This trip around the world, for me, has been very educational. We have learned about many different subjects, including; anthropology, biology, botany, geology, zoology, and religious studies. But instead of reading about the different things in a textbook, we are experiencing the real stuff. Three of the important things I’ve learned are: people can find […]
Read moreEmma: Learned So Far
The world has many problems. More in the last 20 years than ever before. During the trip we have learned many things about the Earth, and unfortunately; its problems. Three big problems are; damage of trees, water consumption, and overpopulation. Trees are the most useful companion on the Earth. They give us oxygen to breathe […]
Read moreSaving the Rainforest: The Botanical Ark
(Reis) In the Daintree rainforest we are staying at a place called the Botanical Ark. It’s called that because, the hosts, Alan and Suzi Carle (with their friend Philippe), are taking seedlings from rainforests all over the world and then planting them in one spot to make a rainforest. Their primary message is about conservation […]
Read moreThe Bite as Bad as the Bark
(Andrew) When driving around in Tasmania we stopped at a random place called “Nature World.” We got out and investigated, it was basically a zoo filled with Tasmanian and Australian native animals. We figured out that Tasmanian Devil feeding time was at 12:30, clock check, it was 11:30, so we had an hour to look […]
Read moreVideo Thoughts on MLK from Afar
To spice up the annual Martin Luther King Day assembly at their school, the kids were asked to provide a brief video talking about what they had learned about diversity and difference and how the trip has effected their perspectives so far. The boys were invited to participate as well. What follows was shot in […]
Read moreIce
(Reis) First of all, the ice in Antarctica is amazing. So densely packed together. The Kapitan Khlebnikov (our ship) just eats away at it, slicing a clear path for itself, and rejecting all ice that come in its way. White clouds of ice getting shoved away from the hull. Penguins staring up at awe at […]
Read moreLive Donkey or Dead Lion?
(Dana) December 21: we visited Robert F. Scott’s hut from his 1911 Terra Nova expedition and Ernest Shackleton’s hut from his 1908 Nimrod expedition — base camps for the explorers’ forays to the South Pole. Inside, we were as close to history as you can get. These aren’t just artifacts from that era, these are […]
Read moreGone with the Wind
(Greg) The wind down here is intense. It is what makes the Southern Ocean, The Drake Passage and “rounding the Horn” so perilous. This crazy wind, I am told, is the result of the coriolis effect (wind created and intensified by the rotation of the earth) and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current which is the strongest […]
Read moreIn ’79
In ’79 in Patagonia, at the bottom of the Western Hemisphere, the National Park of Torres del Paine was renamed and its first hotel was christened. The first visitors would arrive in the ’80s. The 1980s. So while most of our friends were frequenting fraternity tap rooms or channeling John Travolta up North, this 240,000 […]
Read moreMore Inca Info
(Reis) Since my classmates at Chickering are studying Incas, I thought I would give them more info that I have learned: The common mistake most people make is calling all people of the native Peruvian empire Incas. “Inca” is actually the name of the supreme ruler of the empire, like a pharaoh to the Egyptians […]
Read more