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Sai - Sai Koppala

Sai Koppala I must have been a wandering nomad in my previous life ! ;) I've been lucky to get an opportunity to either live in or travel to variety of places. Below are many of the adventures with partner-in-crime Alison. Btw, I used a body-double for the picture!


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Joined on: July 19th 2005
Last Login: April 21st 2009

Blog Entries: 24
Photos: 59
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Sai, order by Date newest first.

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We landed in Quito, the capital of Ecuador and could immediately feel the altitude difference (9200 ft). Unlike in Peru & Kenya, this time we were well prepared with Diamox. Quito is nestled in the Andean mountains sorrounded by volcanoes. Central Quito or Old Town is a beautiful spanish colonial town full of cathedrals, theatres and plazas. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas wandering the old town and visiting the colorful, ornate churches. La Compania de Jesus Church is considered the most beautiful church in the country and has seven tons of gold used to decorate the place. From Quito [View Full Entry]

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760 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 11 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 1st 2008 | 219 Views | [diary=232010]

Day on the Job in the Andes
Master of the Island
Elephants of Galapagos

When I booked our flights to fly to Honduras on TACA, I had my doubts about flying on that airline. We quickly saw the pattern seen in many third world countries, where the new infrastructure is leapfrogging "first world" countries, whether it is airplanes or cell phones. The TACA planes were brand new and the service was better than many U.S based airlines and cell phone reception in many remote parts of Honduras was better than my cell phone reception in the heart of Silicon Valley. After a long day of plane and bus ride, we landed in Copan Ruinas, [View Full Entry]

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830 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 23rd 2007 | 180 Views | [diary=170734]

Copan Ruins
Honduran National Bird
Finally, the hike is over !

We are writing this last blog with mixed feelings, as our African adventure is ending in two days but we are also looking forward to seeing our relatives and friends. Once we arrived in Capetown, we rented a car to go around the city. Capetown is probably the most picturesque city we have ever been to. Surrrounded by the Atlantic/Indian Oceans, the Table Mountain towering on one side, spectacular bays, penguins on beaches and unique flora specific to the Cape region. While in Capetown, we visited Robben Island , where Nelson Mandela and most of the political prisoners were jailed. The [View Full Entry]

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661 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 24th 2006 | 301 Views | [diary=53263]

Xhosa Huts on the Wild Coast
Cape Town - Hout Bay
Winelands - Stellenbosch

By Sai
March 31st 2006
Sand Dunes & Himba Tribes Africa » Namibia
In Windhoek, we stayed at Cardboard Box Backpackers. We met Eitan, an Israeli & Toshi and Yutaka, two Japanese Backpackers. Together we rented a Toyota Corolla for a week to travel around Namibia. We also rented Camping gear, as Namibia is very expensive to travel on a budget. We first made our way north from Windhoek and our first stop was Ojitotongwe Cheetah Park near Kamanjab. As soon as we arrived at the White Namibian Farm, we were greeted by three Cheetahs walking around the Farm. These were tame Cheetahs, but we were still nervous to get too close to them. [View Full Entry]

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706 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 2nd 2006 | 1066 Views | [diary=49942]

Himba Family
Dead Vlei
Sesreim Canyon

From Zambia, we crossed the Zambezi river on a Pontoon Ferry to get to Kasane, Botswana. Kasane is the gateway to Chobe National Park, which is home to 45,000 (yes, forty five thousand) Elephants. Due to heavy rainfall, there is water everywhere and hence, the animals are difficult to find. We did a morning game drive and an evening/sunset boat cruise on the Chobe River to see the wild animals. We have been spoilt by our experiences in Kenya/Tanzania and were dissappointed with the amount of wild life here. We found lot more Elephants on the highway rather than in the [View Full Entry]

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797 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 31st 2006 | 462 Views | [diary=48146]

Mokoro Ride in Okovango
Navigating the Pristine Delta
Future of San

After a long ardous 17 hour bus ride, we landed in Livingstone, Zambia's Tourism Capital. We stayed at Jollyboys Backpackers and signed up right away for a Booze Cruise on the Zambezi. The boat started sail at 3:30 pm and went along the mighty Zambezi river, upriver from the Vic Falls. We drank, ate and made new friends and watched Elephants and Hippos along with the beautiful sunset. We met an Indian family from Lusaka that had come to see the falls. There are plenty of Indians in Zambia, mainly in small businesses - similar to all the East African countries [View Full Entry]

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296 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 31st 2006 | 250 Views | [diary=48143]

Mighty Zambezi
Alison drenched at the Falls
Victoria Falls 2

By Sai
March 6th 2006
Malawi - Lakes & Plateau Africa » Malawi
After crossing the border from Tanzania, we spent a night in Mzuzu before heading to Nkhata Bay. Nkhata Bay is a small village on the Lake Malawi shores. We spent three relaxing days at Mayoka Lodge eating, reading and staring at the Lake. I read Chitra Divakaruni's Arranged Marraige stories. This chic definitely does not like men, as almost every story the woman is the victim/hero and man is the culprit ! But, she does write good stories. Mayoka Village owners have built picturesque chalets constructed out of stone, bamboo and wood overlooking the bay. Gary, one of the owners of [View Full Entry]

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666 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 13th 2006 | 350 Views | [diary=45975]

Nyika Plateau - Chosi Point
Nyika Plateau - Rolling Hills
Nyika Plateau - Elands with Alison

After a superb Ethiopian Meal at Addis in Dar in Dar es Salaam, we took the ferry the next day to Stone Town, Zanzibar. Stone Town has a interesting culture with a mix of Persian, Arabic, Indian and Bantu influences. To this day, one can see the influences in the exquisitely carved doors of most Zanzibari homes. Zanzibar was a city state until the 16th century with key trade links between Africa and Asia. After being a Portuguese colony briefly, it was ruled by the Omani Sultans until 1963. It then was joined with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. To this day, [View Full Entry]

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582 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 13th 2006 | 368 Views | [diary=45974]

Nungwi Beach
Infamous Tazara Train
Zanzibari Doors

We landed in Arusha, Tanzania on Feb 10th. Arusha is the fastest growing town in Tanzania and is the headquarters for East African Community and site of Rwandan Genocide Trials. It is the place to organize safaris to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We met a lovely American couple from Utah - Connie & Verlyn at the Kenya-Tanzania border with whom we ended up spending the rest of the week. Connie & Verlyn had worked over the last two years collecting donations for a village school on the foothills on Mt. Meru and were here to distribute the library books and study [View Full Entry]

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480 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 22nd 2006 | 153 Views | [diary=41541]

Masai in Ngorongoro
Garden of Eden
Right of way to Animals

We took a Matatu ride from Nakuru to reach the pick up point for the Masai Mara trip. The ride was horrendous as the 18 wheeler trucks were kicking up so much dust on the muddy road that everyone were using head lights to see through the dust in bright day light. When we landed at our destination, our bags and faces were covered with a layer of dust. On our trip to Masai Mara National Park, we joined four other tourists - two dutch, 1 Argentine and 1 Guatemalan guy. Over the next three days, we stayed in a Masai [View Full Entry]

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551 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 3 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 18th 2006 | 251 Views | [diary=41538]

Where is my prey?
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