There is no escaping the legacy of slavery in Africa. In Ghana, where from 1600-1700 between 10,000 and 15,000 slaves were exported per year, the ghastly slave castles remain horrific monuments that bear silent tribute to a horrific practice. We visited the Elmina Slave castle at Ghana's western edge and the shore of the narrow Benya river, an inspiring and appalling place of contrasts surrounded on all sides by a vibrant and modern African fishing village.

We visited the Kakum National Forest and its celebrated canopy tour, walking along the rope catwalks hundred of feet up in the treetops. The steamy tropical air was dense with humidity, but the forest beneath us was gorgeous.

I've never understood why such a salient geographical feature could be such a relatively untouristed region of Ghana. But Lake Volta, largely shunned by the package tourist industry made a natural destination for me. We drove northward and upward to Ho in the early evening, pleased to headed to the highlands and away from the sweltering heat of the coast. A nearly full moon the color of peach wine rose over the Togo-Atakora range that stretch northeastward along Lake Volta's eastern flank all the way north to Pendjari in Benin, which we visited earlier. But what I'll always remember was the splendid and remarkable silence, because with the exception of the bird calls from the tree tops, the night was silent.

I'm happy to announce my website has been selected on the basis of its travel prose as one of a dozen hand-picked content sources for TravelBlogs.com. It's a site that aggregates the Internet's best narrative travel narratives together into one place, and links to the authors' sites for reading.

I'm happy that my writing has been noticed and hope it's appreciated by those who visit TravelBlogs. Have a look at my interview. Excerpt:

If you've spent time travelling around Nicaragua in the past few years, you may already know of Randall Wood.

Randy co-authored the Moon Handbook Nicaragua after living there for several years, part of which was spent working with the Peace Corps. He also wrote a companion guide for expats living in Nicaragua.

TravelBlogs got in touch with him to find out about more about his experiences with the Peace Corps, Nicaragua and his current home, Benin.

Kenya ni Yetu ("Kenya is our country"): We saw these bumper stickers everywhere, and I saw it at least once painted on the side of a roadside shop. Kenyans clearly have a great love for their nation and with pride comes the essential drive to improve, something many nations wallowing in misery could clearly stand to gain. We enjoyed Kenya as well. Here's why.

The ferry from Bali slipped from the dock just after noon, under a bright tropical sun. The engine's low thumping barely penetrated the din of the passengers. With my back against a steel support, I opened my journal and enjoyed watching my Parker fountain pen lay out a thin blue line across the page as effortlessly as the wake the ferry drew across the Lombok Strait. At water's edge we transferred to a little wooden outrigger canoe with a 150cc motor jutting off its side. Our driver pulled the ripcord on his little Evinrude and nosed the boat out to sea. I was on my way to an islet too small to appear on the map: perfect.