Wednesday was a pretty uneventful day as we were in the Drake Passage and nothing gets booked in case 90% of the ships passengers are tossing their cookies. The seas rolled a bit but it was an amazing crossing with little movement. Yay for the Drake Lake!

We woke up Thursday morning very early as the ship got a rare opportunity to round the Horn. Cape Horn is located in Chilean waters and ships passing through the Drake are not allowed with 12 miles of the Horn. Luckily for us we had a sweet Spanish speaking woman on board who called the Chilean naval base and sweet talked them into letting us be within 3 miles. There are very few people in the world that enter the Sea of Fear commonly known as Cape Horn. Its official, we can now wear an earring in our left ears, get a tattoo on our forearms and put our elbows on the table – all naval traditions associated with sailing the Horn.

Later that night we had a lovely Captains dinner and a fun Bon Voyage Party. It is hard to leave all of our new friends but we are looking forward to sharing our adventures with all of you and seeing our families!

See you on Tuesday!

Today was officially known as “Canada Day” YAY! As a Team…all the members of the Canadian group got a really cool experience doing a visual site assessment at today’s destination…Bellingshausen.

Bellingshausen is a Russian research station located on King George Island, Antarctica. The Russians have been there for several decades and unfortunately, over a course of several years, created a huge mess of garbage. In 1991, Robert Swan raised $8 million dollars to have his team clean up the mess which took them 8 years to clean up. In return for the clean up, the Russians allowed 2041 to set up the very first base camp (E-Base) made of 100% renewable resources on “their” base.

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the start of the massive clean up and Robert Swan asked if Team Canada could go ashore and visit the “Tank farm”. The 6 of us started our 1 kilometre hike to a hidden bay where we would find 9 huge above ground storage tanks. Robert Swan wanted us to develop strategies to remove the tanks.

During our briefing on the ship we found out that these tanks were installed during the Cold War and used to refuel ships. Three of the tanks are empty now and don’t seemed to be used except for storing their trash. One of the team members on the Canadian team brought with him a PID and we were able to take several samples of the areas around the tanks stretching out 5 meters from the pipeline. We became very resourceful when figuring out ways to warm the soil so that we could get an accurate reading (this is a story for when we return…haha). Team Canada will take the findings back with us and write a report to Robert Swan with recommendations on dealing with these tanks and how to remove them.

Back on the main beach we observed remanants of buried garbage, which we hope can be cleaned up to protect the beautiful shorelines of Antarctica.

After we returned from Bellingshausen, we were instructed to prepare our cabins for the dreaded Drake Passage. We ran to our room and put on our sea sickness patch to avoid any unnecessary stomach upsets! As the night rolled on so did the waves and we could feel ourselves heading into the swells of the Drake.

Are you kidding me??

Our wake up call this morning was bright and early, announcing that today was the day for the Polar plunge! But first…we were to be dressed in warm clothing immediately and join Robert Swan at the top of the ship.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon and we were in awe as we approached the largest iceberg we had seen yet. Robert announced that these icebergs are called Tabular icebergs and that they are the reminants of the Larsen B iceshelf that broke off the Antarctic continent 5 years ago. It was something we will never forget…a huge piece of evidence of the dreadful climate change. These icebergs were 150 km by 250 km and 300 meters below the sea level and 9 stories above sea level. After breaking off of the continent, due to fissures formed in the shelf by the warming of temperatures, they have floated into the southern Ocean where they are now stuck and loom in the dark waters. What a sad reminder of our actions…humans have accelerated the warming of temperature 300 times faster than what is supposed to naturally occur. Seeing these bergs made us forget that we would soon be jumping into the coldest water on earth!

After breakfast, we loaded the zodiacs and landed at Brown Bluff – on the Antarctic mainland. This bluff was covered in fur seals and smelled like garlicky fish. We hiked to the top of the glacier following our trusted guide as he constantly checked the path for crevasses with his ice pick. Once we reached the summit we all took 2 minutes of silence to appreciate the beauty of what we have come to see.

When we returned to the ship we oddly enough jumped into our bathing suits and we were 4^th and 5^th to jump into the icy Southern Ocean…HOLY CRAP was that freezing! You think Alberta lakes are cold?? Try again!

We had the opportunity to have a private meeting with Robert Swan. He loved hearing about Solstice Canada and the vision that Michelle has created. He gave us some ideas for how to bring sustainability into our office. We presented him with his Solstice jacket and it fit!! He was very appreciative.

Later in the evening Robert Swan gave an awesome briefing on how to publically speak. He reminded us that if you are not nervous before a presentation then you will fail.

Team Canada got together before bed and practiced our presentation that we would be presenting on behalf of Solstice the following morning. It was a rough practice as we were SOOOOO tired and the boat was rocking like crazy.

The great thing about rough weather is that you feel like you are in a cradle and so we were able to fall asleep very quickly and soundly!

Phew! We survived our night camping in the Antarctic! It actually didn’t get that cold…not to Alberta standards anyways! We think it dropped to -5 …we slept like babies! When we woke up we saw sun for the first time since we set sail. What a marvellous sight! The weather was beautiful and we were excited to start the day.

We packed up the site, leaving no human trace. The zodiacs came and picked us up around 7 am…and we couldn’t wait for breakfast! After breakfast we had a briefing on sustainability and then we rushed to our rooms to get dressed and grab our flags as it was “Flag day”. This meant that we were heading to the side of a mountain for a photo opportunity with Robert Swan.

Before Flag day was to be kicked off, we had a bbq! And yes…it was outside on the lido deck! That is how nice it was outside…the sun was shining and everyone couldn’t help but order a beer and eat a burger!

The Canadian crew (there are 6 of us) decided to stick together for all of the photos and hopefully for the day ahead. We got to the mountain and the group ahead of us ended up needing 90 minutes to complete their photo shoot (yeesh!) but like any good Canadians we played in the snow and took out a few people with snowballs…it pays to have grown up in a snowy country! When it was our turn for photos, all the Canadians gathered around Robert Swan and had a great time capturing all of our Sponsors.

The best part of the day was climbing into the Zodiac with the Canadian team and ending up with a Canadian zodiac driver! We spent 3 hours in the Wilhelmina Strait getting a personal tour of the area and whale watching. Now…don’t be deceived by the word “whale watching”…imagine us 10 feet away from the most magical creatures in the ocean. So close that we could smell their breath. I don’t recommend it…smells like their last fishy meal. We witnessed Minke whales and Humpback whales feeding, sleeping and talking to each other. At one point, we had a Minke whale playing with us and showing off in front of his Humpback peers. It was so amazing…we can’t justify it in words.

This morning we were awakened at 07:00 to ready ourselves for a shore excursion to the Antarctic mainland (yeah!) at Neko Harbour. We were immediately enveloped in a soft haze of fog which surrounded the harbour giving the whole area a ghostly appearance.

A colony of Gentoo penguins greeted us and it was apparent that they were all in various stages of moulting which, as we were told, was rather late in the season. Moulting penguins at this time of year means that many of them will not likely survive the winter. The moulting period for Gentoo penguins happens once a year – and lasts for approximately two weeks. During this time, the penguins shed their damaged and worn feathers which are then replaced with a downy fresh new set. While they are moulting, they are not water repellent and, therefore, cannot enter the water to feed on the krill. Over the island, the green penguin guano was more visible, which is an indicator that the penguins are starving. One question we both asked ourselves – was this late moulting yet another indicator of climate change?

That afternoon, we dropped the campers off at Leath Cove where they would set up their tents in preparation for camping that evening (we were both selected to go camping the following night). While the campers were setting up the tents, we headed off on a Zodiac cruise with Lynn who is the conservation biologist on board. She is an exceptionally knowledgeable person to have around and with her help we were able to see several humpback whales. The humpback whales are easy to identify, even from a distance, as they have a double blowhole – and when they blow air from it you can see two distinct sprays of water coming out.

The afternoon was spent resting, trying to talk amongst our team groups and taking in the spectacular views of Neko Harbour. After supper we dropped off the camping crew and then departed for a more open channel where the boat could safely circle for the entire evening. While departing out of the channel we observed many Crabeater and Wellell seals perched a top the many icebergs who were quietly digesting their krill.

We were awoken at 6:30am on the PA system announcing our arrival into the entrance of the Lemaire Channel. Leaving us little time to even dress, we stumbled out of cabins onto the main deck to witness firsthand the monstrosity of the glaciers on either side of the boat.

We were immediately rewarded by sightings of a pod of Humpback whales, acting as if they were our guides as we entered the channel. Wow. It’s a word that has been overused lately – but at that hour of the morning before coffee, it seemed somehow the only word to use.

After we were well inside the channel, we had a hasty breakfast and then returned to our rooms to quickly dress in preparation for our first onshore trip to Petermann Island.

Arriving on shore we were immediately greeted by the cutest friggin creatures… seriously…ever. Petermann Island is home to a large colony of Gentoo penguins and a slightly smaller colony of Adelie penguins. While assembled in our home teams, we provided with a photo quest which required us to, creatively, photograph the following:
- An Antarctic native
- A natural ice formation
- A picture representing your teams values
- Something you didn’t expect to see
- The person who travelled the furthest to get there
- A photo with Robert Swan

While on the island, we were witness to Gentoo penguins learning how to swim in some of the shallow pools. There were many penguins which were actively moulting and as such, we were instructed to stay a greater distance away from them as they are under more stress. While moulting, the penguins are rendered non water resistant which means they cannot enter the water to catch food. As such, they excrete a green guano, which indicates that they are starving. We actually learned a bit about poo today. Red is good, so is white, but not green. But, unfortunately, they all smell equally fowl (ha!).

We returned to the ship for lunch and the winds picked up out of nowhere with speeds topping over 60 knots (safe margin is around a max of about 40). At this speed, the Zodiacs can actually lift out of the water. Not good. So, we listened to a program by Robert Swan – Part Two of his “Leadership on the Edge” series followed by a detailed round of questions. The wind dropped as suddenly as it appeared and we had mere moments to get changed and onto the boats. We rushed and were proud to be on the first Zodiac as it bounced over the swells to take us to Petrouc Cove. From the water, the cove looked like it was decorated for Christmas with the red guano on the snow beside the green sea algae. Upon arrival we were quickly led up the slopes and braced against each other as we climbed into a gale force (100 km/hr) winds. With arms linked, four strong legs and one set of goggles, we made it to the peak of the mountain where the winds were enough to literally pitch us off the ground. Steep slopes provided a unique opportunity for “sledding” on our arses…and we were rewarded by helping a fellow from Oman to sled down the slope… and make his first snowball. The leader of the Chinese group from Coca Cola has a slightly crippled leg, and we watched as his colleagues, helped him up the entire steep slope and back again. So touching.

As each day goes by, the link between sustainability and leadership is becoming more clear to us. Someone today asked Robert Swan why any country would want to own a piece of Antarctica. He responded, “For fossil fuels…but there is only enough fossil fuel for 10 years of global consumption.” Is it worth it?

Phew!! We made it out of the Drake Passage! Today was the first calm day and we saw a lot of faces that we haven’t seen in 48hours. Cheeks are pink, legs are stable, and puke bags are packed away for another week.

The Drake Passage went a lot smoother (haha) than planned and we arrived in the Southern Ocean a half day earlier than anticipated. Which meant a surprise cruise on a zodiac!

Our briefings today centered on the team leaving the ship and experiencing the beauty of Antarctica from our zodiacs. We went through a biohazard check – which involved inspecting all of our equipment for foreign materials (which includes seeds, sand, grass…and yes…even lint). All of our bags were turned inside out and all Velcro areas were inspected for anything that didn’t belong. The Treaty of Antarctica has a very strict environmental protocol to prevent new species from being introduced.

We knew we were close to land as we experienced new wildlife including the majestic Albatross with a wing span greater than 2 meters. We also witnessed the breaching of 2 Humpback whales and 3 Sei whales.

Suddenly like a mirage, the land of ice was looming before us. We had now entered the Melchoir Islands. The intercom on the ship suddenly blared for us to get changed into LAYERS,LAYERS, LAYERS and head down to the zodiacs where we would launch with our teams and witness our first Antarctic wonder…the ICEBERG.

There are no words to describe the beauty or the colors that exist on this continent. As we cruised we saw our first glimpses of Fur Seals, Leopard Seals (keep your hands in the zodiac!), Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins.

Flying around our Zodiacs were Kelp Gulls, Petrels, and Blue-eyed Shanks.

Our thoughts of the day were that we didn’t belong there…the beauty was too immense for human interruption.

All of the team members were excited as we packed up all of our gear in readiness to depart for the docks. We spent the later part of the afternoon getting last minute items, calling our families and scarfing down anything we could find for lunch. We arrived at the Ushuaia dock around 3 pm and went through customs and then “security”. Everyone had a laugh because we had to put our bags through an X-Ray machine that no one was really watching and then were asked to walk through a metal detector which wasn’t plugged in.

On the main pier we had some photos taken of our Canadian team with Robert Swan and then a Solstice photo with our awesome banner. We have included a few of the photos that were taken on the pier.

Once on the boat, which is absolutely beautiful – truly a 5 star boat, we quickly unpacked so we could get to the top deck to watch our boat set sail. While on the top deck, we had numerous pictures taken again with our Solstice flag and with Robert Swan.

After a presentation from Robert Swan (Leadership on the Edge – Part 1), we were welcomed to a fantastic dinner in the Dining Room. We feasted on a five course meal, that we hoped we wouldn’t taste a second time as we headed into the Drake Passage. There was a pilot boat following us we manoeuvred out of the Beagle Channel – which connects to the Drake Passage. Around 10:30 pm, the pilot boat and the captain of that boat, waved bye and departed back to Ushuaia.

Around 11 pm, it became very obvious that we were officially in the Drake Passage. The seas began to roll more steeply and we had to secure our belongings in our room. We went to bed rather soon after, and were awoken by a caring team member around 3 am to make sure that we were ok. Which we were, for the most part. Around 4 am, the boat began to pitch more steeply, and we could feel the hull of the ship lifting and smashing into the water. Needless to say, we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. On the bright side, neither of us were feeling terribly seasick – although we attribute this to the patches behind our ears and a few prescription pills.

We woke up feeling very tired, as we got flipped out of our beds several times throughout the night (we should of tied ourselves to our beds…haha.) When we made our way to breakfast, we noticed barf bags tucked into every handrail just in case of an urgent need to toss your cookies while walking down any stairs. At breakfast it was obvious that we lucked out of avoiding any seasickness as half the ship did not make it to eat for either breakfast or lunch. Over lunch, the swells from the sea were so high that all of our glasses fell off the tables dumping their contents all over the floor. All of the chairs in the dining room and lounge are chained down so as to prevent them from tipping over in the rough seas.

Due to the nasty nauseousness, the briefings today were not mandatory. The briefings today were: Antarctic history, Marine mammals and Ice. We were able to make it to 2 out of 3 briefings. The only thing we were dealing with was extreme tiredness due to our medications and lack of sleep from the past evening. We are now wrapping up our full first day on the ship and looking forward to tomorrow when we exit the Drake.

We are having an awesome time! It has been pretty strict and regimented here so far and our days have been filled with briefings and team building activities. Climbed the Glacier yesterday and…it was pretty difficult….but loads of fun!

Jen and I have been placed in the same room but we are in different groups. Our home teams have 8 people from all around the world…amazing people and very diverse…great learning opportunities for adapting to different cultures and styles!

We have had some really neat discussions and presentations on sustainability and climate change so far, I’m looking forward to more.

We are boarding our ship tonight and getting ready to toss our cookies! No need to worry though, we could be worse off. A British guy looked the wrong way crossing the street and got hit by a car last night. He spent the night in the hospital but now he’s stitched up and continuing the journey!

We’ll keep you updated as we go, next stop Antarctica!

We’ve been getting to know my home team better, as they are the people who we’ll turn to when we need help, support or encouragement for the many challenges that they are throwing at us on a daily basis.

My home team group is a bit unique in that there are 3 Americans – Joe from New York, Darren from Massachusetts and Holly from Boston. There is Kento whose home is in Tokyo but he lives in the US. Jasmine is from China, Abhay is from India and Ali is from Oman. Our little group is so fantastic; we won the most enthusiastic award yesterday from Robert Swan himself, quite a big deal, for being so cheerful on our very difficult climb.

One of major challenges yesterday was to navigate in our groups up a mountain to reach the Marshall Glacier. It took almost 2 hours for us to get to the top and 2 hours to get back down due to the extremely steep slope. It was a very challenging hike – the first 10 minutes for me were pure pain as I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it up since it was so steep. One of our group members had never hiked before – so we all had our challenges. Regardless of our levels of fitness, we all struggled in some form, some up the mountain (like me), others when coming down. Ultimately we did it together which was the whole point of the exercise. The glacier has significantly receded in the past 7 years, and it estimated to only last for perhaps another 10 years, due to global warming. So sad.

Last evening, Dayle and I wanted to splurge and have a fantastic meal. We have eaten a shocking amount of Argentinian meat since we have been here… its at every meal. We decided to go for King Crab, which was live…and so utterly amazing. Delicately sweet, and so fresh…simply decadent. The whole meal was under $200 for both of us and we had a 2 kg crab, drinks, a bottle of wine, salads and potatoes with coffee… so good.

We leave for the boat in only a few hours… and set sail through the Beagle Channel which opens up into the Drake Passage. We have seen many movies on this and had many briefings so I feel quite comfortable. I know that regardless of our experience – good or bad- it will be nothing that I have ever experienced before. Apart from the discomfort of the passage- which should take about 2 days, I feel pretty confident that it will be worth it.

We are now in Ushuaia and have just spent the day getting to know the other participants on this adventure. We were split into teams of about 8 people; these are our home teams and the expectation is for us to take care of each other. We also spent the better part of the day learning about each other.

In the afternoon we had a short but serious (in a deliberately scary way) safety talk by a man named Jumper who emphasized the need for safety on this trip. We have one expedition coordinator who is solely responsible for checking the weather conditions and many others working in the background to take good care of us.

This evening we had an authentic Argentinian barbecue which involved a lot of meat…and then more meat. And just when we thought we were done, there was still more meat.

Dayle and I are having minor language barriers with our poor, but passable Spanish, although it seems that many people think we’re married .

Tomorrow we are being challenged to navigate ourselves up to the Marshall glacier with only a basic map and our team members for support. It should be a very interesting day.


On Sunday we depart for Antarctica and communication will likely be a bit sketchy. We have been able to use the sat phone to call home and check up on our families but we were warned by Robert Swan today that he does not support the use of phones on the ship. The whole point of the expedition is to fully immerse ones self into the culture of the ship.

Why?

IAE is run by 2041, an organization dedicated to informing, engaging, and inspiring the next generation to take responsibility and be sustainable. The specific mission for IAE 2011 is to create ambassadors for education, the environment and sustainability across the globe.

What?

A 14-day journey of learning and exploration in one of the last untouched environments in the world. The trip emphasizes personal development, improving communication skills, and team building. There will also be presentation and lessons on the environment, climate change, sustainable development and outdoor leadership.

Where?

The trip starts in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. Then they depart on an epic two day journey to cross the infamous Drake passage. Once they arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula they’ll visit various different landmarks, as weather permits. Their final day in Antarctica is spent on King George Island, before spending another two days at sea on their way back to Argentina.