I love exploring the world, collecting pieces of culture, information, and memories. While these don’t seem to all come across in photos, images are the closest I get to reexperiencing these incredible memories.
In honor of a recent blog posting about Morocco, I decided to post more photos from there. I would go back in a heartbeat!
Out in public, we saw few women--here is a "standard" gender mix.
Kisses from a camel!
An overnight trip out into the Sahara on camels.
Our guide in the Sahara... I love this shot.
"Grand Taxis" hold 6 or 7 passengers.
The Cascades D'Ouzoud.
Shane and I, by some fortunate accident, spent the night with this Berber family in the High Atlas Mountains.
A chess game on the rooftop.
Love the colors!
The Jemaa el Fna at night is just magic.
We loved getting prickly pears on the street.
The tilework was incredible.
The view from the window in our riad in Marrakech.
Some snippets from my recent trip to Japan. What an awesome time exploring a new place… and my very first time to Asia.
Eating Japan style... in our robes, on the floor, with lots of delicious vegetarian food.
We visited a haunting cemetery, where over one square mile just brimmed with statues like this one.
The crowds at Mt. Fuji at sunrise were unbelievable. Actually, this is what it was like for a quarter of the climb.
The rock gardens at the shrines were so simple and beautiful in their simplicity.
Me and the Golden Shrine--really encased in gold.
People line up for a long time in the rain just to be able to drink this water. It runs over a shrine before flowing here in Tokyo.
Me in Tokyo!
We were lucky to catch a Buddhist prayer service when we visited one of the oldest shrines in Tokyo.
Arriving at our "home" in Tokyo... the neon lights never fade, and sometimes all of Tokyo feels like Times Square.
The following are a few snippets from a transformative trip I led for work. We explored poverty in Ghana and looked for the ways that microfinance can address the problem at its core.
In the slums, people find whatever shelter they can--in this case under the belly of a parked truck.
Passionate local employees make development possible. I always tell people that our ex-pats are trying to work themselves out of a job.
Hi-fives were my primary form of communication.
Naomi is an entrepreneur who uses her loan to run a school. The proceeds from the school go to maintaining an orphanage. She is one of the most incredible women I have ever met, without a doubt.
These women, the Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of their Trust Group, insisted that I take their photo and bring it back to the US to show everyone here their success.
One of Opportunity International's entrepreneurs. I'm being fitted for a new Ghanaian dress!
I love the baby-on-back thing. People have tried to teach me, but it looks much easier than it is!
At one of the information/training meetings before a loan disbursement. This woman wanted to make sure that our interest rates weren't too high.
Hi Sonja, hope you are well and that things are OK on the job front ..!
Please do give me a call on skype if you ever have a spare minute (steveccoffey).!
Blessings from a very snow laden United Kingdom.. Steve