.

One of the biggest icebergs floating around in the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula. It's hard to image it's hundreds of square kilometres big which makes it a true giant.

We were very lucky to be able to even see Elephant Island while sailing on the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula. Amazing clouds and even some sunshine made it a beautiful and mesmerizing experience.

After the incredible luck we had experiencing Elephant Island it was game over when fog was approaching very fast. Within a few minutes we couldn't see anything anymore while sailing on the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic Peninsula.

After a pretty long drive from Stanley we had our first look at the Gentoo penguin colony in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. It was magical to be in the presence of so many penguins. They did make a lot of noise though and they were quite smelly too.

One of the larger gentoo penguins high and mighty on the dunes in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. They all seem to go to the higher places in the dunes, possibly to be able to better see what's going on around them.

A Gentoo penguin looking around in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. They sure seem to look around a lot and we couldn't figure out what it was they're all looking at. Maybe keeping track of what the neighbors are doing?

Gentoo penguins doing their daily routine in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. We couldn't really figure out though what their routine was exactly. It all seemed quite random with them running back and forth while making lots of noise.

A King penguin and a Gentoo penguin on the beach in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. We loved looking at the various penguins doing their thing.

A King penguin standing strong all by itself on the beach at Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. The king penguin is the second largest species of penguin, smaller than but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin.

We managed to see three King penguins up close in Yorke Bay on the Falkland Islands. It's one of the few places on Earth where these magnificent creatures can be spotted. Unfortunately they were molting so not all as brightly coloured as they could have been.

A Magellanic penguin coming out of hiding to see what's going on in his home environment of Gypsy Cove on the Falkland Islands. It quickly decided to go back into its burrow after seeing all these nosy people.

It was magical walking around in the natural habitat of these magellanic penguins at Gypsy Cove on the Falkland Islands. This one was happily walking around.

A pretty evening while walking on deck 13 on the cruise ship Norwegian Star, sailing on the South Atlantic Ocean.

We forgot about it and almost didn't make it but we were just in time for the sunset on the cruise ship Norwegian Star while sailing in Argentinian waters. We only needed to go the front of the ship to witness it properly.

Walking back to the front of the cruise ship Norwegian Star while sailing in Argentinian waters. We love the serene atmosphere on a cruise ship, especially around sunset where most people are inside having dinner.

We had the greatest of times wandering around the deck of the Norwegian Star cruise ship while sailing through Argentinian waters. Loved these mesmerizing coloured clouds in front of the fading sunset.

We didn't have the best of days in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay as it was raining a bit. But we did wander endlessly through some of the back streets and found these lovely homes.

We loved this quaint little old book store called Moebius in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. We haven't actually purchased a real book in years but it's still fun to browse, especially in such a historic setting.