http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/dmax/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from dmax en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:23:56 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:23:56 +0000 Greetings from the Rocky MountainsApparently I just can't quit this blog but there are lots of friends and family I've been out of touch with the last few weeks so I find myself back here once again. As you may or may not know I've been traipsing around the Wyoming wilderness since early May enrolled in an instructor course with the National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS. The course was a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wyoming/Lander/blog-286988.html Hello Dear readers Don't get too excited I'm not actually coming back into the world of the blog. Instead I'm just wanting to touch base with a number of family and friends before departing on my next adventure Starting May 1 I'm going to be leading wilderness expeditions with the National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS. My first course is instructor training in the Wind River Wilderness ar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Boulder/blog-270922.html Home again home again jiggidy jig.Just like that.Hi everyone ... I'm back I'm writing from my dad's place in Indianapolis where I've been staying for the last month. My time in Uganda was cut short by a few weeks which allowed me to come home and spend time with family during the holiday season. Now that I've made the rounds with friends and family for a few weeks I'm finally sitting down to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Indiana/Indianapolis/blog-237495.html The AnniversaryThis blog posting finds me at a very interesting landmark roughly one year since I left the United States My last day in Seattle was the 18th of October 2006 which in some ways feels like a lifetime ago and in other ways feels like it was only yesterday. Since that time I've begun speaking a new language Kiswahili visited five countries held two volunteer positions in two http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Nord/Parc-National-des-Volcans/blog-212034.html I was dreaming when I wrote this forgive me if it goes astray ...Okay I'm not exactly dreaming but I had planned to sit down and write a blog tonight to fill you all in on my latest news. However it's Sunday afternoon back in the states. The colts are playing. And now I'm chatting online with my cousins micah and jon who are filling me in on the game action as I watch the stats online. So I'm http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Entebbe/blog-202748.html Hey folks just a quick update mostly sending along some photos that pertain more to the last blog than this one. First thing's first in my haste to tell you all about my camera getting swiped the weeks of safari and scanning all those mind maps I forgot to tell give you perhaps the most important link pertaining to the safari. Thanks to the link it's not such a tragedy that my camera was s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-184635.html Q What happens when you stick a visual thinker with a language learner and stick them in a car for twelve days A This blog Instead of detailing every single thing we did on safari Shelley inspired me to trade in the pen for the watercolor pencil and draw mind maps an activity we do with kids at work of our days on safari in Africa. Admittedly it's much better than trying to cram in every http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Entebbe/blog-179948.html Just two weeks removed from my ldquolast dayrdquo volunteering in Dar es Salaam and therersquos so much to talk about During this stretch I met up with Erica a friend from the NOLS India trek refer to ldquoThe Trekrdquo who joined me to visit the island of Zanzibar where we met up with two more friends Carrie and Rob whorsquove recently finished graduate school at UW in Seattl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-169271.html I'm not sure where the time has all gone but somehow I find myself at the end of my stint living in Dar es Salaam and working with the local Roots Shoots groups. I spent a lot of the last blog entry reflecting on the trip in general so I need to let you know what I've been up to these past few weeks. Many of the photos in this entry have been compiled over the last couple months aka the lon http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-164272.html Greetings It's all about greetings here in Tanzania. Though spoken in Kiswahili it's common and even essential to ask a string of greetings when you meet a friend stranger or family member in any context. The particular variety of greeting can come in just about any shape or size pertaining to any subject of your choosing How are you fine What's the news with work good What's the news http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-152277.html Last weekend I finally went on my first official safari in Africa I joined up with my coworker Abdallah for a fourday visit to Saadani National Park and Saadani Safari Lodge which is known for its unique location right on the shore of the Indian Ocean aptly summarized in its slogan hellip beach river bush As you can imagine it was breathtaking and beautiful but before I get on with the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Saadani-National-Park/blog-147932.html East Usambara MountainsDavid Cook Hi everybody Sorry for the extremely long delay in between posts. Rather than provide excuses Irsquoll just tell you what Irsquove been up to for the last month or so. I guess that is the overall point of this thing anyway right So come join me on a quick recap of life in Dar es Salaam since midFebruary through the end of March. As usual most of my pict http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-144774.html Hi everybodyWell somehow an entire month has gone by since I arrived in Tanzania. My last blog entry gave a pretty detailed account of the first two weeks and Irsquove been up to many of the same activities hellip visiting schools planning and fundraising for Roots Shoots week helping around the office and learning Kiswahili. My computer has now arrived so Irsquove put some new pictu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-130329.html Itrsquos taking all my will power to talk about my time in TZ as opposed to discussing my unbridled excitement about colts impending superbowl berth the first in the Indianapolis era 1984 present. Itrsquos Blue Heaven. But thatrsquos not why wersquore here and Irsquod rather share my excitement for a blog after the colts win the superbowl next week. Not to mention I have a feeling http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-123291.html So this is it.It's 630 a.m. and I'm at the Mumbai airport awaiting a 900 flight to Dar Es Salaam Tanzania. My backpack is checked and my India adventure has come to a close. Hard to believe. I arrived in India back on the 21st of October but before I start reminiscing let's chat about this city.MumbaiHaving started my journey in the polluted and hectic capital city of Delhi my expectations w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-119015.html I'm in Mumbai where ESPN2 is on the cable ... I'm at my friend Dev's house ... I just watched the game from 300 a.m. to 600 a.m. Back to the AFC championship game ... one win away from the superbowl as usual. Will this be the yearI'm down to my last 24 hours in India .... crazy ... more to come soonDavid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-118858.html It's hard to believe but my journeys through India are winding down and I haven't written a full blog entry in nearly a month. So here's what I'm thinking. In this entry I'm going to provide a lot of the places and details of what I've been up to since I got to south India. It might be heavy on the info but it's been a pretty fast pace. Then I'll plan on one more from Mumbai before I get on th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Palolem/blog-118131.html Hi everyoneI know I'm a little overdue for a blog entry but I just wanted to send some holiday greetings out during the festive season.I'm now in southwest India along the coast amidst tropical forests amazing beaches and mile after mile of forested wetlands and river systems known as the backwaters. Since my last post I spent a week in Northern Kerala basically taking a breather from all http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-112964.html Hello there ...First a quick note that I've hit the midpoint of my trip in India ... Six weeks down six to go and in 10 days my friend Adam will join me through New Year's I've also left Northern India and I'm now in the south in the tropics for all you winter lovers out there and getting ready to explore some temples and beaches for the duration of my time here. Already there are big chang http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Madhya-Pradesh/Bandhavgarh-NP/blog-108766.html Namaste to allHere's the first of two updates coming at ya. First Varanasi. Second safaris in Bandahvgarh National Park is coming soon. I've gone ahead and posted some pictures back on the yahoo site so you'll find images for both blog entries there. enjoy... The GangesMother GangaI arrived in Varanasi on November 22 just a day before Thanksgiving in the U.S. The city was one of the ldquomu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-108757.html