7/6/05, 1:05 pm

We’ve been traveling over the Sahara for several hours, and it’s absolutely amazing. It’s like looking over a vast ocean of brown. Every once in a while there are these tiny oases to which roads are drawn indiscriminately across the sand, some linking different oases and some disappearing into the dunes.

I’m thinking that more than the attempted ascent I am looking forward to seeing a new continent. This is not like my trips to Europe or even Israel. Africa is the origin of our species, a country filled with such history and unfortunately, such turmoil. I am glad that I’ve had African students who have taught me a bit about their countries before my journey, and I am eager to see this place for myself.

Copyright Axel Schwarz 2005