Back Home In The States

I've been enjoying my time back in the states. I don't think I'll have time to fully recover from my jet lag before I have to fly back over to Jo'berg again, but I'll just keep downing lots of tea and coffee. Flying home from Windhoek took nearly 22 hours and I'm finally recovering somewhat from being jet lagged; at least well enough to blog again.

I enjoyed my flight from Windhoek to Jo'Berg... The Jo'berg to Atlanta one, not so much. A tall man like myself suffers a lot in coach.

I sat by a The Nature Conservancy [African Program] fund raising director and talked about my upcoming research I'll start in August through December. Its so encouraging to me to hear everyone's interest in the project I'll be working on. Both WWF and TNC have had some major supporters visiting Africa the last week while meetings with the directors, and touring project sites. I hope the work these two organizations do keeps impressing everyone. I can personally vouch that its a great investment.

Retelling all my Namibia stories and sharing some of my photographs with friends and family has been a great joy for me. Now that I've been away from Windhoek for a couple of days, its more apparent to me about how much I learned in my short 57 days in Namibia. And it has only just begun.

One thing I keep noticing about everyone's impressions of my Namibia photographs, is seeing mountains in Namibia vs. a vast huge desert [they do exist in Namibia though]. This is particularly interesting with the Kunene region photographs. When one sees mountains mixed with grasslands and all the various wildlife, it goes against the grain of what I think the critical mass perception is of Africa currently. Many of the Etosha photographs are group favorites along with the mock elephant charge ones.

I still need to find some time to sort through all the additional 4000 photographs! Eeek!

Its also been so nice having my BlackBerry again and hearing all my friends and family's voices coming through on the other end. I've had such a wonderful time catching up.

Wedding and Ranch:

I'm pretty excited for my sister's wedding this Saturday [the reason why I flew back]. This will be the first time that both sides of my family will be together since I can't remember when. My two best friends from Lincoln, Mitch and Mackenzie, will also be making it out to the ranch to help celebrate and this only adds to my anticipation. Plus, it will be nice to see the beagles and horses again!

I have a new suit I bought today and a nice dress shirt with red and navy blue stripes. Its a three button suit made from a nice slick black fabric. I just love it. It feels like it was made just for me and the sale price is an absolute steal.

I also have a new Sigma Ultra Wide lens waiting for me at the ranch and I can't wait to try it out during my short time here. I realized there were so many times I wish I had a wider view and can't wait to take this lens back to Namibia with me.

Africa is SO dusty and I have a couple of lens cleaning kits, UV filters, and ect. waiting for me also. All my lens and cameras will be receiving an extensive cleaning soon. Looking back, I did a pretty good job of packing and won't be taking any additional things back with me; I might take a few more dress clothes, but that's it.

The Farm:

After going to Grand Island to buy my suit, I walked around the farm with my camera and took a few photos I'll leave everyone with today. All the rains and abnormally cool weather have made for some nice long, green grass photos. The Middle Loup River is also pretty full for this time of year.

I hope you enjoy them!

Cheers,

A.E. Price