Jambo! Or; hello, as it means in Swahili. I’ve been here for a couple of weeks now, but I’m afraid it’s going slow with the Swahili learning. I’m starting to understand the basic greetings, but it’s far away from any conversation. Since I don't have much to write about, I'll give you a short briefing of Tanzania's history instead. You might know some of this already, but it's always good with a little repetition ; ) • The first signs of human beings can be traced back 3.6 million years ago when a party of two or three trekked across the plain at Laetoli near Olduvai Gorge in the northern part of Tanzania. And you probably know the rest of that history… • What is Tanzania today is a mix of people who came to the ... read more

Hey guys! I've just booked plane tickets to Tanzania in january 2009! In august I started on "International Development Studies" at Oslo University College. A field project has a central place of the first year, and my group is going to Tanzania for 5 weeks. Four of us are planning to write about "Tourism and its impact on the local culture and people" Hopefully this trip and project will give me and us new perspectives and defenitely new knowledge about a culture I never have experienced "live" before. I've been thinking about Africa as a place to visit for a long time, but I didn't think I would get the chance already! After 5 weeks of research, I will hook up with a friend of mine in Nairobi and spend a couple of weeks in Kenya ... read more

To Ilha Grande for more scuba-diving! I arrived in Rio on Sunday, but headed off for Ilha Grande south of Rio on Monday. I heard from many travellers that this beautiful island without any roads or cars and fantastic beaches spread around the Island, is worth a visit. I went there with the aim of doing some more scuba diving. I think Ilha Grande is the closest spot to Rio which is not to bad for diving. It´s good to do a bit just after the course to be more safe on the routines. After three days of diving, two barbeque party´s in the hostel, the last night on the coach in the reception (because I didn´t get a room the last night; ) ) and my first underwaterpictures! That´s mainly why I add this entry, ... read more

A little summary from the northern part of Peru Huacas del Sol y de la Luna The northern part of Peru has been a home for many different civilizations stretching about 5000 years back in time. Around Trujillo you can find archaeological places and remains from the Chimu people and Moche culture as the two biggest ones. After I changed my plans and decided to go to Galapagos, I had some time during that day to visit Huacas del Sol y de la Luna, which is two big temples build by the Moche people. Huaca del Sol is the largest structure in Peru, from the Pre-Colombian time. The temples was built by using around 140 million bricks. It´s two impressive constructions and I had a guided tour in Huacas de la Luna (in Spanish...!). This temple ... read more

Changing plans This time I actually decided to not do a trek/climb! I arrived in Huaraz after a nightbus marathon from Cusco. Three nights in a row and Arequipa and Nazca visited in between. I was heading for Huaraz to climb the mountain Alpamayo, who I heard was a beautiful mountain. And since I climbed Pequeño Alpamayo in Bolivia, I was thinking; "I have to climb the big brother as well!" ; ) But after one day of searching for a climbing partner/guide/logistics, I gave up. It was too expensive to do it alone, with a guide, hire the gear I needed and so on. I met some friendly Americans who just arrived to climb for one month, and I decided to do like they did; come back later with a climbingpartner/friend and dedicate the trip ... read more