Adventure in Africa

Well, my daughter Juliana is off to Tanzania for the next couple of months to do volunteer work at a hospital in Arusha.  She figures it's good experience in her quest to get a medical degree, and since she's now certified to draw blood, feels she might actually be able to make a useful contribution. As with any trip to Africa, it's already been an adventure.  To follow her travels, you can read her blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/jhinch/4/tpod.html

It's been nearly 40 years since I was last in Tanzania myself, a 3-week photographic safari through Kenya and Tanzania. Besides the adventure of it all, what I recall most was the friendliness of the people. Bumping across 2000 miles of open savanna in a beat-up Volkswagen bus was quite an experience, but well worth it. It was my first chance to do any serious outdoor photography, so I learned as I went. And unlike today's instantaneous-feedback digital cameras, I had no idea whether the photos were any good until I returned from the trip and had the film processed. Given my novice skill level, I'm surprised how many of them turned out OK. Here's one example, a composite of four 35 mm shots of a water hole outside my room at the Kilaguni Lodge. This was taken long before anyone thought of digital software for stitching together multiple shots, but even then I figured there would eventually be a way to do so.  I've seen some more recent photos of the same water hole posted on the internet, and it looks pretty much the same today as it did back in 1973.  For a different travel experience, you might consider a photographic safari in East Africa.