I've been guiding voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic for a few years now, and the passengers are (almost) always great people. They love the outdoors, are curious and willing to learn anything they can about whatever new environment they find themselves in, and often have a particular passion to feed: history, birdwatching, or sailing, for example. But this next trip will be a new experience for me.
I'm sailing this afternoon on the 'Professor Molchanov', completely chartered by a study tour from Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand, where I first studied geology and made my first trip to Antarctica. The university has been doing research in Antarctica for 50 years, mostly coordinated by the Antarctic Research Centre.
In 2007 there was a reunion of old expeditioners, and now a couple of us are acting as guides to share our experience with a group of interested people from the wider university community. The ARC has a strong history of research into the history of climate change in Antarctica, most recently leading drilling studies to study the history of the ice sheet, such as the ANDRILL programme.
The 46 participants are well prepared, having had a series of lectures on antarctic history, science, and law before leaving Wellington. Now we're sailing off to see the real thing, and they're hungry for information to enrich their own experiences! As with the last trip, I expect to be too busy working to write blog reports, but a journalist on board, Stephanie Gray, will be maintaining her own Slice of Ice.
Who knows exactly what we'll see? You can never be sure, making a trip into a total wilderness. But I'm sure it will be both interesting and fun!
ciao from Ushuaia,
Dan
