Category: Featured

  • Hiking in the Himalayas: The Ghorepani-Ghandruk Trek

    After washing the Holi dye off our bodies (actually we would continue to find it in our ears, nose, and between our toes for a few days to come), we set off for the main attraction of our Nepal trip: a five-day trek through the Annapurna Conservation Area, a part of the Himalayas well known…

  • India 101: Nothing Can Prepare You, But Here’s a Try

    Some things you should know: Cows. There are cows everywhere. Big ones. They’re in narrow alleys, blocking your way. There are herds of them crossing the highway, ignorant to all approaching traffic. They’re eating huge piles of smelly trash off the sidewalk of a busy street. And they’re treating the entire country like their toilet.…

  • Rajasthan Part II: The “Blue City”

    Jodhpur is in western Rajasthan and is known as the “Blue City” due to the large number of light blue painted houses in its old city section. The color was originally reserved for homes of high-caste Brahmins but others started painting their houses the same color, eventually resulting in beautiful splashes of blue all over…

  • Rajasthan Part I: The “White City”, Kumbalgarh Fort, and Ranakpur Temples

    Our next and last region was the large western state of Rajasthan. Travelers always recommend a visit here; the vivid colors of Rajasthani womens’ bright saris and mens’ colorful turbans, the famous wide and smiling mustaches, and the plethora of forts, temples, and palaces stay engrained in every visitor’s memory. We arrived in Udaipur, Rajasthan’s…

  • Delhi and Agra: Friends and the Taj Mahal

    We had finally reached the portion of our India trip we were most excited about: meeting up with our friends Amy and Ben, who were coming all the way from Austin, Texas, and staying with friends Bion and Caitlin in Delhi, and then traveling with Ben and Amy to Agra and Rajasthan. Nick and I…

  • Sikkim: Walking Through the Himalayan Foothills

    Sikkim is a tiny state just north of West Bengal. It is sandwiched between Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, and very much feels like its own country, which it used to be up until 1975. In fact, tourists need official permits to visit Sikkim, and some parts near the borders with other countries are completely off…

  • Seeing Uganda through the Eyes of an NGO

    One of the main reasons we decided to visit Uganda–besides not feeling totally ready to leave Africa, and some scheduling particulars that made it make more sense–was because we have a connection in Kampala. Lynn, one of my parents’ oldest and dearest friends some eight years ago sold the business she owned and started a…

  • Zanzibar Part II: Stone Town

    Stone Town, the ancient part of Zanzibar Island’s largest city, is one of the most unique and beautiful places we’ve ever been, and instantly one of my favorite places we’ve visited. Its most striking feature is the layout of its streets, a winding, curving, jumbled maze of narrow alleyways that makes the city feel alive…

  • Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro

    We’re normally well prepared and well informed about the destinations that we visit, but this leg of the journey was special, everything being planned in advance by our wonderful friends who came halfway around the world to visit us. The agenda consisted of a seven-day climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, a four-day safari through Northeast Tanzania’s…

  • Chimp Tracking at Gombe Stream National Park

    Upon arriving at Gombe Stream National Park, you get the feeling that you are landing at a research station more than a park. There’s a reason for that: this is the site of the longest ongoing study of any animal population in the world, the study of chimpanzees that Jane Goodall started in 1960. The…