Aug 9- Chopper to Nester/Nester Day 1

Today is chopper day! But first!!! A delicious breakfast made by the phenomenal Jill. Because we mostly **wink wink ** packed for the helicopter the night before, this morning was final touches on cleaning up camp Nanuq, packing day packs and food, and driving everything to the chopper pad at Ramsey Lake. We met our pilot Daniel, who was very calm and swagalishious. He gave a brief, but thoughtful safety briefing on how to get in and buckle to the chopper. In total, there were 7 chopper trips out to Nester 1. The teachers made the groups of 4 for the different chopper runs, while obviously the groups towards the end had to wait a while for everyone else. Each round trip took about 45 minutes. While the chopper was running (or flying), the vans had to be dropped off back at Churchill. A few lucky students who were on the last chopper got the privilege of seeing even more polar bears while the rental cars were being dropped off.

Everyone got to Nester 1 safely, and nobody threw up on the helicopter (unlike the plane). Everyone arrived at Nester eager for a tour of the two building, and then afterwards gathered to set up the six tents. There was some great arguing about who would sleep in what tent, but everything was resolved when the three alpha leaders — Kara, Nathan, and Isabelle — heard the groups feedback and made amazing tent groups. After going for a quick swim and then eating tacos for dinner, the group went for a brief walk to check out a fox den and some caribou bones. After getting back to nester, everyone (especially Alex) got some much needed sleep in the amazing, wonderful, and spacious tents. 

Special thanks to Ryan Brook for organizing this complicated chopper day, and making sure we don’t walk towards the back of the helicopter. 

From Jonah and Kara