The first days at Ushuaia I was running up and down helping out and I noticed how much time some people would spend behind the pc sending e-mails and such. It made me realize what a waste of time it could be.

Especially students that send so much time behind the pc don’t even notice what’s going on around them and they miss out on great things like actually experiencing nature. If you weren’t always behind the pc you would notice how the natural environment around you is being destroyed. And if you don’t notice that; when the time comes to decided the future of Antarctica in 2041 when you might be a leader, will you really care?

Don’t let that happen, get active and get involved. Cause in the end it’s in your hands

It´s about time you hear something about me. I´m still having a wonderful time!!! Way to go! Last night we were camping in the mountain in tents, and it was quite an experience. Different from the camping I was used of in Europe. It was cold and there was no real toilet, so I decided to sleep with all the layers I had, in the sleeping bag. It worked fortunately, I didn´t suffer at all. No cold feet nor cold hands whatsoever. But the only thing was, I couldn´t fall asleep, and when I did it was superficially, and on top of that I needed to go to the made up lavatory. That was not fun! But I made it and it was a big relieve, thinking of an empty bladder, and keeping Antarctica clean.

Actually we´re being kept pretty busy, no time to get bored nor to meditate. Time is going fast, and before I know it´s over. Two more days are left for the South Shetlands and than 2 last days to go back through the Drake Passage.

After that we´ll spent 3 days in Buenos Aires and than back home. I can´t wait to tell you all I´ve experienced!! See you pretty soon!

Art

We did so many things these passing days that I tend to get confused in the days!!! I am having a terrific time. The combination of leadership on the edge training and visiting this amazing continent is just great. Although when whales are spotted the team leaders have a hard time getting us all back inside to continue the training!!! We have seen hunchback whales, orca whales, gentoo penguins, seals and different species of birds. Yesterday we had a leadership on the edge training on the edge of a glacier!!!! They even took a flip chart along!!! We had a beautiful view over Charlotte´s bay. Nick is a good trainer but in this part of the world it seems like all the time he needs to compete against nature. This time it was a disintegration of a huge iceberg just in front of our eyes in the bay below us!!! Reminding us of global warming…… Back un the boat we had to pack our stuff for our one night camping on the ice trip. We camped on top of a glacier at Dorian bay. It was cold but I felt very warm and comfortable in the sleeping bag. Actually I slept better in this tent on top of the glacier then all the other nights on the boat!!!! Today we saw incredible beautiful Icebergs. I can’t get enough of the forms!!! The group is great. We are getting to know each other and we have a lot of fun, good conversations and discussions. I miss you all, Michael lots of kisses, wish you all could be here to become as inspired as we are already. Antarctica has won the hearts of all of us. A new expression of gladness is born: “feel like you are on the bottom of the world!!!!” I wish you all a happy Easter!!!

Regards,

Diane Copini-Rigaud

Imagine our beautiful ship floating in Charlotte’s Bay right next to an ice berg. Surrounded by hills and cliffs some so high the top was blocked by the clouds We where sitting on a cliff witch was fully covered in snow, getting a leadership on the edge class while enjoying of the magnificent view.

Right at that moment the most unexpected thing happened. The ice berg that was floating right next to our ship started breaking down. The ice berg was about 3 times the size of out ship when it started to break down. At the end almost half of it was gone and it started to tilt upwards and then fell to the side. All other sound faded away, you could hear the ice crack and break down. It was as if the ice was crying while it broke down and landed in the water with the fade sound of an explosion.

If in the future I need something to bring my mood up and keep working hard this is the kind of tough ill think back to. That was the exact reason why we can’t stop fighting to protect Antarctica

Jean-Carlo Alves da Silva Scout, Student

Ki tin,? I’ll continue in English, so that everybody can understand. After my last mail to you all (via Claudette) we rapidly embarked on the ship, and heard that it wasn’t allowed to make contact. So this might be the last mail you´ll get from me. Everything is going well. I´m very honoured to participate in this expedition, and get along well with everybody. The food is oke, sleeping take sometimes time to snooze in, but other than that I feel like ´God in France´ and the scenery is so beautiful. Really, and this is just the beginning. Tonight we`ll anchor in front of Bellingshausen en tomorrow we´ll get ashore, to meet e.g. Robert Swan. I´m sure everything is A-oke with you all. Don´t forget not to send me mails with attachments, or preferably no mail at all, unless it´s necessary. Take care, all the best, and who knows I might be able to mail again.

Arthur Nieuw

The Drake Passage went quite smooth according to the team leaders but I spend a whole day in my bed. I decided to go true it without taking any medicine to see what it was like, that was a bad idea. The next day we came across our first ice berg which made it all worth it. It was quite majestic. I’m really looking forward to landing on shore tomorrow and meeting up with the rest of the team that has been at the ebase for almost 2 weeks now. As soon as I get a chance ill write a blog about the challenge I was put on by the team leaders which has made my expedition a bit harder but I also learned allot from it.