My trip to Haiti came about in the most random way. Haiti was my last country to visit in the Caribbean - it has certainly been on my radar for some time. A friend took a trip to Cap Haitien in the northern part of the country and spoke highly of his time there. I signed up for the American Airlines Aviator card - made a few purchases in the first few months triggering 60,000 miles. I soon turned around and cashed in those miles for this trip - … [Read more...]
Travel Writing Contest Winners, 2014
We are excited to announce the three winners for this year's travel writing contest. There were many submissions this year (thank you to everyone who submitted an entry or two). The three judges unanimously picked the top two winners in that order - competition for the third winner was more intense. We received entries from a number of countries and US states - for the past 6 or 7 years one of the winners has been from Los Angeles or Orange … [Read more...]
Week in the Life Series
Thanks to Nora at The Professional Hobo for posting our "week in the life" slice from our trip to Ghana & Cote d'ivoire from last month. Nora spotlights a number of travelers who write about 1 week from one of their trips or ongoing travels and she has a variety of good travel content from her own trips as well as other travelers. … [Read more...]
Photos & Video
I've put some photos online from the trip so far: Ghana: www.davestravelcorner.com/photography/gallery/international/ghana Cote d'Ivoire: www.davestravelcorner.com/photography/gallery/international/cote-divoire Here is a video I shot from my time volunteering at YCC Ghana. … [Read more...]
Kakum Rainforest Walk, Cape Coast
I just arrived in Ghana's Cape Coast for a few days of much needed R&R. The bus travelled with an armed guard. I'm not an expert in high caliber weaponry but the gun he was holding sure looked like an AK47. Here we were cruising through the jungles of the Cote d'Ivoire with a bunch of 25KG bags labeled “Uncle Sam” rice from Thailand strewn all over the floor. I soon found out this rice was for a humanitarian mission; apparently public … [Read more...]
Exploring Abidjan
Took an early initiative today to explore Abidjan. Thank goodness for some European styled food and salads with real vinegar - been craving salad ever since I arrived in West Africa! Abidjan is the world's 4th largest French speaking city and my English doesn't go too far here, although I've met a few Ghana expats and Ghana travelers who speak English. Prices are high for taxis, lodging, food and most everything else I found. This is a city … [Read more...]
Arrived in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
After 19+ years of writing my first Pen Pal friend, first starting with postal mail I met up with Kwesi, a journalist in Accra. I’ve been staying with him and it was amazing to finally meet in person after all this time. I had re-read all his original letters before this trip. Today I woke up in Accra without any real plans other than I was going to leave the country for some additional exploration of West Africa. After a few phone calls it … [Read more...]
Ghana is ALIVE
The ENTIRE country is ALIVE! I'm sitting out on the darkened porch fighting mosquitoes like no tomorrow and Ghana just scored - major noise coming from all homes nearby - every type of noise imaginable, cheering, screaming, yelling, crying, chanting, horns, whistles and metal bells clanging! I'm in the country and I hear this sustained noise everywhere across the countryside! Now the music has started and people are singing! Uruguay has a long … [Read more...]
South Africa to London Trip!
Greetings from Ghana atm - just got an email today about an interesting trip. If anyone is interested post back here and I'll hook you up with Sergey who is planning this trip starting Sept/Oct of 2010. He's looking for someone relatively quickly so he can commit on this .... ~ Dave -------------------------------------------------- I’m looking for some intrepid travelers to join me on a long-term stint around eastern Africa. Let me briefly … [Read more...]
Greetings from rural Ghana
12 hours prior, I was walking along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC just down from the White House. 3 hours after touching down in Accra, the capital city of Ghana in Western Africa I was in the middle of the rural countryside far removed from the hub of activity in the two nation's capital cities. I arrived in Ghana and walked down the jet-way to the tarmac welcoming the warm sun, heat and humidity that only the tropics can deliver. With … [Read more...]