Hey Geo and Meri,

I am not surprised that “Equator” was a fictitious name. I am not sure “Herring” is their real name either. We have been investigating this couple for a while. They are co-owners of Royalian Hotels International (based out of northern Canada). It turns out that they are using Dewey to obtain information about the opening up of the Northwest Passage for their company.

The Northwest Passage is what explorers have always hoped to find: a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic. This passage is a direct route for ships to travel from Europe to Asia across the Arctic Ocean. The passage is becoming ice-free for the first time since satellite records began to be kept in the 1970s. Scientists thought that this passage would begin to clear (from the Arctic sea ice melting) around 2030 or later. But it began to clear in September, 2007.

The “Equators/Herrings” are using Dewey to find out the truth about the Northwest Passage (will it remain ice-free?). Europe, the United States, Canada, and even Russia have tried to lay claim to the passage and surrounding areas in the hopes of securing some of the oil and other minerals that may be found. Everyone wants a piece of the Northwest Passage because it offers new natural resources and money for those who control it.

You see, the earth doesn’t usually have any “new” landforms or bodies of water. So the Northwest Passage is of immense importance to many individuals worldwide. It will be interesting to see what happens with it in the future. For now it seems that the “Equators/Herrings” want to make money from the Northwest Passage one way or another. Only time will tell. Have a safe trip to Africa. I will be in touch if I find out any more information about the Northwest Passage or the “Herrings/Equators”.

Love, Uncle GT

Holy Idaho! Africa is one amazing continent. I don’t even know where to begin. Africa is second in both overall size and population (among the other continents). I wonder which continent is the largest in size and which one is the most populated? So far we have been to North America and South America. I know neither of those continents was ranked first in overall size or population.

There are a lot of animals in Africa, but there is so much more. Did you know that the world’s largest desert is in Africa? The Sahara desert stretches across northern Africa. Geo just told me that the word “sahara” means desert in Arabic. Some of the animals found in the Sahara desert include birds, snakes, gerbils, and other animals. The Sahara desert runs through 11 countries in Africa. Holy Idaho! That is one huge desert. The Atacama Desert in Chile must be a lot smaller than the Sahara desert. I heard the lady behind me mention the term “Sub-Saharan Africa”. I wonder what that means? It must have something to do with the Sahara desert?

We are getting ready to fly over the country called Congo. In Congo, you will find the Congo River and Congo Rainforest. This rainforest is the 2nd largest in the world. Do you remember which rainforest was the largest? If you guessed the Amazon Rainforest (in South America) you are correct!

Africa (like South America) is located in both the southern hemisphere and northern hemisphere . The equator runs through the middle of the continent. You will find the Congo Rainforest running right along the equator . Oh no, we are hitting turbulence and I have to put away my computer. I will write more after we land.

Text Message from unknown number – I C U – Do U C Me??

Once we returned to our seats because of the rough air, I decided I better tell Meri. We thought that the Equators/Herrings must be on this flight. We knew what Claude looked like because we saw his driver’s license in Canada several weeks ago. He has reddish/blond short hair. He is a tall man. He looks a little taller than I am. So, he must be about 6’2” or so. But we had no idea what Phoebe looks like.

Once we were through the rough patch in the sky and allowed to get up and move around, Meri and I split up. Meri started at the front of the airplane and I started at the tail. We looked for men who matched the description of Claude. We found 3 men who could have been Claude. One of the men was traveling alone, so we knew that he wasn’t Claude. We couldn’t decide which of the other two men was Claude, so we tried to overhear what they were talking about with the women sitting next to them. The one man kept talking about ships and the other man (we think) was talking about some village in Ethiopia. We decided to follow the one talking about ships. Since we had learned about the Northwest Passage and the “Equators’/Herrings’” connection, we thought that would be our best option. We figured they had Dewey up in the front cargo hold of the aircraft. We decided to follow the couple to the cargo claim area and rescue Dewey.

When we departed the airplane, we followed our couple directly to baggage claim. Meri asked them if they had any cargo to pick up. The couple said no – but they did have 8 bags! They were headed to volunteer as doctors in Ethiopia for the next 6-months. It turns out they were talking about their medical internSHIPS. The healthcare in Ethiopia isn’t as available and advanced as the healthcare services in the Americas. Meri and I felt so bad for assuming they were the dog-nappers. We decided to help them carry their bags out to their medical van (their home for the next 6-months).

While we helped them load up their luggage, we explained to them that we were looking for a missing dog and his captors. The man (his name was John) told us that he actually saw Claude and Phoebe checking in with Dewey at the airport in Chile. John talked to the “Equators/Herrings” for a while as they waited to board the airplane. John told us that he even knew the village they were staying at in Ethiopia (Abuye – a small village outside of Addis Ababa). We thanked John for the information and went to find our own taxi. We were heading to our hotel for the night and then hoping to visit Abuye the next day.

Tomorrow we are hiring a car to take us to the village of Abuye. The village is only 12-miles from our hotel. With the car service it will probably take us at least an hour to get there because many of the roads are unfinished and travel takes a lot longer here than in Phoenix. In Phoenix it takes about 15-minutes to travel 12-miles. I hope we find Dewey in Abuye.