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Special thanks to all our friends in Lyngseidet and Alta. We are sampling microplastic and e-DNA. Now we are heading for Svalbard and the polar bears. Stay tuned!

 

Salina’s report about her journey back to Lyngseidet:

Once again it was time to say goodbye in Switzerland after being in school for 3 weeks when schools reopened. I am very grateful for all the friends I have, they will always have a place in my heart. My grandparents came and picked me up. I was looking forward to see my family again.

We arrived at my grandparents’ house. Wenn I got there, there were so many boxes on my bed – it was crazy! Shortly after, I was told that all these boxes had to come with me. If you know my family, then you know that packing is always stressful. It took me the longest time to get them all into only one bag. When we finally got all the boxes in, I was really happy because I thought I was done. Then I realised that the bag was 12 kg overweight – bummer! I gave up and went to bed.

Me and my grandparents got to the airport and met Meret – a very close family friend and like a sister to me. She is joining the expedition for a month to collect microplastics samples. We had planned enough time to pack again so that we could divide our weight between all of our bags. In the end, all our bags were 1.2 kg overweight but luckily they let us through without any difficulties.

The Norwegian border patrol was quite strict with the whole COVID-19 situation. We had to show many letters telling saying we are allowed to enter the country. In the end, they let us through with a smile. There I learned my first Norwegian word: politi  =  police! Have to learn something new every day ?

We got to our end destination with two bags missing but other than that we had a fun trip. In the end, thankfully, we also got our bags back. But what would the TOPtoTOP team be without a little chaos?! The last leg of our trip was on a ferry and then finally I got to see all my siblings and my family. I was happy to see them again. Every time I see them again it’s crazy how much they have grown in the last few weeks.

I did have to get used to the temperature difference and the tight space but other than that I am quite happy on the boat as it is. So now we are quarantining for 10 days and hoping to get a good weather window to sail to Svalbard.