Last weekend I finally went on my first official safari in Africa! I joined up with my coworker Abdallah for a four-day 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 … beach, river, bush) As you can imagine, it was breathtaking and beautiful, but before I get on with the story, just a reminder that only a few photos are [View Full Entry]

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East Usambara Mountains David Cook Hi everybody! Sorry for the extremely long delay in between posts. Rather than provide excuses, I’ll just tell you what I’ve 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 mid-February through the end of March. As usual, most of my pictures are here and not in the blog. These days I pay for internet by the [View Full Entry]

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Hi everybody, Well, 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 I’ve been up to many of the same activities … visiting schools, planning and fundraising for Roots & Shoots week, helping around the office and learning Kiswahili. My computer has now arrived, so I’ve put some new pictures online in album G and if you don't look at those photos, you'll think this blog is all about the colts! For the rest of the blog, but I thought [View Full Entry]

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It’s 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). It’s Blue Heaven. But that’s not why we’re here and I’d rather share my excitement for a blog after the colts win the superbowl next week. Not to mention, I have a feeling that Peyton is about to have an even better game than the classic “near perfect” QB performance by Phil Simms of the NY Giants (with credit to Mark Bavaro and Phil McConkey, too). S [View Full Entry]

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So this is it. It's 6:30 a.m. and I'm at the Mumbai airport awaiting a 9:00 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. Mumbai Having started my journey in the polluted and hectic capital city of Delhi, my expectations were low arriving in Mumbai four days ago. But as India never fails to surprise, I've fallen in love with this city right from the start. First, [View Full Entry]

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I'm in Mumbai, where ESPN2 is on the cable ... I'm at my friend Dev's house ... I just watched the game from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Back to the AFC championship game ... one win away from the superbowl (as usual). Will this be the year? I'm down to my last 24 hours in India .... crazy ... more to come soon David [View Full Entry]

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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 the plane to Tanzania (January 15!). Fortunately for all of us, I'm anticipating that blogs from Africa will be shorter [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, I 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 the travel. I was relaxing for a whole week mostly watching movies and reading, doing yoga, working out, hiking, and taking some time for myself. Then I met up with a [View Full Entry]

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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 changes, at least in Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka. 1. No cows on the street (nor pigs, dogs, puppies, etc.) 2. Therefore, [View Full Entry]

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Namaste to all Here'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 Ganges/Mother Ganga I arrived in Varanasi on November 22, just a day before Thanksgiving in the U.S. The city was one of the “must see” places on my itinerary for India, and I was very excited to explore the ancient town alongside the Ganges or Mother Ganga as [View Full Entry]

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