Life from abroad

Tallinn, Estonia

robjkentjr — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:36:51 +0000

We stayed in Tallinn for three nights in a beautiful and friendly hostel right in the middle of old town. Despite us walking around the entire time, we hardly saw all the highlights this town has to offer.


	On the left, is the Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral in the Old Town. It was built in typical Russian Revival style around 1894.


	A quaint, scenic tourist spot would be complete without a McDonald’s.


	One of the main market streets deserted just a bit past sundown.


	This is the Pühavaimu Church, which is the city’s oldest church and clock.


	The Tallinn Town hall built in 1402 is the center of Christmas activities and the second best market we went to. Rasa is still bitter she did not buy those woolen socks we saw.


	This is the Olde Hansa Restaurant in the city center. One of the most authentic meals of bear sausages and local salmon we had on the trip.


	Here we are toasting with our grog and mead by the liter.

This was the city that inspired us to plan a return trip in 2012 to experience all the Christmas markets with our mothers, even though they are not so keen on the idea of a Baltic winter. Our next destination is a day trip from the port here to Helsinki, Finland, which turned out to be not at all like an African border crossing by ferry.

Riga, Latvia

robjkentjr — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:40:50 +0000

The biggest reason we chose Riga to kick off our Europe tour was the crazy ticket price of $100 from Morocco. We were actually flying to Lithuania but for kicks got off the plane in Riga and were not disappointed with this cosmopolitan city.



	This is St. Peter’s Church in the heart of old Riga. It was built in 1209 AD and has the flashy new Double Coffee right next to it.



	The train track bridge across the Daugava River. These are the actual colors of the shot: orange sky reflecting the sodium lights and blue lights along the side of the bridge.



	This was the very modern mall built around the old façade of an existing building. It enclosed about four square blocks with four floors of shops.



	We call this the pork-a-ladium. It is now a market that was built in the old zeppelin hangers.



	Rasa enjoying her lasanu and garlic baked rye bread that we bought at the market.



	The Russian Orthodox Cathedral across the city by the Esplanade stop.



	A colorful cobblestone alleyway in old town Riga.

All together, we spent four nights here and loved every minute of it. We hopped on a cheap EuroLines Bus to Tallinn, Estonia and after a 4-hour ride we were sampling bear meat and mead in the Christmas Market.

Welcome to the U.S. State Department

robjkentjr — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:29:06 +0000

Hello Everyone,

First, the big news. I passed the Foreign Service oral exam. Studying for the test has been the reason for my absence this last month and now that I am done, the blog will restart this weekend with Christmas in Europe.

This test was the last hurdle before being accepted as a candidate for the US State Department. With a decent score in the Economic Cone, I could be hired as soon as I clear security and health. Unfortunately, both of these could take as long as a year and up to 18 months after that to get an offer. So there is potentially a long time to wait still.

During this wait though, Rasa and I are still planning on going to Mongolia and China this June. We had to nix the Central Asia Rally because it was looking too difficult with all the recent life changes. After Asia, we will ship out to Morocco with the Peace Corps in October and remain there waiting for my Foreign Service position to come thorough.

Some website updates to note:

Our African Adventure book is finished. Take a look at it on our books page. The next one to watch for is How the Environment Shapes the African Dinner Table.

The other event is that our African Overland Route map is finished. If you want to check it out, click here. If you wanted to download a Google Earth file, click here.

That is all for now.

Hello Marrakech, goodbye Africa

robjkentjr — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:13:22 +0000

This is actually the second time we were in Marrakech, the first being after we came out of the mountains, but I felt it was the perfect post to end our extraordinary journey. Spending four days here it was nice to finally be back in a major city with all its cosmopolitan energy.



	The buzz, glow and smoke from the Djemaa el-Fna square food stands.



	Lost in the maze of alleyways beyond the square it is easy to find just the color plate you need.



	The famous snake charmers of Marrakech. When taking pictures here we are repeatedly asked for tips but this guy wanted $50. I will give you one guess what my blunt two-word reply was.



	I must have spent at least five minutes watching this poor old man trying to close the door. I half expected him to brace his foot against the wall.



	The elaborate entryway at the Musée de Marrakech.



	Saying our goodbyes to David, Peta and Priscilla. That huge map almost fits our entire journey on it.



	Here is Priscilla being loaded into her container to be shipped from the UK back to South Africa.

This will be the last post for Africa but you still have a whole year’s worth of pictures to look forward to. Some of those highlights will be Baltic Europe, California, Fiji, New Zealand and of course Australia.

Seafood in Safi and Essaouira

robjkentjr — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:07:12 +0000

After passing through Marrakesh, and staying for three nights, we gorged on seafood along the coastal cities of Safi and Essaouira. Besides the seafood, these cities were worth visiting just to see their ancient buildings nestled behind fortress walls.



	The sea wall protecting the city from the waves. Behind where I am taking this picture is a fortress that is home to all the fishing boats below.



	The fleet of blue fishing boats waiting for slack tide to slip back out to sea.



	The fish market along the dock, stocked by all those little blue boats. Just pick what you want and the cooks throw it on the grill to eat.



	Grilling up the tray of fish we selected from the stall. We picked a John Dory and the freshest sardines we have ever had.



	The crenulated tower and walls that surround Safi.



	The white buildings of Morocco that look very similar to the well known Mediterranean style.



	A lone chicken that dares to poke his head out.

It was in Essaouira that we decided to part ways with David and Peta in order to visit Rasa’s grandmother in Lithuania. We were going to fly out of Marrakesh so we all headed back there for our last stop in Africa.

Tiz n’ Test to Imlil Village

robjkentjr — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:05:03 +0000

Overwhelmed from tagine shopping, we wanted to elevate our position and passed over one of the highest mountain ranges in Africa. Crossing the Tiz n’ Test Pass at 2,100m (6,900ft), we found ourselves in the freezing village of Imlil, which is the launching point to climb Mount Toubkal.



	Our motley crew overlooking the valley below as we enjoy an excellent and scenic lunch with a bottle of rose wine.



	A better view of the track leading us over the High Atlas Mountains, one of Africa’s highest ranges. No room here for oncoming traffic.



	At the top of the pass, looking out at the low cloud ceiling but considering we are at 2,100m, it is really not that low at all.



	Imlil is a small Berber village at the base of the impressive Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa.



	A picturesque view of Aroumd Village.



	I find this sign of restriced activities in a glacial moraine very interesting. I can understand no scuba diving, but flower picking?!?



	Yet another village fortress on top of a hill.

We did not even attempt to camp here because of all the snow and ice on the ground but we did sleep comfortably under five blankets. From here we did go to Marrakesh but I am going to save that as my last blog and skip ahead to Essaouira and Safi.

Agadir to Taroudant

robjkentjr — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:58:56 +0000

After leaving Tafraoute, we drove through Agadir to camp at Arhoud, which was an unimpressive stretch of beach. After this disappointment, we started to drive to Marrakech and stopped in Taroudant along the way.



	Goats in the argan tree eating the fruit. We could have stopped and paid for a good picture but we just did a drive-by.



	A hilltop fortress that contains an entire village within its walls.



	I am sure they really are sweet girls but I would not want to be caught in a dark alley with them.



	Modern European camping with all the amenities of home brought along with you. This campment facility had over 2,000 spots in it.



	This was our wonderful hotel in Taroudant, which came to be an unexpected surprise to stop for a night.



	If you ever want a tagine, go to Morocco. They have mountains of them just lying around.



	A donkey cart and his carrots at the local market. It would be too funny if there was actually a stick with a carrot dangling on it.

On this eventful stretch of road we also saw an endangered Northern Bald Ibis, could not find a campsite around Taroudant and found our first African McDonald’s. Tomorrow, we will be in the area of Marrakech but will have to make it over a remote High Atlas mountain pass first.

Tafraoute Village

robjkentjr — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:19:42 +0000

With a quick detour along the coast after leaving Fort Bou-Jerif, we headed back inland and up to an elevation of 3,300ft (1,000m). To best describe our time there, I’ll give you one guess for which season is not covered when a tent is rated at only 3-seasons: the freezing winter!

Below is a link to our route map through Africa. It is only updated to Dakar, Senegal (where we got hopelessly lost) and I will be working on the last stretch this week. So far there are four parts but I will be adding a link to download the entire route for Google Earth.

http://robrasa.com/maps/maps.php



	We should have expected colder weather as the road just kept going higher and higher and the locals started wearing more clothing.



	Tafraoute looked beautiful in the afternoon sunset as we arrived.



	We decided to go strait to lunch and try a tagine with roasted almonds and chicken over couscous (what else would there be?).



	After we visited the market and were so tempted to buy some custom made shoes.



	If we did buy shoes we would have had to get a Tatooine outfit as well.



	After the market, we went to the women’s cooperative to buy some freshly pressed argon oil. It is like an olive but with a more nutty flavour.



	Then it was time to sleep. We were wearing everything we had (all three shirts) and anything else we could use. Oh, to be back in Mali!

We would have liked to stay longer but it was just too cold and did not want to spend another sleepless night in the mountains, even if the campsite did have Wi-Fi. We made a beeline back to the warm coast via Agadir and discovered what modern European camping is all about.

Merry Christmas!

robjkentjr — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:28:36 +0000

Hello Everyone,

Rasa and I just wanted to send you a Merry Christmas wish. We hope you have a great 2010 and we look forward to sharing a new adventure with you.

Peace,
R&R

Fort Bou-Jerif

robjkentjr — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:45:16 +0000

After leaving Western Sahara, we had more freedom to travel and explore the inland areas without a fear of finding landmines. We decided to try an old French Foreign Legion fort in the high desert.



	We decided the freezing coastal winds were too much and we found inland campsites from here on out. Here, we used the sand to bury the edges of our tent and try to keep the cold air out.



	Cactus is a major crop of the area and here is a local making the rounds with the help of their donkey.



	A local mosque on a mountaintop filled with succulents and cacti.



	Work with what you have. Since no trees grow here the locals use rocks as fence posts.



	Here is the road passing by Fort Bou-Jerif. We spent two days here in the nearby luxury campment.



	One of many old citadels perched on a mountaintop as we make our way back to the coast.



	The misty mountains of a coastal valley.

The deeper we went into Morocco the more we fell in love with the country, its people and the food. Coincidently, we just received an invitation from Peace Corps to serve in Morocco and would be happy if our site was a little Berber village like Tafraoute, which is our next stop, was the coldest night of our trip and the last time we slept in our tent.