Shackleton's Adventures

On the job search

2009-03-11T21:20:00.002-06:00

Now that I have returned from another international adventure I am searching for a full-time job. I had a very positive experience being Executive Director of the Utah Lacrosse Association, a non-profit organization, for 3 years before I left to Africa. That opportunity helped me greatly with my overall professional development and ever-expanding skill set.

Recently I have been working with a brilliant Career Coach, Mary Cosgrove of What's Working Well http://www.whatsworkingwell.com/. She has done a wonderful job helping me determine that I want to utilize my organizing and implementing skills in the field of event/logistical management.

My professional network profile is available through Linked In at http://www.linkedin.com/in/paullarkin. If you have any suggestions for job leads or organizations I should look into please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your consideration. I may be contacted at plarkin9@hotmail.com.

Africa Final Photos are Online

2009-03-09T09:57:00.005-06:00

As you can read about in my previous posting I am back in Utah, US of A. I had a wonderful 3 1/2 months in Africa visiting my good friend Chase and connecting with new friends. I met the challenges of learning to scuba dive, figuring out how to spend 12 hour days on physically uncomfortable buses, reading a book all day long in the intense heat and humidity, traveling by myself for three weeks over thousands of miles, and climbing the tallest mountain in Africa Mt. Kilimanjaro at 19,330 feet to name a few. Success!!!

A special thank you to all that left comments on my blog and emailed me directly while I was traveling. It was always nice to hear from someone back home and feel the energy in their writing!

I have created a website for my photos and have placed the direct link below. I put together a Best of Photos album with 557 pictures pulled from the other albums. I did my best to limit that number down as small as possible. I was working with more than 3,500 photos for the whole three months I was there. Around 1,000 photos per month, 30 photos per day average.

http://www.laxin.net/paul/photos/2009/09Africa/

I have now spent over 9 months of my life abroad. I have been fortunate enough to have visited 23 countries and 6 of the 7 continents, all that's left is Antarctica. All of this before the age of 30, which I will turn in June of this year. How is this possible some of you may ask? Because I made it happen and international traveling has been a priority of mine.

If you haven't traveled internationally I encourage you to do it! There will always be plenty of excuses not to go (I have a great job, my kids are too young, the economy is horrible, timing just isn't right, I just lost thousands of dollars in my investments recently, I struggle with a road trip in the states how would I handle traveling abroad, what about my mortgage, etc.) but you can figure out a work around for every excuse if you have the desire to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

I am very willing to share travel tips and ideas with you or anyone that has the desire. What you will gain from traveling: adventure, new experiences, an appreciation for other cultures, an appreciation for home, confidence from overcoming uncomfortable situations in languages you don't understand or speak, meeting new friends around the world, and bragging rights about your international adventures. You may contact me at plarkin9@hotmail.com. -Paul

Back Home in Utah!!!

2009-02-23T10:33:00.002-07:00

I came back a few weeks early and surprised my family and good friends! Well I at least surprised my folks and one friend, understandably no one else could quite remember when I was coming back. I am home early because I was ready for the comforts of America: actual breakfast bacon, family, my own transportation, good friends, having products that are well manufactured at my fingertips or at the click of a button online, cold weather in Utah, and the Utah Jazz. I checked everything off my Africa list: scuba diving, game reserve, beaches, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and traveling solo, so I changed my flight and came back early.

For those of you that are interested I am currently going through the 3500 photos I took, an average of over 30 photos per day while I traveled. I have got them down to about half the original amount but want to really get them fine tuned for your viewing pleasure before I post them. I will let you know when this happens and will send you a link to them as they will be on another website.

So what happens now for me? I continue to integrate back into the American society through eating huge meal portions, driving to the store that is less than 3 blocks away, and begging for a job in this wonderful economy. (Any job leads please let me know, plarkin9@hotmail.com)

Just hanging out

2009-01-28T23:18:00.002-07:00

I finally made it and have met up with Chase and Jamie here in Mozambique. It has been a ton of fun to be with my good friends. We will be at Chase's site for the next few weeks where I will not have internet access.

It is super hot here, to be contrasted to the freezing temperatures back home in Utah with snow on the ground. Hopefully we'll get to the beach for some nice relaxing!

Back in Mozambique

2009-01-26T02:27:00.003-07:00

I am back in Mozambique and will be going to Chase's site today. It was a long journey, 5 straight days of 10 hours of traveling per day, to get from Dodoma, Tanzania to Massinga, Mozambique. I stayed with Patrick in Massinga for the past few days, it was great to be with one of my good friends out here again!

Now I am trying to figure out my traveling visa which expires soon. I may have to cross the border again unfortunately. No one will give me a straight answer about getting a new visa, it gets annoying but that is life out here. So I will be at Chase's site for tonight and may cruise down south to cross the border into Swaziland and renew my visa sometime over the next few days.

All is well and I am very happy to be back in Mozambique and see my good friend Jamie, who doubles as Chase's girlfriend, here in the next few days!!!

Traveling South

2009-01-21T09:54:00.002-07:00

I haven't updated in a while. I am traveling south, back to Mozambique. I am in Blantyre, Malawi and will cross over to Mozambique over the next few days. Then it's at least two more days on buses down to see my American friends.

It has been an interesting time traveling solo, many stories to tell. But I will save those for a later time.

Some Tanzania Photos

2009-01-08T22:39:00.008-07:00

Below are some photos I took during the last week. I am staying in Lushoto again for a few days and then will probably make my way down to southern Tanzania.

A typical small town street in Tanzania.

It is so green here.

Sky high!

African boys love to play fight, and be photographed!

Me and some cabbage.

Another African sunset.

Small Mountain Villages in Tanzania

2009-01-04T23:02:00.006-07:00

New Years Eve was spent in Lushoto with Yuko, Mr. Lim, some new Swedes (I can't get away from them), and a local Tanzanian. There was nothing going on so we were just at a bar, nothing too exciting. We heard that the whole town, including the Muslims, would be at the Christian Church at midnight but we never saw anyone at the church the whole night. Maybe because in Tanzania the day starts at 6am, when the sun rises, so they are 6 hours behind international time. For example, 3pm is 9am in Tanzania time.

I got to go on a few hikes around Lushoto, there are some great views out here.

Then on New Years Day Yuko, a friend from Japan I met that is volunteering in Tanzania, and I were walking around town and she went into an appliance shop. I followed her and we met a volunteer for the US Peace Corps here in Tanzania, Leigh. I had wanted to meet a Peace Corps volunteer to be linked into their network and see if anyone is interesting is a visitor. Leigh was willing to host Yuko and I for the last three nights in her house in Mbelei, it was great!

So now I take a bus to another Peace Corps volunteer named Theresa. She lives in a small village about 3 hours north of Lushoto called Sunga. I think I'll stay in Tanzania until the first of February and then head back to Mozambique for the last month of my trip.

One of the amazing views from the road I walked down to get to some fresh cheese.

A chameleon, a photo for my Mother who volunteers at the local zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I finally made it to the cheese, black pepper cheese that is.

The sunrise through some trees on another hike.

Stairs from the road down to some houses.

Irente View Point.

Following the local boys up to the higher view point.

Just like the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

So you can see the local houses made out of mud and sticks.

Another local house.

The Tanzanian dollar menu, not too shabby.

New Years Eve with Yuko and a girl from Sweden.

Cooking chapati, similar to tortillas, over the charcoal with US Peace Corps volunteer Leigh. She cooks every meal with charcoal like the locals.

Yuko and Leigh with some of the local school girls.

The view from their school.

Yuko taught the girls some self defence moves.

They caught on quickly.

Here in Tanzania the girls have weapons for self defense!

The ultimate test, balancing a heavy uneven load on top of your head. I uploaded the wrong photo, I have one with no hands I swear.

Leigh and I making some of the local corn flour meal Ugali to go with our vegtables for dinner.

Mt. Kilimajaro Tips

2008-12-31T02:13:00.003-07:00

I am writing this in response to a request from a friend, Hillary, who will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with her father Mitch and friends in January 2009. I thought some of you may find it interesting.

Our guide service was Kessy Brothers, we did the Machame Route. There website may be linked below. With the 6 of us we were able to pay only $816 to get up the mountain. This did not include tips.
http://www.kessybrotherstours.com/kilimanjaro_routes.htm

The Kessy Brothers was a middle of the road guide service, no frills, but enough to get you up the mountain. The best guide service I heard about and saw on the mountain was Tusker, http://www.tusker.com/. I'm sure they cost more but your trip is sure to be more comfortable.

Things to consider:
-The 6 day 5 night Machame Route was great, very scenic, I highly recommend it. If you have time and money you should strongly consider adding one more acclimatization day, it will only help. When you go up the Machame Route you go down the Mweka Route, a route only for descending.
-Kilimanjaro Porter's Association Tipping Recommendations (http://www.kiliporters.org/tipping_recommendations.php). We tipped lower than recommended and it was awkward because we gave the tip the morning of the last day on the mountain. We tipped lower because we didn't have the money to tip more, our service was fine, US Peace Corps volunteers don't make much money. The main guide argued with us for a long time and it made the hike down unpleasant. I recommend giving the tip at the office to the guides so that if they want to argue the company representative is present. Or just give big tips and then you shouldn't have any worries.

Main Items to Bring:
-Tent (if you go with a reputable company they may have tents you can use, we had our own tents and the porter set the up for us in a rough manner, broken tent stakes, if the company has tents it could be worth using theirs)
-Sleeping Bag (bring a 10 degrees Fahrenheit bag, it gets really cold up there)
-Sleeping Pad (you don't want to be directly on the frozen ground)
-Hiking Boots (waterproof or all leather are recommended, I climbed the mountain in flip-flops and trainers)
-Sandals (light weight, to wear around camp and let your feet air out)
-Gaiters (to keep out rocks and dirt on the climb down)
-Socks (you will want to wear 2 pair on the summit day)
-Thermal Pants
-Fleece Pants
-Convertible Pants (or shorts and pants)
-Rain Pants (these are necessary for the rain and the wind)
-Short Sleeved Shirt
-Thermal Shirt
-Fleece Top (a full zippered with pit zips for ventilation would be nice)
-Down Jacket (or something really warm)
-Rain Coat (with hood)
-Scarf (this was a clutch item for me blocking the wind from my face on summit day)
-Balaclava (I did not have one but it would have been nice to use on summit day)
-Warm Hat
-Sun Hat
-Gloves (light weight)
-Warm Mittens (for summit and cold days)
-Sun Glasses (with Chums)
-Sun Screen
-Chap stick (for your mouth, I also used on my nose as it will get chapped from wiping)
-Trekking Poles (they are great for the way down, save your knees, I used the whole time up and down)
-Day Pack (you will hike with it, pack up 3 liters of water, extra clothes, rain gear, etc.)
-Pack Rain Cover (for your day pack)
-3 liters worth of water containers (I used one water bottle and a bladder, to help your bladder hose from freezing after you drink blow air into the hose)
-Water Treatment Drops (I used Aerobic O7, you may order it at http://store.agoodvitamin.com/aerobico71floz.html, 2 drops per liter for water treatment, got the idea from the wilderness therapeutic camp I worked at)
-Large back pack for porters to carry (will have your tent, sleeping bag, and other belongings in it, you may want to bring a large plastic sack to put your items in to keep them dry as you will not be hiking near your large pack)
-Head Lamp (with new batteries, bring at least one set of extra new batteries for summit day, you start hiking at midnight)
-Travel Pillow (guide services may have or you can just use extra clothes)
-Bandanna (use as a sweat/snot rag, you nose will be running a lot and cloth is nice on it)
-Snacks/Treats (we had plenty of food from our guide at camp, but snacks like peanuts or dried fruit during the day you keep in your day pack are nice)
-Journal and Pen
-Reading Book (optional)
-Cards (optional)
-Camera (fully charge the battery and make sure you have enough memory)

These are a few of the things I was thinking about for Mt. Kilimanjaro. For me it was a lot more physically challenging than I thought it would be, especially summit day. Good luck Hillary and Mitch!!

2008-12-29T05:08:00.011-07:00

We spent Christmas in Moshi, Tanzania. I went with the Swedes to the center for street children they volunteer at. It was fun spending time with them, both the kids and the Swedes. That night we made Christmas dinner at the Swedes apartment, good old American pancakes. Then we caught a bus to Dar Es Salaam on Dec. 26 and spent the night with a local, thanks to Kristina, named Esther who was nice enough to pick us up from our hotel, take us to her house for drinks, and take us to a buffet. Who could ask for anything better.

The next day I made a decision to travel by myself and stayed in Dar Es Salaam while the others got on a bus around 5:30am to head south. They all need to be back in Mozambique relatively soon and I have a few months left before I head back so I decided, since the visa entry for Tanzania was $100 for 90 days, I would stay. I miss the group but am excited for the solo time ahead of me. So I got to spend a day with Esther's nieces in Dar Es Salaam. The next day I went to the beach with a friend I met at the YWCA hostel. And on Dec. 29 I caught a bus to Lushoto, Tanzania. It is a town located up high in the mountains, the perfect place to spend New Years!

Me absolutely dominating Pastory at arm wrestling, yes!!

Pastory and Maggie.

My favorite, even though you shouldn't have them, street kid, Pastory and I.

I taught the kids how to make snowflakes.

Maggie with the street kids in front of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

The wonderful lunch that was donated to the shelter.

The Swedes (three girls from Sweden) that let us share Christmas dinner with them as long as we cooked them American pancakes, we accepted.

Ali, Chase and Hans throwing down some Christmas pancakes.

Freshly trimmed Paul on Christmas day, thanks Maggie.

Hans, a very strong mountain climber, showing his honor to the Disney movie Lion King by being Rafiki's stunt double. They speak some of the native tongue in the movie that is used in here in Tanzania, Swahili.

I was fortunate enough, thanks Kristina, to have some local hook ups in Dar Es Salaam. They took me to the beach front where we relaxed.

An ocean shot in Dar Es Salaam.

Oh how they love Obama here! If you can believe it, he is even more popular than Derron Williams of the Utah Jazz.

Resting up on Coca Beach in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

My feet deserved some beach time after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I was one of four white skin colored people I saw on this beach, it was great!

This is the town I am staying in, Lushoto, Tanzania, for New Years and maybe more. I plan to do some hiking while I'm here.

Summit!

2008-12-22T07:30:00.012-07:00

The highest point on Mt. Kilimanjaro is Uhuru Peak on the volcano Kibo. It stands at 5,895 meters (19,341 ft).
Learn more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilimanjaro.

We reached the summit via the Machame route at 6:20am on December 21, 2008

We are back from climbing to the highest point on the African continent, Mt. Kilimanjaro! It was a great time and 5 of the 6 of us made it to the summit, one person got altitude sickness about 2 hours from the summit and had to go back to camp. It was a very challenging climb, greater than I expected. On summit day, four people in our team threw up including our head guide, one person was very delirious and couldn't walk in a straight line for the last hour of the climb, and as mentioned previously one person had to turn back.

I wish this computer had the capabilities to crop photos, oh well, the photos below will give you an idea of what our 6 days on Mt. Kilimanjaro were like. Chase is updating his blog about the climb, visit his blog by linking to it on the top right of the page under Chase in Africa.

Camp 1.

Day 2, just hiking up and up. Our climbing team including our head guide. Standing from left to right: Chase, Hans, Jimmy, and Rasta (our guide). Sitting from left to right: Patrick, Ali, and me.

One of our delicious dinners in the mess tent, Jimmy is being served by the Assistant Cook. Our Head Cook Richard was wonderful and we always had plenty of food.

Climbing through the steep green portion of the mountain.

What appears to be a leopard print on the trail. Too bad we didn't get to see the cat.

Some trees and clouds.

Another camp's tent and a beautiful ridge line.

A tent from another climbing team and a mountain in the distance, not Kili.

The sunset from camp 2 looking out to another mountain, not Kili.

Mine and Chase's feet in our sandals at 4600 meters, 14,950 feet. We hiked in them all the way up to this point. After that is was too cold to go further without shoes.

Chase and I, loving life on the mountain!

Chase and I lounging around, the clouds rolling in.

Camp 3.

Mt. Kilimanjaro from camp 3.

The climbing team in the clouds at camp 3.

Sunrise on camp 3.

These trees are so bizarre, we loved them.

An amazing view.

A portion of the steepest part of the hike, nothing too technical.

Some trail action. Notice how much the porters carry, they hold rice bags full of gear on their heads. They are amazing.

Ali and Jimmy cruising up the trail.

Me with the trail we hiked in the background on the right, the same trail from the photo just above.

Hiking on day 4.

Camp 4, a view of my tent and Mt. Mawenzi in the background.

The sunrise while reaching the summit.

I finally reached the summit!

It took us 6 hours to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro where we watched the sunrise. From left to right: Chase, Ali, Hans, Me, Rasta (our Head Guide), and Patrick.

A view of the crater on Mt. Kili, looking west.

Our porters, cooks, guides, and climbing team on Day 6. An entourage just shy of 30 people.

An view from the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro of the glacier to the south.

Cloudy Mt. Kili.

Me and the mountain during our descent.

Kids getting firewood and grass to feed there cattle from the mountain.

Me with two of our Assistant Guides, Anew and Happy God, at the gate leaving the Mt. Kilimanjaro national park.

My certificate saying I reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro at 6:20am on December 21, 2008.

Mt. Kilimanjaro climb starts tomorrow!

2008-12-16T06:49:00.006-07:00

We are climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro tomorrow, Wednesday December 17. We will climb the Machame route for 5 nights and 6 days. We will summit the evening of the 4th day, around midnight.

Our guide service is Kessy Brothers. There website may be linked below.
http://www.kessybrotherstours.com/kilimanjaro_routes.htm

So I should be back in the town of Moshi the afternoon of Monday December 22.

I hope we all make it to the summit!

Happy Holidays!!!

2008-12-15T09:36:00.002-07:00

A few photos to brighten you day.

Those of you who truly know me know I love Strawberry Quik.

Chase's maid, Olga, rocking some US Ski Team pins as earings and one on her shirt.

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the top of our hotel room, the one on the left.

I hope the mountain allows me to get to the top, we start our trek on Wednesday. 6 days on the mountain.

Just some more beach fun, Merry Christmas!

The Kilimanjaro Adventure Begins!

2008-12-12T05:28:00.003-07:00

Our travels up north to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (Kili) have begun. We left on Dec. 6 and are currently at a southern Tanzania in a town called Mbeya. It has been quite the journey. A few highlights are listed below. I hope everyone is getting amped for the holiday season!

-We had 34 people, 38 if you include babies on the backs of their mothers, crammed in an open backed chappa, a small truck where three people sit in the front cab and the back of the truck has a canvas cover with two benches down the side. In the back about 6 people sit on each bench and the rest of the people stand. This was a record for a chappa ride I've been able to partake in. Another great part was when the gas tank dropped and was dragged on the ground for a few hundred feet. No worries, we just stopped and they tied it back up and we drove on.
-We went over a road for with so many potholes that we spent most of the time on the side of the road in the dirt so we didn't have to weave around the potholes on the asphalt.
-We stayed at a Portuguese gentleman's extra house in Chimoio, Mozambique that had 4 bedrooms, air conditioning, a swimming pool, and more cockroaches and ants then I've ever seen in a kitchen. All out of the goodness of his heart, no charge, he likes US Peace Corps volunteers.
-We camped in Blantyre, Malawi for $1.50 per person at a backpackers.
-We rode in the back of a flat bed truck for 6 hours with chickens, rice bags, 20 people, and no seats in the heat of the sun. At one time I was straddling one woman and her baby, my ankle was being torqued by a gentleman on my right, and the guys on blocked any comfortable position for my left leg. At one stop a climbing team member was playing soccer with no shoes on. Turned out he popped two huge blisters on the bottom of his feet in the process. It was a memorable ride.
-We rode on the one bus for 16.5 hours overnight, a new personal record. On this trip we also had our most serious racial prejudice treatment of the trip. There were people in the bus aisles the whole time blocking any sort of stretching out that may have been possible. Good times.
-One of our climbing team members had around $35 stolen from him at the border in between Malawi and Tanzania. Lesson learned, stay away from sketchy money changers in between borders.
-We are in our third country and crossed both borders in 48 hours. Malawi only took 20 hours to cross by bus.
-Christmas is not in the air, but plenty of pollution and body odor makes up for the sweet scent of Christmas.

So we will try to travel north to Moshi, Tanzania by December 15 where we will secure a Mt. Kilimanjaro guide. We hope to be climbing the mountain over Christmas, should be fun.

Scuba Diving and Team Mohundro

2008-11-30T07:31:00.005-07:00

The scuba weekend has come and gone. We had 4 ocean dives and spent a bunch of time, around 8 hours, in the pool. It was great, scary for me at first, but we all enjoyed it thoroughly. both Patrick (Pat-dizzle) and Chase (in Africa) have posted blog updates at the end of November with some photos from our scuba time if you are interested. Links to their blogs are on the right side of my blog under "Friends Blogs".

Highlights were: seeing a white tipped shark, being a part of the Team Mohundro (like the Team Zissou from the movie Life Aquatic, see Chase and Patrick's website for some photos), completing our PADI Open Water Scuba Certification, splurging on a celebratory breakfast buffet (we lived off of $5 per person total for 5 days cooking our own meals), watching a 12 foot wide manta ray glide by us, and the beautiful white sandy beaches with aqua colored water just a few steps from our bunk house. Our scuba instructor said we were the luckiest students he's had, as far as seeing aquatic life is concerned, lucky indeed.

Got game?

2008-11-29T09:09:00.019-07:00

I have been having a great time, just living the dream on my African Odyssey. The main two events that come to mind since my last posting are going to a Game Reserve in Swaziland and getting my PADI Open Water Scuba Certification. Below are some photos from the game reserve trip, photos from scuba diving will have to come later. If you want to see some even better photos from the game reserve trip visit Pat-dizzle's blog, the November 26 posting.

It was great to drive in Mozambique by the way, a unique challenge with a standard shift automobile in a location that doesn't drive by any rules on the wrong side of the road. A challenge I like to feel that I almost mastered.

A small sample of the goods for sale.

Wood, rasta, and a chissle, not a bad combination.

The skulls are from rhinos that poachers killed, opens your eyes a little. The horn is crushed up into a powder and sold in the orient to cure impotence.

Our accommodations were pretty sweet, great food, no electricity, and an open air cabin.

This photo is for my mother, a zoo docent. It is a rock monitor and was very impressive.

This last photo was some guys that were selling something on the side of the road. They looked like the rats on The Princess Bride. We didn't have the cash to purchase or the stomach to eat them though.

We leave on December 6 to start our land journey up north to attempt our climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, near the Tanzania Kenya border. If you look at a world map we will be going a distance about the same as going from the state of Texas north and crossing the US of A border in Montana. Now imagine that trip in Mozambican vehicles, you will see on Patrick's (Pat-dizzle) most recent blog posting that our latest bus drive we averaged just under 17 miles per hour. It should make for some trying times in the transportation let alone climbing the mountain.

We should be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point on the African continent at 19,340 feet, around the end of December. I hope my body can handle the altitude, we'll see. So I probably won't be posting again until my return from that trip, so look for something again in January. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Some beach and some fun

2008-11-15T04:52:00.005-07:00

Senhor Chase has a great posting on his blog, linked on the right under “Chase in Africa”, regarding a splendid night in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, where we lived it up at a US Embassy and a fellow American’s Election night party. At 5:30am we learned with certainty, after watching CNN for hours on end, that Obama was victorious. The next day people on the streets, when they saw two white people, cheered for Obama.

As some of you are aware, I have a squeeze top Nalgene water bottle. I take it every where I go and drink from it often. It has been dubbed as “Team Water.” So I got a shot of Team Water, my Delicate Arch Utah socks, and an African boy. Brining who I am to mix it in with where I am.

I have taken so many photos, that may be difficult for those of you to know me to imagine, and am having difficulty transitioning to having a blog vs. a photo site. But I’ll do my best with the transition and when I get home, three and a half months from now, I’ll post the photos archive some of you are waiting for.

If you go out to eat below is a typical meal of chicken, we shared this full chicken with three of us, and some fries.

Chase’s school, his house is just to the right of the building.

A crazy colored grasshopper of sorts.

Some anorexic, not by choice mind you, cows that they use for meat and as learning tools for the students at the agricultural school Chase teaches at.

Tofo beach, we hung out there for a few days with the new group of US Peace Corps volunteers.

Please take note of the serious air that was reached, the beach was spring loaded for sure.

We walked out to the Flamingo Bay lodge, which as you can see sits above the water on stilts. Unfortunately we are not staying there this round. But in the off-season, so right now, it’s only $200 per person for 4 nights, including breakfast and dinner. That’s only $50 per person, per night including two meals, not too shabby.

Patrick won the palm tree climbing competition, much respect.

In the two weeks I’ve been here in Africa I’ve been able to visit seven different towns, two different beaches, and cross two borders (one illegally). Good times thus far!

Moamba

2008-11-03T23:09:00.007-07:00

I met Chase and Ali on the side of a long highway at the Moamba junction, it was a grand day. I turned South African and greeting chase in some local attire that is called a denitard. I brought Chase his own denitard and he jumped for joy!

The bus ride was pretty sweet, the A/C made it freezing for the first hour. Then for the last 7 hours the A/C broke down and since I was on the lower portion of the double decker bus I got no moving air. It's not just the heat, but the combination of heat, humidity, and the wonderful scents of Mozambique that truly perked my all senses on the trip.

After arriving at Ali's sweet pad we go to participate in the Mozambican Olympics. The events were the swing launch, shotput, bowling, left handed distance toss, and the skeet toss. We all were masters at our individual events.

I then had the opportunity to visit the orphanage Ali works at and spend an afternoon with the children there. Even in their challenging situation, the kids still had smiles on their faces! Ali got everyone to jump at the same time amazingly, arm wrestled the kids to show them who is boss, and then made them climb a tree to make for some good photos. It was fun to interact with the kids and I gave them rubber wrist bands that I brought from home to leave them with something upon my departure. I hope to return sometime on my travels to visit them again.

A more comprehensive photo posting is located at the "Gross de Ali" link on the right side of the page under Friends Blogs if you are interested.

I have arrived!

2008-10-30T15:54:00.002-06:00

After 25 hours of traveling I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa! I will stay for two nights then on November 1 I will take a bus to Mozambique to meet up with Chase and another US Peace Corps volunteer Ali.

Let the adventures begin!!!

Google Earth

2008-10-27T15:09:00.005-06:00

Oh technology today, isn't it grand? Below you will see where Chase's house is located in Mozambique, it is fairly remote. The school he teaches at is the white building just to the left of his house. I can't wait to see it in real life, play in the dirt streets, and sleep with rats crawling around at nights. I don't know what will happen when they turn off the water pump at his place. I guess I should probably practice balancing a heavy, sloshing bucket on my head just in case.

Put in the following coordinates in the search box on Google Earth to see where the house is located:
-23°52'54.87", 35°13'46.49"

To download Google Earth for free visit: earth.google.com

3 weeks out

2008-10-08T21:46:00.003-06:00

I am three weeks out from "The Great African Odyssey." I will be on the African continent for four months, end of October, 2008 to first of March, 2009. I don't like to have much of an itinerary when I travel internationally so I can enjoy living in the moment and not focus on the next site or leg of the trip. But a few items I am considering are to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, get scuba certified, pick up a little of the Portuguese language, and strum a few cords on the guitar. I will be spending most of my time with my good friend Chase, a very generous fellow, that is serving as a volunteer with the US Peace Corps in Mozambique teaching in a school at a local village.

I will use this blog to post some thoughts and photos from the journey. This odyssey will be a time for self reflection that is necessary for me. Several personal growth opportunities through mental and physical challenges are in order.

Pre-Africa Cabin Party

2008-10-08T21:35:00.004-06:00

I am having an Pre-Africa Uncle Paul's Cabin party the evening of Saturday October 25, 2008. The cabin is located in Liberty, Utah which is in Ogden Valley by Pine View Reservoir. If you are interested in attending shoot me an email.

the moustache

2008-10-05T23:21:00.009-06:00

Oh the joys of having a moustache. It was short lived, only around 3 weeks, but it gave me powers I never new I could posses. I highly recommend it. I will spend most of "The Great African Odyssey" in the portions of the map in the background, the east coast of Africa.