Hi All, Today was the first physical part of the expedition where we hiked to the Glaciar Martial, the Martial Glacier, from 7.45am to 13.30pm. The first goal of this exercise was to put into practice what we had learnt on safety and on the few knots...
Hi All, This morning was focused on meeting the 2041 team, learning safety rules, and getting prepped for the hike of the glacier we'll be doing tomorrow morning. We were given more information on the communication we could have with the outside world...
Hi All, My trip from Paris to Ushuaia was not uneventful. Here is why: I took my plane from CDG airport, near Paris, to Buenos Aires. Boarding the plane was, in this case, uneventful. I was seated in a row of 4, next to an elderly man and his son. Both...
Hi All, I think it was last Friday or Thursday that I received the British and French flags I had ordered for this trip. It is a tradition, from what I see from the previous expeditions' pictures, to bring your country's flag. Well, I'm lucky because...
Hi All, I'm going in THREE days!!!! Just enough time to read the tourism book I bought yesterday! I haven't had the time to organize my week-end in Ushuaia. Naughty me! Those who know me must say to themselves: "that's not the Caro we know who over-organizes...
Hi All, I went to see my GP last week to get a list of basic medicine for my trip. The list included anti sea-sickness, something for general pain relief, etc... When going to buy what was prescribed to me, I ended up buying loads of other stuff I didn't...
Hi All, Paris has been experiencing abnormally cold temperatures for the past couple of weeks. We currently wake up with -9 to -7°C. Some people may be experiencing colder weather, but believe me when I say that Parisians are not used to this. The last...
Hi All, Last week, I was near San Francisco, California, for a business trip. I took the opportunity to take a few items of my equipment to test them out. Here are my comments: - North Face duffle bag: I got tricked by its content capacity and it was...
Hi All, As of this evening, I am now covered to embark on my expedition. Finally! This was one worrying issue as I couldn't find any insurance company that would cover me. Either, it was because they didn't cover the poles, they didn't cover me as a French...
My last action item is to deal with the insurance. Easy, you might say. Not really, say I having met several insurance companies. I need a special risks insurance policy that covers me namely on repatriation. That doesn't mean just bunging me into an...
Right! Now, I'm fully equipped! I bought the final item last Saturday. Everything that is mandatory is bought, now I need to make sure I don't go over the 23Kg with the small useful things... how heavy is a toothbrush?! I must buy scales... I'm going...
Hi All, I am appalled by this piece of news about the Japanese government allotting Tsunami funds for hunting down whales in the Antarctic region instead of using them for reconstructing their country. Absolutely shocking! Many of my friends know I have...
Dear Diary, Today I went back to the outdoor gear shop and bought my very first clothes for the expedition: two thermal short-sleeved T-shirts. One bright blue, the other black. Ok, they don't look sexy, but they are worth their buy. These are 100% pure...
Check out this fascinating news article dated August 10th, 2011, from The New York Times. You will better comprehend the effects a natural cataclysm, that took place thousands of kilometers away, can have on Antarctica. The destructive tsunami that devastated...
Hi All, The expedition dates have changed to the 27th of February to the 12th of March 2012. I have bought my plane tickets and will be going a little earlier so to take advantage of visiting Ushuaia for a couple of days prior to the expedition. It'll...
A major conference in Durban, South Africa, is currently happening. It is important because it is taking place before 2012, the year when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Check out Business Green's interesting article on the situation. http://www.business...
Saturday, the 20th of August, 2011: Dear Diary, I went to a specialized outdoor gear chain of shops this afternoon to get advice on the clothes and equipment I am required to have for the expedition, as well as their prices to build my budget. Unfortunately,...
Many think that Antarctica is just an icy region, just like the Arctic region. It is the world's highest, driest, coldest, and windiest continent! It is covered by over 5 million square miles of solid ice. It is nearly twice the size of Australia, or...
Many things are taking place in year 2012 on the environment point of view. Hopefully, not as drastic as the end of the world predicted by the Maya civilisation (I must undertake this expedition before that!!). Next year, at the third "World Summit for...
Now that the expedition is over, my job is to vehicle the message about protecting Antarctica. As you may know, the year 2041 is the year when the Antarctic treaty is coming up for review. That means that we have 50% chance of ensuring the continent is...
Ecole St Vincent de Paul, in Paris, opened their doors to me for a presentation which I gave to two classes of 8-year olds (total of 56 children), on the 16th of November. It was great as at the end of the presentation, they all shouted that we must all...
Right! Now, I'm fully equipped! Everything that is mandatory is bought, now I need to make sure I don't go over the 23Kg with the small useful things... how heavy is a toothbrush?! I'm really getting excited now... hiiiiii !!!!
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I am very pleased to say that I got second page in my department's newsletter to write about my trip to Antarctica, last June 2012. Very proud. I got great feedback from many colleagues.
I have finally finished updating my blog with the expedition. Sorry it took so long.
