Venture, Humboldt Route Chilean Fjords Antarctica ex Callao to Ushuaia

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30 Night Cruise sailing from Callao to Ushuaia aboard Seabourn Venture.

30 Night Cruise sailing from Callao to Ushuaia aboard Seabourn Venture.

Day after day, experience the Southern Hemisphere’s most spectacular and unforgettable natural splendors with your veteran Seabourn Venture Expedition Team.

Highlights of this cruise:

Callao
A 45-minute drive from the port city of Callao brings you to exciting Lima, the City of Kings. From its founding in 1535 until today, it remains one of the most important cities in all South America. The handsome old buildings from the earliest colonial days surrounding the Plaza de Armas contrast with the soaring modern towers rising in the newer sections of the city.

Matarani
Shaped like an exuberant sea horse standing on its head, Mayotte is the most southerly and oldest of the Comoros islands, with relatively low, rounded hills and a prominent circling coral reef. A collective Territory of France, its inhabitants are EC citizens. This "island" actually consists of three main islands: Grande Terre, Petite Terre, and the rock of Dzaoudzi, and is a remarkable natural environment filled with birds, lemurs and numerous species of flora and other fauna.

Arica
The main seaport for silver from the vast mines in Bolivia during the Spanish colonial period, Arica has been a contested city throughout its history. It enjoys a climate as dry as that of the Sahara, but without the temperature extremes. Nearby Lauca National Park offers views of volcanos, lakes and plentiful altiplano wildlife such as llamas, vicunas, alpacas and guanacos.

Coquimbo
The twin cities of Coquimbo and La Serena have prospered in recent years from the growing popularity of Chile's seacoast resorts. Your ship will dock at Coquimbo, renowned in South America for the harvest of seafood brought in daily by brightly colored fishing boats, and for its casino, which is open nightly during the southern summer. Nearby La Serena was founded in 1544, and still boasts many beautifully preserved and restored Spanish colonial buildings such at its 16th century cathedral presiding over the Plaza de Armas. Inland, the rich fields and orchards of the Elqui Valley provide a bounty of fresh fruit and fine wine grapes, while on the slopes nearby, astronomers take advantage of the clear, dry air to photograph the heavens through huge telescopes. The little river town of Vicuna was the birthplace of Nobel prize poet Gabriela Mistral.

San Antonio
This large, modern port serves Chile’s capital, Santiago, a city with Spanish colonial charm and a vivacious spirit. Encircled by the Andes and the Coastal Range, Santiago is centered around the Plaza de Armas, with several of the city’s landmarks: the 18th-century Metropolitan Cathedral the Palacio de la Real Audencia from 1808, the City Hall and the National Museum of History. North of San Antonio lie the picturesque old port and university town of Valparaíso and the colorful seaside resort of Viña del Mar. In between the coast and the capital are valleys filled with some of Chile’s most famous wineries, all inviting you to come and taste.

Puerto Montt
The lake country of southern Chile seems to be altogether another world from the deserts of the north. The Lake District is graced with spectacular scenery, including the magnificent snowcapped volcanic cone, Mt. Osorno. Puerto Montt serves as the principal port for this region and as a gateway for cruises southward into Chile's fjords.

Antarctica
Antarctica! The name alone conjures up images of boundless ice, towering icebergs, comedic penguins, epic snowstorms, great sailing ships held tightly by ice and the hardy explorers striving to survive wrapped in thick, heavy parkas. All of this is, or once was, true. Today, vessels have changed and the level of safety on a journey to ‘The Great White Continent’ has increased immensely. Antarctica is the truest of wild places, the majesty of its pristine natural landscapes is second to no other location on earth.

The animals that thrive in the rigors of the Antarctic climate are present in such great numbers and concentrations that they must be seen to be believed. This untouched oasis harkens back to a time when the world was untouched by humanity, pure in its natural innocence. Antarctica has been a source of natural inspiration for as long as humans have been aware of its existence -- and it may produce in you one of the most exceptional emotional sensations it is possible to experience on our great planet.

Ushuaia
The southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia is the capital of Argentine Tierra del Fuego and an important naval base boasting a strategic as well as a picturesque location on the shores of Ushuaia Bay and the Beagle Channel. This rustic coastal town is set among waterfalls, glaciers, snow-clad mountains and beech forests, and the nutrient-rich local waters abound with marine life. Though the houses here are painted warm, pastel colors, the weather is chilly year-round and winter sports such as downhill and cross-country skiing and skating are popular. Ushuaia's principal industries are raising sheep, logging, fishing and trapping. It became a boomtown with 30,000 residents in the late 1980's when the government sought to increase Argentina's presence near Antarctica by giving tax breaks to citizens who settled here.