Settling in after “Soul Safari”…

It’s great to be back home and settling in again after our phenomenal “Soul Safari” with Hills of Africa Travel. What an AWESOME trip it was, from the stunning venues, five-star accomodation and food, exceptional wildlife and cultural experiences…to the ten-star group of fantastic new friends!!

Our sincere thanks again to Sandy and Meredith for including us as the photographers, to Ainslie MacLeod (author of The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended) for the insight he shared, to our exceptional hosts at Madikwe Safari Lodge and in Cape Town, and to the rest of our fabulous fellow travellers, from all over the USA and Canada. It’s been a privilege and a pleasure getting to know each of them, and witnessing their delight in a first trip to Africa

The journey involved far too much on too many levels to summarize in a blog post, so instead I’ll include a group photo from Madikwe Game Reserve and one from Cape Point, as tiny representation of our two destinations, which so beautifully encompass the themes for my two novels, the African bushveld and the Sea, respectively.

SOUL SAFARI 2009 - Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

SOUL SAFARI 2009 - Cape Point Nature Reserve, Cape Town, South Africa

Now it’s all about processing…hundreds of images and hours of video footage…what a wonderful way to relive an amazing adventure!!

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In praise of Power Yoga

Yoga, in my opinion, must be the ultimate in mind/body/soul alignment. After doing a fair amount of it over many years, including Hatha (“The Yoga of Postures”), Kundalini (mainly chanting/’Mantra’ and breathing/’Pranayama’) and Bikram (“The 26 Pose Yoga in Heat”), I’ve recently found my favourite: Power Yoga.

According to the stunning website, www.abc-of-yoga.com, this is the “Western version of the Indian Ashtanga Yoga which emphasizes developing one’s physical flexibility and nurtures the desire for self-discipline…emulating a rigorous full-body workout and promoting mental stability and concentration”. Browse the site for much more insight into the practise of yoga in all its forms.

Undeniably, each type has its own appeal. I find Hatha relaxing, Kundalini invigorating, Bikram intense, but for me Power is the perfect package. It provides a satisfying sweat, excellent strength and stretch exercise, together with sufficient breath focus and meditation.

Perhaps it’s also that I have such a dynamic teacher in Claire Lane of Bikram Yoga on Republic, herself a graduate student of Bryan Kest (www.poweryoga.com) in Santa Monica, CA. How awesome to benefit from his fabulous influence here in Johannesburg!

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Taste

To taste is tantalizing.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT - Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa

My interpretation:
Taste, like all senses, is worthy of ongoing appreciation.

Quotes to consider:
“For each mouth, a different soup.” – Portuguese proverb
“Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously.” – Vanna Bonta
“Everyone eats and drinks, but few appreciate taste.” – Confucius

What are your thoughts on this image and/or topic?

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Write with integrity

I’d like to share a snippet from Ainslie MacLeod’s book, ‘The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended‘ with other writers out there. For your reference, this book is available online here: www.amazon.com.

Ainslie encourages examining our desires, and establishing a balance that supports the soul’s purpose. He refers to the desires for fame (with the advantage of recognition) and immortality/leaving a legacy (with the advantage of achievement), mentioning these as possible motivations for writing a book. With humour he adds: “That’s not to suggest, of course, that everyone who – ahem – writes a book does it for that reason.”

The inherent advice is to focus on doing what you love and allow the rest to follow. He explains that “Something all desires have in common is that the harder you try to achieve them, the more they’ll elude you” and “The secret to overcoming desires is not to destroy them, but to master them”. The zen saying, “The moment you aim for something you miss it”, echoes this beautifully.

It begs the question, though, of how to approach not only writing a book, but also marketing it – especially in this age of social media and the ‘platform building’ explosion. My take is to strive for integrity, using the tools available to establish credibility and deliver a message to as wide an audience as possible, in the hope that it may be of benefit.

I’m scheduling this post for a few days’ time, as Dave & I will be privileged to be with Ainslie MacLeod and Hills of Africa Travel on their “Soul Safari”. We leave tomorrow for Madikwe Game Reserve, heading on to Cape Town…so will report back soon. Wishing you a fabulous fortnight in the meantime!

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Vulnerability

Vulnerability is universal.

RHINO CALF - Welgevonden Private Game Reserve, South Africa

My interpretation:
The toughest amongst us, know vulnerability.

Quotes to consider:
“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.” – M. Scott Peck
“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable.” – Madeleine L’Engle
“The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of this planet.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy

What are your thoughts on this image and/or topic?

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Blog Action Day 09

Special thanks to Ida at Ethnic Supplies for the heads-up via Facebook of Blog Action Day 09, which is today! This year’s theme is Climate Change. If you’re a blogger, you may still have time to register your blog at www.blogactionday.org and “have your post appear on the Blog Action Day homepage when you publish”.

Born in Uganda and based in the UK, Ida Horner established Ethnic Supplies Ltd., which is a social enterprise specialising in African handicrafts, textile, art and crafts from East africa. Here’s a link to the thought-provoking article she posted on her blog today: Climate change and poverty. It’s been great to connect with Ida’s infectious warmth via Twitter!

On the subject of climate change, I think “A Beautiful Lie” must be one of the best music videos out there, highlighting this topic. The site, www.abeautifullie.org reports “CO2 Levels Highest in Two Million Years Thursday, June 25, 2009″. Have a read there to discover how you can make a difference.

Also on this subject, James Lovelock, celebrated scientist and writer (as well as originator of the Gaia theory), enthralled us in his Hardtalk interview with Stephen Sackur, addressing man’s “unsustainable exploitation” of the planet. Here’s a link to a small clip from their discussion, which refers to population reduction: www.youtube.com, and another to this phenomeanl man’s website: www.jameslovelock.org. His work is well worthy of consideration, especially today

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Spreading the word for endangered species…

Big thanks to Jenny at www.andnow.co.za for spreading the word about the EWT Saddle-billed Stork survey in the Kruger National Park, as well as for featuring some of Dave’s images! Have a look at her informative article, which gives great background to these beautiful, endangered birds: Saddle-billed Stork. While you’re there, she’s included an excellent post on another of our sub-continent’s struggling species: the African Wild Dog.

Here are two wild dog pics of Dave’s, in case you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them

MUDDY WILD DOG - Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, South Africa

WILD DOG ANTICS - Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, South Africa

Jenny discovered my post, Saddle-billed Stork Survey, after browsing this blog courtesy of the www.sa-venues.com interview with Dave, so thanks again to them for featuring that!

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SA-Venues rocks!

Huge THANK YOU to Christine and SA-Venues for featuring a stunning article on Dave on the front page of their beautiful blog today!!! Here’s a link to check out the whole article: www.sa-venues.com. Please take a look

An added bonus of connecting with Christine (which has happened entirely thanks to blogging and twitter) is that she uploaded our very first bit of video for us onto YouTube…call us web-dinosaurs, but there you have it! And here it is, also included in the SA-Venues article, amongst other pretty cool stuff:

I shot this (with some trepidation, admittedly!) in the Waterberg mountains, not far from Johannesburg. Unfortunately the sound didn’t make the upload, but I’m sure you get the gist of it?

We have tons more unique footage from the African bushveld, so will do a little research and get up to speed on sharing it with you. Please let us know if there are any animals in particular that you fancy seeing

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Spots

Blind spots belong to people.

FEMALE LEOPARD - Londolozi Private Game Reserve, South Africa

My interpretation:
While animals accept things the way they are, we tend to complicate them.

Quotes to consider:
“A leopard does not change his spots, or change his feeling that spots are rather a credit.” – Ivy Compton-Burnett
“More and more people are buying bigger and bigger, … and the bigger the vehicle, the bigger the blind spot.” – Unknown
“A zebra does not change its spots.” – Al Gore (attacking President George Bush in 1992)

What are your thoughts on this image and/or topic?

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Outdoor Video & Photographic

At last…Dave & I are thrilled to report that the official website for our company, Outdoor Video & Photographic, is finally up and running again! If you’re interested, please take a look here: www.ovandp.co.za It features a fair representation of Dave’s work, across the categories of wildlife, motorsport, architecture, aerial, surgical and commercial photography. Images may be ordered from the site, although please bear in mind that much more stock is available off-line.

This follows a lengthy upgrade process and some niggles are still pending, such as keywording of images which affects searches, but these are in progress. Our sincere thanks to the team at Africa Media Online (our web hosts) and Temple Creative (who did some of the design work)!

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