6explorers.com

(Dana) It feels like Christmas morning. I have wanted to trek to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda for years. It’s finally here. Will we find them? Will our interaction meet expectations? Will it have been worth the effort to find some of the last 800 of these animals on earth? The process that leads to […]

(Reis) We pulled up to the outpost in the limos of Longyearbyen (which is not saying much, given that they were 15 year old Ford vans repurposed as shuttles to our destination), and the smell hit us immediately. It was hard to describe but it was something that smelled awfully like 60 unwashed dogs in […]

(Andrew) With over 44,000 crocodiles, Padenga Crocodile Farm on Lake Kariba is one of the largest of its kind. At the age of 3, its reptilian inhabitants are slaughtered for their precious skin, which is sold in today’s markets. We arrived off of our houseboat and were greeted by a pool of disinfectant to dip […]

(Greg) We hadn’t yet been told that, just a few weeks earlier, a Zimbabwean fellow had been killed by a lion exactly where we were walking, but I didn’t need that happy yarn to keep me on my toes. This was our first walking safari and I felt a certain responsibility to my own four […]

(Emma) Since it contains hippos, crocodiles and the occasional elephant, it is perfectly natural to be afraid of going anywhere near the Zambezi River. So, one might say it is insane to go canoeing on the river, but that didn’t stop us. Alex, Andrew and Reis were all too afraid of death, so they passed […]

(Alex) Wild Dogs were a bit of a fantasy to the six of us, similar to fairies, unicorns, and the occasional aardvark. We knew that they existed, of course, but in all seven weeks of safari on our big trip, there was no evidence of any dogs. African Painted Dogs, or more commonly known as […]

(Dana) In many cultures, there is a rite of passage – an event that marks the transition into adulthood.  At home, some teens become a bar/bat mitzvah; others are confirmed.  In the Hamar tribe in Southern Ethiopia, girls of marrying age (14/15) are circumcised.  Boys of ~18-21 prove their maturity through bull jumping. When a […]

(Reis) Riding in our 4×4 vehicles on the crazy, bumpy roads of Ethiopia had no shortage of wild and well… bumpy experiences. Important to understanding our long pilgrimages to and from villages is that most of the roads in this country are made of dirt, a substance quite susceptible to the elements. The displacement of […]

(Andrew) Giggles erupt from the group of 40 Karo children as I bounce a knock-off Super Pinky Ball on the dusty ground. They run after it once it takes an odd bounce off a stone. The kids sprint after it, eager to be the next one to throw it. An older kid of no older […]

(Alex) Walking through an Ethiopian tribal village is like being a celebrity on the red carpet. Kids stop what they are doing to stare at you and follow your every movement. A few timid hands reach out to touch your pale skin. Some little brave hands slide into yours… then suddenly, like an explosion, the […]