Travel With Reason

[Lagos, Nigeria] I’m typically fraught with anxiety when passing through any kind of passport control or security checkpoint in a third-world country. I’ve written earlier about the High Commission officer who eyed my temporary visa photo, taken just the night before, with great suspicion and said: “this looks terrible.” I seriously thought the photo was [...]

[Lagos, Nigeria] OK people, my off-time in Africa isn’t all spent on safari or touring the slums. Last night, at an elegant cocktail party with jazz pianists and singers, fabulous food and champagne, I chatted up Mo Abudu, the “Oprah of West Africa” (in yellow, at right, photo below). She’s for real – visit this [...]

[Lagos, Nigeria] Random observations and thoughts from the first two days in Nigeria: Sofitel hotel … fluffy bed (maybe a little too much – bad back in the morning) … concrete wall shuts out the outside world … impossible wi-fi (how on earth do these people blog?) … amazingly weak orange juice … large in-room [...]

Update  from 10 months later … we’ve done it! The Hope Library is up and running.  Click here to read more, and read below to learn the origins of the project. [Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya] My second visit to Kibera, May 4 (posting this entry after mulling it over for a week). Being taken in [...]

Nearing the end of an amazing two months in Kenya (and off to another African nation tomorrow), I’ve been thinking about others I know who have had extended tours of duty in Africa, and who are quite passionate about what many people would consider a difficult, undesirable place. I decided to interview them via email [...]

[Nairobi, Kenya] I’ve got a lot more to say on the topic of my latest expedition through Kibera slum, this time a bit deeper into it all including time spent with a family, and yes, photos to post, but one thing that always strikes me, and humbles me, is the contrast between the worries of [...]

I’ll assume most people reading are Americans, and this one’s for you. The next time you get annoyed by service or delays at, say, the driver’s license office or a bank, consider this tale of the challenge of getting person A (American) from Point K (Kenya) to Point *** (Country to Remain Unnamed) in 17 [...]