A quick note. Prepping for a new trip to South Africa and Botswana. This will be my third trip in three years to Southern Africa. In 2008, I spent about three weeks at Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana as a volunteer for the research program there. It was a fantastic experience. Last year, I did something a bit different and spent about 3 weeks in Kruger National Park in South Africa and then just a few days at Mashatu. This year, a slight variation on the theme. I'm going to Kruger for about three weeks. Then, I'm heading back to Johannesburg to pick up my girlfriend Gina and her 12 year old daughter Aislin. Together we'll spend a week and a half in Kruger and then head to Mashatu for three days. Then home.
It's Thursday morning and I leave Sunday. I'm fairly well situated to go with just a few loose ends. I don't exactly look forward to the travel but as you know if you've done any overseas traveling, you put your head down and get through it. And then take some days to recover. Good thing is, I have some days.
I'm expecting that the two phases of this trip will be very different. I'll have almost three weeks by myself. This gives me some concentrated time to work on photography. While I don't have a specific assignment, I treat this time as work and work very hard at it. If you've ever traveled with a photographer, you know that it's not very much fun. Photographers are very self-centered and totally focused on their tasks. There's no time or energy to worry about whether others are enjoying themselves. Then, I head back to J'burg and start a new phase. I expect to carry cameras but I'm hoping to be able to set the photography aside and enjoy our time together in that beautiful place. I'm especially looking forward to seeing that world through the eyes of the 12 year old Aislin. Aislin's a cool kid - full of enthusiasm and curiosity. She loves animals but her life path has so far not allowed her exposure to much of nature. I can't wait to watch her expression when we back the car up to give way to an elephant on the road. I can't wait to see her eyes when she watches a lion amble by. I'm very much looking forward to the adventure.
And maybe this time we'll see a mamba. Bashi owes me one.
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