Day 4 - Getting into the 'Spirit'

Were heading on to the charter, it looks insanely large!! And it’s all kicking in...the real journey is starting and it’s really getting exciting. But at the same time our safety brief kinda made things real...the first thing your head Jumper (the safety officer of the expedition) says: “everything in Antarctica is out to kill you” then he went on to talking about the drake and about how 80% of us will get seasick...makes it a bit more nerving but exciting!

We got on to the ‘Sea Spirit’ and everything went exciting from then on!

We left land and said goodbye to land...we were waved goodbye by a Russian scientific vessel, they even blew their horns for us!

Now were hitting the drake, things are shaking and moving...Some things fell off the shelves...the shelves opening up by themselves!

We sat on the deck chair...Ameer took a video asking me (Bader) to describe what I was feeling in one word...if he gave me a page I still wouldn't have been able to... I've never seen the moon that big, or the stars so bright... I've never seen anything like this. No description will do it justice and no words I have in my vocabulary can tell you what this looks and feels like!

It’s also getting cold now, with heaters in the ship many of us are in half jackets and we have a day and a half till we hit Antarctica.

Tomorrow...we reach Antarctica, further than any of us would have been from home.

Also, we have a surprise for the Environment Society of Oman ;)

Day 3 - Mt. Martial Glacier...and the snow?

Today we put our rope skills and our teamwork to practice...and what a day it was!

Getting up in the morning and seeing the team all there ready and excited just does something to you...the team spirit is something amazing, it gives you a different kind of energy!

The ride to the glacier was stunning, seeing the beagle channel behind us and snow ridden mountains up ahead is surreal, and then you get to the trek...this expedition has been a constant state of ‘it can’t get better, oh...it's better’ and today hasn't been any different.

One of our favourite pass time activities is trekking, and it works when the team clicks and leadership is given and taken all around and that’s what this whole day was meant to be...to prepare us to show leadership skills, develop the ability to step down and to help and assist each other through a challenging trek...being tied to 6 other people and walking in one pace is more challenging that it sounds!

You need patience and compromise, you need to constantly keep an eye on your team and help who you can...after all, you aren't trekking solo; you all are trekking as one.

Then we got to the top, the glacier was stunning and the view was amazing, but then we got our first contact with what we came to change...it’s not cold as it used to be, we packed for colder temperatures. The snow is not as thick anymore, and it’s become shy and dropped back into the background.

Those who were hoping to have their first snowball fight got disappointed...but more seriously, these glaciers are what the people in Ushuaia use for water.

It’s one thing hearing/reading about an issue (as you are right now), it’s a totally different thing when you see it right in front of you.

You get much more motivated to do something...and being tied to a great passionate bunch of individuals just gives you more fuel!!

If a group of people from 28 different backgrounds can work together this well, a country so unified such as Oman could be the forefront of environmentalism. 

Bader & Ameer.

Day 2 - Eagle Eye & Safety Sweeper

This was a big day for the Freezing Omanis with an early start.

We had our first day of the program after the induction and the initial team building trek to the most southern point of the world. Today however the team got to attend great lectures by Robert Swan and Gareth Wood who are two of the three men who walked the South Pole in 1985.

There were many theories about developing environmental initiatives and community involvement, and then a final rope and safety exercise where the pair practiced tying their knots blindfolded to get ready for tomorrows big test manoeuvring crevasses to reach the Martial Glacier. Some photos to share with you:

We were given important positions within our team, Ameer was designated the Eagle eye (keeping track of all the team and coordinating), while Bader was designated as the safety sweeper (maintaining speed and keeping safety checks/first aid).

The trek will help the teams get into formation before they leave to Antarctica and make sure all gear and equipment is ready while they are in Antarctica.

Tomorrow the Sea Spirit will take us amongst 74 others from 28 different countries to the great white continent through the infamous Drake Passage, dubbed as “the roller-coaster without seatbelts”.

From the time the Sea Spirit leaves, the team will be tracked through GPS which can be followed by the blog: http://expedition.2041.com/2013/

Ameer and Bader

Video - our arrival in Ushuaia!

Day 1 - From Muscat to the 'End of the world'

We left to Argentina on the 26^th, the flight path was to Dubai-Brazil, Argentina (Buenos Aires).

Total travel time was about 34 hours, exhausting!!!

After our flight to BA we slept in shifts so that we could take care of the bags and keep track of time.

Today we met some of the 30 that are going to be joining us. We got along very well while going through forests and mountains to reach our first stop.

The trek took 5 hours and we enjoyed the nature of the Argentinian Ushuaia national forest. It is just stunning!

We got to ‘the end of the world’ point which is the southernmost point in the world.

Tomorrow we will do a mountain safety session and after tomorrow we trek a mountain.

Here some photos...love you all J.

Bader and Ameer

Tweeter In A Freezer

A quick and BIG THANK YOU to those beautiful people who, like us, are passionate about the environment and our country.

The world record is just a fun activity to raise awareness about several environmental issues we're facing, not only Oman but the entire world, as well as instigating some actions.

So thank you to this bunch of nice guys and girls (some of them not in the pic) who came in the freezer today as well as all those others who've been tweeting with us :)

A world record for a good cause

With the teaser out we have had many people asking us...World record?

Yup! Oman is a very bio diverse place with many environmental issues, and we need to highlight that! How? By doing extraordinary things!

We have gotten a few of Oman’s top bloggers and tweeps and  they will be writing about their own take on environmental issues…..and breaking two world records at the same time J. Oman Collective Intelligence also posted about the social media record, check it out.

The bloggers will come and join us in the Enhance freezer at -20 on Thursday 21st of February at 11am, and by doing that we would have broken the world record for ‘Most amount of bloggers in a freezer’ and ‘Coldest Tweet up’

“What we’re hoping to achieve with this world record attempt is to reach as many people possible by bringing together some of the biggest local internet celebrities and spread the word on environmental protection while not being experts ourselves, we have been blessed with the opportunity to not only deliver the message from experts in the Environment Society of Oman (ESO), but to also get Oman discussing and debating the local and global issues” – Ameer Abdulhussain (Penguin)

You can also help us out! By retweeting and joining in our tweet up you will raise the profile of environmental issues and be part of the (#TweeterInAFreezer) world record!

“Oman has a diverse ecosystem and thus has a diverse range of environmental issues, through our campaigns so far we have noticed that the youth is very interested in the environmental movement and there is no better sphere to get people involved than the social media world. This will give many people the opportunity to voice their eco concerns and get a positive discussion of change”  - Bader Al Lawati (snowflake)

We know what we are focusing on; we want to know what environmental issues mean to you!