Mikumi National Park

The search for wildlife begins...

The "Tent" in the morning...

We had breakfast at 6am and made our way to the Park entrance. After a little haggling over how much we were supposed to pay for park fees ($15 a day is the correct answer), we began our trek to see some African wildlife. The search lasted about 10 minutes as we almost immediately ran into Elephants and Giraffe. It’s much more alive here than in just looking at animals in the Zoo.You have to make sure not to threaten the mothers for fear of charging. We also stayed close to car and kept a consant lookout for Lions given that we are much easier to catch than a Giraffe. This along with avoiding Tse Tse flies keeps you busy while shooting.

A gentle reminder not to litter...

I really can't fathom putting that much on my head.

The intention of this process, much like the first trip to Zimbabwe 3 years ago, is less about training and more about meeting people and building proof of concepts. We need to set the foundation for generating real revenue from the skills that we are teaching at DPI. Many have come to Africa to train people here to shoot and edit video but few have been able to offer a constant and growing business for the newly trained workforce. The result is high hopes and little progress...something we are dedicated to avoiding. We have only been partially successful so far in Zimbabwe but every new country is a new start and we continue to sharpen our skills in both countries.

Alex Fox and the rest of Foxes of Africa have kindly lent us their locations for testing. Of course, they get something out of it. Over the next 6 months, we will build the most advanced media support for any adventure tour company in the world. We plan to use the locations as our test sites for product development. We have Chantal, a seasoned graphic artist and video producer and Todd Thille, a DVD specialist, on the tour to ensure the work goes well. Harvey Reed, a Professional Photographer, will join us later in the week. All are Pixel Corps members from San Francisco (Todd lives in LA and Harvey now lives in San Diego) who paid their own way to take part in the process. Mwanga and Gloria’s involvement was an unexpected opportunity that really added a local richness to the process while already having all the video skills necessary.

Maina, Mwanga, and Gloria filming a few Hippos.

Chantal snagging a shot of a Giraffe.

Gloria finds her own Tripod.

Mwanga picking up a few Giraffe Shots.

The day was packed with all sorts of animals. We visited the Fox Camp in the center of the park...which was truly amazing. The Camp is set on a hilltop in the middle of a flat plain. You can see for miles while enjoying a soft breeze and, of course, some Chai. After a little too much sun, we took it easy here for the afternoon and swapped stories while shooting a few more QTVRs and video.

Chantal ventures dangerously far from the truck.

Rough life...shooting in Africa.

As we returned, we took to sitting on top of the truck instead of inside it. In fact, once I got used to it, I couldn’t go back. Being able to see all around us and feel the wind and absorb the smells was just too tempting. Getting back in the car was too confining...even though sitting is now more difficult due to the bruising.

We made it home in time to have dinner and drift alseep ready to shoot more the next day.

The neighborhood gas station at night.

Posted: Tue - July 15, 2003 at 09:38 AM Africa, Summer (Winter) 2003 Email Comments