Where is Bradjward?

February 23, 2012: Jen has declared “Meatless...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:23:57 -0500

February 23, 2012: Jen has declared “Meatless Thursday” in our house. #omnivoresdilemma

February 22, 2012: Dan and Katie came over for supper. Em loved...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:46:05 -0500

February 22, 2012: Dan and Katie came over for supper. Em loved her glasses!

February 21, 2012: Hanging out with the girls. Good to be home.

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:24:59 -0500

February 21, 2012: Hanging out with the girls. Good to be home.

February 20, 2012: Rockin’ out.

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:04:00 -0500

February 20, 2012: Rockin’ out.

February 19, 2012: Basketball league, our team had a great game...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:55:00 -0500

February 19, 2012: Basketball league, our team had a great game last night. We moved to 4-2 on the year, looking forward to being the dark horse in post season!

February 18, 2012: Banging out the honey-do list.

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:25:00 -0500

February 18, 2012: Banging out the honey-do list.

February 17, 2012: Around the world in 12 days. Timelapse style.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:48:00 -0500

February 17, 2012: Around the world in 12 days. Timelapse style.

February 16, 2012: Why do hospitals think creepy clowns are a...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:34:00 -0500

February 16, 2012: Why do hospitals think creepy clowns are a good thing for pediatrics? Visiting Josh after his surgery!

February 15, 2012: Travel day! Hopped on a United 767-300 back...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:48:00 -0500

Snowy day @ Zurich International Airport

767-300 for the trip home

Winter Wonderland

Looking @ Atlantic Ocean from 30,000 ft

Srsly amazed that deicing stayed 5k mi?!

February 15, 2012: Travel day! Hopped on a United 767-300 back to Washington DC, had the row to myself which was nice. Watched 2 movies and read 2 books. Then a puddle hopper to IND and HOME to my girls. :) Good to be back! What a fun trip.

February 14, 2012: Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is the...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:04:00 -0500

Sending xoxo's back home to my girls

Uetliberg, end of the line.

View from Uetliberg

More beautiful view

Boat Ride to Rappersvil on Lake Zurich

Only time I saw the sun all day. 3 mins.

Panta Rhei, the boat on Lake Zurich

NY Crispy for lunch... and FRIES

February 14, 2012: Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is the 365th consecutive day of photos on whereisbradjward.com! I made it!!!!

In Zurich, Switzerland today. Started my morning by heading up to Uetliberg, the highest point in Zurich, to get my Valentine’s photo for Jen. Very, very cloudy and cold day.

After Uetliberg, I boarded a 90 minute ride on Lake Zurich down to Rappersvil. It was a nice ride, fun to see some more of Zurich. Once there, I saw the famous swans in front of Schwanen Hotel, but the restaurant was closed for lunch by the time I got there. So, the next best thing… McDonalds. My rule is that I can eat @ McD’s internationally if I try something I couldn’t get at home. So lunch was the NY Crispy. It was good, but the beef was nowhere near as good as home :)

After Rappersvil, I hopped a train back to Zurich and strolled the Bahnhoffstrass for a few hours… because it’s fun to look at things you can’t afford. :) Swiss watches everywhere. There were 4 H&M’s within 3 blocks of each other, so I did buy a few things there for the girls :) And I stopped in the Apple Store to charge my phone.

After a long day of sightseeing, I jumped a train back out to my hotel and started repacking for the trip home. HOME. Tomorrow. Can’t wait.

February 13, 2012: Today I met up with Shana to see all the work...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:54:00 -0500

Dust, dust, and more dust.

Pulling in to the Children's Home

@ the Children's Home, lots of progress!

With Jeremy and Jordan's sponsored kid!

Shana and the kids at the home.

He's shy, but he's cool. :)

AFTER taking shoes + socks off. Dusty!

February 13, 2012: Today I met up with Shana to see all the work that Jump For Joel is doing in Gathiga, Kenya. Seeing the progress that’s been made and hearing about the plans for the future was very exciting!

We started the day at Gathiga Children’s Home, and it was fun to see so many projects that friends have come to work on! I also got to meet Jeremy and Jordan’s sponsored child, a very sweet kid. We then went to the school, and were surprised to learn it was Sports Day, so ALL the kids from THREE schools were playing in this gigantic lot. “Muzungu!!”, roughly translated = white people, was heard a few times as Shana and I walked in. Within seconds, we were swarmed with kids. Some just wanted to give us a high five or practice their English, others wanted to rub my arm and leg hair (again and again and again…), haha! It was fun to see so many kids out enjoying the weather and playing sports.

After saying our goodbyes in Gathiga, we went to a Masai Market for some heavy negotiating on souvenirs. A bracelet might start out at $30, but you finally work them down to $5. Fun times!

Our next stop was University of Nairobi, where we hoped to meet up with a student who’s on scholarship from Jump for Joel. We weren’t able to connect, but it was still interesting for me to walk around the university and experience it, as well as learn more about the system from Shana.

From there, it was off to Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi. I left my camera in the car here to avoid “slumdog tourism”, which is popular here for people to hop out, snap a pic or two, and get back in and leave. We took our time, walked through the slums, chatted with a few of the business owners, bought a Sprite, and just soaked in the experience that so many live in every day. Shana had a friend join us for the walk, she actually lived in Kibera for 9 months when she first moved here! It was fun to watch her stop and talk to people she met five years ago, and they would still remember each other because of the friendship that was built.

“Replace apathy with action” is the mission of Jump for Joel. And after seeing and experiencing everything that we saw today, it’s hard to not do just that.

February 12, 2012: A video of some timelapses that I shot on the...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:37:00 -0500

February 12, 2012: A video of some timelapses that I shot on the safari. (Watch in HD!)

February 12, 2012: For a travel geek like me, this gets its own...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:31:00 -0500

Siana Airstrip = My 100th Airport!

Let's go, Air Kenya!

February 12, 2012: For a travel geek like me, this gets its own post. I use a site called FlightMemory to track all my flight stats and data. And on this trip, I was getting excited to visit Zurich International Airport, my 100th airport. BUT, I realized on this trip that since it’s not recognized by the site, I had never input Siana Springs Airstrip! So we celebrated quickly before hopping on our flight. Siana Springs, 100th airport.

Airstrips are funny here. Grass or gravel. Sometimes a truck will take off in front of the plane to get the animals off the runway. On our 2nd stop on the way back to Nairobi, it was a guy with a stick beating the sheep and goats off the runway. But hey, we made it.

February 12, 2012: The wildlife here is amazing. But it’s...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:05:00 -0500

Nelson and Daniel, Safari Extraordinaire

Jim and Tara enjoying the view

Nelson climbs the acacia tree

Giving it a go myself! He won.

With Nelson, Daniel and Tara

Sunset Jump with Nelson, Daniel & Tara

Fun to see the kids in the village!

Hinge > Shoe > Tire. Resourceful!

Inside Maasai hut. She had 14 mo. old 2!

After welcome dance/song by the ladies

February 12, 2012: The wildlife here is amazing. But it’s important to stop for a second and talk about the people. The Maasai. They are smart, resourceful, warm and welcoming, and without them this entire area would not exist. While much of Africa was filled with tribes and cultures of hunters and gatherers, the Maasai people are herders by nature. As a result, they have protected and preserved this entire region of Kenya and northern Tanzania so that we can enjoy and experience it.

We visited a Maasai village today, and it was amazing to see these people who live on the land, and are essentially one with the land. Their houses made of cattle dung, mud and sticks. Their fences from trees that elephants have knocked down. We saw a fence gate (photo above) where the hinges were made from old shoes. But those old shoes? Made from tires.

It was a pleasure and joy to get to know our guides Nelson and Daniel more and hear about all of their various traditions and culture. I’m honestly glad that they don’t try to be more “westernized”, because we could learn a lot from them. And I did.

February 11, 2012: LIONS. We went back to where we spotted the...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:42:00 -0500

Male elephants fighting at sunset

Lion Cub playing at sunrise

I see you. Yes, you. I'm watching you.

Croc vs. Lion standoff at the water hole

Not a small crocodile by any means!

Lion after chowing down on wildebeest

Protecting their kill

ROAR

Hyenas started surrounding us at sundown

February 11, 2012: LIONS. We went back to where we spotted the cubs last night, and sure enough they were there! 3 cubs + 1 juveniles + 2 lionesses. No males. We watched them for nearly an hour, from about 20 feet. The cubs would play, then come nurse, and the mothers would just walk around their den area on the river bank.

Then we get a call on the radio. After some Swahili + translation, we find out that there are 3 lions on a recent kill. So we head that way, and pull up to see the scene…. Wildebeest, half gone. 3 lions, bloody faced and resting. Crocodile… hungry too. Vultures.. swarming the sky. The croc is trying to get to the wildebeest, the lions aren’t ready to give it up, and the vultures want some too. I’m ready for some Battle at Kruger stuff to break out. The lion + croc are laying within feet of each other, because the lions are thirsty and want a drink. Get a drink = croc bite. Go elsewhere for drink = croc takes carcass. After a staredown, the lion roared and chased the croc back into the water.

THEN…..

Here comes a herd of 30-40 elephants, heading for their favorite water hole. Believe it or not, Elephants > Lions. The 3 cats retreated to the bush as the elephants stomped down for a drink. When they were done, the lions rushed back, swatted off the vultures, and rested some more, waiting for the males to come get their share.

We had to go at this point, and when we came back that evening the carcass was entirely gone from the site. The lions were about 40 yards away, resting in the shade after a long day.

After that we parked for our sundown drink and watched 2 male elephants fight on the horizon line while a big, bold sun set behind them. You can’t even script this stuff.

This place is awesome.

February 10, 2012: Day 2 of the safari! Saw a lot of great...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:19:00 -0500

Bush walk, acting like a Masai Warrior

On our afternoon bush walk

Tara sporting Murray State Blue & Gold!

Giraffe at sunset + 2 flying birds

Night safari, spotting the lion cubs

KENYA! Fun with the headlamp

Kenya sky at night

Food: Roasted Pork and Ugali + Veggies

Table for 3 right by property line.

February 10, 2012: Day 2 of the safari! Saw a lot of great animals and herds, still no lions or big cats though… TOMORROW! Why? We went on a night safari and located 3 cubs playing near a river bank (while momma lion was out hunting), so we’re going there first thing in the morning. It’s amazing to see the knowledge of our guides, Nelson and Daniel. No GPS, no maps, they just *know* the land because they’ve lived here their whole lives. It’s amazing.

A bit about where we’re staying: The camp is called Encounter Mara, and it’s an “eco-luxury” camp. There are only 12 tents, and we’re actually inside of the conservancy. There’s no fence, so it’s common to hear animals outside of our tents at night. Hyenas, zebras, roaring lions, all sorts of stuff. Pretty neat. We are allocated 40 liters of water a day for our showers, and they heat it on charcoal then bring it to us for a bucket shower. The food has been quite amazing as well. We have a snack at 6:00am before heading out on our first game drive + sunrise. Then we come back around 11am for brunch. We have the mid-day to ourselves, but there’s no electricity in the tents. The entire place is run off of solar panels! So there are some chargers in the common area to use for batteries, laptops, phones, etc. But they discourage it. :) Then we reconvene at 3:30pm for high tea, back out for a game drive and at sunset we get out for a sundown drink + snacks. Night safari, then back to the campfire and supper around 8:30-9pm. In bed around 11-midnight, back up at 5:30am to start it all over. Very, very busy days… but I love that :)

The food has been quite nice as well. The camp is moving towards a bio-garden to start producing veggies + herbs. The water is brought in from a spring, and then we have bottled water for drinking.

What a neat place! And as you can see from the pics, the clearest night sky you can imagine. Serene.

(Funny note: We hadn’t seen giraffes for most of the day, so we asked Nelson to line up one for a sunset silhouette shot. He said he’d text a few giraffes and see what he could do :) Sure enough, we found one just as the sun was setting!)

February 9, 2012: Day 1 of the safari adventure! I met up with...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:53:00 -0500

Elephant Crossing

Every single moment is breathtaking.

Zebras

Daniel (spotter) and Nelson (driver)

LIKE

Kingfisher

Baby elephant and momma

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

Zebras at sunset

Wine and a sunset. Magnificent!

February 9, 2012: Day 1 of the safari adventure! I met up with Jim and Tara after landing at 6:00am for our 9:00am flight out of the other airport, Wilson Airport. We flew from Nairobi to Siana Springs in the Masai Mara, and started our first game drive right from the “airport” (more on that when we depart!).

Today we saw a big herd of elephants and sat and watched them for quite awhile. We saw monkeys, antelopes, gazelles, impalas, hyenas, wildebeests, zebras, and much more. No lions yet… Maybe tomorrow?

off the grid.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:17:00 -0500

Kenya has been amazing so far, but cell service drops every 30 seconds and data is $19.97/MB. Pics will resume when I get back on the grid Monday!

February 8, 2012: Today is a stopover in Doha, Qatar. I landed...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:55:30 -0500

A local walking through Souq Waqif

Souq Waqif, lots of great food & hookah

Museum of Islamic Art

On the shore of Doha

Saw a lot of these guys riding around.

7th Century Qur'an

Museum of Islamic Art

Hanging out at Souq Waqif

Ready for work.

MAGNIFICENT sunrise

February 8, 2012: Today is a stopover in Doha, Qatar. I landed at 6am and fly out tonight at 12:50am. I was treated to an amazing sunset as we descended to land (last picture). Grabbed a hotel for $11 thanks to a Hotels.com coupon I earned on a promo last year, since I really just needed the room to put my stuff and get a shower.

Doha is a pretty fascinating place. Surrounded by Saudi Arabia and the ~~Persian Arabian Persian~~ Gulf, it’s an Islamic state, home of Al Jazeera, and it’s extremely abundant in natural gas and oil. The wealth/poverty reminded me a lot of Dubai. Lots of foreign labor, I spoke with a Filipino man for quite awhile about his 2 years here and leaving his family/kids to come make money. What a sacrifice!

I spent most of my time outside of the business district, walking the Corniche around the Souq Waqif / Museum of Islamic Art / Gold Souq area. There was plenty to see on my stopover. Going to grab a quick shower and head back to the airport. Hard to believe that this time tomorrow I’ll be sleeping in a tent under the stars!

February 7, 2012: A great day of work in Melbourne followed by a...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:20:55 -0500

Hanging out with Jordan!

Melbourne, all of your food is amazing.

The boards at MEL Tullamarine.

LEGGGGOOOOOOOO

February 7, 2012: A great day of work in Melbourne followed by a few hours with my mate Jordan. Had some delicious rabbit(!!) for supper, and then I had to head to the airport for my redeye. But I can’t go on a safari without a proper hat… Crocodile Bradee is in full effect.