Birding Expedition to Islas Desventuradas

Far South Expeditions' Birding Expedition to Islas Desventuradas is one of the most remote pelagic adventures available anywhere in Chile, departing from the port of Caldera in the Atacama Desert aboard the 52.5ft ocean-going sailing yacht Vegvisir. The expedition covers 500 nautical miles of open Pacific Ocean to reach San Ambrosio Island — the main island of the Desventuradas archipelago, lying 850 km offshore — with chumming carried out at multiple stations throughout the crossing to attract deep-ocean seabirds with mysterious distributional ranges. The multi-day ocean passage itself produces Waved Albatross, Salvin's Albatross, Cook's Petrel, and rare storm-petrels including Markham's, Elliot's, and Ringed, while the subtropical waters around San Ambrosio support endemic and range-restricted species — Blue Noddy, Brown Noddy, Sooty Tern, Masatierra Petrel, Kermadec Petrel, Red-tailed Tropicbird, and Masked Booby. Departing from Caldera, the trip also passes through productive Humboldt Current waters where Inca Tern, Peruvian Diving-Petrel, Peruvian Booby, Band-tailed Gull, and Guanay Cormorant are expected before the yacht enters open ocean. With just six participants per voyage, this is an expedition-scale commitment to one of the least-birded oceanic archipelagos on the planet.