Je suis Africa

It's Friday and Vince and I are packing for a weekend trip to a Big Five game reserve in the Waterberg. As I am sorting through the camera equipment we will bring, I am once again struck by how lucky we are to be able to experience and photograph these majestic creatures in the wild in Africa -  especially against the backdrop of the recent death of Cecil, the much loved and protected lion in Zimbabwe. Lured from his sheltered home by trophy hunters and shot with a bow and arrow, Cecil's slow death has unleashed a firestorm of anger and disgust and has brought the crisis of animal extinction to international attention.

Images of endangered species will be projected on the
Empire State Building in NYC this weekend  to raise awareness

Canned hunting, poaching and bushmeat snares. The scourge of Africa. Yes there are other scourges. Boko Haram, ISIS, Ebola, Human Trafficking. They all deserve attention, policing and positive action to eradicate.

But Cecil's death is an opportunity to capitalize on the world's focused attention. It will take concentrated international political will to stop the extinction of African animals. I hope the opportunity is not squandered and Cecil's death will not be in vain.

Cecil projected onto the Empire State Building!

The Road to Morrocco

Welcome home!

While I was in the USA in July, Vince went on the road himself for meetings throughout North Africa. Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

It wasn't all work though. He did make time for some scuba diving in the Red Sea and wandering through the many souks and bazaars where he picked up some fun ethnic jewelry and clothing. He also picked up a taste for North African food while he was there.

So for my welcome home to Africa dinner, Vince made me a traditional Moroccan tagine using the preserved lemon he'd made from June's bumper crop of lemons at Valley Lodge.

Nice welcome!

I like when Vince visits souks & bazaars!

Vince's new abaja

hookah

silver slipper charm from Morocco and gold cartouche from Egypt

Moroccan chicken and couscous in our new tagine

Capitol Saddlery

When we were in Austin for the weekend, my sons and I stopped by the famous Capitol Saddlery. This was the home of the now deceased bootmaker to the stars, Charlie Dunn. Charlie's clients included Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, Peter Fonda and even Elizabeth Taylor!

His client list even included my husband Vince! In the late 70's, Vince had his feet measured for a custom boot last at the old Capitol Saddlery location on Lavaca and he ordered his first pair of custom cowboy boots made of cow leather.

But after we married, Vince would periodically order more pairs of boots made at Capitol Saddlery using his custom last and incorporating more and more exotic hides. Ostrich, rattlesnake, and ... elephant! I would even buy belt buckles for his Christmas presents and order coordinating belt straps from the leftover hide for his birthday gifts. Yes I even ordered an elephant skin belt for him once.

Now that we live in Africa though, Vince has even admitted he will have a hard time wearing those elephant hide cowboy boots again. I am afraid they may go the way of my ivory jewelry. Out.

the taxidermy shop attached to Capitol Saddlery

The Holiday

Happy Mandela Day!

I took advantage of my July summer holiday in the USA to celebrate a real American 4th of July with fireworks and a barbeque as well as Mandela's and my niece Jill's birthdays on July 18th.

But I also recreated many of the other non-July holidays I missed celebrating this year with friends and family by being an expat living in South Africa. The month was like Christmas, Mothers' Day, my birthday and Thanksgiving all rolled into one big month-long holiday celebration!

Happy Independence Day in Denver!

my contribution to the 4th of July barbeque ... a peach, blueberry & lemon thyme cobbler!

Merry Christmas in July in Denver too!

Christmas crackers and Rwandan shweshwe bunting

shweshwe stockings hung by a real fireplace where they belong!

mini rhino crackers on a Christmas giraffe plate

Happy Mothers' Day in Austin, Texas!

Just like the Thanksgivings in Kansas that I remember!

friends, family, good food! (@ Milano in the Crown Center, KC)

more family!

Thankful for new babies!

Belated birthday cocktails cruising to Catalina Island in Cali

an aquarium birthday party in Long Beach, CA

and a birthday party at The Magic Castle in Hollywood ... complete with real magicians!

Okay and I even celebrated Cinco de Mayo several times over in Denver, Austin and L.A. ...

Feliz Cinco de Mayo in Denver!

Happy holidays!

Photographic Memory

I don't have one.

But luckily I didn't need one for our Sardine Run in June. We had professional underwater photographer Greg Lecouer on board our Zodiac and he expertly captured our Sardine Run memories on film.

I ordered a high resolution copy of this photo taken by Greg of bottlenose dolphins and some running sardines to be framed and hung at Valley Lodge.

Better than I remember.

I Married Adventure!

my GWM Facebook profile picture (a.k.a Osa Johnson)

I first became aware of the name "Osa Johnson" at the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in Manhattan many years ago. The KBDS is an annual fundraising event that benefits the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club in New York and a spring visit to it was part of my annual calendar for about 25 years.

One of the designers that year decorated a room as a "pilot's study"with an imaginary explorer / adventurer as his muse. And in the room on a coffee table he placed a zebra print-covered book entitled I MARRIED Adventure by Osa Johnson. Great title! I was intrigued. "Who was this Osa Johnson?" I wondered.


Later I found first edition copies of both I MARRIED Adventure and Osa's giraffe print-covered book FOUR YEARS IN PARADISE in a vintage bookstore somewhere. I immediately purchased them and used them as a style element in my own downstairs study at home in New Jersey. The book covers looked great alongside my globes, vintage destination label-covered leather suitcases, trunks, and hatboxes, Maasai shields, spears and framed beaded jewelry, Australian boomerangs, Amazonian tangas, Venetian masks and other travel-related details and souvenirs that decorated the room.

Shamefully, I didn't read the books. But I did read the author's biography inside. I found out that Osa Johnson was a documentary filmmaker who traveled extensively to Africa with her husband Martin ... and she was from southeastern Kansas!

When my husband and I decided to move to South Africa in 2012 for his work, "I MARRIED Adventure" became the unofficial mantra of our great migration to Joburg and Osa became my muse. My blog page designer even used Osa's picture on my blog masthead (look up ⬆) and I similarly use her image as my GWM Facebook profile picture.

Flash forward to July 2015. During my month-long stay in the USA I took a 3338 mile road trip to visit family and friends starting from Denver, Colorado through New Mexico to Marfa and Austin, Texas through Oklahoma to Kansas City, Kansas and then back to Denver. That was an adventure!

Oklahoma-Kansas border

As it turns out I would be driving fairly close to Chanute, Kansas which is the home of the Martin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum.

Well worth a stop, the Safari Museum tells the story of Martin and Osa, their meeting and marriage and their life-long adventures as film makers, lecturers, photographers, explorers, naturalists, authors and native Kansans.

I found out that Martin's boyhood idol was Jack London and when he was about 17, he answered a call to assist London on an around the world sea voyage to the South Sea Islands and Africa. Unfortunately, the trip was scuttled in Borneo due to disease and mechanical problems. But by then Martin had contracted the travel bug. He went back to Kansas, married Osa and convinced her to continue the voyage without Jack London. The rest as they say is history.

Although not a member of  The Explorers Club, Martin was a member of the Adventurers Club, an extant club of about the same age, also founded in New York, with a scientific mission.

galleries of artifacts from their travel through the South Sea islands and Africa

Osa wore zebra-skin pumps!

vintage editions for sale at the museum

and a gift shop! I bought a mug and ...

... a couple of cushions that I used to decorate my niece's South African-themed birthday party.
They will look swell at home in Joburg!

The museum showed a History Channel-produced documentary about the life of Osa and Martin and many of the documentaries they produced were available to watch as well. Now I definitely have to read her books!

Happy Mandela Day 2015!

My niece Jill shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela!

Happy Nelson Mandela Day!

This year, I took Nelson Mandela Day International by celebrating it in the USA.

Mandela Day in SA is all about service. Here are some examples from previous years in South Africa: 
Service 2013 
Service 2014 

I am covered for Mandela Day in SA this year, but I still took the opportunity to celebrate Mandela Day in the USA by volunteering at a School Supply Drive with Catholic Charities.

And since my niece Jill shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela, she had a Nelson Mandela Day-themed party to celebrate her birthday Saturday night in Denver, Colorado.

Happy Birthday Jill!

We had a South African braai / US barbecue along with South African specialties such as bunny chow, boboti, chakalaka, and malva pudding. (Mealies are really just corn on the cob and we couldn't find ostrich on the day so we had regular beef burgers and turkey burgers instead.)

sundowners with the Colorado Rockies in the background

And of course we had Amarula sundowners!

Nelson Mandela Foundation beaded bracelet favors

Mandela shweshwe on the buffet table

Happy Mandela Day!
Happy Jill Day!

I love her Mandela shweshwe outfit!

Someone else very special who lives in South Africa also celebrated her Mandela Day first birthday in the USA on Saturday. Happy Kayla Day too!