BRUSCA

No Ordinary Journey (Part 2 - St Jude & Serengeti)

Posted by Brusca under Uncategorized

“Jambo, Jina langu ni Bruce”. Atleast that was my feeble attempt to introduce myself to the moderately dressed wowan I was squashed next to on the Dala Dala. She looked at me, somewhat startled and quickly a wry smile came over her followed by some Swahili I failed to comprehend, but to my embarrassment, the majority on board the Dala Dala understood and subsequently loud laughter ensued. All I could muster was a smile and think to myself how “screwed” I was as it was a 40 minute ride back to Moshi.
To my surprise she attempted to make more conversation with me and even introduced me to a gentleman behind us I can only assume was her husband. It was a broken conversation but it seemed to do the job to calm my nerves.
Half way home the money collector asked me for my fair, I handed over 1000 shillings, the lady tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the collector and it was easy to see she wanted me to pay her fair, I did so without hesitation, not from fear but for respect to her for giving me the time. She subsequently showed respect when exiting the bus, by bowing her head gently into mine.
It wasn’t long before we reached Moshi and I recognised where I was. I made a beeline past the bus station and around the bank where the guard stood with his machine gun, I wasn’t about to make any withdrawals, I needed the toilet fast as my bowel situation had worsened. Fortunately I was able to control my bowels for the day but could not any longer. I was ever so thankful for my gastro kit I had so cleverly (nurse persuaded me to buy) purchased prior to leaving. I took the three pills required got changed and headed for the Bristol Cottages office where I was able to check mail and update facebook. It was about 30 minutes later my day ended, between the pills and my bowel movements I had no energy left and found an animal channel to watch, which ironically was showing the Crocodile Hunter (Swimming with Alligators). I struggled to get through the night and hoped that this condition would pass before the next day.

I woke the next morning feeling like a new person, things seemed to be working as they should, despite a lack of appetite I felt good. I packed early and made my way to reception to check out. I was all hopeful of catching the bus and making it to St Jude in Arusha in time for their school parade but was advised by reception it was safer to catch the later bus, I made the decision, although expensive, to take the taxi to Arusha as St Jude was not something I wanted to rush through.

It took a good couple of hours before I was checked in at the Outpost in Arusha and found myself at the School of St Jude.

Students at the School of St Jude

I jumped out of the taxi and was greeted warmly by a man named Felix. I had communicated with Felix about my visit prior to leaving. He was very welcoming and informed me the school parade had been moved to later that afternoon, so unfortunately I missed this. He also told me we were limited to entering the classrooms as some students were in exams. So we sat down and Felix explained the history of the School and Gemma, it was great to be sitting there getting the history of it all. We soon moved on and Felix gave me a tour around the School.

Students at the School of St Jude

Felix took me through both campuses and we met a lot of workers and teachers along the way. I had a bag of goodies I brought over Felix was carrying while I took photos. I felt a bit bad as they were heavy so I asked when was a good time to hand those over. We decided the school materials (pens and books) would best be handed over at the beginning of the school term, but I could hand over the soccer ball and the Wildlife Warrior goodies after lunch.

So to my surprise I got to have a sit down lunch with all the students, approximately 500+, this was awesome and there was such curiosity on their faces. We had a pretty staple lunch of beans and rice. Soon afterwards it was time for a 15 minute break and I broke out the goodies of the soccer ball and Wildlife Warrior materials. The kids lapped it up and it was such a joy to see.

Handing out the Wildlife Warrior goodies

Students from St Judes with some school materials I delivered.

Soon after I moved on from St Judes. It was a privilege and Felix was and awesome host.

I got the taxi back to the Outpost and met with Peter who I had chatted to about guiding me around Arusha. I had learnt by now that having a guide around these places was imperative. We headed out on foot as soon as I arrived back from St Jude. Peter showed me through Arusha, the markets were amazing, something you never see here in Australia. We collected a few items I needed for the upcoming Safari. We spent about 3 hours on foot around Arusha and I was exhausted after that day as I was not feeling 100%. All I needed now was to crash for an hour before Kellie arrived for our Safari.

Around 5pm I received a text from Kellie telling me she was not far away. Kellie organised a dinner at a restaurant named Stiggies. Stiggies is Australian owned and he was quite the character having lived in Arusha for over 30 years. To my surprise I was actually able to stomach some food.

The next day it was up early to meet our guide for the Safari. His name was Mosses and he was a pretty cool and charming character and had been doing the safari thing for some time.

We headed off and made our way towards the Ngorongoro Crater and the Rift Valley. It was about a 4-5 hour drive to get to the Serengeti, with a short stop on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. What a site.

Ngorngoro Crater Panorama

Pretty soon we were heading down the side of the crater descending into the Serngeti. It was a long and very rough road.

Entering the Serengeti

I was amazed at how quickly the animals just started appearing. Elephants, Gazelles, Zebras, Secretary birds… the horizon was soon covered with animals.

Elephant in the Serengeti

Wasn’t long before we came across 2 males and a female lion

Lion in the Serengeti

Lioness in the Serengeti

We spent the afternoon scouting around with Mosses and found an amazing site of a Leopard in a tree with a fresh kill.

Leopard with a fresh kill

It was getting late and after stopping to nab some sunset shots we headed to our camp. Unfortunately Mosses had never been to this camp and got a little bit lost in the Serengeti after dark, interesting times. We arrived at our wilderness camp at around 7:30pm and I was completely shot, a combination of the long day in the hot car, my tummy bug was not boding well so I had to lay down and skip dinner.

I have to mention that the camp was only about 10 minutes down the road from where we were viewing the animals, no fences, nothing between us and the animals accept a zip fly. The next day we woke to a Giraffe not far from our tent, that is something to truly remember. I felt good but still not good enough to eat a great deal for breaky. We moved on back into the Serengeti for some more game viewing.

Day 2 in the Serengeti was mostly about seeing Elephants and Giraffe, we did see 2 more leopards but nothing like the first day.

Giraffe in the Serengeti

Once again we headed back to camp and I was feeling good enough to try some dinner, although it wasn’t much it was an improvement. I felt bad as the meals were high quality meals. The next day we packed our bags as we were going to be camping at the Ngorongoro Wilderness camp that evening. We headed out for our third day in the Serengeti. I had been busting Mosses about seeing a Cheetah so that was our goal, and Mosses delivered.

Cheetah in the Serengeti

I love Cheetahs and this was a special site to see in the wild. We moved on and left the Serengeti heading for the Ngoronforo Wilderness Camp. I don’t know how they did it but it was even better than the Serngeti camp, located on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater.

Our camp on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater

I managed to down a bit more food than the previous night and we caught up with two people from the US doing pretty much the same safari.

The next day we woke early for a half day in the Ngorongoro crater. It was only 200 mteres before we came across a heard of about 40 Elephants. We kept descending and soon came across two wildebeest fighting for territory. I have some amazing footage to share of this, so stay tuned for that. Our last great action was a male and female lion and two Rhinos.

Lion in Ngorongoro Crater

We then headed back up the crater so that Kellie and Mosses could drop me off at Nainokanoka, where I would meet Justin to camp before our big 50km hike through the crater highlands. It was sad to say goodbye to Kellie and Mosses as I had enjoyed the safari and their company a great deal.

TO BE CONTINUED

No Ordinary Journey (part 1)

Posted by Brusca under Tanzania

Safe to say this is the biggest trip I have ever undertaken in my 35 years. This 3 week journey to Tanzania, Africa has been one for the heart and nothing to do with sitting back in 5 star luxury or snowboarding down some faraway ski slope.
Ever since I was a little boy I can remember growing up with Africa around me, my parents having lived there for 2 years before I was born, had gathered a fair few materials from the great country and I grew up surrounded by carvings and animal skins (back then I guess it was more acceptable to have).
While driving to the airport my excitement and nerves started to overcome me and when that happens I tend to do silly things and start making stupid decisions so I managed to calm myself and get the car parked and off to the Brisbane International Terminal I went. I was so looking forward to seeing The Alexander’s, Christina and Godwin. Upon checking in I started to worry about being over the baggage limit, my backback and suitcase full of goodies were heavy and in fact I smashed the baggage limit, but this was a time where the cost of the baggage did not out weigh the resulting reward at the other end, so I was happy to pay.
As I boarded the plane I once again went over my 3 week Itinerary. There really is no rest until Zanzibar. Dar, Moshi, Arusha, Safari, Hike for 50km across the crater highlands. I wanted to capture the trip as best I could so I took whatever camera gear I had, excepting the small digital, which I now regret. Sometimes on trips I have a tendency to be too caught in the moment and forget to capture an image or video. This time I wanted to make sure I did not let that happen.
So the plane flights (3 altogether, Singapore, Doha and Dar es Salaam) were very smooth, albeit long, approximately 30 hours in transit and I was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I have to say Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airport are simply an amazing experience.

Justin Alexander picked me up from Dar Airport and I was surprisingly feeling fine, perhaps adrenaline from finally arriving. We travelled through Dar up to the peninsula where Justin and Kellie and the kids lived. Suddenly everything I was comfortable with was thrown out the window. It felt like another world being in Dar. People walk between the lanes of traffic selling things from water to maps and even fruit. Car number plates are embedded in rear vision mirrors because people steal them and sell them in the markets, having the number plate on the mirror is the only way for you to retrieve your mirrors, even though you have to pay for them to get them back. It seems like the whole population of Dar hangs out on the roads. Mostly due to the fact that not all people have cars like it is back in Australia.

Dar es Salaam

After crawling our way through the city traffic we finally arrived at the Alexander’s house where I was met by Kellie, Darcy and Christina. Darcy had put on her cheeky smile, which I had missed greatly. It was good to be finally in Dar and the adventure was about to begin.

I settled in and gave out the gifts I had brought from half way around the world. The excitement and joy from everybody receiving their gifts warmed my heart. The Aperture book went down well and I look forward to doing a part 2 book.

Handing out the gifts

Handing out the gifts

Justin, Kellie and myself headed to an Ethiopian restaurant named Addis in Dar. This was a very cool experience as it was new and unique way of eating a meal. The food you order is literally dumped on a layer of bread and you dip in rolls of bread to eat your meal.

Eating at Addis in Dar

The next morning we woke early and travelled out to Godwin’s school. I had a bag full of more goodies to give out, a football and some Wildlife Warrior materials. We reached the school early and the kids were all out sweeping the grounds and watering the gardens. It took a affair while for the teachers to show up, they lack in enough teachers so it seems be a struggle for them at times.
As we waited the children’s curiosity grew more and more about me. Why was I here? Children started to gather closer and closer and they even noticed the football in my bag to give away. I thought while waiting we might be able to get into a game so I pulled out the football to pump up and start a game. This gave the unintentional go signal for a free for all. Kids started grabbing at everything in the bag. Having a language barrier really didn’t help. We soon restored order and most of the goodies were returned to be handed out in a more formal fashion.

Gody's school

Gody's school

It wasn’t long before we found the principal and they started the morning parade. I was introduced to the school children and the principal explained why I was there and the story behind Christina and Godwin going to Australia. I greeted the kids in Swahili and I was told the kids had said they all wanted me to take them to Australia.

Parade at Godwin's School

After the parade the principal and teachers showed me through to Godwin’s class and I enjoyed handing out goodies while the secondary principal showed the class the Aperture book I had printed for Godwin and Christina. Once we finished at Godwin’s School, Christina and Godwin headed to Moshi on the bus where I would meet them the next day. Kellie and I headed to a French coffee shop for some breakfast and coffee. I was still buzzing form my experience at the school.
Kellie then attended a school sports day with Darcy and I was picked up by a local taxi driver named Idie. Idie is a big Tanzanian guy and has grown up in Dar es Salaam. I spent the rest of my day with Idie showing me the local area and some of the attractions I may like. We travelled around to the fish markets, a kanga market, Wonder Welders and the Tinga Tinga market. It was an awesome afternoon and I learnt a lot about the local area.
The next day was an early morning taxi ride with Idie to the airport. Catching a flight to Kilimanjaro and then a bus to Moshi. I arrived at Bristol cottages where Chrisitna and Godwin greeted me before heading out to the Moshi markets and her husbands village in Mowo. After the markets we took a taxi ride to here husbands village, which is a spectacular position at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro.

Moshi market with Kilimanjaro in the background

The village of Mowo is surrounded in beautiful lush forest and is quite a climb in a taxi, a car not at all suited for the terrain but it manages to get us there. On the way we stop at a school to visit Christina’s sister in law. A simply amazing setting for school to be in.
I managed to get permission to shoot some photos and also discovered a albino boy attending the school, so we got a great group shot.

Mowo school, group photo with albino boy

We then pushed on to Christina’s husbands house and were soon enjoying a traditional Chagga lunch with Christina’s in laws. Beef and banana stew, never tasted anything like this and it blew me away, also Chai te with unprocessed cows milk, dangerous but tasty (Kevin Rose would love that).

Godwin's fathers home

After lunch and many thanks the taxi driver and I headed back to Moshi down the roughest road you can image (*10). I waved and greeted everybody on the way down, they don’t see many tourists up this way. I then spent the night at Bristol cottages and had a chicken pizza.

When I woke the next morning something felt wrong and one of my fears was starting to come true. I had the beginning of the runs. I now put it down to the Chai tea with the unprocessed cows milk. It wasn’t a bad case at the morning stage so I persevered and went for an early walk around town and got some breakfast. Shortly afterwards Christina and Godwin met me at Bristol and we took the Dala Dala (stick 50 people in a Toyota Hiace and you have the most common mode of transport in Tanzania) to Mchame, the location for Christina’s parent’s village. Once we reached Mchame we then jumped in a taxi to drive up to Massama village. This was not any old taxi, or maybe it was. In any case it was certainly old and needed to be roll started to get going, there were no seat belts and the windows struggled to work. But to the locals this is very normal. The drive up was actually worse than the drive to Chrisitna’s husband’s village (it was actually possible). So much so that the car did not make it.

So we legged it the rest of the way, it wasn’t too far. On the way we passed another school and once again the curiosity of the kids astounded me. This area is not frequented by the likes of me so they followed me on our route to the village.

Curious school kids

Sure all the tourists were hiking up Kilimanjaro but this is better than any typical tourist route.
We eventually ended up heading off the road walking down to the location of here parent’s home. Another beautifully forest location.

Christina walking to her parents home

It was pure joy and an honor to met her parents, sister and brother. We gathered for another traditional lunch and looked through Christina’s Aperture book while I took photos and video of everybody.

Me with Christina and her family

Afterwards Christina and her father took me on a tour of their crops, corn, spinach, cucumber, banana and coffee. It’s simply entirely self sufficient. It is amazing to meet people who’s daily tasks are to simply survive yet they are so happy.

After lunch we headed back to where we left the taxi and headed back down to Mchame. Christina placed me in a Dala Dala by myself and Christina had this look of worry on her face, which made me wonder how safe it is for a tourist to travel on…

Continued in part 2

Tripit Online Travel Itinerary

Posted by Brusca under Apple, Software, Tanzania

Tripit is a very impressive website for adding your travel itineraries to and share trips with friends and family. You can manage your itineraries on Tripit or simply send in a booking confirmation number and it is all done automatically. A great compliment to this website is the iPhone App (FREE) to download your trip details and have in your pocket without the worry of loads of paperwork. Add images, notes, maps etc to your Tripit itinerary. Brilliant!

My Full Tanzania Itinerary is here

Using Online Video to Market Your Business

Posted by Brusca under Australia Zoo, Design, Flash

Recently a colleague (Yvette Adams @ www.thecreativecollective.com.au) invited me to speak at a monthly meeting in the local region called “Web Wednesday”. The focus of this meeting was how to market and build your business by using online video. I have made a point to focus heavily on online video in the past 4-5 years as there has been a big shift over that period and it is still evolving. With the continuing advancements of broadband, the Flash player and Flash Media Server and sites such as www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com and content providers www.hulu.com and www.revision3.com now is the time to start moving your business into the world of online video.

I could talk in detail about a lot of the points in the following SlideShare presentation for hours but this presentation was more geared towards touching on the important elements of online video and related marketing techniques. We even got a mention in the Sunshine Coast Daily.

Check out the SlideShare power point article below for more details and links to some awesome examples. I think I will blog in detail about some of these examples in the near future.

Sunshine Coast Daily article

Capturing the Moment in Tanzania

Posted by Brusca under Nikon D90, Tanzania

Traveling to Tanzania and experiencing what this amazing country has to offer is potentially a once in a life time opportunity. With my learning DSLR photography and filming exploits of the last 6-8 months I am prepped and ready to capture every moment that counts during my trip.

Equipment

• Lowepro Fastpack 350
• Nikon D90
• Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5 AF-S VR
• Nikkor 50mm F1.4G AF-S
• Nikkor 18-55mm
• Sony HDR-XR 520E 240GB
• Sony ECM-HW2
• Macbook Pro

Capture the Moment in Tanzania from Bruce Levick on Vimeo.