As my inaugural post I am pleased to announce that we have come to a final decision on how we will be worming our way around West Africa to our final destination Kribi, Cameroon

Yesterday I took the the China Town bus up to Boston so that us three could lock ourselves in a room till we had a plan. With our Michelin Map spread out on the floor and the state department warnings close at hand we hammered out the countries and major points of civilization we will be passing along the way (keeping in mind it all looks SO much easier on paper!).

At least as far as the Africa leg is concerned and we have a firm plan. Drum roll please… and the countries that made the cut are:

Ferry from Spain->

• MOROCCO: Tangier, Dar-el-Beida (Casablanca), Marrakech, Agadir, to-

• WESTERN SAHARA: Laayoune, Boujdour, Dakhala, to-

• MAURITANIA: Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Aleg, Sangrafa, Magta Lahjar, Kiffa, Ayoun el Atrous to-

• MALI: Gogui, Diadioume, diema, Metanbougou, Didieni, Bamako, Segou, Koutial, to-

• BURKINA FASO: Bobo-Dioulasso, Ouagadougou, Kantchari, to-

• NIGER: Fottyango, Niamey, Birni Nkonni

• NIGERIA: Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Bissula

• CAMEROON!: Bamenda, Nkongsamba, Doulala… KRIBI!

Phew. let me tell you this was no easy task. Ruling out other countries was very difficult. thinking about what we are missing, I am sure we are going to encourage all of you to come back with us. We Probably will not be staying in any of the major cities on this list and will only get close enough to get gas and water when needed. (Note: We are do not have any firm plans for Nigeria yet, but we do have multiple contacts that we are consulting with to find the best route from Niger to Cameroon. If you have any insight into this leg please drop any of us a line)

Google maps does not have all of the roads marked in all of these countries (or even some of the smaller towns) but we will compile a map from Google earth and other resources to give a good sense of the what will be the actual route. Hope you are as Excited as we are! Imagining the landscapes and the Architecture of these places is making our minds spin with fantasy. Needless to say my dreams have been fun as of late.

We are still keeping our feet on the ground and we are closing in on a proper vehicle. We have decided on a Suzuki Samurai or Vitara. Check out the Vehicle page to see a sample picture. We have not found the exact model but we have been talking to our friends in the UK and scouring the auctions.

As the summer approaches things are coming together. If you are in the New York City area keep your eyes open for a fund raising event that should not be missed.

Everyone!

We are pleased to announce that last night’s fundraiser for our charity, Send A Cow, was a huge success! We packed The Druid FULL and really had a blast spending time with our friends and the curiosity-stricken strangers who dropped by. We are thrilled to report that in just 2 short hours, we raised a ridiculously awesome $955! This means we met our original goal of $2,000 AND THEN SURPASSED IT! Together, we’ve now raised $2,124 for Send A Cow!

Does this mean our work is done? Of course not. We would love to raise even more money for Send A Cow. If you were or are inclined to contribute to this great cause, do it! And if you are interested in donating to our trip directly, you can still do that as well from our donate page. We really appreciate every bit of support each of you has shown. It is incredibly touching, and the three of us are really, truly impacted by your kindness and enthusiasm for our cause and our adventure.

Thank you to every person who showed up last night. We are trying to compile a list of attendees, so check our Sponsors page for the shout out list soon. We’d also like to thank, in particular:

• Mikey, the really incredible owner of the Druid, for donating his space, some yummy snacks and a great prize for our giveaway. His support was essential to last night’s success and he has an amazing personality to boot.
• George Pechman and Jessica Alexander for staffing the donation table. These two tremendous kids helped us pass out prize tickets, hustled folks into giving more money and at the end of the night, counted it all so that we could announce our grand total. Thank you!
• Evan Wilson, who won the grand prize Red Sox tickets, for his impromptu generosity. Immediately upon winning the tickets, Evan auctioned them off for $175 and donated the proceeds to Send A Cow! Without Evan’s generosity, we would not have met our goal! Also … thanks to Will, for forking over the cash for said Red Sox Tickets … Will, we still owe you lots more beers for that!

Finally, thanks to all of the following local businesses who donated the heavily sought after prizes of the night:

• The Druid
• East Coast Grill
• Inman Oasis
• Harvest Co-op
• Olé Mexican Grill
• Boutique Fabulous
• David Merson, donor of the Red Sox Tickets!

Gotta say, Inman Square businesses ROCK!

It was really great to see our friends and meet new ones, so thanks again for showing up! To those of you who have been asking questions about our route and car, we will have more on that in the imminent future, so check back soon!

Dear Bostonians, Cambridge Folk (Cambridgers? Cambridgians?) and other neighbors,

You are cordially invited to a happy hour at The Druid, wherein you will have the opportunity to drink, donate to Send A Cow, and win prizes!! I know all of these are far more interesting to you than my idle chatter, so I’ll get right to the deets:

Who: You
What: Drinking and Donating Cash to Send A Cow, our official charity!
When: Thursday, May 8, 2008, 6 - 8 pm, although we’ll still be there well after it is “officially” over
Where: The Druid, 1357 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA
Why: The reasons are boundless, among them are:

• Karmic payback
• The satisfaction of donating to a good cause
• Yummy food
• The opportunity to bask in the awesomeness of me and Jessie
• And the chance to WIN…

RED SOX TICKETS
GIFT CERTIFICATES TO LOCAL HOT SPOTS
AND MORE!!! 

How: You can’t be serious…you’re an adult, you can figure it out.

I would totally rock the socks off your middle school newspaper with my mad journalism skills, don’t you think?

Hope to see you there!

… and because I care about you and your characters, dear Sandbox fans, I absolutely insist you peruse my two recommendations:

1. Those of you in Boston may have noticed Skirt! magazine, a hip women’s mag found in pretty green newspaper boxes around Boston. Jessie and I were lucky enough to be featured in the May issue, with a picture to boot.

   Be sure to pick up a copy or check it out on their website.

   I have no segue to this next bit so please just indulge me while I talk about myself for a bit. Our photo was taken on a windy, drizzly day, also known as a bad hair day. I, the perpetually cold one, shivered throughout the entire photo shoot. When the wind wasn’t whipping my hair into a frenzy, it was reducing my eyes and nose to runny messes. In sum, I was a shivering, sniveling, tear-soaked frizzy hair ball. Jessie looked pretty comfortable inside the car, don’t you think? Props to the photog, though, for making me look like a human being.

   

2. Jessie and I were also mentioned in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy admissions blog. Thanks for the shout out, Jessica! Jessie and I can’t wait to meet our fellow future Fletchies.

Finally, to those of you moseying on over from Skirt!, Fletcher or elsewhere, welcome! Feel free to poke around the site and make yourselves at home.