South America

Located at the entrance to the Panama Canal, Colón’s Canal Expansion Observation Center has viewing platforms over the Atlantic locks and Gatún Lake. Embark MS Fram and spend the night aboard in port.

The marvel of the famous Panama Canal crossing.

Early in the morning, we depart Colón and enter the Panama Canal, a marvel of modern engineering. We experience the canal transit and the ingenuity of the lock's system firsthand as MS Fram is lifted over 26 metres above sea level, bringing us from the Atlantic side over to the Pacific Ocean.

You’ll be on quite the adventure today as we head to an authentic Embera settlement in the middle of the jungle in Darien National Park. The indigenous Embera have lived in this area for centuries, long before the first Spanish explorer set foot in the New World. The tribe here doesn’t receive visitors regularly and we have worked closely with them to give you this rare opportunity. We’ll brief you beforehand on how to make sure our visit to this isolated community is a respectful one and always in line with their customs on courtesy.

In order to get there, we will anchor up in La Chunga bay and head up the Sambu River through the jungle using our small expedition boats. As we will be travelling inland, it will usually be a lot hotter and you’ll want to have good protection from the sun and the mosquitos. The journey up river will take approximately one hour but will be well worth it. Along the way, keep your eyes open and your camera ready to capture birds like herons, egrets, osprey and Harpy Eagles.

When we arrive at the Embera settlement, you’ll be able to greet and meet the people here and explore the village. You can learn about their traditional clothing and medicine, much of it sourced from the surrounding jungle. There might also be an opportunity to join a local guide on a short walk through the jungle to learn about various medicinal plants and insects of interest. Back in the village, the residents are likely to be having fun themselves as they offer to give you a temporary tribal tattoo and even let you try on their traditional dress.

The little town of Bahía Solano is the largest settlement on Colombia’s Chocó coast, near the mouth of Rio Jella and surrounded by thick jungle. It is also named Ciudad Mutis after the 18th century Spanish botanist, perhaps a reference to the natural biodiversity that exists in the area’s jungles, mangroves, mountains, marshes, rivers, and bays.

The community here opens their town to us and warmly invite you on a hosted walk through their settlement. Along the way, you’ll meet and talk to the mainly Afro Colombian residents who live alongside indigenous Embera and other Colombians from the interior. Passing by the main church and kindergarten, we’ll come to the local secondary school where students will greet you with a traditional welcome song and show you around their classrooms. Over at the small fishing port, you’ll learn about the town’s fishing co-operative, which is the main source of income for the community. Your tour ends at the seafront where you’ll be treated to a performance of unique Afro Pacific Colombian music and dance.

There is an optional excursion to the Botanic Gardens located on the long sandy beach of Playa Mecana. The gardens are actually a 170-acre jungle reserve with fascinating nature trails and home to a seed bank plus different reforestation projects. Another potential optional excursion might take you to the fishing village at Playa Huina where you’ll have the opportunity to walk through the jungle to waterfalls with crystal clear swimming holes or to visit a local indigenous community.

Spend time relaxing in the serenity of the sea. Join lectures as our experienced lecturers share their extensive knowledge and meet our Expedition Team on deck to spot marine wildlife and sea birds. As we cross the Equator, it’s our tradition to hold a ceremony seeking King Neptune’s blessing. He may even make an appearance.

As we cross the Equator, it’s our tradition to hold a ceremony seeking King Neptune’s blessing. He may even make an appearance before we reach our first call in Ecuador. Manta is a bustling port with high-rise buildings and lovely beaches. You can visit the city museum which showcases artefacts from local pre-Colombian culture, a collection of Ecuadorian art, and weird and wonderful fishing paraphernalia. We recommend an excursion to nearby Montecristi where traditional Panamanian straw hats are hand woven.

Isla de la Plata is a part of Parque National Machalilla, Ecuador’s only coastal national park. The island sits quite far off the coast and is prone to large waves that can make landings a challenge. Its name as the ‘Island of Silver’ is thought to come from the belief that English seaman Francis Drake buried a bunch of silver treasure here. Or it’s possibly because all the bird guano reflected in the sunshine gave the island a shiny, silvery look when seen from the mainland. No treasure has ever been found on the island though which only measures less than 6 square kilometres.

Still, whatever the island lacks in size or silver, it more than makes up for in a range of wildlife that rivals that of the Galápagos Islands. If we are able to go ashore here successfully, keen bird watchers among you will enjoy walking on the island with binoculars at the ready to spot some of the 32 species of bird found here, like famous blue-footed boobies, nesting waved albatrosses, pelicans, gannets, and frigate birds. The waters around the island are equally diverse and you might be lucky enough to see whales, manta rays, green turtles, and dolphins.

Known as the banana capital of the world, this area is surrounded by banana plantations - approximately 80% of Ecuador’s bananas are shipped through Puerto Bolivar. Join an optional excursion to an organic plantation and learn about their unique process of growing their banana plants – by playing classical music for them. Further ashore you can explore the Buenaventura Reserve where you have the chance to observe hummingbirds, hawks and parakeets, or walk amongst fossilized trees, flowers, and plants in the Petrified Forest of Puyango on one of our optional excursions.

Our Expedition Team will continue the lecture programme to share their knowledge and experience, as well as summarise the voyage so far and let you know about plans for the exciting days to come. Our onboard Expedition Photographer will be available to help you with the basics of expedition photography.

Discover the ruins of the Chimu Kingdom.

Next is the port of Salaverry, the starting point for two optional excursions. Visit the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site of Chan Chan (`Sun Sun´) to see the mud-brick ruins of the ancient Chimú kingdom. Or tour the Mochican temples of the Sun and Moon, the former being the largest adobe pyramid in Peru.

We dock in Callao and travel a short distance to Lima, Peru’s vibrant capital. From Plaza Mayor, stroll around the UNESCO-listed Historic Center, admiring the architecture of colonial cathedrals and Baroque buildings. Whether walking the spacious parks or enjoying top cuisine, you’ll understand why the city was once known as ‘The City of Kings’.

Positioned on a bay behind a peninsula, the small and sleepy resort town of Paracas is surrounded by brown-sugar cliffs and beaches. Known to most as El Chaco, the town has an array of restaurants along the main shorefront and boulevard where you can tuck into jalea, a mishmash of fried seafood with salsa criolla and yuca root. Peruvian silverside fish, known as pejerry, is also a local speciality, best washed down with a glass of pisco – grape brandy which is produced at tourable distilleries in the region. Be careful though, pisco can pack quite the punch!

Opposite Paracas harbour is a mysterious local geoglyph of a candelabra that possibly dates back to 200 BCE. It could be related to the famous Nazca Lines which you can visit in the Pisco valley a short drive away to the south as part of an optional excursion. The Nazca Lines themselves could be older than the candelabra but new ones are still being discovered, prompting all sorts of theories as to their origin, extra-terrestrial or otherwise.

You may also take a boat tour of the nearby Ballestas Islands, which are considered to be the lesser Galápagos Islands. The Ballestas support a range of wildlife, including Humboldt penguins, turtles, Peruvian boobies, cormorants, pelicans, sea lions, dolphins, Inca terns and humpback whales. There’s also Paracas National Reserve nearby, covering a rare combination of desert and marine ecosystems in its territory. The Martian-like yellow dunes and red-sand beaches hide more than 100 archaeological sites of the Paracas culture and grant otherworldly views to birds such as the Andean condor and Chilean flamingo.

As we sail further south, enjoy our lecture programme, the fresh salt air, and all the amenities the ship has to offer.

Unusually for a city by the sea, Arica enjoys a constant desert climate and is classed as one of the driest cities in the world. This also means that it is bathed in glorious sunshine almost every day of the year, and residents proudly like to refer to Arica as enjoying a never-ending spring season. The beaches are popular with sunbathers and surfers alike and the views from the tall, sandy El Morro cliff are well worth the 15-minute hike to the fluttering Chilean flag at the top.

Another hotspot for visitors is San Marcos Cathedral, designed by Gustave Eiffel of Parisian fame and inaugurated in 1876. Calles 21 de Mayo and Bolognesi are lively, pedestrianised areas with plenty of eateries and artesanía stalls while El Agro market and food court is full of sights and scents. Over at the local San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum, you can peruse artefacts from the Chinchorro culture and marvel at mummies which are older than even ones found in Egypt. Head to the south of the city to trek the more rugged Playa Corazones and explore the Caves of Anzota.

Welcome to a slice of paradise by the Pacific, complete with palm trees and promenades. As one of Chile’s top seaside cities, Iquique is a hive of activity all year around. Shoppers stream to the duty-free Zofri Mall while maritime enthusiasts will be enthralled by a tour of La Esmeralda corvette that hails from the War of the Pacific. Our main plan here is a visit to the nearby abandoned saltpeter mining town of Humberstone in the Atacama Desert, a UNESCO site and history you can literally walk through.

Back in Iquique, head along the boardwalk of La Costenera next to the sands of Playa Cavancha and admire the scenery of the city skyline on one side and parasailors and surfers on the other. Baquedano Street showcases 19th century Georgian architecture and leads to Astoreca Palace and a photogenic clock tower at the centre of town. You’ll also find many a chic café where you can indulge in local coffee culture or sip on a traditional creamy mango sour. A Chinatown has sprung up around the mercado, marrying Peruvian and Chinese flavours to invent unique chifa cuisine. Aside from a variety of seafood dishes, you’ll definitely want to try chumbeque, a dessert that blends fried thin dough with fruity caramels.

Enjoy the serenity of this day at sea, relaxing and admiring the scenery from the observation deck or over in the lounge.

Throughout your journey, the Expedition Team will be running lectures in the Science Center to share their extensive knowledge of the region with you. Topics could include periods of pre-Columbian history, the geology of the surrounding mountains and islands, folklore of local communities, and so on. But not all lectures are confined to indoors. If the ship attracts seabirds who come to fly alongside us, the Expedition Team might also help you spot and identify these feathered followers out on deck.

Welcome to a slice of paradise by the Pacific, complete with palm trees and promenades. As one of Chile’s top seaside cities, Iquique is a hive of activity all year around. Shoppers stream to the duty-free Zofri Mall while maritime enthusiasts will be enthralled by a tour of La Esmeralda corvette that hails from the War of the Pacific. Our main plan here is a visit to the nearby abandoned saltpetre mining town of Humberstone in the Atacama Desert, a UNESCO site and history you can literally walk through.

Back in Iquique, head along the boardwalk of La Costenera next to the sands of Playa Cavancha and admire the scenery of the city skyline on one side and parasailors and surfers on the other. Baquedano Street showcases 19th century Georgian architecture and leads to Astoreca Palace and a photogenic clock tower at the centre of town. You’ll also find many a chic café where you can indulge in local coffee culture or sip on a traditional creamy mango sour. A Chinatown has sprung up around the mercado, marrying Peruvian and Chinese flavours to invent unique chifa cuisine. Aside from a variety of seafood dishes, you’ll definitely want to try chumbeque, a dessert that blends fried thin dough with fruity caramels.

Our expedition ends in the seaport of Valparaíso. Built on steep hillsides overlooking the ocean, the UNESCO-protected city is a maze of monuments, churches, historical funicular lifts, cobblestone alleys and charming plazas. Arrange to stay longer to explore more or join a Post-Programme to Easter Island, famous for its mysterious statues of giant heads.