Category: Africa
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Single Mothers Foundation
While traveling around Uganda I received a message from our friend Mira Seewald. “Are you going to Fort Portal?” “I think so.” “Well, if you do can you do me a favor and give a donation to Jonathan at the Single Mothers Foundation for me?” I was intrigued. We would visit Fort Portal. We met…
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Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas
Visiting Wild Mountain Gorillas in Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park I could barely contain my excitement. Our team of guides and scouts, all clad with AK-47’s, met us in a small reception hall. There were five other guests here to explore Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park. It is small but beautiful refuge not far from its more…
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Southern Ethiopia – the Omo Valley
The events of this story took place in November of 2017 “Do you have any medicine?” A voice whispered in my ear. “What?” I looked back to see the lone other white person on the bus leaning over my seat. “Like pain medicine? My tooth is killing me.” The young man said. He was clutching…
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Axum, Ethiopia
The city of Axum or Aksum was the capital of the Axum Empire. It is not well known to westerners but in its time it was immensely powerful with a near monopoly on Indian ocean trade between Greece and India. It was described as one of the four great powers by the Persian poet Mani…
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Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
I had dreamed about visiting the Simien Mountains for many years since I came here. I was drawn by the Gelada Monkeys, that look something like a cross between a baboon and a lion, and by the the landscape here. Geographically, this may be the most dramatic part of Africa Great Rift Valley. The steep,…
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Gondar Ethiopia
A series of heinously long flights brought us to Ethiopia. We spent a few days recovering in Addis Ababa before taking another extended bus journey to our first stop – Gondar. This would be our jumping off point for trekking the Simien Mountains which had been on my bucket list since watching BBC Planet Earth…