BorderSac

Mikumi National Park is about 4 hours out of Dar Es Salaam... It's my third visit here. It's smaller than something like Ruaha but easy to get to and it has many of the animals you want to see... Zebras (here), Giraffes, Elephants, Wilderbeasts, and Lions (though we didn't see any Lions). On one half of the park, you need to be careful of Tse Tse flies (partially because of sleeping sickness but mostly because the bite is painful and sharing blood with Zebras is, well, gross).But in the majority of the park, you just need to pay attention to having enough memory on your cards!

In the city, it's DVDs. In the country, it's fruit, doo dads, and... cashews. It's really part of the culture and it sinks in... you start saying no but it's convenient and fun! By the end of the trip, I wasn't sure I needed to ever go to the market again!

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Every 10-20 miles you get these bus/truck stops and tons of little shops peddling everything from food to jeans to furniture.

Of course, you see this all over the place... women (and a few men) carry crazy things on their heads. I'm told you need to really learn this young to every really be able to do it well. But once you know it... you're hooked, evidently. It's a lot less effort than what we in the west do.

Canon 5DMKII - Shot at 60mph

So, as you are waiting... almost anywhere in Dar... guys come up selling you DVDs... not exactly legal DVDs but, not exactly illegal (here in Tanzania). These aren't in crude boxes, they are shiny slips with chinese branding. Iron Man 2 was available 2 days after it was released in the theater. New movies are usually camera recordings from some odd again while older movies tend to be DVD rips.

The price for the fine facsimile? $3.00 each.

What's interesting is that in some African countries, pirating foreign films is completely fine but local films are verboten. It's often hard to even find a place to buy legal DVDs.

The answer is probably not trying enforce copyright laws in Africa. The most effective way to solve this would probably be to sell DVDs in Africa for $3.00... Not much margin but probably more income than the alternative.

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So, when I'm not recording videos... I usually am playing with various designs of facial hair... which don't get very far because I record every week. Of course, in Africa, I have more time...

PhotoBooth

Along the road, there are lots of opportunites to buy food... especially nuts. These are boiled Peanuts... and they are addicting! But easier to eat than roasted but I imagine they don't last very long (which is why we don't see them in the US very often).

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So one of my favorite foods (along with Indian, Japanese, and Beef Stew/Sadza) is Ethiopian (Yes, I skew heavily to foods I can eat with my hands) and, of course, the Ethiopian here was some of the best I've ever had - "Addis in Dar" is the Restaurant. It's very traditional. One of the key differences from the Ethiopian in the US was the Injera... which in the US is usually made with Wheat but in Ethiopia (and I think here) is made from Teff... it's a little more sour (which I liked) and a lot lighter (which I liked even more). A real treat!

If you haven't had Ethiopian... I pity your sheltered life...but forgive you :) It's so yummy and... did I mention you get to eat it with your hands?

5DMkII - 6400 iso

The next day, I visited DC Studios in Dar. They have a great set up for local commercial editing and effects. They do mostly Final Cut Pro editing with After Effects compositing and Maya 3D work. Great guys, we're definitely going to be seeing more of them!

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