Come join me for the last chapter of this odyssey. One of the Indian students who “interviewed” me asked what most moved me about the trip. Aside from the thrill of being of Antarctica, I was moved by Sir Robert Swan’s dedication over the past 30 years to the preservation of Antarctica and to raising awareness about climate change. His strategy is brilliant. He brings young change makers from all over the world to Antarctica so that they will see for themselves what is so painfully evident. I was equally moved hearing about the dreams and aspirations of the young people who want to make a difference through their projects and start up companies to lower carbon emission in their countries.

This seal managed to lift his head up and look at us passing by. The other seals are passed out after eating.

Slumbering seals on an iceberg

Leopard seal on an iceberg, probably waiting for an unsuspecting penguin to swim by

Seals on shore after hunting for food in the water.

The glaciers meet the water and break off, sometime in small chunks, other times in enormous blocks.We are not allowed to approach any wildlife closer than 15 feet. However, if wildlife approach us, that is permissible. Most of the penguins we met showed no fear of us. On the contrary, they found us quite curious. Every time I observed penguin behavior, I couldn’t stop laughing. There is something about them that is disarmingly delightful.
“Now what are you going to do with that thing? Will I get any of the royalties?”
Penguins seem to be especially attracted to bright-colored objects.
The Snowy Sheathbill is a pigeon-sized scavenger bird with a pink face.

The Antarctic Skua likes to steal food from other birds. The ice makes an infinite amount of fascinating shapes. This massive chunk of ice that we sailed past belonged to the Larsen B Ice Shelf, a long ice formation—about the size of Rhode Island—extending along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula where we have been exploring. The enormous ice shelf broke off several years ago—more disturbing evidence of the effects of climate change. Glaciologists say that it had been stable for 10,000 years.Sir Robert Swan and I. As we were being photographed, someone said out loud, “They would make a great couple.”

In the evenings, Sir Robert set aside time for each of the participants in the Leadership program to tell about themselves and to talk about what they are doing or intend to do on behalf of worldwide carbon reduction. Many of the participants, especially the young men from India, had already created start up companies with very creative ideas for making their country less polluted and less reliant on coal and gas.

For my part, I talked about my co-housing community and how we try to live more sustainably by switching to solar, recycling, and trying to decrease our water use and overall consumption. And for the past thirty years I have talked to my patients about eating organically-grown foods that are free of petroleum-based fertilizers and herbicides, avoiding processed foods loaded with petroleum-based chemicals, and buying locally-grown food as much as possible to avoid the high use of carbon in the transportation. What is good for the planet is good for us. What harms the planet, harms us.

Sir Robert asked me to give an “inspirational talk” to the group one evening about overcoming fear and about leadership. The first night I spoke extemporaneously about my epiphany that my destiny lay in medicine and how I got into medical school against all odds—no money, wrong gender and age for that era, and wrong background.

Sir Robert also asked me to talk about being the first American woman to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere at 23,000 ft, and to emphasize the amount of persistence and determination it took to get to the top, overcoming many daunting obstacles. He wanted my stories to inspire the young people to be all that they could be.

I threw in another story about overcoming fear when I was in India doing an elective in surgery as a 4th year medical student and was asked by the surgeon to do an abdominal surgery for a man with acute appendicitis because the surgeon had to go to Delhi to get funding for his hospital. I had never done surgery in my life and was not even a doctor yet–just a mere medical student. Somehow the patient survived—and so did I. It was the most terrifying moment I had ever faced in my life—more terrifying than when I was sniffed by a mountain lion in my sleeping bag. If the patient had not survived after my inept surgery, how could I live with that burden?

Another evening Sir Robert wanted me to talk about leadership and how I organized and led an all-women’s expedition to the top of Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley) in Alaska after my first year of medical school.

All my storytelling paid off, according to Sir Robert. He said that the young people were very inspired and felt empowered to go forward with their dreams and projects. In fact, several people asked if they could “interview” me. I became the ship “elder” and got many requests for advice. Most of the advice I gave was basically “trust your intuition, follow your passion, and be brave.”

This penguin, heading up the iceberg, appears to be on a very important mission.The penguins call out so that they can find each other in the crowds of penguins. Can you see the baby penguin climbing up the rocks to join its mom?
Above is a photo of Chris, a remarkable seventeen-year-old young man whom I befriended on this trip. He is extremely intelligent, a junior at a private school for children of very wealthy families, and a tortured soul who wants to make a difference in the world. Chris shared with me how he had been severely bullied and tortured, both psychologically and physically, beaten up for being bisexual and “different.” Up until now, he had told no one about his nightmare—not even his parents—for fear of the repercussions. His main tormentor came from one of the wealthiest, most powerful families in the area. He was afraid that if he told the truth to the school officials, the bully’s family would ruin his family. Instead, he contemplated suicide, especially after his best friend—also bullied at the school—committed suicide.

One year ago, on the day that Chris planned to kill himself, he found one of the TED talks given by Robert Swan. Listening to the inspiring message, Chris decided that, instead of suicide, he would devote his life to helping people who were suffering and he would spend as much time in nature as possible. He began starting projects, one of which was taking people paralyzed by spinal injuries on sailing trips that he organized himself. And then he applied to join the Leadership trip to Antarctica. He said that Sir Robert’s TED talk saved his life.

When Chris told me this inspiring story, I begged him to share the story with Sir Robert. Chris got up his courage and told Sir Robert what he had told to me. Sir Robert encouraged him to present his story to the entire group because it was a story of hope and transformation of suffering into something of huge benefit to others.

Since it was too humiliating for Chris to talk about the bullying, he simply told the group that he suffered from suicidal depression. He talked about the projects he envisioned for taking people with serious problems into the wilderness where they could find peace and a bigger perspective, the way he had. The audience cheered at the end of his talk and, at the end of the trip during awards presentations, Sir Robert ceremoniously handed his own jacket to Chris in acknowledgement of his courage to tell the truth and to move forward in his plans to help others.

Chris and I have discussed switching to a school that would honor who he is and also that would encourage time in the wilderness. He has started thinking about spending his senior year at the Rocky Mountain School in Colorado.

Chris gave me permission to tell his story. 

The lone explorer

This humpback whale came within a few feet of our zodiac boat.

The head of a humpback whale emerging from the sea. The weather was so uncharacteristically warm that the chefs offered to make us a meal that would be served on deck. What a delightful experience—as long as I didn’t focus on the ominous nature of the temperature.

Something happened to me in the timeless setting of Antarctica—without internet, immersed in periods of deep silence, times of solitude, and the cleanest air I have ever breathed. I felt such peace and calm. I began to get a glimpse of what it must have been like for pre-Columbian tribes who were at one with the world around them and could communicate with nature in ways that are foreign to us.

I found myself having intuitions about all sorts of things. As an example, I said to a young woman from the Ukraine, “You look so beautiful. Are you pregnant?” She looked stunned and said, “How did you know? I am only eleven weeks pregnant and have a flat belly.” I answered truthfully that I had no idea how I knew.

Another example was my interaction with one of the leaders in the group, a very dynamic and intelligent young woman from India. I sat down next to her in the conference room and said, “You know, you are an amazing person. I am impressed at the way you have kept us organized. But, I have a feeling that you are holding yourself back and could be even more amazing than you already are. Self doubt and fear keep you from realizing your full potential.” She was understandably shocked and said that during her morning shower she struggled with her self doubts. She asked me how I knew what she was struggling with and was I a mind reader. I said that I was not a mind reader and that I had no idea why the thought came to me.
Some of us sat on a ridge and watched the penguins sliding down the slopes and climbing back up. Thunderous sounds punctuated the silence as avalanches occurred on the nearby mountain. We could hear the large chunks of ice crashing into the water as the ice melted on this “hot” day—around 45 degrees.

Penguins can hike up rocky slopes with the nails on the ends of their feet.

Nesting penguin. It looks like penguins have learned to live with their own waste products.What a wondrous place. I am so thankful to my beloved benefactors who made this trip of a lifetime possible for me. Thank you Michael and Suzanne and family. And thank you, Robert Swan, for getting lost in Santa Fe and knocking on my door and telling me about your inspiring trip. I have been deeply impacted by this experience.