Initial Ramblings On Africa

It’s 6:30am and I’ve been up since 2:30am.  I thought I had this jetlag beat by getting the most solid sleep I’ve had in years the first night I was back, but it seems the score is now 1-1.  Oh well, I’ll adjust and there is certainly much to be done.  I’ve spent the last four hours copying photos and making sure I have them all.  As I type Spain is importing in Photoshop Lightroom for the first glance on my home computer.

This is my first time sitting down to write a blog post in over a month and it feels great.  I didn’t really ‘need’ the time away as some who feel burnt out do, but I did enjoy a break when it occurred.  I’m mostly unpacked as in everything is out of the bags, 90% put away and the laundry all clean.  All I have left is a kitchen table covered with boarding passes, chocolate, business cards and a month’s worth of unopened mail.  I have a notebook lying open with all kinds of things to write about, such as “260lb man on my back” and “The bus driver’s choice of gears was obscure at best as we waded through Nairobi traffic”.  Not bad for the first day back and it does feel nice, especially since I’m packing today for three more nights away from home (why do I pay rent?).

The trip was absolutely awesome!  Sabrina, my daughter, even agreed.  It was a combination family (her and I) trip and photo trip.  Learning this balance has been tricky in the past.  While we did have the joy of traveling with my friend from middle school, Julie, I still deferred to the family side of the trip when faced with a decision.  Such as walking around Marrakech’s souks or any other crowded place.  I knew this going into the trip, that I couldn’t take a photo of EVEYTHING as I might if by myself.  Often my camera didn’t get out of the bag in these locations.  And for me, that’s ok.  I got a great feel for the places we visited because of that choice.  I wasn’t behind the lens most of the time, paying more attention to my surrounds and safety than I normally would.  I got to experience Spain, Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania with my daughter and a great friend (and various airports in Germany, Switzerland and Turkey).

While I didn’t take all of the photos I wanted, I did shoot more than 3000 images I believe.  And Julie shot a ton too.  I often deferred to her taking shots when I couldn’t or wouldn’t.  It worked out well and for the People, Places and Patterns Project, it’ll help a lot to get different perspectives from the trip.  Sabrina also shot more than 2000 images and video with her Canon SX200 IS , purchased specifically for this trip so she could get shots of the animals.  And by animals, I mean cats.  At least in Morocco.  Lots of cat pictures, oh my.  It was cool to see her composition improve as the trip went on and she got used to the camera.

In the coming month look for me to be picking up posts on all things Africa was well as preparing for another trek and mount climb in Nepal, leaving on the 21st.  And look for the Photo Of The Day to start up on Monday with a fresh batch of Africa (and Spain) pictures!