Ushuaia where everyone awaits before heading to the main event that is Antarctica. Today was crammed full of lectures, talks with the instructors and crew. It was a lot to take in but well worth it, as we get some key background information about the current dynamics and past paleoenvironmental history of the great white south.
Tomorrow we hike, to take some Tierra del Fuego scenery, and enjoy a last picnic lunch on land. At 17h we will board the Ushuaia and set sail down the Beagle Channel. We hope to see many sea birds, and one researcher, Santiago, will guide us as we do a survey of the current bird populations.
To end the night we talked about boat safety, and watched a slideshow of pictures from previous expeditions. It´s so close now. We are all full of anticipation, as the real journey begins tomorrow.
We Arrive At The Fin Del Mundo, Ushuaia
The team have all arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina (the sourthern most city in world). Surrounded on three sides by mountains, and open on one to the Beagle Channel the scenery is very picturesque. The weather here can turn on a dime, being beautiful and sunny to miserably and wet.
Although our flights here were arduous (two redeyes and long lay overs), we have survived and arrived in good spirits. We met the rest of the expedition crew, 59 students in total from 29 Universities all over the world. The Carleton contingent has quite the representation here, only one other school is on par St. Andrews.
Everyone is full of enthusiasm for the journey that is to come. It´s unbelievable, surreal even, that it is so close. We had our first debrief where we met the entire crew, eveyone gave a short blurb about themselves and what they were most looking forward to(whales, penguins, icebergs, glaciers, and the dreaded drake passage were the top five).
Tomorrow is packed with lectures, a walking tour and preparations for our departure Wednesday afternoon.
Although our flights here were arduous (two redeyes and long lay overs), we have survived and arrived in good spirits. We met the rest of the expedition crew, 59 students in total from 29 Universities all over the world. The Carleton contingent has quite the representation here, only one other school is on par St. Andrews.
Everyone is full of enthusiasm for the journey that is to come. It´s unbelievable, surreal even, that it is so close. We had our first debrief where we met the entire crew, eveyone gave a short blurb about themselves and what they were most looking forward to(whales, penguins, icebergs, glaciers, and the dreaded drake passage were the top five).
Tomorrow is packed with lectures, a walking tour and preparations for our departure Wednesday afternoon.
Article in the Ottawa Citizen
This article by Tom Spears went online January 29th.
http://bit.ly/hoFyxx
http://bit.ly/hoFyxx
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