Ahlan w-sahlan, from Egypt! Thanks for being patient with the (lack of) updates. I have been busy! Since the last I checked in I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (with some very cool new friends-Boggle experts posing as doctors!), went on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, traveled with an Aussie friend through Rwanda, Congo and Uganda (if anyone knows a good pumkin pie recipe, send it to me!) spent time with mountain gorillas, walked on a lava flow in Goma(during the first election in 40 years there! and a civil war!) and white water rafted the Nile River at it's source near Lake Victoria. I have to say that East Africa is an amazing place!!

I have been exploring the ancient city of Cairo for the past few days. With twenty million people (all speaking Arabic) it has been an exciting experience to say the least! I rode a camel around the pyramids at Giza until the sun dropped from the sky, spent many hours in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum checking out King Tut's treasures among many other artifacts from thousands of years ago. Still much to do here including scuba diving the Red Sea and climbing Mount Sinai.

Those that have been lucky enough to sample my homemade chocolate chip cookies know how delicious they are :) So I'm sure it's no suprise that they are now world famous! I am considering setting up cookie franchises in some far off places like Australia. So here is the recipe for Toll House cookies (they don't have this in the land down under!)

2 and 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
-set these aside in a bowl-
1 cup butter or shortening (soft)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
mix away and drop onto cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes
this should make about 40-50 cookies depending on how much dough you eat before baking.

So yeah, stay tuned and enjoy some cookies while you're waiting. In Africa you wait first and then when that waiting is over, you wait some more. Hakuna Matata, Jeff.

I spent my 38th birthday on Zanzibar Island off the coast of Tanzania, life is good! It's a neat island. The mix of Africa and Arabia makes for an exotic atmosphere. In being one of the 'Spice Islands' and the one time slave trade capital, Zanzibar has an interesting history. I spent some time walking through the winding alleyways of StoneTown, swam the beaches of Nungwe and did two scuba dives in the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. My first dive was to a wreck. It was not a historic ship but I enjoyed swimming into the hull and having staring contests with the fish. The coral reefs on the second dive were spectacular! The highlight though was hangin' out with a sea turtle for a time, they are beautiful, peaceful and graceful. Very fun!

I am in Moshi, Tanzania right now. Tomorrow I begin a six day climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. If I make it to the summit, it will be the highest mountain I have ever climbed at 5,895 meters (19,340 ft.) So wish me luck! I will try to write again soon!
Peace, Jeff. p.s. Happy Birthday to Phil who just turned 16!!