Click on the photo to see the full story. 

Click on the photo to see the story.

So I'm taking a Travel Documentary class and as a final project, I've decided to put together a group of photographs to tell a more cohesive story using Adobe Spark. 

Click on the photo to see the story.

I had heard from others that there would be some really early wake-up calls but strangely enough, an exact to-the-minute itinerary was not provided until we were already there.   Our driver guide this morning was Joseph who informed us the night before that we need to be ready to go at 4:00 a.m. in order to make it to the launch point of our hot air balloon ride.  The outside air was cold and the dirt roads were quite muddy - which, by the way - is how most of these roads are.  Few are paved and we were prepared for dust, but in our case, it had rained over the last few nights so we were in for a lot of mud puddles...in the dark...on a busy road...with no traffic signals...no street lights...no lane dividers...  Rather than avoid them, for the next 2 hours, Joseph seemed to enjoy sloshing through the puddles, stopping only once to help another vehicle sunken into the mud.

Our balloon ride was very smooth and quite peaceful.  Directionally, we are drifting in a southerly direction so we can make it to the scene of the famous Mara River crossing.  After all, it's on the cover of most Safari brochures but photographed with thousands of Wildebeests.  As we get closer, our balloon pilot, David, says that the Great Migration crossing is overrated.  Maybe he was trying to make some of us feel better because this is all we saw.  We were too early.  Perhaps we will see them when we get to the Serengeti.

And here we are - photo courtesy of Governer's Balloon Safari.

The next morning,  we visited two popular tourist attractions; the Giraffe Centre (AFEW) and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (Elephant orphanage) where I couldn't help but photograph the school children.  Actually, I thought the children were far more interesting than these Rothschild giraffes; one of three species of giraffes found in Africa.  The baby elephants were entertaining as well - especially when it was time to feed.

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Our next stop took us on a short flight on a 12 passenger prop plane from Wilson airport to the Ma'asai Mara Game Reserve.  This is when I understood why we were told to only pack in soft cases weighing no more than 33 pounds including camera equipment.  I was not worried since my luggage was still lost although my camera bag must've weighed in at close to 30 pounds.  As we buckled ourselves in, I couldn't help but think that I was Dorothy who wasn't in Kansas anymore.  "Hakuna matata," I sang to myself as the wobbler of plane took off into a little weather with pilots young enough to be my children.

As soon as we arrived, we were met by our next driver guide, Moses.  He took us on our first game drive and awe struck me.  These animals - they look so happy.  We came across several residential wildebeest (the ones too lazy to be part of the great migration) - I named this one Willie the Wildebeest.  By early evening, we saw two female lions getting ready to hunt while their cubs hid in the bushes behind them.   I couldn't wait to go back the next morning.

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Although much of our time was spent at Club de Golf de Panama trudging through heat and high humidity, we were able to see the Panama Canal courtesy of our taxi cab driver and later on during the week,  I was able to traipse through the streets very close to our hotel to get a sense of the people who lived in/around the city.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that most folks react favorably when asked if I could take their photo (foto por favor? while pointing to my camera)

As we were headed back to our hotel, I saw a family sitting on the steps next to a McDonald's restaurant on the corner.  Like the streets surrounding them, they were worn but still managed a smile.

Next stop:  Bogota, Colombia

Ever since then, I've been wanting to go back to Chinatown.  I promised them I'd come back to give them a copy of their photo.  So this past Saturday, I made it back!  We (and my workshop classmate, John) found all but one of them (the one we didn't find wasn't in the same location)

Here is another photo of this man who sits on the ground near his wheelchair.  Since it was early in the afternoon, I brought a spam musubi with me which he gladly accepted.  I think he said, "thanks" in his own way...and then I began to think that maybe, like the others who are pros at striking poses for the photographer passerby's like me, that he was a pro at playing the stereotypical role of what society thinks a person who lives on the street should sound like.  I was certain that he was responding to my comments which, in hindsight, were not very worthy of an audible response anyway but when I asked him if he liked his photo, he stunned me when he said:  "Yeah, I love it." 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of his turning point.   I was fascinated as I listened to him recount his story so eloquently - and then imagine my surprise when he asked if he could see my blog post about him  - never did I think that the man I photographed on the Bellagio Bridge would actually be reading my blog!

We are on a mission to help Frank get off the bridge which is the reason why I brought my laptop with me today.  Step one:  get a duplicate birth certificate.  Yesterday, we told Frank to bring whatever he had with him so we could start the ball rolling.  Here is what's left of his current birth certificate.  

It's so far not proving to be as easy as it sounds since the agencies involved with Birth Certificates, State ID's, and Social Security cards all seem to require each other's "government issued" ID's.  It feels like I'm trying to solve the chicken & egg equation but nevertheless, an order for his birth certificate has been submitted.  

We found him in his usual spot sitting cross-legged on something that looks like an old book bag.  Directly in front of him is a beat-up plastic cup once used to collect coins from the slot machines at MGM and a sign off to the right that reads, "Anything Helps! Thanks & God Bless."  I also notice that the dilapidated sign is propped up with a previously frozen bottle of water.  The last  few details I see before I start to photograph him are two freshly eaten containers of yogurt, a wrapped cookie drizzled with chocolate, and two roses woven out of palm fronds.

It's 7:45 a.m. and Frank has only about 4 feet of shade before he is chased away by the sun.  I had no breakfast muffins to give to him this time, but was glad to see that he had just eaten.   Bob handed him a few dollar bills which he gratefully accepted and his eyes lit up.  

His name is Frank.  He's originally from Connecticut but moved to Las Vegas 11 years ago in order to be closer to his adult children who live in California.  Frank proudly tells us that he sleeps "indoors" with a group of other people who are in a similar situation.  He commutes to this spot using public transportation which he says is the best in the world.   

Frank leans forward and when he does, he tells me about the rainbow he sees on the walkway at about this time everyday.  I tell him I see it as well.

I thanked him and moved on.  

Yesterday, I was back in Chinatown but this time I had some breakfast muffins with me as well as two classmates in tow.  I went to seek this man out and found him in the same area.  He had on the same shirt, a more colorful bandana wrapped around his head, and a pair of shorts.   This time, I was able to give him a muffin to thank him for last week.  Then, I introduced my classmates, and asked if we could photograph him again.  He was very gracious and let me and my classmates bob & weave around him frantically trying to find the right angle.  Harold was originally from Tennessee.  He was relocated to Hawaii to fuel large C130 cargo planes.   As I listened to him answer John & Richard's questions,  I watched him strike pose after pose holding completely still each time.  It was then that I realized how obvious it was that we were not the first group of people to take his photograph.  Harold is a pro.   CFC16_02135801A

Hello and welcome to my blog - a first for me and a way to record my journey!

Today was the second day of a two day photography workshop in Honolulu.  The class decided to go to Chinatown for two hours to practice what we learned on our first day.  In the morning, I packed my camera, a card reader, and a six pack of individually wrapped breakfast muffins.  My intent was to barter away my breakfast muffins in exchange for some photographs so off I went dragging two of my classmates, both doctors whom I met the day before,  with me.  Here is my favorite shot along with a few others.