SOUTH AFRICA: LAND OF CONTRASTS

I once took a writing class that urged us not to used the cliched language that I used in the title. But after six days in South Africa, I think it's the contrasts that really define the country. It is the nicest place I've been, and one of the poorest places I've been. One day I was spending the night in a ramshackle house in a township, the next I was drinking fine wine in an opulent estate built into the mountains. It is a place I could live if I was able to get past the inequality. A little house in the ocean side community of Betty's Bay would do.

PENGUINS AND THE "HIGH FLIPPER"

I have to say, penguins are pretty damn cute animals. I'm surprised people haven't tried to domesticate them. Julie and I went to Boulders Beach in South Africa and were able to "walk among them". I tried in vein to give them a "high flipper", the penguin equivalent to the "high five". These guys waddled their way right into our hearts. The third photo is set-up. The light was perfect, but there were no penguins around. So I hid in the bushes and waited for a pair to walk on the path, and then funneled them down toward the water.

GHANA PART TWO: NOT LOOKING

These are a couple of my favorite shots from Ghana. This was not an easy port. Finding out that Ghana is considered a success story for democracy and order on the African continent really makes me wonder what countries with rougher reputations like Zimbabwe and Nigeria are like. Actually, a man I chatted with in Ghana said I would probably be killed if I went to Nigeria. This doesn't seem far off. Africa is definitely the unruly wild-west of the world, full of crippling poverty and wide-spread corruption. I met some wonderful people here, and I met some real assholes. It is a place that stays with you.

GHANA PART ONE: LOOKING

Taking photos in Ghana was difficult. People in this former slave colony are understandably distrustful of white folks. I typically prefer photos where subjects are ignoring my lens, but I find lots of truthful gesture in shots like the four guys above. Julie and I had an interesting run-in with supposed "immigration officials" in downtown Accra who detained us for a bit until we fled on foot, hiding in the busy market nearby, much like a cliched action sequence in a movie. We both emerged a little shaken but unharmed. I found positive redemption the next few days on a home-stay to Torgorme Village. There I became known by my African name, Kofi Mabuki, which means "pray for us".

MANAUS, BRAZIL

Manaus, Brazil was a good baby-step for traveling. It was a fairly innocuous town accustomed to some degree of tourism. Julie and I stayed on the outskirts of the Amazon jungle for one night and enjoyed swimming to quell the blistering humidity and cowering in fear of the deadly flying menace known as the mosquito. The photos above were taken on our last day in Manaus on a walk I took by myself (Julie was on the ship vomiting from unknown causes). I loved watching the guys in the last two photos play pool. My favorite Brazilian consumption: Bohemian beer.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

I've never really cared much for nature and wildlife photography, but boy did I have fun shooting monkeys today in the jungle of Brazil! The little guys were pretty fun to watch and I really like the pictures. We also saw several caimans and the giant water lilies. Kind of makes me wish I signed up for a safari in Africa. We leave tomorrow for the long haul across the Atlantic to Ghana.