To Sojourn.... to stop over; to stay for a time; to visit; to vacation. I occasionally pause in this quiet place. During my sojourns here I will share personal reflections, illuminations, resources, insights, adventures, discoveries and visual and literary impressions. This is the shady place under the baobab tree where fellow sojourners gather, share stories, images, insights, adventures, journeys, and rejoice in the richness of our Heritage. Welcome....
Monday, April 15, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
COSTA RICA PHOTOGRAPHY SAFARI - JOIN US NOVEMBER 2013
COSTA RICA PHOTOGRAPHY SAFARI
Planning for the Costa Rica Photography Safari is coming along. Want to photograph an active volcano in the evening in Arenal? How about the hiking the rain forest in Monteverdi at dawn? This is your chance to explore the most bio diverse island in the Americas! You'll want to keep informed as travel plans are finalized.
JOIN US IN COSTA RICA NOVEMBER 2013!!
INTERESTED?
EMAIL ME AT
JOIN US IN COSTA RICA NOVEMBER 2013
MORE DETAILSD TO COME!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Road Trip! Gettin' My Kicks On Route 66
I love road trips! My father was a long distance trucker and I loved listening to his road stories. He even took my sister and brother and me with him on a couple of road trips with him when we were little. And some of my best childhood memories are connected to road trips. Every summer as soon as school was out we'd pile into the car for the long drive south. Some years Mom would put us in the care of an aunt and we'd board the Greyhound Bus, then transfer to the Trailways Bus in Memphis on the last leg of the journey (if you remember Trailways Bus lines holla! LOL).
I didn't much care what mode of transportation we took; it wasn't about comfort or speed for us kids. We looked forward to the box lunches filled with homemade goodies like fried chicken, biscuits, potato salad, bologna sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise, tuna salad, salmon croquettes, thick slices of ham, boiled eggs, apples, bananas, and grapes. Yes, my Mom packed a weeks worth of food for a 14 hour journey. Once on the road, my brothers and sisters and I would count and compile license plates from each state and every color car on the road. And when we tired of counting cars, each of us would claim a particular make and model of car and build our collection of Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. And when we tired of that, we would eat!
Yesterday I embarked on the longest cross country road trip I've taken in a long while. I'm doing a wedding photography workshop in Phoenix, Arizona and I decided to drive Route 66 from Chicago to Phoenix. Ever since I was a child watching the old Route 66 TV series, I've wanted to drive "The Mother Road" in a red convertible. Guess the red jeep will have to do. If it's at least 70 degrees in Phoenix, the T-Top is coming off!
I didn't much care what mode of transportation we took; it wasn't about comfort or speed for us kids. We looked forward to the box lunches filled with homemade goodies like fried chicken, biscuits, potato salad, bologna sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise, tuna salad, salmon croquettes, thick slices of ham, boiled eggs, apples, bananas, and grapes. Yes, my Mom packed a weeks worth of food for a 14 hour journey. Once on the road, my brothers and sisters and I would count and compile license plates from each state and every color car on the road. And when we tired of counting cars, each of us would claim a particular make and model of car and build our collection of Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. And when we tired of that, we would eat!
Yesterday I embarked on the longest cross country road trip I've taken in a long while. I'm doing a wedding photography workshop in Phoenix, Arizona and I decided to drive Route 66 from Chicago to Phoenix. Ever since I was a child watching the old Route 66 TV series, I've wanted to drive "The Mother Road" in a red convertible. Guess the red jeep will have to do. If it's at least 70 degrees in Phoenix, the T-Top is coming off!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Urban Nomads......
I was driving home this evening and tracked a pair of coyotes! NO KIDDING! I think they were male and female as I've read that they usually roam as a pair. They were walking down the sidewalk in Lincoln Park area near the river! I parked to try and get a photo, but they suddenly darted into the shadows. WOW! It was amazing! But at the same time very sad: we have encroached on their habitats to the point that they are forced to scavenge outside a Whole Food Market!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Happy Friday! Welcome to The Very First Heritage Travel Friday Fotos!
March. Spring. Change. Transitions. As I thought about what to post for my 'inaugural' Friday Foto feature, I thought about transitions, which led me to think of weather of course. The changes each season brings are spectacular, but none so much as those of Spring. As I mused on change, transitions and Spring, I started thinking about my sojourn to Egypt in Spring of 2010 and the so-called "Arab Spring" of 2011.
Last Spring, as our Arab brothers and sisters did their thing all over North Africa and the Middle East, I often thought of my sojourn to Egypt, the people I met there and the experiences I had there. I recalled walking on the lawns in front of the Cairo Museum and looking out across Tagrir Square, the epicenter of the Revolution. It was peaceful there during my visit; mothers and children sat on the lawns under the palm trees; men stood in small groups smoking and gesturing in excited conversation; palms swayed in the warm April breeze. But then Spring came, and change was in the air in Egypt. Many of the sites, neighborhoods and squares I visited were being splashed all over international TV. Cairo in smoky chaos, precious historical artifacts and sites damaged, some in ruins. Camels bearing down on protestors in the streets. Reports of vandals damaging ancient tombs and artifacts.
Last Spring, as our Arab brothers and sisters did their thing all over North Africa and the Middle East, I often thought of my sojourn to Egypt, the people I met there and the experiences I had there. I recalled walking on the lawns in front of the Cairo Museum and looking out across Tagrir Square, the epicenter of the Revolution. It was peaceful there during my visit; mothers and children sat on the lawns under the palm trees; men stood in small groups smoking and gesturing in excited conversation; palms swayed in the warm April breeze. But then Spring came, and change was in the air in Egypt. Many of the sites, neighborhoods and squares I visited were being splashed all over international TV. Cairo in smoky chaos, precious historical artifacts and sites damaged, some in ruins. Camels bearing down on protestors in the streets. Reports of vandals damaging ancient tombs and artifacts.
I cherish my sojourn to Egypt. I'm glad I went the year before the 'change', the Revolution. I hope to return to the Land of the Pharoahs again and soon. For now, here are a few photos of Cairo.
Cairo is a CROWDED city, smoggy and dirty. Cars crowd the streets and highways and people are everywhere! This was taken in Giza where many of the perfume shops and essence makers are located, not far from the Pyramids.
These photos were taken from a high vantage point in the Salah al-Din Citadel in Cairo. The Citadel was built by the ruler Salah al-Din between 1176 and 1183 CE to protect the city from the Crusaders.
Smog so thick it looks like smoke!
The Citadel also contains the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, which was built between 1828 and 1848 in memory of Muhammad Ali's eldest son, Tusun Pasha, the Qasr al-Gawhara Palace and museum, and the Mosque of Suleymon. The Mosque is also known as the Alabaster Mosque and is a stunning example of Ottoman architecture. The interior of the Mosque is quite remarkable. The lights hanging from the domes ceilings were originally lit with candles, but are now fitted with electric lights.
I'm not sure what this structure is called but I was told it is where the Imam teaches during worship.
And me in the Mosque!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Foto Fridays
Greetings, Sojourners!
You know, this blog is always on my mind, so why is it so hard for me to keep up with posting??? Maybe it's because I don't have very many followers so I don't feel the pressure??? Well, that is about to change! I'm going to make a major commitment to post to this space at least twice weekly. I'm also committing to building a following through content and networking.
To start with this commitment, I'm introducing Foto Fridays! Each Friday I'll post and share photos from my travels. So look for a new post tomorrow!
Let me know what you think.
Abundant Blessings
Savannah
You know, this blog is always on my mind, so why is it so hard for me to keep up with posting??? Maybe it's because I don't have very many followers so I don't feel the pressure??? Well, that is about to change! I'm going to make a major commitment to post to this space at least twice weekly. I'm also committing to building a following through content and networking.
To start with this commitment, I'm introducing Foto Fridays! Each Friday I'll post and share photos from my travels. So look for a new post tomorrow!
Let me know what you think.
Abundant Blessings
Savannah
Friday, December 16, 2011
I'm Back!
Greetings, Sojourners!
It's been over six months since my last post. My only excuse is that I was enjoying the most wonderful summer that we've had in Chicago in quite a few years. Then, at the end of the summer, on August 3rd, I was blessed to be present when my second grand daughter made her entrance onto this plane. I've been truly enjoying this little Golden Child. Check out her blog: kalimaaorixa.blogspot.com We also were blessed with a beautiful autumn in Chicago and I loved it.
And now it's winter again and my thoughts are turning to planning my next trip. I'm researching an extended African Sojourn. I want to visit every country in the Motherland. Going back to the Motherland, experiencing as much as I can in as many places as I can has been a dream of mine most of my life. The concept Sankofa, meaning “go back and retrieve what we’ve forgotten” is really at the root of why I want to take this Sojourn. Sankofa teaches that there is wisdom in learning from the past to build for the future.
It's been over six months since my last post. My only excuse is that I was enjoying the most wonderful summer that we've had in Chicago in quite a few years. Then, at the end of the summer, on August 3rd, I was blessed to be present when my second grand daughter made her entrance onto this plane. I've been truly enjoying this little Golden Child. Check out her blog: kalimaaorixa.blogspot.com We also were blessed with a beautiful autumn in Chicago and I loved it.
And now it's winter again and my thoughts are turning to planning my next trip. I'm researching an extended African Sojourn. I want to visit every country in the Motherland. Going back to the Motherland, experiencing as much as I can in as many places as I can has been a dream of mine most of my life. The concept Sankofa, meaning “go back and retrieve what we’ve forgotten” is really at the root of why I want to take this Sojourn. Sankofa teaches that there is wisdom in learning from the past to build for the future. I want to witness a game migration and Safari in Kenya; visit the Slave Factories in Senegal; work for a while in the camps in the Sudan; travel to Rwanda to see gorillas; and visit Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned. So far I've traveled to Morocco, Egypt and Ghana. And of course, the main activity will be photographing my African Sojourn. I'm thinking 12-18 month, maybe more, so that I can spend as much time as I like in each location, experiencing cultures, meeting people and exploring cities and villages, all the while photographing my journey.
I'm going to work on an itinerary and start saving. Do you have suggestions where I should start my journey?? Let me know; I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Soooo....here I go!
I'll keep you posted.
I imagine that traveling to a few countries, such as Somalia, the Congo, Cote D'voire and Libya, will be impossible, but I want to visit as many countries as I can and experience as much as I can in each.
I'm going to work on an itinerary and start saving. Do you have suggestions where I should start my journey?? Let me know; I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Soooo....here I go!
I'll keep you posted.
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