July 28 - Arrival to Prins Christian Sound, Greenland. Our first stop in Greenland will be at Herjolfness, a Viking ruin site. Later in the day, we will visit the small southern Greenland town Nanortalik.
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New Journal Entries for July 28 now posted below. (Posted Friday July 29, 10:45 AM ET)

Hello Everyone!

Last night we arrived to Greenland. It was a dramatic arrival in the fog and mist. We spotted our first icebergs just as we entered Prins Christian Sund, which is a narrow but deep sound passing through the bottom tip of Greenland.

Around 9:00pm we entered a small fjord and anchored in a protected cove. The Zodiacs were quickly launched and we spent the rest of the evening exploring the fjord! At the top of the fjord two massive glaciers spilled down from the Greenland Icecap to reach the sea. We saw and heard some calvings as giant pieces of ice broke off the glacier wall. It was a magical evening of exploring a seldom visited corner of the world.

We also had a close encounter with a few Bearded seals that were sleeping on some ice floes. By 11:30pm, we were all back on the ship, but the day did not end there. About 25 students and staff decided to celebrate their arrival to Greenland with a cold dip in Arctic waters! A midnight swim to join the Arctic Swim Team!!

This morning we landed at a Viking ruin called Herjolfnaes near the southern tip of Greenland's Cape Farvell. We literally walked in the footsteps of the Vikings and explored this ancient settlement where the remains of their houses, a church and barn could be seen.

We are presently sailing up the dramatic Tasermuit Fjord where we hope to make a landing this evening. It is a rainy day but the 2000 metre high cliffs surrounding us can be seen through the clouds. Lectures today have included one on the Vikings and Eric the Red by Carol, and one about Climate Change by John Streicker. All the students are doing great! The expedition spirit is growing by the day!

Our latitude is 60 20'4 North

Our longitude is 044 43'9 West

Geoff
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Hour 44 at sea. Time and space have taken on entirely new dimensions for us all. A historical span of a thousand years seems almost tangible as we sail the same transit line as the Vikings and the days of Erik the Red. Although dry and well fed on our comfortable floating home, we can appreciate, on an aesthetic level, the Arctic sea journeys of long ago. Subtleties in temperature, sea salt smells, the sounds of bow surf as we rise and fall in stride with the sea become more heightened with each passing hour. With yesterday's encounters with the whales, many discussions about the good fortune of such an intimate exchange amidst such vastness continue to circulate the ship. Forty whales (5 species including the greatest of all creatures, the blue whale) and here we are, on one bearing from Iceland to Greenland. Are the whales that plentiful? Or are we that lucky? I'd like to believe both.

A strong sense of community and openness for dialogue has emerged over our past 4 days together. The exchange is rich. This morning Anne-Katrine (from Nuuk, Greenland) and Mads (from Copenhagen, Denmark) shared an overview of Greenlandic life as we prepare for arrival to this ice covered ountry of 55,000 people. As questions about the education system surface, Anne Katrine and Mads share their experiences of the past two years at United World College in Northern Norway, a school for circumpolar Nation youth. Mads shares how his schooling has very much shaped his next two years. a journey that will take him from the SOI Arctic Expedition to 3 months working in a refugee camp in Western Sahara, then crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean and onwards to Bolivia for 5 months where Mads will be volunteering with the Red Cross. Yet another youth whose actions give cause for hope.


Everywhere I turn on this ship I am inspired by people. At lunch today I sat with someone who has skied an epic 16 month journey across the Arctic from Alaska to Spitzbergen; a student who just got his single engine aircraft license a month ago and is on his way to becoming an airline pilot; a biologist who just wrote a children's book on whales of the St. Lawrence; a student who volunteers as a girl guide leader in her community; and an educator who is leaving classroom teaching in Toronto to begin a cooperative organic farm in Nova Scotia. With each life story shared, dialogue emerges, connections are made, and possibilities are born.

Greenland awaits.

Diz Glithero
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A few photos ..

JOURNAL ENTRIES
July 28th, 2005
Posted Friday July 29th, 10:40 AM ET
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28 July 2005
South Tip of Greenland I am totally busted wide open…..WIDE OPEN…..and at the same time I feel very very small. The beauty and the splendor of the ocean that we have just crossed---- the grand and splendid fjords are far more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I am sot sure where to start because it seems as though it does not really begin. It feels as though it has been in my head…my heart....for far too long.

There were so many great moments today and in the previous days but the sound of the glacier "bergie bits" floating in the water brought me so to Greenland. All of my senses have been alive since we have come to Greenland. I can taste the salt water on my face from the spray of the zodiac. I can hear the sound of millions and millions of air bubbles that are being released from their place inside the 10,000+ year old ice. I can smell life in the sea and the rawness of the land. I can see the Greenland Ice Cap (I wonder if I mentioned this to my students at school, would they immediately think of the Greenland Tim Hortons Iced Cappucino). I can feel my heart opening wider that it has in months as I feel the wildness stirring in me. All of these remind me of the days that I had studying Common Eiders in the Northern Arctic.

The world is this place that we all are a part of. The earth is living and breathing in the rocks, the oceans, the gulls and the fjords. I feel blessed to be able to be here sharing in all the learning. Mom, Dad and Brooke you were all with me today as I hiked into this fantastic valley….soaked with rain I smiled for 3 hours straight-just like when I was young. Charles I have found such a perfect place here to get married….do you want to change the location? The fjords and the icebergs are out of this world….soon another trip together.

Alive and Blissed out in this gorgeous place!!!!!!!

Airin Stephens
Chaperone
High School Teacher- Toronto

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Ahoy!!!!!! You just can't believe how great this trip is!!! Whales, whales, and more whales!!!! Walks on glaciers…rides on zodiacs to glaciers in the early evening…and viewing up close those magnificent giant glaciers that make the zodiacs look like a toy sitting in front of it. We have been to hot springs and to the tops of the glaciers and to the tops of volcanoes in Iceland!!! Iceland was great---we even saw the "rift" where the tectonic plates of America and Europe meet…so creating more Iceland and yet causing the tsunamis in the Indian Ocean (a little give and take). We are now in Greenland. Today we spent the morning going up a fjord among icebergs to a Viking settlement (obviously an old one). I wish you all were here and could enjoy this with me. Many jumped into the fjord off the ship just to see how it was…all got back onto the ship within seconds---Sean also took the plunge!!! So much to tell you! The kids, chaperones, and all the educators are really great. Be sure to read our itinerary daily and review the daily entries, as our itinerary continually changes depending on what we find when we get somewhere. You can follow our daily excursions by reading the daily updates. The weather has been really nice---not too cold at all (yet)…the seas have not been rough (but yesterday many were seasick)…the food is great (meals like on a cruise ship---very excellent!!!!) A lot of learning going on constantly. Hello to Lara, Dian, Arlin !
Cheryl Horton
Chaperone, Brenham, Texas

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Today was Viking day, back to my roots. We went on the shore nearby an old Viking ruin village, and we saw the amazing area that Erik the Red and his friends saw when they arrived to the somehow hostile environment around Greenland. We had the chance to eat a lot of blueberries, while we took a walk up the steep mountains to get a better view. There was a spectacular view from the top, and you could see how the 30 small houses and church were spread all over the place.
While I was standing on the top, I was being informed that there was a fox den around the area, so of course I went looking for it. I never found the fox den, but I found something even more extraordinary; a human grave. In the beginning I thought: "Wauw, that's a pretty big fox den with some pretty big skeletons". However, David told me it was human bones, and especially the skull was a clear sign of that. To see that nearby a old Viking sight, on a foggy day with icebergs all around was maybe one of the trip's biggest experiences. To see how fragile we are, especially compared to the nature gave me more to think about before I go to bed tonight.

Mads Qvist Frederiksen , Denmark, Haslev

Det er helt vildt alle de ting jeg har set, og udover isbjerge, blaa hvaler og saeler, saa har Anne-Katrine ogsaa faaet sig en lillesoester. Jeg hard et godt og alt er fint.

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Hello once again and today we have a special guest, our friend ALISON!!!! She is from Wisconsin. All three of us have recovered from our sea sickness yesterday. I was very sick and threw-up twice because the boat was soooo rocky. Everywhere I went I felt sick; however it turned out to be a great afternoon. I tried to get up for almost everything but I was too weak so I had to stay in bed. Finally I made it up-stairs and some chaperones were kind enough to get me the things I need to get outside. A chaperone named Airin and I went to the top deck (least rocky place) and just looked out into the ocean and talked about swimming (my favorite topic). At night we put the anchor down in a little cove, it was so great with icebergs (our first icebergs), seals, waterfalls and glaciers. We put out the zodiacs and went for a spin around the cove and it was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. I loved it! Right after we went to bed, some people went swimming though but I didn't hear about it till the morning and neither did Rebecca so we missed out. Both of us would have gone! Well besides being seasick for most of the day it was a excellent day!

Today (Thursday) we woke up at 8:00am even though the ship sailed at 5:00am. Breakfast was amazing, as usual and we had a lecture by Carol Francis about Eirik the Red. The lecture was very interesting and informative and we learned that our very own Carol was from Norway (where some of the Vikings originated). Then we went out in the zodiacs to explore some of the first Viking villages and we saw a human skull and bones in a cave. Rebecca found a spoon that we believe to be from world war two! It was very desolate with many icebergs and mountains. We came back and had lunch, our first lunch from the western world, we had hamburgers and fries (along with soup and pasta). We are now having a briefing with Geoff about this afternoon so we will keep you posted.

Love Jessica and Rebecca

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I just got back from a Viking ruin! I was sitting meditating in an old building when Geoff told me that it was the old church. I remember thinking, "How appropriate!" It was so gorgeous. Yesterday, I saw my first iceberg. We went out in the Zodiacs to get a closer look at the harbor which was completely decked with glaciers and bergies (small pieces of the big icebergs.) The coolest part was on the way back to the ship when we spotted a bearded seal. We got so close; we actually were about 5 feet at most from the beautiful animal! I was so incredibly excited to be that close to an amazing animal! But as for today, the Zodiac ride was crazy! We were bumping up and down and tossing and turning. It was a blast! I got so much spray! Our driver was hitting the waves head on and we were going so fast, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.
Mary Ann Thornton

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I guess the ice cap needed another story, so here it is! Today was full of nifty things like going to the Viking Ruins, and going on a nice little hike, seeing beautiful scenery, and standing in history. But on this ship, this very ship, we have history very old and ancient history…….. Fritz! This man is full of knowledge, hidden in exaggerations. Really, tonight everyone gathered in the lecture room after a great session of "pole dancing" in the lobby and sat down to watch our very own Fritz and three other men sledge across the North Pole starting in Alaska and finishing in Spitzbergen. It was amazing to watch someone that we all know sledge across the North Pole. I still can't get over it. Their team was one of only four teams to make it, and what's even better is they used dogs instead of snowmobiles. They made it through impossible odds and completed their expedition. After the movie, Fritz and I were standing in the rain on the back deck talking and I asked him what made him want to do this, and his reply with a smile was "I thought it would be fun, and it was." Fritz is truly one of a kind! Well on a personal note I would like to tell my parents that I love them and they're really missing out ( blows a raspberry ), and I would also like to tell very special someone (you know who u are) that I also miss you and love you. I will see you all back in the states, "signing out."
Drew Cemer
Fort Myers, Florida

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The ship was going to leave anchor at 4:30 this morning. We were invited to get up and watch the ship leave anchor. My alarm went off and I got up. I looked around. I fell back down into a deep slumber. I remember last night was the first night in 5 days where I saw darkness. I woke up again at 7:00 and groaned. Anytime now a voice would come on to wake us up. I groggily got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I hoped the sound of water would drown out the impending wake up call of doom. After the shower I got out and my roommate was still sleeping. Apparently he didn't hear a wakeup call. I got ready and went to the lounge. I found a few people playing scrabble so I asked them if they heard a wake-up call. You might wonder why I cared anymore since I was already awake. It was 7:22 and breakfast was supposedly in 8 minutes. Something was wrong. The scrabbler's answer to my inquiry was "Didn't you know there was a time change last night? One hour back." It was 6:22 AM. I woke up one hour early for no reason!! I then spent an hour watching the scrabblers and listening to one of our Inuit students play his flute. Yes it is a flute. I asked him the name of the instrument and he laughed and said a "wooden flute". Apparently he has great fun doing this since everyone thinks it has some super cool long name. After breakfast we had our morning excursion to the Viking ruins of Herjolfsnaes (yes, it is probably spelled wrong). We took a zodiac to the ruins 2 miles away and got lost. Our expedition leader Geoff had already made a landing but we didn't know where. After some drifting, we saw the leader in his bright orange jacket on one of the beaches. We made our way to him and "ooh"ed and "aah"ed at the cement ruins on the hills. At one of the houses we saw broken wood and rusted spring beds. Nails and hinges were strewn around everywhere including the beach. Geoff then called all of us together and gave us a surprise. What we were looking at were not the Viking ruins (I knew Vikings didn't sleep on spring beds!). He pointed out pits in the ground where Viking buildings used to be. All that was left was the foundation. I also found an old Viking grave. There was a random slab of rock jammed into the ground right outside what used to be the church. It felt different when I stepped near it. After that I hiked up and explored some of the surrounding hills. It was raining pretty hard and I started humming "Singing in the Rain". Arctic style. I stood on top of a rock and turned around and saw the most amazing view ever. I could imagine Vikings running around trying to make a living. They could look outside their homes and see an iceberg float by. After soaking in the view (it was raining so I was soaking in other things as well) I went with the first group back to the ship. Our driver, I think, went crazy overnight. He went full throttle against the waves in the zodiac. The zodiac bounced a lot all the way back to the ship. Water was spraying onto the boat. It was an all out blast. Of course when I got back into my cabin, I was completely soaked. I took off all my wet articles of clothing and set it on my bed with hopes that it would dry. I then went upstairs to listen to our interesting lecture on the history of Vikings in Greenland. I can imagine a few of my friends right now getting excited because this archaeology and history stuff is exactly what they like. Oh, one more thing, I learned what "rus" means. Its Norwegian or some other language the Vikings spoke that means "person who gets drunk a lot". They were the ones who gave Russia its name. Make sense? My best friend would kill me for saying that. Lunch was pretty fun. I was at a table with 3 Canadians and 3 Americans. The feuds ensued. I was questioned as to why we let Schwarzenegger become governor. What do I say to that? I just said the world went crazy. After that, we went to a lecture about climate change. At the end of the lecture, one of the students on the trip went up and told us her story. This story is the reason we have a media crew on board shooting a documentary. In 2002, she went to Antarctica with Students on Ice and was moved by all the things she learned about climate change. When she got home (Vancouver, I think) she wanted to do something. But no one would listen to her. Her peers didn't care at all. Frustrated, she took a year off after High School and focused on creating a conference. The conference she created is the Youth Climate Change Conference (YC3). It brought kids from around the nation (their nation…Canada) and she raised about $100,000. It instantly became famous throughout Canada. Her focus was that you don't need to be an environmentalist to worry about climate change. Climate change affects each and every one of us and it isn't just a political battle. I don't think anything like that has happened in America yet. Let's hope it does!

Anyway, we are currently floating in uncharted waters. We went up a fjord that is only charted halfway because it is usually difficult to get to the other half. We got lucky, and have had no problem in sailing in this uncharted water so far. After setting down an anchor, we had the choice of going on a long hike or short hike through what is called either the "Valley of Eden" or "Monastery Valley". I, of course, chose the long hike. We broke off into groups of ten and then started hiking at the bottom of the valley. There was a river there, and around the river was a boggy area. We hiked through that. Stepping into mounds of lichen, my hiking boots sank all the way in. They were like pillows of nature. Although I doubt sleeping on them would be of any use. Too wet. Well, here's the embarrassing part. There was a part where we were very near to the water. I stepped across to what looked like solid ground, but no. My foot went right through and I was in water all the way up to my knee. Same happened with the other foot. I was wearing my "waterproof" hiking boots because I switched from my rubber boots after our in-water landing from the zodiacs. After that lovely little incident, my boots were filled with water. I had to empty them and retie my shoelaces since they were constantly being untied. Our group leader, the whale specialist Richard Sears, decided that we needed to get to higher ground. We started our long and treacherous hike up the left side of the valley. Since this place was uncharted, people rarely went through here, which means no trail was present. A full off-road adventure. I have to say, I've been blessed by Greenland. The insects come after me and ignore the people around me. The trees loved whacking me in every place imaginable. Rocks loved to slip under my feet and make me almost twist my ankles. It was truly one of the best hikes ever. We hiked halfway or two-thirds of the way up the hill. Not only was my body heat making me warm, but the weather also seemed a little warm. So far, I don't think I have met weather that I haven't seen before in San Jose. This includes the temperature. Could this be one of the effects of climate change? Anyway, after we hiked up the hill, we walked alongside the valley until we reached the beach where we then finished our treacherous hike back down. I was soaked in sweat. My boots and pants had all types of leaves and plants stuck to it. I was boiling hot. I needed a shower. One other kid and I were thinking of taking a dip into the ocean. A polar dip. Who else could say they went swimming in the Arctic? Once we took the zodiac back to the ship, I went straight to my cabin and took a shower. I then put the blow-dryer to use by attempting to dry all my clothes. They were all wet. Dinner then started at 8:30 PM. What a day!
Ankur Gupta
San Jose, California

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We are in Greenland! Home sweet home… We arrived last night, and spent the night inside a sund called Prins Kristian Sund. The day yesterday was kinda rough, since most of it was on the open sea. We had nice weather, but because of the big but quiet and slow waves, the boat was moving quite a lot. It was very exiting to see land again. After having spent 2 days on the ocean, where there is water 360° around you, it's nice to see land again : and especially when it is home. Today we started crossing the Kap Farvel, and going west where we visited some Viking ruins. Now we are just done eating lunch, and continuing west.
By the way, yesterday I saw for the first time ever 3 killer whales!! Was very excited about that : ) And also last night after dinner, we went out in the zodiacs (slags gummi-baad) and in close to the icecap. We saw a seal, and were maybe 5 meters from it. Got some great pictures. Also, a bunch of people jumped in the fjord. Crazy people, there were icebergs around us.
Oh, and by the way… I got a little sister yesterday!!! : I wish that we could pass by Nuuk.

Jeg haaber snart at vi kommer til et sted med net til mobilen. Maaske I morgen… Haaber at I alle 5 har det godt derhjemme (oh I DK), underligt nu er vi 6. Knus

Anne-Katrine Brandt Olsen
Nuuk, Greenland

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Sitting there on the farthest away rock that I could possibly find from rest of the group, I was able to think and reflect on my time here in the arctic. I realized how few people get to spend two weeks in Greenland and Iceland and how unique this experience is.
I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world with People to People and Students on Ice and to see many different countries, however earlier today while sitting on a rock at Herjolfnaes I had one of those moments where as far as you can see were rocks and icebergs and you just go into a trance. It didn't matter that my gloves where soaking wet, or that the wind was so cold I felt like a cherry Popsicle in my bright red coat. I was completely engrossed and in awe of how beautiful this country and how glad I was to be a part of this. It was truly a moment of a lifetime, and even if we don't see a single polar bear, or get to witness Fritz's pole dancing again, the trip has been worth it in my eyes.
Jeannie Humphrey
Tennessee

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Once again Students On Ice is providing an exhilarating and personally satisfying adventure…this time to Iceland, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. This is another incredible group of students, chaperones, and education team members. We have hiked up a volcano, a glacier, a rocky hillside above the ruins of an early Viking settlement, and in a valley at the head of a fjord surrounded by towering mountain spires and glaciers. We have seen a great variety of Arctic birds, whales, and seals highlighted by close encounters with a Blue Whale cow and calf in the Denmark Strait and a bearded seal on an ice floe last night (hard to believe that we were zodiac cruising at 10:30 at night with glaciers cracking like gunshots over our heads). Hello to family and friends…can't wait to share the photos and tell the stories.
Ellen Kinsel, Chaperone
New Denver, BC

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