Lions and Leopards and Cheetahs

Oh my!

So today was mine and Kathryn’s last day here in Nairobi, and we decided to try and do at least a little bit of touristy stuff before we left. This morning we got up and bid goodbye to our favorite breakfast place here, The Java House (one of the few places you can get real ground coffee instead of instant), and headed back to the slums to capture a few more shots. Then we came back and went to Nairobi National Park to see some critters!

The park was Kenya’s first national park and is a wildlife refuge located only a few meters outside the center of the city. There’s merely a fence separating the wildlife from the metropolis and skyscrapers can be seen from some areas of the park. It’s a pretty big area, made up of approximately 29,000 acres, so you usually have to rent a car to take you through the park to see the wildlife. We didn’t really have that kind of time or money, so we decided to go to the animal orphanage.

Almost immediately after walking in, we were moseying over to the cheetah enclosure, when this guy sidles up to us.
He goes, “Do you like the cheetahs?”
Us: “Yeah, we love the cheetahs, they’re beautiful.”
Him: “What would you say if I told you that you could hold a baby cheetah?”
Us: “We’d love to hold a baby cheetah. I mean, duh.”
Him: “Okay. You just follow that path around to the left. When no one is around, the guys back there by the ostrich will let you in to see the cheetahs. You maybe give them some money. 1,500 shillings (the equivalent of about 15 dollars). Is it okay?”
Us: “Errrmmm…”

So basically, because we were white girls who they knew had money, these dudes totally snuck us into this building out back where there were “baby” cheetahs. Except baby to this guy meant 4 months old, at which point these cheetahs are big enough and feisty enough to do some serious damage. They came running out of their cage and one immediately jumped on my leg, where he proceeded to attack my purse with some giant claws and teeth. Fortunately, it wasn’t my skin. So then our Kenyan friend scoops one of them up with its legs all folded underneath, and plops it into my arms. Kathryn and I took turns holding a none-too-happy cheetah, and trying to take some photos. Except we look a bit terrified in all of them. Welcome to Kenya.

This cheetah is not interested in being my friend.

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From Athens to Africa

I finally have a bit of time to sit down and write a blog post, and now I have no idea where to even begin. Also, Shannon is in Lesotho with basically no internet, so I’ll have to try and cover everything solo. Lets see…

Athens was great, even if it was completely crazy. We were going, going, going non-stop from the moment we hit the ground, for the most part. It was tiring and at times completely frustrating, having to work with such a large group of people and try to coordinate with everyone, etc. But it all felt totally worth it for me when I got to see my Ecuador team receive their gold medals (Go Ecuador!) and when I got to sit with the Haiti kids on the last night, during Closing Ceremonies. Two wonderful memories that I cherish. I miss them all so much! And I know Shannon was so excited to be reunited with Donghan, her subject from Korea. He competed in the very first Open Water swimming event and took home a silver medal! And he was really excited to see Shannon, even though he is usually shy and reserved. Super heart warming!

On a less upbeat note, while we were there, the protests that have been going on since May 5, 2010 came to a head and violence erupted in the streets after the June 29 passage of another round of austerity measures. The police attempted to evacuate key protest areas in Athens, like Syntagma Square, with motorbikes and heavy amounts of tear gas. There were numerous accusations of police brutality and unwarranted attacks on citizens there. So like any good journalist, we picked up our cameras and headed to the Square, which was only about 10 minutes from our hotel. It was my first experience with such a charged, potentially dangerous environment and its one I’m still ruminating on. I’ll be writing a separate post about it soon enough, and I’ve already posted my photos on my Flickr page. Shannon also has some kickin footage from the event, which I’m sure will be put up at some point for your viewing pleasure.

After protests and running all over Athens trying to cover every event, we were completely exhausted by the time we left for South Africa, but I still found myself not wanting to say goodbye to Athens. It’s so lovely there, and it’s just a more relaxing lifestyle, with more emphasis on enjoying and savoring life and friends and family. I found myself getting by most of the time on the kindness of strangers, like the cab driver who had to stop twice for directions to the venue I was trying to get to. He spoke zero English, but kept reassuring me that we would find it, and when I finally got there and forgot my map, he came back and flagged me down to give it to me, smile and wish me a good day. I had a policeman give me his seat as I waited for my ride, and every single Special Olympics volunteer I asked for directions was overwhelmingly nice, oftentimes walking me to where I needed to be or offering to carry some of my gear. Those Greeks sure are nice. I miss them.

But we had to say goodbye and we headed off to South Africa, arriving during the South African Arts Festival, which is kind of huge apparently. We had four days to just relax and enjoy some of the festival, and try to collect ourselves before jetting off again. We saw some cool shows, like this South African dance-off thing that was incredible, some traditional Rajasthan dancing and music (made me miss India), some South African jazz, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I had no idea who they were, but they are a Grammy-winning all male choral group that sings traditional South African music and apparently, they are a big deal. Like, really big deal. Go read that wikipedia link, it will tell you all about them.

And then we all packed our bags and headed out to shoot our individual stories. Shannon and Brian are doing a story about AIDS orphans in Lesotho and Kathryn and I are filming a story in Nairobi, Kenya about poverty and hunger in the slums of Mathare! I’ll be doing a separate post about Kenya soon and I know Shannon wants to blog about her experiences in Lesotho as well, so more details will be coming soon! In the meantime, here’s some World Games/Athens photos for you to check out. Hooray!

Love,
Megan

This is how much baggage you need to get two videographers to Athens and Africa.

Shannon tries wearing her new Special Olympics bib as a hot new fashion accessory.

Team Ecuador with their gold medals!

Carlos from Team Ecuador after getting his gold medal! That smile melts my heart.

Donghan gets the silver medal in the first ever Open Water Swimming event!

Donghan Kim, Shannon’s subject from Korea and his silver medal!

JOURNALIST FACE!

This is Shannon’s excited to shoot face

Business time!

Kathryn and I were total tourists and did the cab ride thing. Whatever, don’t judge us.

Obligatory Acropolis shot. Kathryn and I picked a bad day to go, and it was really kind of underwhelming. I’d rather have sat in a park with some nice Greek people and had a Cappuccino Fredo.

Shannon made us take Dab the AIDS bear and try to take some shots with him at the Acropolis. But it mostly just ended up being awkward and we got yelled at by a Greek man. Yep, two grown women carrying around a teddy bear. NOT A BIG DEAL PEOPLE.

Leo after flipping his hat onto his head with his teeth. Cracking himself up.

Paulo and Shannon, while we were hanging out with Team Haiti in their hotel.

Leo from Team Haiti. This is pretty much what he is like all the time, giant bright smile, melting your heart into a puddle.

Shannon with Leo, one of our Haiti subjects. This was probably one of Shannon’s favorite moments.

This is Gedeon, my darling from team Haiti. Part of the World Games included a “Healthy Athletes” program, which was like a full-blown physical for all the athletes. They found out Gedeon needed glasses and he was able to get some there for free. Without Special Olympics, there’s no way that would have happened, ever.

Moise keeps the Haiti kids quiet on the bus because Gedeon was sound asleep.

Kathryn and I with Nico, my wonderful guide and friend from Ecuador. I am already trying to plan my return to Quito so I can visit my friends there!

An Ecuadorian TV station tried to get me to say something in Spanish. It didn’t go well and I’m certain people all over Ecuador are laughing at me.

Nico congratulates one of the members of the Ecuadorian team. Photo by Kathryn

Me and some members of Team Ecuador

Moise, a totally silly and adorable kid from Team Haiti. He’s never not smiling or laughing. He’s also impossible to resist.

The Haiti team at the Closing Ceremonies in Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. You have no idea what a big deal it was for these kids to be here.

A screen grab from one of my favorite clips I shot from Closing Ceremonies with Team Haiti.

Team Multimedia heading out of Athens! Africa here we come!

Safely in South Africa

Not much time to update, as the internet here is very spotty, but we are safely in South Africa! We loved Athens and are missing it very much, but we are having a great time in South Africa. We are here during the middle of the South African Arts Festival, so we are getting to see some great shows and hear some awesome music and whatnot. And the best part is we don’t have to shoot anything! We can just decompress, after running around like crazy for the past 10 days!

On Sunday we all leave to go on our respective assignments, so Shannon will be headed to Lesotho and I’ll be headed to Kenya. So we probably won’t be able to update for a while, but after we get back we’ll try to post a brief summary of our trips.

In the meantime, there were some major protests in Athens on June 29, when the Greek legislature passed an austerity measure that will greatly reduce the benefits of many citizens. Things were crazy and police were everywhere and telling people to stay away from the center of the city, where the protests were. So naturally, we picked up our cameras and went. I’ll try to blog soon about what we saw and what happend, but right now, here’s some pics I snapped. And Shannon got some great footage of it, which will be available to view at some point, when we aren’t rushing around from country to country. Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbgarner/sets/72157627100532792/

More to come later!
Megan