Where the North American "Odyssey" ends and the African one begins. . .

When I completed the 10,000 mile round trip from the ATL to AK back to the ATL my Mom said, "well this odyssey is over and you can relax now". I promptly replied that while it took Ulysses 10 years to return home after a 10 year war, that despite my 10,000 miles of driving, and the similarity of "10" the two were obviously different. Definitely some of the same lessons were shared and learned.

This is not as personal as it could be, but Thanks goes out to everyone that housed me on my way to and from Alaska, without you all I might be working some where in Canada or the Mid-West trying to get gas money. Instead I am leaving today for Tanzania where I am guiding on Mt. Kilimanjaro until early March. I am not sure nervous is even the right word for what the last 4 days have been like, not a, " I can not do the job nervous", but a " I am ready for a cocktail in a crowed jet" anticipation of getting to Moshi and starting this "Odyssey".

I hope that people will continue to read this blog as I will be able to update it often and with pictures. I am grateful for all the positive feedback that I have gotten to continue writing and telling my stories. Please forward this to anyone you might think is interested, please send comments, critiques.

This is shorter than most of my "Dispatches" and I hope to keep them concise and frequent in the future. I still have loose ends to tie up today, more to follow from Africa. Stay posted!


All the best,

Mike