Disillusion #1

I know I write very little on my blog and I want to apologise for that.  I decided against group e-mails so that the ones too polite to decline do not need to constantly delete unwanted spam; but now I let the few people, who are actually interested in my Antarctic adventure, go to my blog only to find no news.  

Well I want to assure you that despite my few words, I experience this adventure very intensely.  The landscapes and weather is absolutely awesome and I still feel extremely fortunate to see this place.  With the winter's night fading I can drink these landscapes in with a new thirst for it's pristine beauty.

One thing I do regret, is the naive expectation of a blood bond being formed between the 10 in our team.  To spend 14 months practically alone on the fifth largest continent where support from outside is mostly impossible, one would expect some catalyst for such a bond.  If you think about it objectively, however, you probably won't have such high expectations of the the outcome, when 10 random people get on a boat to Antarctica.  Therefore I admit my naivety.  

On the other hand, I do not want to sound too negative.  We have a very good team and we function more than adequately.  After 7 months into our journey a lot of friendships have formed and what do you know, maybe some will stay friends for many years to come.

In my defence I also find it understandable that one can be swept away where "exotic" words like expedition, Cat train, sastrugi, ice shelf and team member are frequently used.  But what I realise tonight, with a little chuckle of course, the reality without the sugar coating is that despite the extreme "life or death" location I have colleagues, a supervisor and a boss….just like anywhere else.

Above: "The sun's return" - Braam's relief as the sun starts creeping higher over the horison.