What have I been doing during Covid? A lot!!! So, this may be a long one and I'll try to update more frequently in the future.... Work I have been working from home since March 22nd. Not much happened from March through July, at least, not much that would interest anyone outside my company. However, work was extremely busy. We are based in Dubai, but many of our projects require us to travel around the region. As such, when the borders and airports were shut down, I had geologists scattered across Mozambique, Maldives, and Saudi Arabia for work, while one was stuck just before he was planned to return from leave in Pakistan. Maldives project went on and despite only being able to get half our team into the country before lockdown, we were able to ... read more

Our last day is what I was greatly looking forward to. After we had left the interior and returned to Djibouti City again, with another stop at the Casino supermarket, we went to a hotel for our last night. Finally - a shower!!! S and I shared a room - she got the big bed, so I got to shower first. I washed my hair three times; it was still crusted in salt from the day before. Everyone else went out for dinner that night in town, but I just decided to stay in - I was not feeling well and was exhausted. I did not want to be stuck in town having to wait on a ride if I wanted to come back early, so I had a dinner of granola bar. We had all ... read more

So, after our lunch stop during our road trip to Lac Assal, my friends and I really enjoyed our time on the road. So, I don't remember a whole bunch about the ride. We made a couple of stops, including me apparently purchasing some obsidian and geodes on a roadside stand from some kids (who I do remember). We ended up in a wide wadi area where we were to stay for the night. While our guides unpacked and set up for dinner with some local guides, we stretched our legs and explored a bit. We sat at the dinner table and waited a long, long time for dinner. By then, I really was not hungry and it was a fish stew which was not very appetizing to me, so I had a granola bar. But ... read more

After Baobab Avenue, we drove about an hour toward Morondava, a coastal town where we would stay the night. We made a stop at the local pharmacy in town - most of us had gotten sick at some point by the end of the trip. The town was bustling, and we turned on a beach front road where dozens of small hotels were located. We finally pulled into the Hotel Sun Beach and determined which rooms were which. I got the nice end room - and we had A/C!! For the first time all week! I almost did not want to leave my cool room, but I made my way to the hotel bar where I met up with Nolavy, ordered spaghetti Bolognese and a beer before heading off to bed. The next morning, I woke ... read more

After the river cruise, we were on our way to the place that brought me here: Tsingy National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and (most importantly) made up of uniquely eroded limestone formations, much of which is so sharp, you cannot walk on it except for on guided paths! Before we could get there however, we picked up a military escort in our two SUV's. Me and two other guys were teamed up with Dada, our driver, who was awesome for the next few days. The other three, our guide, their driver and the military escort were placed in the larger SUV. I did not know initially, but while we carried all the luggage in ours, we also had A/C while the other car did not. We had to get a military escort ... read more