Kuria, age 15, Kenya |

Welcome to my expedition blog!

July 5th 2008--Ottawa
Today I got to meet my fellow ambassadors. As a matter of fact Nicole and I went to pick up Paige and others. Paige is the mother of three girls on this trip. We also got our clothing from Napapijri and glasses. I also got to meet Luc and Mary, the parent of Ainhoa and Flaam. It was really exciting getting to meet everybody and getting to be comfortable with each other. Cause we are going to be spending the next 3 weeks with each other. We later that evening had dinner with John Coo who runs Green Cross in Canada. It was very welcoming and we even had all the ambassadors’ flags representing where they came from.

July 6th, 2008—Iqaluit
Today we got ready to start our expedition and woke up at 6:00AM. We had a flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit where we got to meet our other fellow ambassadors Beth from Resolute Bay and our guide Matty. We later went to Matty’s house where she gave us a brief idea of what we were going to be doing for the next three weeks. Matty also told us some of the dangers that may occur and also what we are supposed to do just in case. We slept by a nearby guest house as we got ready to fly the next morning to the Soper River. I could not wait until the next day because I have never rafted before. As a group we went to the museum to see the type of style the Inuit people live by.

July 7th 2008—Iqaluit
Today is going to be a busy day. We went back to Matty’s house so she can show us how to properly pack the right way because we were going to be gone for three days and the way I would pack for three days is way too much compared to the way a proper explorer is supposed to. We packed and went on a twin otter. That was my first time and I was so scared because I am so used to big planes that every little movement I thought was ackward I just grabbed on to my seat belt. We landed by the Soper river and had to carry heavy luggage for about a half mile, back to back to back. We didn’t do much but we set up our tent and went over a couple of rules then we went to bed to get ready for our first day.

July 8th 2008—Soper River
It’s quite hard camping because everybody when you wake up, you got to undo your tent, pack, and eat breakfast. That’s an everyday thing, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. We pumped up our rafts (one pair) and practiced rafting for about ten minutes, then we started rafting for about three to four hours and it was more fun than it was hard. We had tail winds throughout the whole time so it wasn’t that hard. I rafted throughout the whole day and it was quite an upper body work-out for me cause when I went to sleep I had some sore pain around my under arm as well as my biceps. It was a very fun day overall mostly because I discovered people’s spirit as well as I discovered mine.


July 9th 2008—Soper River
Today was the opposite of yesterday: instead of us having tail winds, we had head winds so we had to work as a team. This constructed our relationships even though we got wet and cold. If one broke down, we all broke down. It was so hard, I ended up hiking instead after lunch. Hiking is more independent because you set up your own pace and keep it constant. Later we camped at the waterfalls where we had to carry the rafts over and under the mountain. That was quite challenging because we also had to carry a couple of heavy bags.

Sebastian on the Ward Hunt ice shelf

July 10th, 2008—Kimmirut
Today we had to go on with our expedition, so we got up pretty early and rafted towards Kimmirut, and a man named Louly helped us tow the rafts across a lake. Louly is Pascale’s husband and they are both Matty’s friend. As Pascale went to unload the truck with our luggage, Matty directed us to the town with a little hike. We had lunch and then had an opportunity to walk around town, and meet some local kids our age. We met some really friendly people who took us where they go swimming and where they play soccer. We went back to Louly and Pascale’s house and had Caribou for dinner. I loved it. After dinner the local kids showed us where they play poker, but I chose not to play because they are really good. It’s interesting how they take poker really seriously and when they have no more money they trade. We had a home stay with Inuit people, her name is Latie: a single mother as well as a grandmother. She is a very swet lady, and we also found out that she is also related to Beth, when we got there and started introducing ourselves.

July 11th 2008--Resolute
This morning we had a chance to eat breakfast and hop in the plane. We flew back to Iqaluit to Matty’s place, and pack all our stuff to move on forward to Resolute, where we will stay at Beth’s dad’s hotel: the South Camp Innn. When we got here, I was expecting the same local reaction we got from Kimmirut, but unfortunately, we did not find kids our age. We got here about 6PM so we only had time to eat dinner, rearrage a couple of stuff we are going to take to Ward Hunt Island for 9 days. I couldn’t wait until the next morning because I hear we were going to see the icebreaker ship==specifically the St Laurent coast guard ship.

July 12th 2008—Resolute
Today I woke up pretty excited because I couldn’t wait to see the icebreaker ship, so I woke up ready to go. We went to the nearby airport, and they had important members of town like the mayor, as well as a couple of elders. We got to hear what the had to say about heping the town, and also having opportunity to go in the helicopter, which was my first time and flew to the ship. No everybody got to go, only the elders, the Inuit dancers, the photographers, and important people of the town. But Sebastian, Luke and Brian found out a way to get themselves, I, Flaam, Ainhoa and Nicole on the Ship. The ship was very big and exciting to be on; I got to see how they control it, the engine room, the crew members and as well oone of the biggest researcher on the planet. I learned about planktons and krill and also learned about the higher the oxygen, the lower the nitrogen, and vice versa. Last but not least, I got to know some of the ship’s history. We were there for about three hours or so. We got to the hotel, had dinner and then had some free time.

June 13th 2008--Resolute
Today was one of my favorite days so far on this expedition, because I got to meet a captain rangers. His name is Samson Simeoni. He is a very nice guy, and invited me to his house to see a bear skull as well as a petrified tree. He shared some of his stories of him saving lives, and I give him a lot of respect. He loves African people, mostly girls, and told me about visitors he has seen in the last couple of years. And they have taught him about life. He showed me caribou carvings, some fossils, and the oldest hand made nail in Nunavut. Another interesting thing I paid attention to is in these small town, a lot of people know each other so they even leave their houses open to show that everybody is welcome. That is very similar with Kenya because everybody knows each other so they leave their doors open to show everybody is welcome. Another interesting fact that me and Nicole discussed is Inuit people don’t really make long term savings, so when they get money they share and spend it all. They also love to give what they got especially to visitors.

July 14th 2008—Resolute
1:30PM Sebastian Photography 101
A gyroscope is a technological device that helps make a frame steady—like a steady cam.
Night portrait need long exposure, or a flash.
A frame is divided into three parts: the rule of thirds.
There has to be a purpose for every picture taken.

July 16th, 2008—Resolute
I’ve only got one chance to make a first impression. They say: “Life is hard. Whatever great opportunity you got, you better capitalize on it”. That is the biggest taught lesson I have ever heard. Children from here also respect their elders no matter if its both adults the elders gain and it works the other way around also. You give, you get. Me watching and listening the respect they give the others made me feel like I was back home because back home in Kenya it works the same way. At about 6PM today, we finally got on a plane to go North . Only half of the group got a chance to go at 6 and the rest of the group is going to be on their way at around 8pm.

July 17th 2008—Otto Fjord
These are some of the things I learned today during our hike to see an enormous glacier. It is hard to tell distance here because there are no familiar visible landmark to compare with, like trees.
Polygons: those are the markings left on rocks after the ice melts and dries.
Woley bears in these parts take fourteen years to hatch; then they die within twenty-four hours! They have no mouth.
Jewel lichen is fertized by… bird poop!
These were some of the discussions we had as a group during lunch as we hiked about eight kilometers to go to see a huge ice glacier that looked like it wasn’t that far but it took us about two and half hours just to get there: in the industrial world, it takes about 36 units of waste to produce one unit of goods. In the US, we use about 200,000 plastic bags every five seconds; and two million plastic bottles every five minutes.

July 18th 2008 –Otto Fjord
These are some of the things I learned from a friend as well as one of my role models, Sebastian, about religion. I learned about Protestantism founded by Calvin and Luther who went on exile in Switzerland and rejected the corrupt catholic church of their day. This morning after we had breakfast, we walked along the shore by where we camped at. We were taking tons of pictures of icebergs as they slowly flipped one after another. I would never imagine myself anywhere near and that’s what makes it so much more exciting and fun. It’s very hard to explain the feeling you get but what happens is your heart starts feeling really warm with positive rich vibes that keep your mind clear and helps you concentrate and think about your personal weaknesses as well as remembering your loved ones back home. It’s a really special time, believe or not it feels like therapy. After a couple of group pictures, it started drizzling lightly. But I didn’t want to go back in my tent. So I kept going along with Sebastian. Sebastian has really caught my attention with his knowledge and has showed me advice that will definitely beat down negative peer pressure. He was talking to me about how to avoid negative peer pressure; the meaning and understanding of religion, and different dynamic of law. Sebastian also showed me and taught me the right way of being a young leader. I sincerely appreciate his effort and also just who he is.
Wild life seen: Wooley bear; white rabbit.

Matty and Zepher

July 19th 2008—Otto Fjord
This morning I woke up freezing cold because I thought it was going to be a good idea going to sleep without a top. I surely learned that lesson and I really didn’t know what made me make such an idiotic choice. Today, when I woke up and opened my tent, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful on this Earth like the glowing glaciers. Off the bat, I thought it was going to be a long beautiful day. To make things better, our guide Matty McNair said we can use a four passenger motor boat. After she said that, I really thought about everything that I’ve done for my first time in this expedition like riding in a helicopter, rafting, being taken on a huge ship, and now riding on a motor boat. I just thanked God for everything because even though when I was younger I never dreamed about none of this, this is like a dream. I am living a dream. We put the boat in and its engine back together because its owner died a long time ago so it’s just sitting there. We took rides as little groups so everybody would get an opportunity and took pictures. It’s unbelievable going through glaciers that are slowly melting and will soon disappear due to global warming, and is also a very scary but spiritual time. We did that just for a short time because the weather all of a sudden got really cold, windy and started drizzling. I loved that experience because I saw the effect of global warming with my naked eye. We waited for the weather to change but it stayed the same was until we had to go to sleep.

July 20th 2008—Otto Fjord
This morning after we had breakfast, we had an opportunity to ride in the motor boat to a small nearby island where there was nothing but birds and lots of polygons. The birds’ nest were under rocks and stuff because there are no trees. We took lots of pictures of birds and rocks. This moment was more of a peaceful and silent moment. Hearing birds flying and icebergs turning upside down really opens your mind and soul and helps you relax and think. As I said before, it is like a spiritual therapy as well as a special time. It was scary but fun on our way back to the camp site because the ice had closed up in as quick as twenty minutes so when we went over the ice it felt for a second like we were going to flip over because because the boat tilted to one side but luckily it broke the ice. Right before we decided we should go take more pictures of icebergs, we hear the airplane from a distance but weren’t quite positive if it was for us. It landed right behind our campsite and the good news was it was going to fly us out to Ward Hunt. I was very excited to see a new land site even more northern than Otto Fjord, which is called Ward Hunt Island because that is very, very close to the North Pole. It took us approximately one hour to get there and the twin otter was way much fun cause I got used to it already. We met a couple of Park rangers and they told us the rules and their plan for this environment. We just then put up our tents and were ready for the next morning. It is definitely colder here, and much stronger winds than Otto Fjord. The environment has less plants but more rocks. Instead of icebergs like Otto Fjord, here it’s more about huge snow caps with huge and deep cracks. One of the wildlife here that we saw were huge white rabbits, with long huge feet in a group and there are some geese as well.

July 21st 2008—Ward Hunt Island
Today we woke up to a heart breaking moment. Paige and her family were not feeling well and Nick and Boogie had to go home. It sucks without them all, cause its quiet now without the little girls arguing and playing all the time. It’s a hard time but if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger. After they left, I could obviously notice it took a lot of energy from me as well as the group. We went for a hike on a red rock mountain and as a group we signed our name on the top because very few people have been there. It’s very deep when you think when you think that you are somehow related with history by living through it and making it. We went on the backside of the mountain to try and see if we can find some cracks created by global warming. We didn’t find really huge ones, but we found many different kind which have the possibility of expanding. I personally feel very uncomfortable with this situation because deep down we are the ones causing this and that’s a terrible feeling. I was pretty sore around my calves cause I was trying to get a little type of work-out so I decided to walk on my toes. I felt the burn alright later after the hike but it was worth it.

July 22nd 2008—Ward Hunt Island
This morning at around 2AM, me and Markan another Young Ambassador started picking up trash. When I saw the effect of global warming that really changed my reaction so we decided to clean up. The park site we camp on used to be a military base so we found really cool stuff like bullet shells, tank covers, life vest, rusted cans and lots of harwood. I got to say it was really fun but we had to get some rest so we went to sleep at 3AM. We woke up around 8AM, had breakfast and started a hike. The thing about this hike that was awesome is we got to hike on a huge ice shelf. Getting to the big crack was so much fun, and beautiful scenes throughout the whole hike. The sun just made the ice look like little crystals. We had lunch then took lots of pictures with cracks that may expand and never come back to one piece. During lunch, my feet started getting cold and the sun got hidden by clouds and fog so it wasn’t as fun. The snow got really deep so over time you would sink to about as high as your knees and snow would get in your shoes. Everybody’s energy went down because everyone felt the same way I did so I tried to motivate people not to break down. These are one of those moments when leadership counts so I tried to make people jump around to try and get warm. It was definitely long on the way back because we were stopping near deep cracks so we could take pictures and some people just kept on going. Overall it was fun, as well as the challenge we had just made us tougher ambassadors. It was so much fun walking on snow and when we got to the camp, I felt like doing it again. That hike taught me to stay mentally as well as physically strong because it came to a point where I just felt like dropping to the snow till I regained my energy. When we got back to camp, I drank a lot of hot chocolate to try and get warm again.

July 23rd 2008—Ward Hunt Island
Today was a mellow very mellow day because we slept in after an exhausting day yesterday. We really didn’t do that much but as a group we picked up trash around the camp and that made me feel good deep down and boosted my energy up also. I decided to write a little positive message in the outhouse that said: :If everyone would do a little bit of cleaning up, the world would be a better place”. I love to try and make a difference in this world even by writing a little message like that really motivates me to clean up more and do as much as I can.

July 24th 2008—Ward Hunt Island
Today we may have the possibility of flying to Resolute Bay to get ready and go home but the weather is foggy and cloudy so it is hard to see quite a distance. It would be hard for the plane to land, but we still got ready just in case it did. It wasn’t able to land, but we could hear it going round and round but in the end the pilots decided to go about 21 kilometers away from camp and wait to see if there was any hope of weather change. It didn’t look like there was any hope for today and the rangers had invited us to go to their cabin and watch a movie. We watched a film called A Mighty Heart as we waited for the weather to change but there was no luck whatsoever that evening. It was a great film based on a true story of Daniel Pearl so it felt like watching reality from the top of the world on Pakistan terrorism.

July 25th 2008—Resolute
We woke up and it felt like a fire drill. Our guide Matty said we only had half an hour to put our tents down, pack, and get on the plane. I really didn’t care how I packed because I just wanted to get on the plane while we had a chance. Planes in the high Arctic are not really about time even though they go by it, but it is more about weather conditions so every open opportunity, you must go for it. We were pretty much ready to go in half an hour and excited to move on from being stuck. It was about a five-hour ride from Ward Hunt to Resolute and we stopped in Eureka to refuel. I was so exhausted because the Twin Otters are not really that big so we are pretty much crunched in for the whole time unless you sit in the very back or the very front, but unfortunately I was in the middle. At least I had a while to catch up with my journal until I got tired and just went to sleep. Coming from seeing about 9 to about 15 people a day is a big change for me, and jumping from that to about 300 people is also a big change. I’ve never seen such a low amount of people in a community in my entire life.

My Overview
First of all I want to thank Sebastian and our sponsors. I would also want to thank the group and everyone that taught me new things as well as the ones who learned along with me. I also want to thank Matty McNair for guiding us along and having a strong grip on holding her patience tight. This expedition pretty much put my life in order and on the path of who I really chose to become. I learned greatness is built by consistency, not by moment to moment. It definitely changed my life in a positive way. I wish we stayed in the high Arctic. Being able to see how us humans need to individually take responsibility of protecting the life cycle made me open my ability of spreading the message of trying to make this world a better place.