The Wildlife Expedition

We suggest 18-22 days to do it without rushing — enough for the private guiding, the unhurried mornings and a little room to simply be there. Your advisor tunes the length to your calendar and pace.

As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$24,000 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.

Travel November through March, when the Antarctic summer opens the ice and daylight barely fades; December and January bring peak wildlife, while November delivers pristine snow and March offers the finest whale watching. Your Forest Travel advisor times it to the light, the seasons and your calendar.

The Peninsula is the ice; South Georgia is the life. Adding the island means more days at sea and a longer voyage, but it delivers wildlife on a scale the Peninsula cannot match. For many, it becomes the heart of the trip.

A landing on a beach where hundreds of thousands of king penguins stretch to the tussock line. A quiet vigil among wandering albatross on their nests on a windswept headland. A Zodiac cruise past beaches heaving with elephant seals and fur seal pups. Everything is private and shaped to you.

Yes — because it is built from scratch for your party, it adapts to honeymoons, milestone celebrations, and multigenerational families alike, with the pace, privacy and comfort set to your group.

A Virtuoso member like Forest Travel unlocks room upgrades, daily breakfast, hotel credits and early/late check-out at the finest hotels, plus a dedicated advisor who designs and manages the whole journey — access and service a booking engine can't match.

Yes — we charter private expedition ships and yachts to visit South Georgia's penguin colonies on your own schedule. A private charter anchors off the island's vast king penguin beaches, where colonies number in the hundreds of thousands, and lets you land when light and wildlife are best rather than on a fixed group timetable. Ice and weather govern access, so we pair you with a seasoned ice captain and a flexible route your advisor designs end to end.

South Georgia holds the largest king penguin colonies on earth, alongside macaroni, gentoo, and chinstrap rookeries. On a private charter your advisor plans landings at the island's famous wildlife beaches, where penguins stretch to the horizon and chicks gather in dense crèches, and times each visit for early light and calm seas. Elephant seals, fur seals, and albatross share the same shores, so most days deliver several encounters in a single landing.

Remarkably close — penguins are unafraid of people and often approach on their own. Landing guidelines ask visitors to keep about five meters from wildlife, but curious king penguins and fur seal pups routinely close that distance themselves. On a private charter you land in small numbers with expert naturalist guides, so you enjoy long, calm time ashore for photography without the crowds of a large ship, always on the animals' terms.

A private charter gives you the whole ship and the whole schedule; a scheduled expedition cruise shares both with other guests. On charter you decide the day's landings, linger longer at a colony, and shape an 18-22 day route around wildlife rather than a brochure. It costs more — journeys begin from US$24,000 per traveler — but delivers the privacy, flexibility, and unhurried time ashore that a fixed departure cannot match.

Private charters range from intimate yachts carrying a single family or group to expedition ships hosting a few dozen guests. Smaller vessels reach anchorages larger ships cannot and put everyone ashore at once; slightly larger expedition ships add stabilizers, ice-strengthened hulls, and comfort for the demanding Southern Ocean crossing. Your advisor matches the vessel to your group size, your sea legs, and the penguin colonies you most want to reach.