DIEGO RAMÍREZ ISLANDS About 62 miles (100 km) southwest of Cape Horn, these little-known islands constitute the southernmost point of South America. They’re also the continent’s most southerly inhabited outpost, as the Chilean Navy maintains a weather station here that was established in 1951. The archipelago is an Important Bird Area, home to nesting albatross, as well as blue petrels, diving petrels and sooty shearwaters.
PIA GLACIER In the Beagle Channel, Pia Glacier is situated in a fjord in the Cordillera Darwin (Darwin Mountains), the southern part of the Andes mountain range. This area provides outstanding opportunities for taking the Zodiacs out for a shore landing and hiking to a spectacular lookout. Though the provenance of the glacier’s name remains unconfirmed, some believe Alberto Maria de Agostini, an Italian missionary, mountaineer and explorer who lived in Tierra del Fuego, named it after Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, the daughter of Italy’s first king.
TUCKERS ISLETS Located in Almirantazgo Sound
(Admiralty Sound), a stunning offshoot of the Strait of Magellan, this tiny group of islands is covered in grasses, mosses and small trees, providing a verdant backdrop for viewing a large colony of nesting Magellanic penguins. Other bird species that may be spotted here include king and rock cormorants, oystercatchers, Chilean skuas, kelp geese and dolphin gulls.
MARTA ISLAND Marta Island, along with nearby Magdalena Island, is a designated
natural monument, Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos (The Penguins Natural Monument), and has been a protected area since 1982. The small island is home to a large colony of sea lions, as well as an abundance of seabirds, including cormorants, skuas and gulls.
EXPEDITION SPIRIT Embracing the unexpected is part of the legacy—and excitement—of expedition travel. When traveling in extremely remote regions, your Expedition Team must consider the sea and weather to guide the route and itinerary details. This itinerary is a tentative outline of what you may experience on this voyage; please be aware that no specific itinerary can be guaranteed. By the same token, wildlife encounters as described are expected, but not guaranteed. Your Expedition Team will use their considerable experience to seek out wildlife in known habitats, but the presence of any particular species of bird or marine wildlife is not guaranteed.
Call your Travel Professional or a Quark Polar Travel Adviser at 1.888.892.0073 | Visit QuarkExpeditions.com for additional details
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