Tuesday, January 10
Miami - Homeward Bound

Early this morning we arrive back to Miami, and then get our connecting flights home!

JOURNALS for Tuesday (Updated 10:30 am EST)

Lisa (Diz) Glithero

As I bid farewell to the group yesterday afternoon at the Ushuaia airport, our journey had come full circle.  Only two short weeks ago, we gathered for the first time in Toronto and Miami.  Meeting all of you on that first day, faces were filled with a rainbow of emotions—excitement, uncertainty, anxiousness—all natural feelings on the onset of any expedition, let alone a journey to the ends of the earth. 

Today, two weeks later, the faces I sad goodbye to had been transformed.  Weathered by the wind and sun, and infused with inspiration and camaraderie, eyes were dancing and smiles were large.  A stronger sense of self, of what it means to live in meaningful community, and what it means to live in reverence of the natural world were evident in all 52 expeditioners, from 14 to 83 years of age. 

Expeditions into the wilderness that challenge ourselves to question our relationship with the world, offer profound teachings that have for millennia and remain today, critical to understanding what it means to be human—journeys that offer perspective, self-awareness, and a humbled sense of place.  

As I stood in a zodiac only days ago, engines off, floating in a small glacier lined bay in Paradise Harbour, shoulder to shoulder with companions from Canada, USA, India, Ireland, UK, and Argentina, watching a 25 foot minke whale surface metres from us, her expulsion misting our wide eyed faces, only to watch her dive under our zodiac and glide curiously slow to the surface on the other side… two worlds met.  It is moments like this, that one realizes that we, as humans, are part of something so much larger than ourselves.   We recognize that there is more to this world than the technology and systems that we create— Beauty and balance that are beyond our reach.

Antarctica and this expedition made all of us question the values that drive today’s society.  In the absence of distraction, in a landscape free from human infrastructure, we were granted the opportunity to sit in silence and ask what is really important in life.  Walking your words, following your passion, living sustainably, building community, respecting self, other, and the natural world became the simple pillars of a meaningful life that surfaced time and time again in conversation over our journey.  Why is it that it takes a journey to the ends of the earth to become mindful of such perspective and clarity? 

As we all return to our respective homes over the next couple of days, hold onto the clarity.  Through voluntary simplicity, persistence and cooperation we can shift contemporary societal values to embrace meaning beyond economic success and growth.

A polar explorer at the turn of the 20th century once said, “He who has seen the impossible is under no obligation to explain.”  I respectfully disagree.  In order to create change, we need to turn our experiences into lessons and our lessons into wisdom.  As ambassadors of Antarctica, share your experience with others and how you felt immersed in a landscape in which the natural world prevailed—share the beauty of feeling small.

Lisa (Diz) Glithero,
Project Manager, Students on Ice

Jason Shim

I’m sitting in the Miami airport right now.  It’s strange going from the cold and barren Antarctic wilderness to palm trees and warm sunshine.  The last 24 hours have been spent sitting on airplanes and filling out form after form for government officials.  The US customs official did a double take when I told him I was traveling from Antarctica.  My passport is now filled with colourful stamps from Argentina, Chile and various ports around Antarctica.

When I bought lunch at the airport, I realized that I’m much more aware of the wasteful consumption that I take part in and how it affects the world.  The solutions that are available may not always be perfect, but that’s no reason to give up hope.

Many of the American students have already made their way home and there is definitely no shortage of love here.  As students continue hugging one another, some had to be reminded that their flights were leaving—a testament to the powerful connections that were made on this expedition.

Time seems to shift during experiences such as these.  The never-setting sun in Antarctica just circled around the sky as we learned, shared and experienced what indeed is one of the greatest classrooms on earth.  Thanks everyone, the students, education team, fellow chaperones for making this an unforgettable expedition.

Andrew Caprio

Well the expedition is coming to an end.  We are sitting in the Miami airport awaiting our last flight home to Toronto.  It seems like it was just yesterday that we were meet in Ushuaia for our first official SOI meeting.  But at the same time it feels like we have all known each other for a lot longer than that.

This trip has taught me so many life long lessons, as well as given me many life long friends and contacts.

If I had to pick one important lesson that I learned on this expedition it would be that the youth of this world are the future and that at certain times in our lives we feel like we do not have much influence or control, but all you need is an idea and a plan.  Once you have that, put that plan into action.

It was an awesome trip!  Thank-you everyone who supported me, and see you when I get home.

Raphaëlle Descôteaux

Today is the last official day of our marvelous trip and I miss the words to describe what I’m feeling right now. I guess the better word in this situation would be exhaustion. It is 7AM now and we’ve been traveling for more than 12 hours and yet the journey is not about to finish for most of us. Not until midnight today will I be able to experience the comfort of a real bed.   

My head still hasn’t assimilated all the information and emotions it has been bombarded with for the past two weeks. I feel like it is going to be a little while before I will be able to fully understand all the impacts that this trip had on me, because, I am sure, I will find tons of them.

Once my head will have come back to its original state, it’s gonna be time for me to start thinking about the actions I would like to take in order to share my inspiration with a wide range of people so that together we have a tangible impact on the world that we love. I hope everyone agrees on the part “the world we love”, because our planet truly is fantastic and beautiful and this trip to Antarctica only strengthened this feeling that I carry deep into my heart. I certainly do wish, dear reader, that you carry this same feeling with you because it is it that will allow us to help the Earth and all its living inhabitants.

I don’t really know how to conclude this final journal but I guess the simplest way is the best…

Aurevoir Antarctique, à la prochaine.

Ally Parker
Miami International Airport, 9:24 am

Well, our SOI Antarctica 2005 trip is down to the Canadians and a few Americans who need to catch a later flight. After about 17 hours of constant airports and airplanes, everyone is pretty zoned, myself included, so I’ll try and keep this as coherent as possible.

First off, the Antarctica itself. The power that the place had, to completely humble and awe everyone equally, no matter our backgrounds or nationalities, was amazing. As I talked to people, we discussed the use of adjectives such as “amazing” and “wonderful” and other such words more and more frequently in our journals as time went on. But in the end, those are only just words, which are quite inadequate for what we have seen and experienced. As a Canadian, I grew up with snow and ice, but I never really looked at it before. We have climbed to the top of islands, slid down glaciers, walked on icebergs, but one thing that had a profound affect on me was standing on the pack ice, less than a degree from the Antarctic circle, and having everyone in silence, surrounded by seals and each other, with ice and then ocean underneath. It becomes so easy to not notice what’s around us, to shut ourselves into our little box, and never look around or stop to experience the amazing things around us. But in Antarctica, and the Andes around Ushuaia as well, you can’t help but experience everything around you, and I hope to continue to do that where I am.  

And, of course, as everyone on this trip knows, I have to include a section about birds. Seeing all these Antarctic seabirds, knowing that some of them will travel hundreds of kilometers around the Southern Ocean for a meal for their chicks is an incredible thought, and finding their way back to a small island in that huge Ocean. And studying the birds down here would be phenomenal, I already want to go back, a sentiment that seems to be shared by many others on this trip. I was also reminded about my passion for birds, which I discovered I was losing without even knowing. Having these new species and experiencing birds in a completely different way cemented my resolve to study ornithology, and try and help to conserve some of these species for the future. Another thing I discovered, while discussing it with Kelly, is a reflection more on the wildlife in general. It was their lack of fear in us, and how they accepted our presence like they would another penguin or seal. We take wildlife being afraid of us as a given, but coming down here allowed me to realize that it wasn’t always this way. It gives me a sense of hope to see that we haven’t destroyed our relationships with every wild species. The seals, birds, whales continued to go about their lives with or without our presence, which served as a reminded that nature doesn’t need us to manage or micro-manage, it can thrive and thrive on its own.

And finally, the people. I wasn’t really expecting how much I would be affected by the people, maybe as much as the place itself. As an environmentally-inclined teen, I often feel isolated back home, but here, issues such as sustainability and alternative energy were regular, dinnertime conversation. It was amazing to be surrounded by people of all ages and backgrounds who were all able to bring their passion about environmental issues together. Everyone, from students to chaperones to education members were able to talk and discuss as equals, without a teacher/student or adult/teenager barrier that prevents such connections too often. Each person had a unique story, and the places and experiences that people have had is inspiring. So many people have had a passion and gone for it, which has definitely inspired me to stop caring so much about consequences or sensibility, and just follow my passion to where I want to go. I hope to remain friends with these people for a long time to come. At the beginning of the trip, Geoff said that we would become like a family. I admit, I didn’t really understand it at the time. I get it now.

And to everyone who has been following our trip for these past two weeks, thank you, and I hope it inspires in some way, and that you will have you own, amazing experiences.

Good birding!
Allyson “Ally” Parker
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada

Juanita McGarrigle

I have yet to write a journal report for this trip, and now as I sit in the Miami airport waiting for our flights home, I find some time to sit and think about the enormity of what we have just had!  It was called “The trip of a Lifetime”, a “One and only chance to see it”, and “Oh what an amazing experience”.  These few descriptions barely scrape the surface of what this truly was. My memories are filled with: the vistas of the mountains poking out of snow with glaciers cascading and breaking the still reflections in the water, the acrid smell of thousands of penguins with projectile waste shooting throughout the colony, the smell of the ocean, with a fine spray of sea air in the face, seeing sunsets with  technicolour display against the clouds, silent floating behemoth iceberg castles gently barring our way through, the sound of the whales exhalations and splash of them diving under the water.

When you look back on things, it gives you time to see it through new eyes of a ‘seasoned’ expeditioner.  I remember the fumbling of figuring out just how many layers of clothes I really needed on that first zodiac tour, and finally after much fumbling when I had everything on, finding that I had to strip in order to pee.  I then compare it to how quickly I got it all organized and standing ready by the gangway when the call “Zodiac ride with the whales!” went out.  Practice made perfect in giving me as much time out there seeing it all. I kept sitting on the zodiacs taking in this outstanding scenery and had to remind myself to breathe and finally understood the word – breathtaking.  I would say in my head that Life is Good…. And it is, to have been able to share this experience with so many other sets of eyes, views and opinions as the tight knit group of kids and chaperones.  To experience something you must see it, live it, and be in it, and this trip gave us that in addition to experiencing it with 50 other peoples’ impressions of it.

I was very happy to climb into Zodiacs, stomp through penguin guano, hike up the hills, take thousands of pictures and then sit and learn about it all through the eyes of the professionals through lectures.  I had no idea that some of the people on the trip were highly educated and experienced polar experts.  I was impressed with seeing slideshows and films of these excursions that these overly humble men had done, with whom I had spent my time on board joking with and sharing a few laughs.  They would wave away adoration and respect from those on board and say things like “oh it was no big thing.”  When in fact these men were incredible, accomplished unparalled things and here we were getting to meet them and enjoy their presentations.  I was for the most part somewhat in awe and dumbstruck by the concept of it all.  (for those of you that know me, that’s not an easy task to achieve!).

My plans now include going on another one of these excursions with SOI.  I realize that nothing will every truly compare to my “first” experience of the polar regions, but I am putting aside all other things in order to do this… here and now!  It brings to mind a quote of which I like to live…
“Dream as though you’ll live forever, live as though you’ll die tomorrow” De Zell

Hire me so I can do this again and again and again.    Juanita

Kathy DeLoach

This has been such an amazing life changing trip that none of us will be the same again.  Antarctica was so beautiful, and we did so many amazing things that a rare few ever get to do.  We are all truly blessed.  Whether it be following whales in zodiacs and getting some amazing pictures, standing incredibly close to penguins, or climbing up intimidating hills and sliding back down, every day of this trip has been incredible.  Today we all have to go back to our normal lives and say good by to the people we have lived with for these past three weeks.  As much as I miss my family and friends, I still do not want to leave all these amazing people.  Saying good by to the people who have already left has been harder than I can describe, but my memories of them and this trip will be with me forever.