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History made as Silver Explorer guests set foot on Elephant Island

The Silver Explorer and its expedition team have accomplished a first in the ship’s history, landing guests at Point Wild, Elephant Island where survivors of the Shackleton Expedition lived under two lifeboats for more than four months while hoping for rescue.

After attempting to take guests to Elephant Island for nearly 10 years, Silver Explorer’s captain Alexander Golubev was able to tuck the Silver Explorer into a small and slightly sheltered bay just to the West of Point Wild, thanks to good weather conditions.

Expedition team leader Robin West and his team of nine, including biologists, geologists and an historian, assisted 120 guests on zodiacs one at a time, to explore this historic place - one of the most desolate and isolated places in the world.

Silver Explorer guests face up to the penguins at Point Wild, above, and the expedition team with the monument to Ernest Shackleton

Guests observed the 100m x 30m strip of land, at low tide, where Ernest Shackleton’s determined shipmates made a home during the winter of 1916. The zodiacs also passed through a small channel into West Bay which provided great views of Cape Wild and the Furness Glacier cascading into the ocean, plus meet Chinstrap Penguins and see several male Fur Seals and one Weddell Seal relaxing on an exposed beach platform.

Robin West commented: “Landing in the exact same place where Sir Ernest Shackleton stepped ashore nearly 100 years ago was a truly significant and historic experience not only for Silver Explorer and the expedition team, but for our guests too.

“It is one of the best known stories of early exploration in Antarctica and our guests had the opportunity to be part of this.”

Silver Explorer’s unstructured itinerary to ‘Cruise and Explore the Antarctic Peninsula’ allows the captain and the Silversea team to determine the exact itinerary as the voyage progresses, as conditions can vary so much in the Polar Regions. Both guests and crew can take full advantage of the available conditions to explore as many sights and make as many zodiac excursions and landings as possible.

The real thing at Point Wild in 1916, and beneath, a Silver Explorer dinghy at exactly the same spot

Combine true expedition cruising with an elegant onboard lifestyle with Silversea Expeditions. Offering two 10-day trips from £6,339 per person, on an all-inclusive basis, voyage 7226 departs December 3 and voyage 7227 departs December 13 from Ushuaia, Argentina.

Silver Explorer departs Ushuaia, cruises through the Drake Passage and then cruise/explores the Antarctic Peninsula, before returning to Ushuaia. Price is per person, based on two people sharing a View Suite and includes all shore excursions, port charges, government fees and taxes. Economy air available from £2,299 per person.

Fares for voyages embarking/disembarking Ushuaia include economy class charter air service between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, plus transfers between Ushuaia airport and pier, on day of embarkation and disembarkation.