 |
| Wii - Ghana |
Africa will always be my favorite place on earth. It is quite possibly the furthest from American culture that it is possible to get, but, for some reason, it always felt like home to me. I think that the only real way to describe my time in Africa is to describe what it was not. It was never, even in its most quiet and stagnant moments, mediocre.
Mediocrity is pretty much my most desperate and grasping fear. I can honestly say that Africa has rescued me from that fate, even if it was just for a small part of my little life.
 |
| Mole - Ghana |
 |
| Mole - Ghana |
Word to the wise: If you ever go on a safari, listen to the guide when he tells you not to get too close. Brian and I happen to have this strange tendency to get charged by angry male animals. While I was so innocently approaching this elephant to photograph his rump, he turned around and flared his ears (hard to explain, but in the most primal way his ears were telling me to f*** off or get f***** up). He then reared as much as an elephant can rear and stomped his front feet. I proceeded to nearly pee my pants and run away.
 |
| Tata Somba - Togo and Benin |
 |
| Timbuktu - Mali |
 |
| Antananarivo - Madagascar |
 |
| Mole - Ghana |
 |
| Accra - Ghana |
|
 |
| Cote d' Ivoire |
 |
| Nairobi - Kenya |
 |
| Mole - Ghana |
 |
| Ranomafana - Madagascar |
 |
| Goma - Democratic Republic of Congo |
 |
| Cote d' Ivoire |
 |
| Gweru - Zimbabwe |
 |
| Cote d' Ivoire |
This photo was taken during a quick stop on a bus ride. "Bus ride" may sound pretty straightforward, but in Africa you can always expect something to happen that you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams. There is generally a required amount of discomfort (buses are booked by double, a few people sit on top, a few people sit on top of YOU). There are always animals either (1) under your seat (2) on your lap or (3) tied to the top of the vehicle. On one particularly unusual ride, I heard a goat tied to the top of our vehicle, and, upon looking out to confirm my suspicions, received a very large shower... of goat pee. It was a very aromatic day. In this particular photo, the bus stopped and was instantly surrounded by dozens of people who were very excited to sell their items. One vendor was particularly popular, and the entire busload of people began to argue about who would get to purchase the project. Finally, we were able to glimpse what everyone was so worked up about: a horrific dried agouti (large rat thing), skin still on and face still contorted in rat horror.
 |
| Cote d' Ivoire |
