Inspire Antarctica Expedition 2008 has safely landed in
Ushuaia after a rough ride in the Drake passage. In the afternoon A3 left on a
flight to Buenos Aires. Robert was on also on board so it was not a sudden
good-bye. At departing he assured the Curacao-team that he would be down,
around the end of June beginning July, with another great project……be prepared.

On Sunday March 30 at 18.50  A3 will arrive at Hato airport.
Be there for a great welcome.

Yvette.

Dear All,

Since our last communication the weather conditions
deteriorated dramatically. The estimated waves in the passage are 8 to 10
meter. every thing that is not tied down properly is flying around in my cabin
where I spend nearly the last 24 hours. Arthur brought me some food. But I’m
feeling better now after delivering some of my stomach contents back the way it
came in. Climbing the 5 flights of stairs in this kind of seas is not easy. But
I wanted to write you all to tell you that all is well and that we are nearly
there. At 12:02 we where at a Latitude of 56.20 and a Latitude of 64.46. In
about 120 miles we are in the beagle channel where is should be a lot better.

Diane Copini-Rigaud

Behind
me is an other team member who can not longer resist and needs to write here
home crowd to. So I will have to make this short again. It is difficult typing
when I’m thrown of my chair at times. But never the less, as we are now rocking
our way through the Drake passage. I’m feeling, considering the circumstance,
good but have to admit there have been times I felt a lot better. Can’t really
complain, after not seen JC this morning and only briefly Arthur who went to
his cabin declaring he was not feeling very well. Thanks Marilyn the pills you
have given me are working apparently, since halve the IAE team is down.
Yesterday we visited Deception Island and saw the grim remains of what was once
a booming whale industry. (millions of whales have been slaughter here in the
past). There is still volcanic activity on this Island and there fore the
waters are relatively warm, some even went for a swim not A3!. At the beach we
found a little well that brought warm water to the surface it was wonderful to
warm our hands and then quickly put on our gloves to protect our skin against
the falling snow and the strong winds that where blowing that day. Half moon Island is well known because of the large colony of Chin-strap penguins that live there.
Coming from the sea the walk up a steep hill in order to find shelter behind
the rocks to protect them from the harsh elements. Further we enjoyed the
beautiful views out here and even saw some young seals playing. What a
wonderful part of the world this is. It’s time to go home now I miss Michael my
dogs my plants my home. All good things come to an end I guess.

Love

22nd March, 2008

At the beginning of the expedition i was challenged by the team leaders not to go online Hill the end of the expedition. Now I spend around 9 hours average a day online so it was quite a hard challenge to take on.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 spend 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

• Posted in Curacao Amigu di Tera, Day 09: 21st Mar, Diary by Jean Carlo Alves da Silva
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21st March, 2008

Hey Guys,Today I witnessed the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. It shocked me so much I couldn’t move a mussel, I couldn’t reach out for my camera to take a picture of it. I’m surprised I didn’t forget to breath.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 AntarcticaJean-Carlo Alves da Silva Scout, Student

18th March, 2008

• Posted in Curacao Amigu di Tera, Day 06: 18th Mar, Images by Jean Carlo Alves da Silva
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18th March, 2008

The trip so far has been just great. The hike up to the glacier was quite incredible.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.

• Jean-Carlo Alves da SilvaCuracao Amigu di Tera

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22nd March, 2008

Hi family and friends, 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

• Posted inCuracao Amigu di Tera’s Inspire Antarctic Expedition 2008, Day 09: 21st

Hi all,It has been a loooong day!!!!
The climbing of the glacier was quitedifficult to do as there sections that were steep. The extendible monolegged camera pole served very well as a walking stick!!! Thank youMichael for telling me that it can be used as such.We were divided in groups and one of us was appointed as the leader.The goal was to reach the glacier as a group. It was nice to noticethat we took care of each other and supported each other. We also gaveeach other the chance to do what each person wanted to do. We didn’trealize that we would evaluate our functioning as a group later on.The walk up the glacier was nice with teams and little waterfallseverywhere. The vegetation consists of tall trees and moss and lowvegetation (heidebloemen we would call them in dutch). Not many pinetrees around here. We didn’t see birds. The views off the mountainwere spectacular.The glacier was actually not very impressive. I must say I was moreimpressed with the ones I saw in Austria.People in Ushuaia are complaining that they are getting less snowfallevery year. Global warming is seen as the major cause of this.After coming back in the hotel they had lunch served. I was veryhungry so everything tasted out of this world.We are getting to know the other participants and are sharinginformation.We notice After lunch we had our first session of Leadership trainingon the edge. Here we evaluated how we functioned as a team going upthe hill. We talked about what makes a team a successful team and whatmakes a team dysfunctional. We rated our team. We talked about takingresponsibility for your actions instead of: to blame, justify, make upexcuses or deny your mistakes. We all do the latter sometimes but theleader Nick stressed that it is important to recognize when you aredoing this by acknowledging that you are using the pronouns they…them… you…. instead I , me, we, us. He stressed that one is solelyresponsible for ones’ feelings and thinking.It was great!There were other lectures during the afternoon and actually we justfinished at 19.00 hours!! At 20.00 hours we are expected in thedinning room for the group dinner.There is a rule here that you need to be there 5 minutes up front.They call it the Bronco 5 rule. If you are not there when we areleaving you will be left behind!!!!! O jee there goes my Antilliansense of time!!!!The CEO of the 2041 company also gave an introduction. She stressedthat we should take time for ourselves when on Antarctica as thechances to come back are slim. i’ll quote what she said about hisopportunity for personal growth ” don’t loose it, don’t miss it, don’tforget it”.So guys don’t be too disappointed if you don’t hear much from me inthe coming weeks. I want to take as much as possible out of thisexperience.Tomorrow morning at 9.00 am we need to take our luggage to theheadquarters. They will transport it to the ship.The fed-ex package that we expected didn’t arrive so we will have todo with the films that we have.At 15.00 we will meet in a hotel lobby downtown just opposite theharbor. And at 16.00 Hours the boat will depart!!!!We are all very excited and a little bit nervous. I just heard that Iwill have a cabin by myself at the lower deck. A cabin without windowsso I am not very trilled about that but am glad that I got this chanceto be here so no complains! JC and Arthur will also be at the lowerdeck and will share a cabin.Tonight I will have a room mate for the last night at the hotel. Thislady was sharing a room with somebody that became ill. No need to getmore people infected the organization decided.Hope to send you some pictures later on. I am off now to dinner as Ineed to comply with the Bronco 5 rule!!!!Thank you for being there for me in your thoughts and letters!!!! Iappreciate them very much!!!I forgot to tell you that this morning we had a live chat with Robertform the ebase. It was great. He could see us all sitting in theheadquarters and gave us a inspiring welcome speech!!!! They had arough time there wind the wind turbines broken etc etc. Please checkthe http://www.2041.com website for news about the e-base and aboutour journey. There will be pictures of us uploaded on the web-site ona regular basis.Love you all. Regards,Diane