Your flight passes over Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America, and heads over the Drake Passage and the Antarctic Convergence with its plankton-rich waters. This will be your ''home'' until Thursday, December 30, with navigation lessons, walking trips, and, subject to weather conditions, an opportunity to cross-country ski near the Ellsworth mountain range. Thursday, December 30. Following an early breakfast and weather check, you board the small aircraft and head south for the six-hour flight over the Polar Ice, the highest plateau in Antarctica. You will land at the Amundsen-Scott US Research Base, named after those intrepid explorers.
Accommodation is at the ANI South Pole Camp.
Friday, December 31. The final day of the old millennium will be spent exploring around the camp and at midnight you will be the first people on earth to welcome the new millennium with a champagne toast. Return to Punta Arenas by Monday, January 3, to fly home. The Paul Gauguin is one of the jet set's best-kept secrets. Operated by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, this vessel offers a magnificent seven-day cruise around Tahiti's outer islands.