Amsterdam is my favorite city. When I sold my veterinary practice and retired four years ago, I bought an apartment there, so I would have a place of my own to stay during my frequent visits. I had an especially great time there in August of 2019, first with my friend Robb who visited the first week of August during…
The New York music scene in the late 70s and early 80s is a favorite topic of mine. CBGBs and Max’s were the primary music venues, but a number of smaller clubs that catered to the art scene as well as the music scene made their mark on New York, such as Club 57 and The Mudd Club. This book…
I woke up early today to watch the sunrise again. The sky was pretty overcast and the sunrise wasn’t as dramatic as yesterday. Plus, the hotel dogs were nowhere to be seen, which was a bummer. Today, the colors in the sky were magnificent, and they changed by the minute. Today, Mike and I toured the island with a guide,…
I fell asleep last night around 10:30 and woke up at 4:45 a.m. Fell back asleep and woke up at 5:30. Mike was still asleep. It was still dark out, but I decided to go out and see what the beach was like this early. I walked over to where the beach chairs were located. The cushions had been stored…
I took a plane to Zanzibar immediately after Mission Rabies Tanzania completed. Start HERE to check out the Mission Rabies Tanzania Journey from the beginning. We (Mike and I) got a ride to the airport, got through security, and boarded our flight to Zanzibar. It was a small plane, and there were about 50 passengers on it. The plane was…
Well, it’s upon us: the last day of the project. Hard to believe how quickly this project has flown by. Despite all of the Covid-related logistical nightmares that Mission Rabies has had to put up with, the project has been a remarkable success, with the vaccine numbers about to exceed last year’s numbers. In fact, Mission Rabies is sending the…
Great day today. We were roaming again, in an area called Singisi. It’s a pretty area, with lots of lush green foliage. Many interesting pathways and homes. Courtnie had to get her pre-flight Covid test this morning, along with several other volunteers who are flying to the UK on Thursday, so I was by myself in the morning. I had…
Our assignment today was to roam in two areas. In the morning, we were covering a new area, and we saw a reasonable amount of dogs and a surprisingly high number of cats. When we set up a static point clinic, the vast majority of the pets are dogs, because they can walk their dogs over relatively easily. People here…
Well, it’s confirmed. Our KLM flight is definitely a no-go. Initially, KLM sent me an email saying that our flight was a Covid-Tested corridor flight and is therefore exempt from the new Netherlands regulations. Now I’ve received an email that said that the first email was sent in error. Our flight is NOT a Covid-Tested corridor flight. It was just…
Today could only be described as exhilarating. We started this first day of our second week with what we thought would be a quick trip to the medical clinic to get my second post-exposure rabies vaccine (I got scratched by a kitten last week). Well, today is Saturday, and the doctor doesn’t arrive until 9:00. We couldn’t wait that…
Last night I packed my bags for the big safari. A towel, some soap and shampoo, contact lens stuff, insect spray, sunscreen, a change of clothes, and my Fujifilm camera (plus extra battery). Headed off to breakfast with my similarly excited colleagues, and then we went out to the parking lot to the safari vehicles, which were already waiting. Nine…
Today marked the last day of the first week of our Mission Rabies Tanzania project. Our assignment today was to go back to an area up in the mountains called Nkoarisambu. A Mission Rabies team had already been there, but the post-vaccine survey revealed that we’d fallen shy of the 70% needed to break the cycle and stop the spread…