Focus on History: New History Sites and Bloggers

I absolutely love being a history and travel blogger, as it allows me to meet individuals I would never get the chance to on an everyday basis. In the past two days, two very special sites have landed themselves on the Ancient Digger Blogroll.

The first of these special additions is Border Jumpers, which was an idea from the minds of two very special individuals. You can follow Bernard Pollack and Danielle Nierenberg as they travel in Africa to meet with farmers, activists, non-governmental organization (NGOs), the funding and donor communities, and local, regional, and international press. Their goal is educate the masses about workers and residents and their living conditions, as well as the subject of poverty, and how people in Africa are combating that issue.

Here's an excerpt from their latest post:

We’ve taken some long bus rides in Africa. We spent eight bumpy hours on a bus from Nairobi to Arusha and another eight from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam.

The longest so far, though, has been between Kigali, Rwanda and Kampala, Uganda. As usual, we were looking out the window, admiring the crops growing by the side of the road, desperately trying not to think about how we had to pee, and trying not to panic about how fast our bus driver was maneuvering between other buses, cattle, and street vendors hawking roasted corn, bananas, and pineapples on the side of the road. 

Read more about 1000 Words fr4om Rwanda

Our second new addition is Boatswain and Bateremia . This particular site is run by Jared Wasser and focuses on maritime and naval history,with the added addition of medicine, since Jared is a student of medicine. Together, the two subjects merge to create a fascinating and well written site about the history of maritime medicine.

Here's an excerpt from his latest post:

Rice.  One of the most prominent and relied-upon staples, cooked in any variety of dishes the world over, and a vital source of nutrition for millions of people on our planet.  I love it; one of my favorite foods that, at times, it seems I just cannot get enough of.  However, this seemingly innocuous ellipsoid was, at one point, the source of an illness that ravaged a large portion of the Royal Fleet in the 18th and 19th centuries.  One arguably more virulent and more mysterious than that of even the famous scurvy.  The disease I speak of is called beriberi; an illness which killed many sailors in the age of sail, and perplexed physicians and surgeons for around a century.

Read more about the story of Berberi