Last updated: 04/5/17Voluntourism. It’s a word I hadn’t encountered until I was already signed up for a voluntourism project in Accra, Ghana. Of the mind to do something good, I was now being bombarded with articles denouncing the practice of Westerners running off to shantytowns to “save” the locals. What was meant to be a meaningful experience was now overshadowed with the idea that I was doing something so intrinsically...
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Last updated: 04/29/17I’m not sure what I had in mind when I signed up to volunteer in Ghana. Okay, that’s a bit of a lie. Somewhere during the process, the image of me cuddling snuggly, serenely cherubic infants may have floated past in a daydream. The reality quickly quashed that fantasy. Volunteering in Ghana It is not quite six in the morning, and I am squashed half asleep into a cube van that in the US would seat maybe six...
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Last updated: 03/28/17We came for the bees at dawn. To be honest, they didn’t seem to care all that much. Perhaps we didn’t look all that threatening of a foe, what with me all trembling and the pair of us huddled under the protection of a head scarf and mosquito netting with ominous holes here and there. When I imagined bee keeping in Rwanda, I had rather stupidly pictured myself adorned in a cute white beekeepers’...
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Last updated: 03/28/17This far into my journey, I’ve learned that the best experiences are often the unexpected treasures I find along the way. With that being said, I was not expecting one of those treasures to be a routine stop at an eco camp in Rwanda, called Red Rocks rub by an American-Rwandan brother sister duo. After a sobering visit to the genocide museum in Kigali, we shuffled into the reception in search of quiet solitude...
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Last updated: 03/22/17I think the most surprising part about climbing Kilimanjaro is not that I managed to reach the summit – which I did, and have photographic proof! – but that I even attempted it in the first place. To put it simply, I am lazy. For someone who seems to have a love of throwing herself off cliffs and out of planes, for crashing kayaks and falling down waterfalls, and for chasing dreams, I am really one of...
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Last updated: 03/22/17Second only to Antarctica, climbing Kilimanjaro ate up a big chunk of my overall trip budget. At around $2,000+ USD for a seven-day climb, another $300 for gratuities and a further $100 for the Tanzanian visa, it’s not a cheap trip by any means. When you compare your $300+ daily spending with what you actually get in return – squat potties, tents, and endless (and I do mean endless) walking – it’s...
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