Many of you know I am currently in the process of gearing up for a year-long journey with a mission: to raise the visibility of the unsung heroes of Latin America’s environmental movement.  In the process I hope to build a well of creative ideas and inspiration through the new web portal I’m designing, a networking tool for the groups themselves and a sharp contradiction to the sense of hopelessness and cynicism about the future that has enveloped much of our population. I’m calling it The Esperanza Project, and I’ll be filling you in on the details in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, I’ll be taking the opportunity to highlight the journeys of other travelers whose journeys represent a larger purpose. Today I ran across the story of Tendai Sean Joe, a former street child from Zimbabwe who has become an advocate for disadvantaged children and youths. He has launched the Trail of Hope Foundation to provide a base for his advocacy work. Currently the group is raising money for a three-motorcycle trip through 16 countries to document the conditions of street children from Cape Town to Berlin.

Tendai Sean Joe

You can follow Tendai Sean Joe on his blog, on Facebook or on Twitter, and you can read his guest post in Deb Corbeil and Dave Bouskill’s excellent blog, Canada’s Adventure Couple, where I first learned about him. Deb and Dave (@theplanetd on Twitter) bring a great deal of insight to the subject, having biked from Cairo to Capetown to raise money for Plan Canada, another group that raises money for underprivileged children. Their blog also highlights journeys for a cause, and you can find a list of stories from their Giving Back, Travel the World and Make a Difference series at the end of Tendai Joe’s guest post.
Here’s one of many photos from Tendai Joe’s Facebook page, taken on a preliminary trip to one of the sites he will visit on his tour.

]]> http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2009/10/27/journeys-with-a-cause/feed/ 1 http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2009/09/30/11-tips-for-a-successful-photo-safari/ http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/2009/09/30/11-tips-for-a-successful-photo-safari/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:35 +0000 Tracy http://tracybarnettonline.com/blog/?p=639

Giraffe, Crescent Island, Lake Naivasha, Kenya (Fred Tooley)

Good nature photography takes years of painstaking study and practice, first-rate equipment and a great deal of patience. But as Houston architect Fred Tooley discovered, spectacular shots are there for the taking on safari, and you don’t have to be a professional photographer to get them.

I asked him to share his top ten photo tips, and he was generous – he even gave us an extra. For a more extensive collection of his photos, and other Houston safari travelers, see African Adventures, and keep an eye out for their story in Buzz Magazines.

Cheetah Family, Masai Mara National Park, Kenya (Fred Tooley)

1. If this is the trip of a lifetime (like it was for us) it is not the time to get by with a point-and-shoot camera. Use a good quality SLR with interchangeable lenses, You can rent them online or from a camera shop if you do not want to buy. You wouldn’t take a cheap gun on an African hunt, so why take a cheap camera for this other kind of shooting?

2. Today the zoom lens rules, and this is perfect for an Africa trip. The animals are not going to wait for you to change to the right focal length lens.Probably 75% of  my photos were taken with an 18-200 mm vibration reduction zoom. The remainder were taken with a second camera (highly recommended) using a 70-300 mm zoom.

3. I bought a used backup camera and lens (the 70-300) in case my “go-to” camera malfunctioned. But they both functioned perfectly througout the trip, and having a second camera is a real plus. Sharon decided to become a photographer on the trip, and today’s modern digitals make it easy to learn the basics on the fly. When one of us was not in good position for a photo, then the other usually was.

4. Leave the tripod and monopod at home. You can’t use them in the vehicle, and if you get out, you get eaten. A window-clamp type mount was very handy however.

5. If I made a mistake it was taking the 500mm lens for those long shots. The window-mount is not stable enough for such a lens, it is cumbersome, and it weighs about 1800 lbs. (I think).

6. Before you leave, test your lens and be sure it is sharp, sharp, SHARP. Every lens you purchase will be advertised as sharp, but many are not. Try zooming in on a small sign a couple of blocks away, and then blow it up on the computer. A sharp lens can make a huge difference, unless you are only going to send low-res shots to friends on the Internet. Thishttp://www.kenrockwell.com/ is an excellent site for an expert opinion on various lenses.

7. Take a dust-proof camera bag that you can access quickly. The 4×4 is not going to be air-conditioned, and the dust kicked up by another vehicle can be daunting. The “dry season” would have been much much worse.

8. Sit in the front passenger seat if you are the chief photographer. A good driver will always position the vehicle for you to get a good shot, and you don’t have to stand up (dropping your lens cap off your lap) to shoot through the open roof. This is more important than you might imagine.

9. Take many many many) photos. It costs you nothing, and you never know when the animal may make a subtle change in position or expression that you did not even notice. Once in a while you will accidently catch a bird in flight in the background, or a butterfly flies into your frame and you did not even notice till you got home.

10. Most important: As tempting as it may be, don’t make the mistake of seeing your entire trip through a camera lens only. Experience it fully.

11. One of the smartest things I did was to purchase (online) a small reasonably priced “inverter”. This is a small “black box” that converts 12 volts (from the vehicle’s lighter plug-in) to 120 volts (for battery charging or whatever) with a standard American 3-prong outlet. The vehicle was set up with a convenience outlet, but since Africa uses 220 volts, these outlets could not be used without a converter and plug adaptor. Since we were in the vehicles most of each day, charging the spare batteries was a snap with the inverter. And imagine the gratitude of our guide when I left it with him as a gift for use by his American clients.

Three of the travelers shared some spectacular photography, which I’ve put together in a slide show for you here. The first two photographers, Fred Tooley and Patti Allender, went on photo safaris in East Africa; the third, Suzanne Shelby, went on a big game hunt on the South African border with Botswana.

Sharon Tooley and Suzanne Shelby shared some tips, lessons learned from their travels, which I am including below; they’re an excellent resource for those who might be contemplating a trip to Africa. Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the splendid photo tour that their labors yielded.

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East Africa by 4×4

Sharon and Fred Tooley of Houston, Texas, travel as often as they can and always on a very tight budget. Fred is an architect and Sharon is graphic designer. This May they took a 1,600-mile 4×4 ride through the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, starting in Nairobi and making a loop through the great parks of Kenya and Tanzania.

Sharon penned an extensive guide to travelers; read on and be prepared.

Flight details:

We flew British Airways direct from Houston to Heathrow and then British Airways direct from Heathrow to Nairobi. Our tour company was able to secure a good fare through one of the airfare wholesalers that they use. Several months after we purchased our tickets, Continental offered a r/t fare between Houston and London that would have saved us $200. per ticket. We were OK with that because having the same carrier (B/A) for the entire trip allowed us to check our bags straight through to Nairobi–giving us a better chance of having our bags make it to Kenya the same time we did…and they did. Continental doesn’t fly to Nairobi so it would have meant a carrier change to take advantage of the lower priced tickets.

Itinerary Summary:

Our trip dates were May 15 through 27. We did take a bit of a risk since this is still at the very end of the rainy season. Our tour representative had told us that “rain doesn’t stop a safari…it’s just the mud that’s problematical”–we did see a couple of “mud disabled” vehicles but for the most part we saw very little evidence of rain. Scheduling our trip when we did, however, did introduce us to a cool, green, lush Africa when we were expecting heat and dry arid plains–it was worth the scheduling risk. And, we were there during the beginning of the “Great Migration” which we witnessed in the Serengeti.

Day 1: Arrive Nairobi
Day 2: Nairobi to Naivasha
Day 3 and 4: Masai Mara National Park
Day 5 and 6: Serengeti National Park
Day 7 and 8: Serengeti to Ngorongoro
Day 9: Ngorongoro to Arusha
Day 10 and 11: Arusha to Amboseli National Park
Day 12: Amboseli to Nairobi
Tour Company: Kensington Tours (listed as “One of the Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth” by National Geographic)

Accommodations:

Nairobi Safari Club—Nairobi, Kenya
Navaisha Simba Lodge—Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Masai Mari Kensington Safari Tent Camp (a Kensington camp only for Kensington clients)
Serengeti Kensington Safari Tent Camp (a Kensington camp only for Kensington clients)
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge—Ngorongoro, Tanzania
Serena Mountain Village—Arusha Tanzania
Amboselli Serena Safari Lodge—Amboselli National Park, Kenya

Without exception, we had 5 star experiences at all.

Miscellaneous expenses to include in the budget:

Inoculations: This is what our primary care doctor wanted us to have…check with your individual doctor for his or her recommendations. Tanzania requires a Yellow Fever vaccination, however.
Our second shot in the Hepatitis A series (we’d had our first earlier in the year)
Polio
Typhoid
Meningococcal meningitis

Medications:

Prescription Anti Malarial medication (meds started several days prior to our departure, the full time we were in country and taken for one full week after our return)

“Cipro type” antibiotic prescribed by our doctor in case of serious illness while in country

Visas: (purchased in country)

Kenya: $25 per person (this was a pleasant surprise for us, the cost had been $50. pp a few weeks prior to our trip

Tanzania: $50 per person

Trip Insurance (included in the cost of our Kensington Tour:

This was a big “chunk of budget” but it would have been an even bigger hit had we been forced to swallow the full price of the trip, that was payable in full prior to departure as well as airfare, should for unforeseen circumstances had we been forced to cancel.
The medical insurance portion of the policy was, as far as we were concerned, mandatory. Our tour fee included the services of “The Flying Doctors of Africa” to air-vac us out of the bush and to Nairobi should one of us be injured or become seriously ill. However, we wanted insurance that would air evacuate us back to the US to the hospital of our choice…i.e. Methodist or St. Luke’s, Houston Texas. The cost of the policies are based on age and levels of coverage.

Miscellaneous tips

It’s important to verify with your tour company prior to signing a contract: do they cover all entrance fees to the national parks in your itinerary? Those fees can range from $20to $60 per day, per person. Our tour was all-inclusive. It included all accommodations, breakfast, lunch and dinner each day (even tea in Arusha), all transportation and all entrance fees to the multiple national parks that we visited two times per day, each day.

* Pack light. Everything needs to be lightweight and preferably quick-drying. There are very good packing lists for safaris available on line. Also, we used the laundry services available in two of the lodges that we stayed and it was inexpensive and good. Don’t pack black or dark navy clothing–they attract Tsetse flies…and we experienced them and felt their blood sucking vengeance. In Africa, regular flies are known as “sweet flies” as opposed to the Tsetse…think Houston mosquitoes on steroids. They were only a problem in the Serengeti and only when we were on foot in camp or stopped in the vehicle–as soon as we were traveling, the wind sent them on their way.

I griped and complained about packing my lightweight hiking boots but after a 3 inch acacia thorn to the toe on my first wildlife adventure hike (wearing my nifty Keen sandals), I was glad to have my boots along for all other day hikes.

* Having a digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) Camera makes photo taking pure joy. We used a small point-and-shoot digital camera in Costa Rica; however, the nature of wildlife photography makes it much more successful to focus on the subject with a good SLR. Plus you are not hiking, so the camera weight is not that much of an issue.

* Take the information seriously about packing a fleece and a jacket…it was very cold in the early mornings and evenings around the camp fire at night in the camps.

* I always travel with an inflatable neck pillow when we fly and found that taking it on the long road trips from camp to camp made the bumpy roads (they call it the “African Massage”) less punishing to my head and neck.

* Keep a Journal–Fred ordered “African Safari Journal” by Mark W. Nolting and it became our constant companion on the trip. It was small and lightweight. It had not only ruled pages for actual journal entries but exceptional mammal and bird checklists, illustrations and descriptions of mammals, birds and reptiles as well as an illustrated map directory, including maps to each of the National Parks and a language section with keywords in Swahili, Shona, Tswana, Zulu and French—all of that in a half-inch thick book that fits in your jacket pocket.

What we would change about the trip:

We’d make it a few days longer, stayed an additional day in Ngorongoro, and we would have taken advantage of the 4-day Seychelles extension that Kensington offered so that Fred could have fly fished. Oh well, there’s always next time.

We would travel with as many school supplies as we could carry without penalty for overweight baggage. A tip for anyone traveling to Africa: go to the Dollar Store and buy bulk loads of pencils and ballpoint pens–the children beg for them. Bandannas are also sought after. I bought a beautiful Masai bracelet and a pair of carved candlesticks at amazing prices because I threw in my bandannas with each purchase. We took two dozen bandannas between the four of us but wished we had taken twice that many. We gave most of them to the school we visited in the Masai Mara and would have loved to have more to give to the children we met during our trip. School supplies in Africa are incredibly expensive and one teacher told us the kids often have to practice writing with no pen or pencil.

Big game hunting in South Africa

Suzanne and John Shelby of Houston made their trip to South Africa in July. John is a veterinarian; Suzanne is an architect by training and a full-time mom by trade. Here are her words of advice.

* Don’t try to do this trip on your own.  Research outfitters that specialize in your interest (i.e. Photographic Safaris, Big Game Hunts, etc.) We hired a Professional Hunter (PH) and fantastic guide, Henry Van Schalkwyk, who can be reached at wildlife@lantic.net. His knowledge was so integral to the success and enjoyment of the trip. It would not have been the same trip without him.

* Remember that our summer is their winter…pack accordingly. Plan on wearing layers so that you can peel away as the sun warms up the day.

* Check with your doctor for any special prescriptions or immunizations in advance.

* Pilanesberg National Park Reserve http://pilanesberggamereserve.com/index.html Incredible landscape and many, many animals to see.

* If hunting: Be sure proper paperwork is filled out before arrival to South Africa and make sure you have contacted the U.S. Customs Dept prior to your trip.

* Consider renting a Global Satellite Phone for the trip.  We rented ours through our cellular phone company.

* Be prepared.  Relax and enjoy a trip of a lifetime!

Well, I didn’t see giraffes and elephants and lions. But since “safari” is the Swahili word for “journey,” I can honestly say I did!

Look for the full story in the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News travel section, or just click here to read it online. Meanwhile, njema safari (happy travels)!

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For more stories from this incredible journey through the real Africa, from celebrating the election of Obama in hubub of Dar es Salaam to making new friends in the Bukoba countryside, see Tracy’s blog, Postcards from Tanzania.

For a story about the amazing group of women who drew me to this remote region, and how they are changing it, see From Texas to Tanzania: San Antonio network changes African lives.

And for story and videos from an exotic little side trip to the legendary Spice Islands — a land of Omani towers, red colobus monkeys, sparkling white beaches and mahogany forests – see Hakuna Matata in Zanzibar.

It’s been like this every night since I arrived, my mind filled with warnings from well-meaning friends of the dangers of the African darkness. My first night here, I lay in my bed, my mind filled with images of what must be out there: I imaged some sort of primal ritual involving bare-chested, sweaty people beating giant tom-toms around fires. I sensed that something very tribal was going on, and that I needed to be a part of it.

I was torn. As a journalist, I know very well that the best stories lay on the other side of my fears. On the other hand, I had been warned that it wasn’t safe for a woman to be outside at night. I wasn’t quite sure what it was I was supposed to be afraid of: man-sized mosquitoes waiting to inject me with malaria serum or serial killers hanging out behind trees waiting to grab unsuspecting mzungus (the Swahili word for white people, of which there are very few in these parts).

I had hurried back to the hotel after the Internet café closed at dusk, trying to beat the clouds of mosquitoes that supposedly came out after dark here. As I stepped out onto the street, I noticed people everywhere – men, women, old people, children – probably heading quickly to the safety of their homes, I imagined. But they were not hurrying. It was quite dark when I arrived, and the mosquitoes never materialized.

Later, as I lay huddled in my bed under my mosquito net, listening to the commotion all around us, I ridiculed myself. I realized that probably the only people in town who were locked inside were Paula and me. I longed to go out and follow those drumbeats, to see where they led. But I didn’t yet know more than a handful of words in Swahili – enough to say “how are you,” “very well,” and “thank you,” but not enough to say “get away from me.”

Besides, Paula had offered to take me to a Catholic sunrise service, and she would be knocking at 6 a.m. So prudence being the better part of valor, as they say, I slept fitfully until just before dawn, when the drumbeat died away. My second night I worked until midnight writing stories from the previous two days. I didn’t imagine that, it being Sunday, a similar commotion would arise.

I was wrong. I felt the inexorable force of curiosity pull me out of my bedroom and I found myself asking Judith and Mulungi, the girls in the reception, about the noise.

“It is the night clubs,” Judith said, apologetically. “It is bothering you?”

“Actually,” I said, “I was thinking I’d like to go. What do you think? Is it safe?”

“You want to go?” The girls examined me incredulously, and then burst into peals of laughter.

“You want to go dancing?”

A rapid-fire exchange in Swahili between the two ensued. The next thing I knew, Judith was leading me by the hand into Lundi’s Night Club. Past a lineup of police on motorcycles, apparently keeping the peace. Through a cluster of men, a few of whom eyed me curiously but said nothing.

The place was packed. A Tanzanian blend between hip-hop and reggae, with some modern African beat mixed in, pounded the air from giant speakers; light flashed from slowly rotating disco balls, flickering on the faces of the dancers. The entire nightclub, it seemed, was a pulsating dance floor.

Judith held tight to my hand and steadily wove her way through the crowd to the back, where the wall was lined with sofas and a friend greeted her. Nelson was his name, and he flashed a brilliant smile, shook my hand warmly and invited us to sit. He was a short young man, but what he lacked in stature he more than made up for in style. He was oddly but carefully dressed, in a collared button-down shirt trimmed in brown fake fur, a Rolex-style watch over one long sleeve and a brown knit cap on his head. I invited the two of them to a “Kili” (slang for Kilimanjaro, the popular Tanzanian beer) and they happily accepted. At 1,500 shillings a bottle, it wasn’t something they indulged in very often, I could tell.

As I looked around the dance floor, I noticed several people had brought in their own drinks – boxes of mango juice from the nearby duka (convenience shop) seemed to be the most common. Smoking was not allowed, so the air was clear.

I settled in to take in the crowd; in most ways, it could have been a subdued and less racy version of a U.S. nightclub. The dancers were all conservatively and respectably dressed, and the dance moves were graceful and in some cases joyful, but much less suggestive than what I’d witnessed earlier this year in a Padre Island nightclub.

It was, to be frank, a little disappointing. I had hoped to find a live band, African drummers, some authentic remnant of the traditional culture. Instead, I found an all-black version of American Bandstand.

No matter. I determined to settle in and observe the crowd. As with birdwatching, one must be patient in the observation of nightlife, and one’s patience is often rewarded.

Judith invited me to dance, and I agreed. I was the only white person in the club, perhaps in the history of the club, but nobody stared. I was within inches of other dancers, but nobody touched. One young man caught my eye and invited me to dance, and I looked the other way; my refusal was accepted with good grace, and he moved on.

What a contrast to my experiences in nightclubs in Latin America, where a blonde woman without a male companion is guaranteed an occasionally overwhelming stream of piropos – catcalls, compliments and persistent pleading invitations. Here I sensed the palpable protection of respect.

We made our way back to our spot on the sofa, where Nelson invited me to dance. I looked at Judith and she urged me on with a smile. I insisted that she join us. Soon Nelson was showing off his fanciest moves. It didn’t take long to observe that Nelson had his own style – more Diana Ross than John Travolta, and it dawned on me that we were in very safe hands with Nelson.

I began matching his twirls and flourishes and felt an exuberant laugh bubbling up from deep inside. I was in the middle of nowhere, Africa, dancing with my hotel’s receptionist and a gay man, and we were all having the time of our lives.

Suddenly, a serious-looking man came up to Judith and pulled her aside. She’d been trying to reach a friend on her cell phone since we were back at the hotel; it seems this was him.

She came back and continued dancing, though less animated than before. Finally she tapped my shoulder. “Tracy, let’s go,” she said, grabbing my hand rather abruptly.

“OK,” I said, waving a quick goodbye to Nelson, and we were working our way back through the pulsating crowd. “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” I asked, fearing that I’d been oblivious to some sort of menace, or had somehow overstepped my bounds. Was my dress too revealing? My dance too free?

“No, no problem.”

“Is your boyfriend upset?”

We were out in the parking lot now, and the boyfriend was waiting, unsmiling, at the edge.

“He’s my husband, actually … but it’s ok.”

I was shocked – she didn’t look old enough to have a husband. But then, I had to remind myself, this was Africa.

“Please tell him it was my fault, Judith. I don’t want him to be angry with you because of me. Tell him I needed your help, that I am doing research for a newspaper article…” It sounded lame, even to me. He launched into her with a barrage of Swahili. She tried to defend herself – I heard the words “gazeti” (newspaper) and “ingereza” (English).

“Tell him I am so grateful to you,” I said. “Tell him that I said you behaved as a perfect princess.”

She tried to suppress a smile and she translated, but he didn’t budge.

I intervened with every apologetic word or phrase I knew: “pole pole, (sorry sorry)” “pole sana (very sorry),” and “samahani (pardon me),” which usually produced a smile – but he wouldn’t even look at me. It was clear that nothing would assuage him. Finally Judith shook her head and grabbed my hand.

“Let’s go,” she said, and we headed back to the hotel. “Tanzanian men,” she muttered on our way back. “You see what we have to live with? They don’t understand that you can just go to a nightclub and have fun with your friends. He thinks it’s something bad.”

Back at the hotel, I apologized profusely. Judith shook her head.

“He is fine,” she said. “I’m glad I went. Everything will be ok, don’t worry.”

The next morning at the reception, Judith was her usual reserved, professional self. Nobody asked me about the nightclub. It was as if it had never happed.

But that night, when the drums began, I smiled. I now knew what was behind the sounds, and I wasn’t afraid. For the first time since I’d arrived, I slept like a baby. And for the rest of my time in Bukoba, day or night, I came and went as I pleased.

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For the children who clustered around her, on break from classes, it was time for tea – the only sustenance that most of them would have until they went home. For Jonia, it was time to do business.

The children lingered as long as they could, taking in the spectacle of two blonde-haired mzungus, or white people, taking pictures and speaking in a strange language. Finally their teacher appeared to usher them back to the classroom, leaving Jonia to tell her story – a story that winds its way back to San Antonio, Texas, and an extraordinary network of women created there.

Keep an eye on the San Antonio Express-News SA Life section for the full story. For those readers who don’t have access to the print edition, I’ll post the link here.