Day 61 – At Sea

Last night during dinner, the captain announced that we had two medical emergencies onboard and that we had no choice but to return to Lima. We arrived at approximately 2.30 am and left at 6.30 am. This morning the captain confirmed the sad loss of chef Richard and advised us that the ship was returning to the region he went overboard to conduct one final sweep of the area.

During art class this morning, our teacher Valerie asked that we briefly pause to respect Richard’s death which we was a poignant moment. 😔 We did however very much enjoy our new art project today (a penguin).

After art class we went to a fantastic talk by our latest star speaker, Ray Mears! He talked about how much we can learn from the simple lives of ancient indigenous peoples, particularly aboriginal tribes, and how their wisdom has aided his career as a leading survival expert, as well as how much damage we are doing to our planet. Did you know thst the Greenland ice cap is melting at a rate of 30 million metric tons per HOUR? Once it melts completely (and there is now no way of stopping it), the earth’s sea levels will rise by 7 metres. These stark facts are always brutal to hear, but they are imperative if we are to save our planet. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have committed in any meaningful way to achieving this. 😔

Unfortunately, due to the two critical incidents over the last two days, the captain has confirmed that we will have to miss our next scheduled port, Fuerte Amador, in Panama.