Blogs from Africa - page 3323

Up early and off for Swaziland. Deano drove first. The scenery is pretty at times, getting better as we head east. We count 6 to 7 power plants along the way. Drive goes smoothly, and I take over as we enter Swaziland. We get to the Mt. Inn and meet Magugu, Donna, Kevin, and Willard. Kevin's interview happens next, we have lots of sound issues but all goes well. Jim is very pleased. he decides that we will not go back to Joberg to shoot, but stay in Swaziland the whole time. The project is suddenly a lot about the AIDS situation in Swaziland, not all of Africa. Shortly later, Jim says he wants to stay an extra week and shoot everything for the longer form doc too. So, within 24 hours the whole project ... read more

Chad is hard work. The roads are non existent. The police are uniformed criminals. The transport is slow and uncomfortable. Outside the capital the country lacks basic infrastructure. Chad was a French colony, but they didn't know what to do with it. They spent nothing on it. After independence the country descended into decades of civil war. The situation was made worse by the meddling of the French and Libyans. In 1980 Libyan forces briefly occupied the capital N'Djamena. The French forces drove the Libyans north leaving the country divided in two. The Libyans were eventually driven out by a Chadian warlord, whose forces were armed with little more than swords. That warlord didn't last long as he was overthrown by another warlord - the current President. The years of war only came to an end ... read more

12:24am Just going to sleep at the Holiday Inn. Not a bad set of flights. I'm not over tired. We'll be several hours behind schedule, as the guys get in to JNB @ 10:30am. Then we'll head to Swaziland by car. Jim, Dean, and Miles got in, but they're missing 4 of their bags. So, we stayed @ JNB Holiday Inn another night. We'll leave for Swaziland in the morning. It didn't feel like a very productive day, but at least everybody is here. We drove the rental van around a bit. That was a hoot. Deano and I got dinner at a sort of neighborhood steak joint. It was a little strange. ... read more

I'd been watching African wildlife specials on the telly, dear reader, and my desire to visit the dark continent was building to a crescendo. There's a famous song in Australia that goes ... football, meat pies, kangaroos and holden cars; but it seems that Africa can go one better. The prospect of spotting the big five and other spectacular wildlife amidst glorious African sunsets was very exciting, and the novels of the African writer Wilbur Smith helped fuel my passion. So I was full of anticipation as I boarded a westbound flight across the mighty Australian continent, over the Indian Ocean and onwards to South Africa. I wasn't excited to start my trip in Johannesburg, but I was aware of safety problems in the South African capital. So I thought it best to ease my way ... read more

Hola otra semana mas!!!! y mas experiencias, esta semana estuve en un evento muy bonito la inauguración de una iglesia católica, y cuando digo inauguración es inauguración, todo empezó el viernes por la noche con un gran concierto en la iglesia con toda clase de música, música religiosa, clásica, opera, rock, cantos gregorianos, todo muy bonito uno de los mejores actos que he asistido, unas voces preciosas nada que envidiarle a los famosos tenores aquí hay mucho talento. Pude escuchar canciones en ingles, francés y algunos dialectos propios de ellos, el sábado estuve en el gran evento que fue la inauguración oficial asistió un Cardenal su nombre es Christian Lumi, solo 3 africanos estuvieron postulados a papa entre ellos este personaje, todo estuvo a la altura muchas personas compraron su vestido para la ocasión y no ... read more