Handover

This past weekend marked the official handing over of SANAE base from team 50 to team 51.  It included a formal dinner with some speeches and on the lighter side some sports like tug-of-war, darts and table tennis.

The highlights of the speeches included the DCO's (Departmental Coordinating Officer) message that he no longer wants to encourage teams to be better than the previous but rather for them to become the best team they can be.  Jako's (our team leader) speech had a very powerful analogy for teamwork, namely the fact that geese, in formation, can fly up to 70% further than they can individually.  Both were good messages to hear.

The handing over ceremony was laden with words synonymous to 'responsibility' so I guess my employer wanted to emphasise that point.  I would guess that Antarctic programs will have difficulty with personnel.  It is rather difficult to substitute someone in Antarctica and despite any recruitment evaluation you are always taking a risk with whoever you appoint.  It also seems like some people love the fact that they can see and experience this weird and wonderful continent which amplifies their sense of duty while others tend to focus on their own comfort.  So I guess the emphasis on responsibility was maybe the subconscious holding of thumbs.  

After the dinner we finalised some games and I am the proud to announce that I am the top South African table tennis player in the whole of Antarctica.  Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and I think the summer and winter personnel have become a fairly tight knit community.  The departure date for the summer personnel is around the corner and it will probably be a sad goodbye.  6 Of our overwinter team members need to go on the last cat train, that is leaving on Sunday, to finalise the back loading and then shut our Summer Station down and tow the last odds and ends back to SANAE.  

I will also join the last cat train and will return to a near empty base where the dynamics of life in Antarctica will probably change once again.