This October, a powerful, engaged, and curious team is heading to Ethiopia to both change the world, and change how they interact in that world. Usually, I’d be joining them. But this year I need you to take my place. Imagine Ethiopia 2012 is the third iteration of a dream I helped create in 2009 with imagine1day. Our goal was simple: enable … Read More
The Bird and The Bear
There are dog people, and there are poodle people. I am a poodle person. But for the past year, I’ve been a poodle person without a poodle. That was a problem. Said problem manifested in scenes similar to this one: At 3:00 one afternoon in Boulder I spotted a woman with two standard poodles—one black, one gray– starting off on … Read More
Adventure When and Where it Matters- The Lost Mountain Series
By Majka Burhardt and Sarah Garlick A month ago we left Mozambique and Malawi. Less than a year from now we will be back. How much time does it take to gain perspective? Our goal for this initial trip was simple: to learn if an expedition pairing science, climbing, adventure, and conservation would be possible on Mozambique’s Mt. Namuli. Here is … Read More
Notes from The Mozambican Bush
By Majka Burhardt and Sarah Garlick [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k206MpJDhw&w=450] DAY 1 MB: I say goodbye to Ethiopia (intentionally), and to my new ultralight Thermarest (unintentionally). My first-ever spotting of the Congo appears initially out of a plane window, and soon through a propped-open plane door during a re-supply. Malawi and Mozambique bound. SG: It’s 5:30 a.m. at Boston’s Logan Airport. I have … Read More
The Best Worst Idea
I’m in Africa, again. And on this trip, Africa x 3. My bags are loaded with what I need to find the course for a trail race in Ethiopia’s high sandstone escarpments, to lead a trip where I and fourteen others will rock climb, mountain bike, and do yoga from Lake Langano’s western shore to Tigray’s northern fields, and to journey … Read More
The Middle Ground: Telling a Better Story about the Famine in the Horn of Africa
It’s been two months since global officials have officially deemed the famine in the Horn of Africa as the worst to hit the world in a century. During those same two months, I’ve released Coffee Story: Ethiopia and have been speaking to audiences about a broader landscape of possibility in Ethiopia that includes coffee. Coffee Story is the result of five years … Read More
Imagine Ethiopia 2011: You Can “Go” From Home
As one of the leaders of Imagine Ethiopia 2011, I wanted to share a progress update to inspire and potentially involve you in our next steps. Read on for more. Earlier this year, Vancouver-based charitable organization, imagine1day, launched their second annual Imagine Ethiopia trip: a two-week adventure that takes participants on a daily exploration of the best that Ethiopia has to offer. imagine1day … Read More
Three Ways to Do Something About Famine in Africa (From Forbes.com)
A guest blog by Majka Burhardt on Frederik Allen’s Leadership blog on Forbes.com. There is famine in the Horn of Africa. Of course. Isn’t there always? Are you cringing yet? Good. Here are three things we can do now to help the Horn of Africa, beyond just sending famine relief: (1) Change the conversation. (2) Invest in the positive. (3) Tackle … Read More
Coffee Story: Ethiopia Available Now, Needed Now
Signed Copies Available Above* You may also purchase at It’s a big day for me today. It’s the day Coffee Story Ethiopia comes out, and moreover it is the day I get to thank everyone who has helped support and create this amazing project. We’ve done it. This morning a friend asked me to write her a note about … Read More
Going Big
In Conjunction with Pemba Serves Five days ago I drove out of Eldorado Canyon after seven pitches of climbing with two professional women who live in Boulder. We’d spent the day climbing sandstone cracks freshly crisped by the proceeding evening storms. The river roared beneath us for the full day making communication difficult and creating isolation of judgment and choices for … Read More