Day Two: Tarangiri

-A great start to the day. Had a big breakfast at the Arusha Hotel with many exotic, fresh fruits and odd but tasty pancakes. I went outside to take some photo's and was immediately surrounded by artists selling their work. Aggressive salesman and I couldn't say no to 3.

-I've just finished setting up the Oztent. The tent itself is so easy to set up though it took me a little while to figure out the side panels. The drive out was nice. At one point a herd of zebras were off the side of the road. I got out and stalked them for some photo's. This was before we even made into Tarangiri.

We made a couple of stops along the way for various supplies (rope at the Arusha Market, Kerosene at the house of lubricants, charcoal at a small village). Every time we stopped I was surrounded by people trying to sell me something. I bought a few bracelets in exchange for some photo-ops with Maasai women. The people have always been very kind. I'm always greeted with a warm "Jambo!(hello)" followed by "Karibu(welcome)!"

-Tarangiri Park is nice. On the road to the campground we saw baboons (too far away to shoot), a Masaai Giraffe (called Masaai because of it's distinct color scheme and pattern...I've never seen Giraffes like this before). Several Wildebeest (such a strange animal). I'm very excited to go on my first Safari as the preview was awesome!

-What a day it has been! After setting up camp, Nixon and I went on Safari. Very close to camp were hundreds of Zebra's and Wildebeest. Nixon is an expert on identifying the many different species of birds that we have seen. It wasn't long before we came across large herds of elephant. They are massive in size with many babies in tow. Walking single file, the sounds they made were incredible. Trumpeting, growling, stomping...amazing! We saw a very unique Secretary Bird who gave us quite a show during the beautiful golden hour before sunset as well as a large male ostrich (you can tell they are male by the red neck vs. gray on the females) who decided the middle of the road was where he would stay laying down. A magnificent sunset with a herd of elephants walking away...awesome day!

We returned to camp and Swalehh (the cook) had dinner waiting. An incredible Celery Soup followed by fried Tilapia, potatoes, herbed spinach and a banana crepe' for dessert. All made from scratch at camp using the ground as his barbecue pit...delicious!

As I am writing this, I am under a mosquito net listening to millions of crickets with the occasional elephant trumpet and hyenas laughing, growling and making all sorts of shrieky sounds. This truly is an incredible experience.

-It is the middle of the night and I haven't been able to sleep a wink this first night in the tent. Al I lay her listening to the night sounds of Tarangiri I am thinking about the sounds of the day. The two male Impala fighting over the rights to the harem were so close I could here their antlers crashing. The Zebra's making horse like breaths, the ostrich making his sounds by inflating his neck like an elongated balloon. The elephants trumpeting and their ominous growls as well as the sound of the feet crashing to the ground while walking and the sound of them chewing the foliage nearby. The splashing of the Wildebeest in the pond. The numerous bird calls. Tonight the hyenas started screaming. It's a chilling sound next so close to you when sleeping in a tent. I'm sure it was my imagination but I could've sworn I heard the distant grunt of a lion. Very near to my tent has been an intermittent sound made by an unknown animal* It's almost a screaming sound and I'm guessing it's some sort of primate. I can hear the snoring, coughing and farting in the nearby tents clear as day. It would be nice to fall asleep.

-It's about 4:45 AM. Still no sleep. Had to pee...bad. Many animals noises outside. Screw it! Got my thongs on and went outside. Pitch friggin black out. My piece of crap flashlight only works when it wants to..cool. Scariest pee of my life! :)

*I later figured out the screaming primates were baboons.

A Coffee farm on the way to Tarangiri.
Coca Cola bottles stacked high.
A young Maasai boy herding goats.
A small Maasai village off the side of the main road.
Maasai
A friendly Maasai Woman selling her jewelry at a small village.
An intense looking Maasai woman not disguising her stare.
The first Zebras I saw on the trip and we weren't even to Tarangiri yet!
A distinct pattern and dark colors are found on the Maasai Twiga (Giraffes)
My home in Tanzania.

Two Male Impala fighting over the rights of the harem. One male per 30 or so females...busy guy.
Wildebeests enjoying a refreshing beverage.
Break time at the watering hole.
Twiga
Death in Tanzania.
My Guide for the week...Nixon. Everyone in Tanzania knows Nixon!

Zebra support group.
Wildebeests and Zebras that stayed in Tanzania instead of migrating to Kenya.


There is nothing in the world like a beautiful herd of elephants walking towards you.
Who doesn't love a baby elephant?
This picture reminds me of the elephant march in the Jungle Book Movie.
This Secretary Bird was my favorite bird of the entire trip.
A Male Ostrich Vocalizing.
It is believed by some that God was angry at one point and yanked the Baobob tree from the ground and stuck it back in upside down.
A herd of elephants walking towards an amazing sunset.

Africa...Travel and Arusha

Hi everyone! I've made it back home safe and sound. I'm pretty much wiped out from all of the flying and travel but seeing my beautiful family was like being injected with a pure dose of happiness so life is good.

Over the next couple of weeks, my intent is to post on this blog my journal entries in full for the most part. Keep in mind that this is my personal journal so there will be things typed that you may feel fall into the "too much information" category. If you aren't interested in that stuff, skip the typing and check out the photo's. Those of you that know me know that I am a guy that keeps my heart on my sleeve. What you see is what you get. There were times during this trip that I was frightened. I am not too macho a guy to admit this and I talk about it in detail at times. There will be a lot of references to bathrooms and other things that again fall into the category of too much information. Those of you that know me will also know that I can be a bit long-winded. There will be no exceptions to this during these blog posts I'm afraid. At times I jump from random thought to random thought and may not make a lot of sense. Just go with it OK? :) It is my hope that I can paint an accurate, detailed description of what it is like to be on Safari and to travel to the amazing country of Tanzania. Bear in mind that this trip represents the first stamp on my passport so culture shock was inevitable.

Every other day I will type the journal entry from the day in Africa with photo's from that day accompanying it. I took thousands of photo's and am going to do my very best to limit it to 15-20 pics per day. Please do not copy, distribute or use these photo's in any way shape or form without asking me first. All of these photo's will be available to purchase prints of and I will post more details about that later. If there is something you see that you would like to purchase before I post those details, please email me (haywardphoto@comcast.net) and I will be glad to help you out. Please share this link with your email buddies as I would love to get many readers here. I appreciate comments on the blog very much as well, so if you see something you like, please let me know. Without further ado....

Journal entry 1..Travel and Arusha (I am combining the first 3 days journal post into this one as I didn't take any photo's during my time traveling.)

July 9, 2008: The first day is finally here! I'm sitting on the plane in Seattle right now ready to take off for San Francisco. It's leaving more than an hour late which gives me a short time to transport to the International gates to depart for London. My fingers are crossed.

Yesterday, before I went in for a massage, Steve and Sherry came by during Steve's lunchbreak from Boeing to say a prayer. Wow can they pray! It was like getting a shot in the arm and I feel so confident that God is with me on this trip.

This morning when I went online, one of the daily news headlines was "45 year old man works himself to death!" I do not want that headline to be about me...ever. This was sign #1.

When Lea returned from the gym I went outside to greet her and Sophie. A bald Eagle was flying overhead. This was sign #2.

The girls drove me to the airport and Savannah was so sweet. She wouldn't let go of my hand until we arrived. Upon check-in we got the best ticket agent ever (United Airlines). My travel plans are complex and she did all she could to make sure all t's were crossed and i's dotted. She then said were were her "customer of the day" and issued gate passes to Lea and the girls so they could escort me to the terminal. It was tough saying goodbye but that will make "hello again" even sweeter.

July 10: I am sitting on the floor in the Nairobi Airport in Kenya. The flight from London was better than the flight to London. I was able to sleep a bit which was nice. My TV didn't work so I snoozed instead. Definitely was much needed. The airport here is a bit intimidating. The culture shock has already set in. My flight to Tanzania doesn't leave for another 4 hours. I'm less than enthused about the wait as I am eager to see Arusha and a bed! Flying into Kenya was amazing. The first hint of light began an explosion of color. Bright red, orange, blue and yellow. It was astonishing. The girl in the seat next to me was from London and was flying to an African Country to live for 3 months to work. She is a Barister and I'm so glad I gave some thought to that before asking why she would move to Africa to brew coffee. Barister...not Barista!

The wait in Kenya seemed to go on forever. The airport has a very dark, seedy feel to it. I was thrilled they allowed both carry-ons so I never had to check in any camera equipment and risk losing it.

ARUSHA!...The flight from Kenya to Tanzania was just 45 minutes or so. A 5 hour wait for a 45 minute flight? Flying into Tanzania I could tell it was going to be an amazing adventure. It appears much greener and more tropical than Kenya. Mt. Kilimanjaro is an awesome sight to behold too.

The Tanzanian (Kilimanjaro) airport is much nicer than Nairobi's. Ours was the only flight arriving so getting through customs was a breeze. I was thrilled to find that the tent and my 1 bag had arrived. Pretty amazing...4 flights, 3 different airlines, over 30 hours. There was a long line of people from my flight at the "lost luggage" counter so I really feel fortunate.

I was met by two guys that Alana from Born Free Safari's had sent to pick me up. "Goodluck" and "Moody" no kdding, that's their names (though I am sure dramatically spelled wrong and for that I apologize). I liked them both instantly and we hit the road. Right outside the gate of the airport I was pummeled with culture shock. Men and women on bicycles, walking with huge bails of hay, or buckets of apples or you name it balanced on their head. There was a dead donkey on the road with it's guts spilling out that people were walking around. Little boys with sticks hitting their livestock to keep them in line. There is a tremendous amount of poverty here it is quite obvious.

We drove past a small community where a group of guys were shouting and appearing to cause some trouble. Moments later, 2 jeeps with men wearing bandana's over their faces had sirens blaring. The flew past us towards the trouble and each jeep had a gigantic machine gun attached to the top.

We continued to drive and saw so many people working incredibly hard in clothing ranging from tattered rags to vibrantly colorful robes. It was a fascinating drive and two hours were gone in the blink of an eye.

We arrived at the Arusha Hotel which stood out. More people were everywhere on the streets. A guard let us in and I dropped my stuff off in the room and immediately went to lunch with Goodluck. He reviewed my itinerary with me and we walked to his office to meet my guide for the week Nixon as well as the owner of the safari company. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. "Jambo!" is the friendly greeting that everyone offers along with a warm handshake and a sincere smile.

Goodluck then took me on a walking tour through Arusha. We came across the public Market that I couldn't believe. Mostly everyone goes here for all of their shopping. Goodluck quickly told me not to take photo's without permission. When I saw someone I wanted to shoot he would ask if it was OK. All of them wanted money to make a photo. Some wanted as much as $15 (to which I said no). Most others only wanted $2 and I usually gave them $3 instead. Goodluck was always on the move. Any time we would stop to take a photo we would immediately become surrounded. At one point a group of women asked me to take their photo then immediately said in English "Money!" I gave the first 1,000 Shillings (about $1) and another the same. Before I knew it there were many people around me with their hands all over me digging for more. It was quite exciting and could could see a great deal of worry on Goodlucks face. Fortunately, I had stashed the bulk of my money in zipped pockets either in my sock or my passport pouch and only had a small sum in my wallet that I was using to pay people with. Many eyes lingered towards my camera in a not so friendly way so we constantly moved.

We made it back to the Hotel and I was in bed by 8:00. I'm finishing this at 4AM as I just woke up out of nowhere and can't get back to sleep. Heading off to Tarangiri at 9:00...I can't wait!


A vendor inside the market.
A large pile of colorful beans.
A woman selling ground coffee inside the market.
A nice young girl selling socks from her head.
Goodluck..my guide to Arusha.
Isaiah is an artist that was hanging out in front of my hotel. I bought one of his paintings.
The horn was used often.
A very common method of carrying things along the road.
The number of bicycles far outnumber the number of cars.

This appeared to be a common way to transport goods.
The back side of the market.
I loved all the colors on some of the buildings.
A man just hanging out near his home.

Still alive

My time in Africa is quickly coming to a close. The experience has truly been indescribable. This morning at 3:00 AM I had a Lion (Simba) just inches away from my tent. His footsteps woke me then a minute later he started to grunt and growl. Yesterday there were Giraffes (Twiga) behind my tent which I didn't mind so much. The Lion(s?) I'm not embarrassed to admit had me literally paralyzed with fear. I don't think I've ever felt so alive as the time I've spent in Africa. I am so happy to be in a wonderful villa tonight. The camping has been great and an incredible experience but I can say with 100% honesty I was thrilled to find a hot shower, soap and flushing toilet tonight :) It's funny how the things I've taken for granted all my life have become so important. I've seen many, many beautiful animals and met incredible people. This afternoon on extemely long, brutal drive from Serengeti to Ngorongora Crater we had a SNAFU with the trailer we were pulling and found ourselves in a Masaai village where I learned a great deal about an culture far different from my own. All of these stories I will blog about in great detail when I publish my journal from this trip (which is almost full by the way!). Tomorrow I will be on Safari in Ngorongora Crater, followed by another night in the tent on the rim of the crater then it is to the airport in Tanzania, Nairobi, London, Denver and Seattle!

Take care,

Mat

Jambo!

Jambo from Lake Ndutu in Tanzania, Africa! I have only a brief moment on the computer and I wanted to share a portion of an entry from my journal with you. When I return to America at the end of the month I will be posting all of my journal entries in full day to day along with photo's from this incredible adventure. I will elaborate on this story at that time...

Monday...If you have ever heard the growl of an elephant then you know it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. If, like me last night you have been alone in a small tent in the middle of a pitch black night and not only heard but felt the growl of an elephant less than five feet away from you followed by a loud trumpeting alongside the abnoxious and scary laughter of a pack of hyenas with the screams of many baboons then you know as I do that it will stop your heart!

Hanging out in London

First of all I would like to point out that the keyboards in London are out of control. Where the shift key should be, it is not. Where the @ key should be, it is not. I refuse to accept any personal responsibility for any typo's that may or may not occur in this post.

While I have a quick 6 1/2 hours to kill I thought I would let you know that I've survived the first half of my travels and am eager to complete them (though not over eager to sit on another plane for 9 more hours..blech)

Lea and the girls drove me to the airport yesterday morning. The ticket agent for United Airlines was incredibly cool and made quite a few jokes at my expense. After ensuring my luggage would make the 4 transfers through the 3 different airlines she offered Lea and the girls a pass so they could see me off at the gate. We made the journey to the terminal via a train and learned that my flight was delayed for what at the time read an hour. Turned out to be closer to two hours which was about the amount of time I had between flights in San Francisco...yikes!

I ran off the plane and found that I needed to go through security again (the buses that bypass security had stopped running for the day). Whenever I am late for a flight, security seems to move at the speed of STOP. After what seemed like an eternity, I passed through the metal detector, pulled up my pants, strapped on my belt, tied my shoes and tried to leave my camera behind until a nice young lady asked if the bag belonged to me..phew.

I ran to the terminal, it was loading and 10 minutes later we were taxiing the runway. Cool. The Boeing 777 is a nice plane. No question about it. TV's on the back of every headrest, plenty of legroom (be sure to upgrade to Economy Plus if it's available..well worth it!). The stewards and stewardesses seemed to be having a bad night on my side. Those on the other side were having a great time, but my side had a German guy with control issues.."No! You cannot have two bags of pretzels! We must ensure everyone gets one on the plane!" I was shaky from no food, but was terrified of this guy so I let it go :) The other gal was a bit cranky too but we were fed, we had movies and I kid you not...I could not sleep a wink. As I am typing this, my eyes are blurred, I'm sure I'm babbling too much and a sure sign of sleep deprivation..I'm figuring out this stupid keyboard already.

I don't know if you realize this or not, but in London, they drive on the wrong side of the road too. I had to take a bus to Terminal 4 which is wayyy out in the boondocks and I'm not too big a man to admit I was white knuckeling the ride over. I knew in theory the wrong side of the road is the right side here, but the reality was different.

I'm now debating on food. Nothing sounds good right now but I need to eat. Wish me luck!

I doubt I'll be able to make any further updates until I return. I'm glad I have this blog as it's served as a nice distraction to prevent me from buying duty free goods that I have absolutely no use for.

See ya!

Mat

Adventure Bound!

I'm sorry to inform you that this will be my final blog post for a few weeks. I know many of you live and breath and hang on pins and needles in anticipation of my next post but you are just going to have to wait :)

For those of you that do not know I will be traveling to Tanzania, Africa for an adventure safari. I'm flying off by myself and will spend most of the time camping in the tent you see in the photograph. There will be a couple of days in hotel's so I can hopefully bathe to prevent the animals from running away at the first scent :)

My plan is to keep a daily journal on the trip. When I get back I will post my journal entries in their entirety day by day and will include my favorite photo's from the day of the journal entry. If you've read my blog for a while you know I can be a bit long winded so beware :)

I fly from Seattle to San Francisco then it's a 10 hour flight to London where I have a 6 hour layover and I'm seriously debating whether or not that's enough time to go through customs and hop a cab to see some sites. We'll see. From there it's 8 and a half more hours in a plane to Kenya where I wait for a few hours to hop a puddle jumper to Tanzania. I'll be picked up at the airport and escorted to a town that serves as the hub of Tanzania called Arusha.

Early in the morning I'm off to Tarangire National Park where I will camp for 2 days then off to Lake Manyara National Park for a day followed by the main event the Serengeti for 4 days where millions of Wildebeests are migrating providing an all you can eat buffet for the carnivores of Africa..should make for a good photo op :) After the Serengeti it's a couple days at Ngorongoro Crater, back to Arusha and home.

I am very excited about this trip. Since I will be by myself I get to follow my own agenda which is cool. My plan is pre-sunrise beginnings shooting animals with a long lens through the golden hour and sunsets every night as well with sleep during the day. Stay tuned for a fun batch of stories near the end of the month!

Mat

Craig and Shelley

Last Saturday in Portland, Oregon Shelley and Craig were married at the Four Square Church followed by an amazing reception at The Governor Hotel. No detail was left untouched with beautiful flowers, custom M&M's, delicious food (ask John McGrath about the food, he loved it as you can see by the photo of him below :) and wonderful people!

A great band called the Swingline Cubs played throughout the night enhancing an upbeat, fun wedding day.

The day began with Shelley and her bridesmaids getting ready at the very classy Dosha Salon Spa while Craig and his friends were shaved, snipped, massaged and covered in hot towels at a very cool mens salon called Hair M. I'm not kidding when I say I may make the drive back down to Portland just to visit this place and get the royal treatment these guys had. It was relaxing just being there.

The ceremony was quite beautiful. My wife and I belong to the Foursquare church in Everett and it was a treat to be down in Portland for this ceremony as it was filled with my favorite part of a wedding day..pure emotion. Tears, laughter, love and the Lord...all the necessary components of a great wedding ceremony and just the first step in what is so obviously going to be an amazing marriage.

Below are a few of my favorite photo's from the day. Congratulations Shelley and Craig. It was a great privilege to photograph your wedding day!


One of the flower girls enjoying a good laugh at the Dosha Hair Salon.
Craig at Hair M getting ready for the big day.

A very charming flower girl.
Ron seeing his daughter in her dress the first time.
The final moment just before walking down the aisle.
Craig seeing his bride for the first time that day.

After the ceremony they couldn't be close enough to each other.
A romantic moment in the foyer.
They had a great band.
A fellow Shutterbug :)
Their beautiful cake.
John McGrath laughing hysterically after seeing a very funny joke his wife Debbie played on him during the reception.
Craig and Shelley's first dance as a married couple.
The Father/Daughter Dance was a lot of fun to watch.