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The Liebster Blog Award

liebster-award

Okay so I got an award, the Liebster Blog award. I had never heard of it before so I spent some time on google and what I can gather is that it is an award from your blogging peers. It’s recognition and a virtual high five that is given to support, promote and encourage up and coming bloggers or blogs you like that you might have just discovered. I got this award from Eartha back in March while I was on a trip to British Columbia, Canada. So thanks Eartha, I appreciate the recognition and the high five!

How it works is you post 11 random facts about yourself, you answer 11 questions from the blogger that gave you the award, you nominate 11 other bloggers and you ask 11 random questions of those nominated bloggers. Wow, that’s a lot of elevens.

So here goes…

Random Facts about ME:

  1. In grade 6 I was allowed to skip afternoon classes on one day a week to take a photography class the school offered.
  2. The first flight I ever remember taking was when I was 5. My grandmother took me to Los Angeles for a few weeks to visit her friends. I still can see the city of L.A. all lit up as we arrived at night.
  3. When I was 11 and 12 years old I did a 25km walkathon and when I was 12 and 13 years old, I did a 32km bikeathon.
  4. I once travelled somewhere every month for a year.
  5. I love the Toronto Film Festival and went to 14 movies last year including 6 Foreign films. Love, love, love them.
  6. My father and grandmother are from Burma (Myanmar). My mother is from Germany. I am a first generation Canadian.
  7. When I was in grade 6 I was nominated to compete for the James Houston illustration award. It was a shock because I really have don’t have any illustration skills whatsoever, I can draw a mean stick person though.
  8. When I was 12 years old I was asked to play on adult’s co-ed softball team and they nicknamed me “the kid with the golden glove”.
  9. My baseball throw has been clocked at 63mph.

10  I learned how to eat with chopsticks when I was 10.

11  My first flight on my own was when I 16 years old and went to summer camp in Minnesota.

 

Questions from my nominator:

1. What’s your favorite travel memory?

Have to say it was going on safari in South Africa. I just love wildlife and couldn’t get enough of it.

2. Where is your favorite destination so far?

Africa. Loved South Africa and loved Senegal! Wait, that’s 2 destinations?! 😉

3. What is your favorite thing to photograph while abroad?

Trees. So many trees, so little time.

4. Who is your travel hero?

My Gran. She was a traveller and did a round the world
trip when she retired for 3 months and took me on my first trip.

5. Are you more practical or luxurious?

I think more practical, but can splurge from time to time especially for experiences, not so much for accommodations.

6. What are your best travel purchases?

My Djembe, a drum that originated in West Africa. I bought it in South Africa, but took lessons in Senegal just before my trip to South Africa.

7. When did you first get bitten by the travel bug?

Probably as a child, because of the many trips I did with my Gran and road trips I did with my family. As soon as I could afford to travel on my own, I did.

8. Share your most favorite travel photo ever!

I used to watch Wild Kingdom on Sunday nights and leafed through many a National Geographic magazines as a child so my ultimate dream was to see animals in the wild in Africa. In December 2012, that long time dream came true. I  dreamed of photographing a giraffe against a sunset for a long time so when this giraffe appeared it was somewhat surreal. You can read about it here.

a Giraffe on safari in South Africa
a Giraffe on safari in South Africa

 

9 Have you ever met someone while traveling that you really connected with?

I’m not sure if it really counts as traveling although it was on my travels to British Columbia for summer camp. I met my best friend at that summer camp in British Columbia when I was a teenager, more than 20 years ago.

10. Are you still friends? Absolutely!

11 Would you rather fly, sail, drive or walk? Definitely fly though I have a love for sailing, driving and walking too.

 

My 11 nominated:

  • Vanessa @turnipseeds
  • Melissa Shearer @mellyboo
  • Christine Maxfield @compassmag
  • Penny Sadler @pennysadler
  • Merushka @mzansigirl
  • Susan @vibrantireland
  • Andrea @andreamueller10
  • Aleah @aleahphils
  • Debbie @travelingwellfl
  • Kasio Martin @kasixote
  • Sabina @sabinalohr
Questions for my 11:
  1. Name 3 places on your travel list
  2. What’s the 1 thing you cannot travel without?
  3. Who is your travel hero?
  4. What is your favourite travel book? Can be anything from a Lonely Planet Guide to a book like Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway or On The Road by Jack Kerouac
  5. If you could time travel back in time, where would you go and why?
  6. What is your favourite travel movie?
  7. What camera do you use for your travel photos?
  8. What’s the most adventurous or dangerous thing you’ve done on your travels.
  9. What is your least favourite destination and why?

10. Do you try to speak the language of the country you’re visiting?

11. Do you prefer to travel solo or with family or friends?

Let me know when you have done your own list by commenting below with the link and/or tweeting me.  I’ll link and retweet. Pass it on!

Until next time,

Andrea… and my wandering iPhone

 

Adventures in Dakar, Senegal

Le Centre Culturel c’est là the taxi driver announced.

C’est le Centre Culturel Derkle? I ask.

Non, c’est le Centre Culturel Americain

Derkle? He sounded confused.

I think back to my conversation with Amina, the nanny at my friend’s house. She also thought I was going to the American cultural centre. Maybe it’s the one most visitors go to in Dakar. I remembered that I saw ‘liberté six’ on the map when I showed her the location.

Now in the taxi and somewhat lost, I pull the map out of my travel bag and show it to him while pointing to The Derkle Cultural Centre.

C’est là, en liberté six.

Ah, oui, je le sais maintenant.

Ndiaye smiles and turns the taxi around as he knows where to go now. Relief spreads over me. For a moment, I imagined myself lost in Dakar and not being able to explain where I wanted to go. Senegal is the first place I’ve ever been where English speakers were difficult to find, a new experience for me.

 

Dakar Street Life on route to the Derkle Cultural Centre
Dakar Street Life on route to the Derkle Cultural Centre

 

We pull up to a rose-colored building in the middle of a residential neighbourhood in Dakar. There isn’t a tourist in sight.

C’est ici says, Ndiaye. I look around and hesitantly step out of the familiarity of the taxi and Ndiaye.

Merci Ndiaye, je vais vous répondre ici à six heures

D’accord, à six heures

Thanking him as I get out of the taxi, we make plans to meet at 6 o’clock that evening. I know that it’s the correct place as I spotted a sign before leaving the car.

There is a gated entry way; I walk through. A circle of senior women are on my right. They gathered in the shade of a tree. I can hear them talking, but I don’t recognize the language. I wonder if it’s Wolof. I want to stop and interact with them, but I have a class to attend, and I’m not sure where I need to go.

 

Derkle Cultural Centre, Dakar, Senegal
Derkle Cultural Centre, Dakar, Senegal

 

Derkle Cultural Centre, Dakar, Senegal.
Derkle Cultural Centre, Dakar, Senegal.

 

I continue and am now in the courtyard of the building. There are many rooms; they appear to be classrooms. I wonder where everyone is. I try to look for a sign
that may point to where I’m supposed to go for my Djembe lessons, but there are none. I wander around and try and listen for the sound of a drum, but again, nothing.

I go back to the front of the building and search for someone that may know where I need to go. It looks like I’m at the front office, but I’m not certain. I step inside.

Bonjour? I call out. Suddenly a man appears from a back room. Bonjour.

Savez-vous Ibou? J’ai des cours de djembe avec lui.

Non, je suis désolé mais je ne le connais pas.

I’ve just asked if he knows Ibou, the man I’m supposed to meet. He tells me that he’s sorry but doesn’t know him. I thank him and say goodbye. The only person who seems to know anything about the place doesn’t know the person I’m supposed to meet.

I’m not even sure where I am in Dakar. I don’t know how far away my friend’s house is, and I wonder if there is a local bus nearby but then I don’t know how to get back to my friend’s house. I don’t have a transit map, and I don’t have a data connection as I couldn’t get my Senegal SIM card to work. I don’t even have Ndiaye, the taxi driver’s number, and I’m not sure I can speak French well enough to get me to where I need to go. Suddenly, I feel ill-prepared, and a bit of panic begins to set in.

I take a deep breath.

Okay Andrea, relax. Think. You are more prepared than this; you can handle this. In my excitement, I forgot that I was supposed to call the drumming instructor when I arrived. Good thing I added an Africa phone and text plan to my iPhone the night before since my local SIM didn’t work. I look on my phone, and there’s the information I need. I dial the number. A voice answers.

Salaam alaikum

Alaikum Salaam. Hello, is that Ibou?

Yes, this is Ibou

Great! It’s Andrea; I’m here at the front.

Okay, I’ll find you there

I exhale.

 

 

djembe dakar senegal
A group of drummers at a local cultural centre in Dakar, Senegal. The man in the blue shirt on the right is Ibou and was my djembe instructor.

Chapman’s Peak Drive, South Africa

Chapman’s Peak Drive is a 9km route between Noordhoek and Hout Bay in South Africa, about 15 km from Cape Town. There are 114 curves along this stretch of the Atlantic coast on the south-western tip of Africa. There are several stops along the way where you can pause and enjoy the scenery.

I have been on a some stunning drives such as the Sea to Sky highway from Horseshoe Bay  (Vancouver
area) to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada and the Grand Pacific Drive from Sydney to Wollongong in Australia.  I have to say that Chapman’s Peak Drive was the most spectacular thus far.

This photo was taken in panorama mode on my iPhone 4s. Click the photo below for a larger view.

Until next time,

Andrea… and my wandering iPhone

Chapman's Peak Drive, South Africa
Chapman’s Peak Drive, South Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing for Africa…considering health and vaccines

We’ve all seen the National Geographic magazines and television shows. For as long as I can remember I have been following National Geographic, first in print and then on television. I’ve seen the countless animals, people and landscapes of Africa that have been featured over the years. It will be my first time to the continent and upon deciding to go, images from my National Geographic dreams came to mind. I’m no longer going to be a viewer from afar, I’m going to be a participant. I’m going to be experiencing Africa with all my senses.

Nostalgia and where it all began…

I have many fond memories of watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom as a child with my Gran and dad on Sundays before Wonderful World of Disney. Wild Kingdom brought Africa right into our living room and had me hooked as soon as they would show the world map and show us where they were taking us. I would dream of going on a safari.

I also used to dream about being a travel photojournalist for National Geographic. Not sure where that dream went, but maybe it’s not too late?! I wonder if they’ll accept my iPhone photos hehe.

So how do you prepare for such a trip? Well first, you freak out, call your friends, freak out some more say a few “Oh my Gods” and “what have I done” and then calm down. Well that’s if you’re like me. After I got that out of the way, the intensive research began. I started with health and vaccinations. Even though I hadn’t been there myself I knew that there were certain diseases I needed to be aware of. So I scoured the internet for information, read what I could, consulted some friends and made an appointment at a local travel clinic. I’m going to Senegal and South Africa. My research told me that I would need a yellow fever vaccine because yellow fever is prevalent in Senegal. I also found that I would not be allowed into South Africa without a yellow fever vaccination so that was a must. Senegal is a malaria zone, South Africa is not except Kruger National Park in the summer. I am going on safari in Kruger too. So a good anti-malaria prophylatic is highly recommended.

travel clinic questionnaire

My visit with the travel clinic doctor confirmed what I knew, but also provided more in depth information as well as the necessary vaccines and medications. After all was said and done and about $500 CAD later, I came away with a yellow fever vaccine, an oral typhoid vaccine, a malaria prescription and an antibiotic prescription for traveller’s diarrhea “just in case”. Yep, there is a high chance that you will at least get a mild form of it on travels to Africa. I already had the Hepatitis A vaccine years ago so didn’t need it again. Although I really dislike taking pills in any form whether medications or vitamins and am on the fence about certain vaccinations, I am in the “better safe than sorry” camp on this one. I think malaria is a real threat in Senegal.

anti-malaria prophylactic, oral typhoid vaccine and antibiotic medications

Until next time,

Andrea … and my wandering iPhone

Who or what is Wandering iPhone?

HELLO AND WELCOME

So who and what is wandering iPhone? It’s a place on the Internet for iPhone photographer and traveller Andrea Rees. Here I’ll be sharing my iPhone photography as I wander about locally and around the world.

I capture whatever catches my eye. I am drawn to people, architecture, details, moments and life. I capture it all in the best light possible with my iPhone.

What I know for sure is that time flies and moments pass all too quickly. It’s important to capture the ‘ordinary days’ and I encourage you all to do so as I develop the content for this blog. I will share my photography knowledge and tell you about the apps, accessories and gear I use. I’ll also share my solo and family travel adventures and include tips to help you travel.

Whether you’re at home with your family, travelling solo or with loved ones, sights and moments deserve to be captured and shared.