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Chinguetti and Ouadane

Posted on December 1st, 2009 in Africa, Mauritania by robjkentjr

Every overlander coming down from Europe said we had to visit the towns of Chinguetti and Ouadane.  They are both enclaves that cling to life in some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet.
Both towns sit on top of high plateaus and this photo shows us perching to the side of one as we wind, slowly, up the trail.
The main street of Chinguetti.
I have heard of snow drifts coming up to the windows but this is the first time I have seen it happening with sand.
Ouadane was a Portuguese trading post established in 1487 and it is now a World Heritage Site.
Sunrise on an abandoned building overlooking Ouadane.
Going back to Atar we took the low road through the desert dunes.  David is letting the air out of the tires to get better traction in the sand.
Peta taking a walk on a dune.
We visited these places in October and the weather was perfect but I cannot imagine living here at the peak of summer.  However, the oasis of Terjit is a place I would not mind spending my summer days eating dates and swimming.

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Finished grad school, now what?

Posted on November 29th, 2009 in Blog, work by robjkentjr

Hello Everyone,

Rasa and I have just finished graduate school at Australian National University and are back in the States until April 2010.  I graduated with a master’s in Environmental Management and Development and Rasa with a master’s in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development.  We hope to use these degrees and the next couple of months to look for development work abroad.  If we do not find anything, we have a backup adventure to tide us over.

As for work, we currently have our resumes in at Peace Corps, USAID, the State Department, UNDP and UNESCO.  These jobs sometimes take up to two years to get through the hiring process so we are waiting.  While we are doing this we are extending our search to short-term contracts with smaller organizations like Action Against Hunger, ACTED, Care or any others you could recommend.  We really have no preference as to where we end up, just that it is someplace worth our while.

If we do not find anything, then we plan to do the London to Mongolia Rally but take our time to rubberneck.  While passing through these countries, we will also be knocking on doors and looking for work in person.  Plus, we need more material for our blogs, especially now that Rasa will be documenting future adventures in video (inspired by Sonia).  If interested, you can subscribe to receive her updates at robrasa.com/herblog (just enter your email in the upper right box).

In the mean time, Rasa and I will both finish our Africa blog posts and then go through our year in the South Pacific before starting our next road trip in April.  I will catch up on our route map through Africa as well, which was last updated in Cameroon.  We will also make a trip to the West Coast some time after February to visit friends and family, until then we are staying in NY.  Lastly, by popular demand we will be publishing a photo journal of our Africa trip.  I’ll let you know when it is up in our book section.

So please keep reading and commenting on my blog, it motivates me to keep it going.  As always, thank you for that.

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