Brave New Traveler chats with Brook Silva-Braga about his new documentary One Day in Africa

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Brook Silva-Braga, the man behind the much-praised backpacking documentary A Map for Saturday (and a former Gadling correspondent!), is premiering his new film One Day in Africa next week at the Cleveland Film Festival.

In anticipation of the film’s world premiere, Brook talked to our friends over at Brave New Traveler about whether Africa is as dangerous as most people think, how he decided whom to interview, and the most important lesson he learned from the whole experience. A couple excerpts:

“Africa is much, much safer than most people probably imagine. I’d argue that Mali is safer than Spain, Kenya is safer than Brazil, Malawi is safer than Thailand. There are certainly pockets of Africa that are among the world’s least safe places but they make up a small percentage of the continent.”

“There are some powerful points to be scored by exploiting westerners’ sympathy, guilt, or pity when telling stories from the developing world and it was my goal to make it more complicated than that. I think too many of the words and images coming from Africa originate in one way or another from people who seek donations for a certain cause from the rich world. I saw my role as providing a channel from Africa to the west that wasn’t influenced by any special interest or agenda.”

Be sure to check out the whole interview here. Read Gadling’s 2007 review of A Map for Saturday here.

The Classic Nile Cruise Gets an Upgrade

by Kraig Becker on

Travelers to Egypt generally share a similar experience. They arrive in Cairo, visit the Pyramids and Sphynx, swing by the Egyptian museum to check out Tut, then leave town for Aswan to scope out the dam, before boarding a Nile riverboat for a leisurely cruise back down the world’s longest river. Along the way, they’ll visit more ancient ruins, before ending up in Luxor a few days later, where they’ll tour, you guessed it, yet more ancient ruins.

The Nile Cruise has been one of the staples of tourism in Egypt for years. But according to a new story from the Daily Mail the classic cruise is undergoing major changes at the moment, with larger, more luxurious boats, longer cruise options, and more amenities.

The typical Nile cruise ship has roughly 15-20 small cabins, but the newest vessels to hit the river are much larger in size, including the Sonesta St George I, a boat with 57 cabins, a full service spa, and five-star service. Not to be outdone, the recenly launched Royal Viking cruise ship has 68 suites, most of which are twice the size the cabins on standard vessels, with four over sized rooms that include a whirlpool tub, large windows, and plasma TV’s.
Luxor is undergoing some changes of it’s own. While the amazing Egyptian temples remain as they have for 4000 years, the hotels and restaurants in the city are undergoing massive restorations, with a number of new additions being built as well. To cater to the increased traffic, the port has also been expanded to more comfortably accomidate more boats and the new larger ships as well.

It seems that the Nile Cruise is going upscale, with more options for travelers than ever before. Lets just ohpe the classic experience doesn’t change dramatically as well.

Through the Gadling Lens: the photoblogs of our Gadling photo pool contributors

by Karen Walrond on

Never let it be said that we don’t have amazing photographers who contribute to our Gadling Flickr pool. One of my favourite things to do is to just scroll through all the striking images — or better still, do searches within the pool for images of any of my upcoming travel destinations. Every time I do, I always learn something: something about a far-off land or culture, or I pick up a new trick for how to shoot a certain subject. The truth is, the Gadling Flickr pool makes me a better photographer.

As I was going through the pool today, I realized that I had a few favourite photographers — and I wondered to myself if these talented shutterbugs might have photoblogs to which I could subscribe, and follow them in my feed reader. Silly me for even doubting that this wouldn’t be the case. So this week, I thought I’d share with you some of the photoblogs my favourite photographers who contribute to the Gadling pool, so you can have a few new daily reads (and eye candy!) as you sip your morning coffee.
1. Ultraclay!

One of the most prolific contributors to our Flickr pool is the inimitable ultraclay!, whose work has been featured heavily both here on Through the Gadling Lens as well as our Photos of the Day. I’ve always loved ultraclay!’s images, since, in addition to being technically sound, are always provocative, from so many places in the world. So needless to say, I was thrilled to learn that ultraclay! also blogs, at ultraclay dot com, where you can see images from his home in Brooklyn, New York, as well as from his travels. This is one blog that’s definitely going into my feed reader.

2. LadyExpat

LadyExpat hasn’t contributed tons of images to our pool, but my heavens, what she has are positively stunning. According to her online journal, Musings from the Other Side, LadyExpat originally hails from Halifax, in Nova Scotia, Canada, but has been living in Asia since the beginning of this century. One look through her images reveals that she has a true eye for striking faces, stunning scenery, and capturing moments of everyday life. I’m thrilled she blogs, and features a “photo of the day,” as well. Be sure to check her site out.


3. Jon Rawlinson

Not surprisingly, the portrait above of a man from Botswana stopped me cold — what an amazing capture by photographer (and producer, and cameraman, and editor – whew!) Jon Rawlinson, and thank heavens he chooses to share his work in our Flickr pool. A quick look through is photostream will tell you that this photographer has an amazing facility with light, and colour and texture — I could spend weeks just studying each of his photographs. And happily, Jon has a website, Jon Rawlinson Productions, where he also blogs, and shares some more of his very favourite photographs. A definite must-see.

4. Pirano

This beautiful shot, full of texture and colour (not to mention an intimate moment between an unsuspecting couple) was beautifully captured by Pirano, one of our pool contributors. Pirano also blogs at piran café, where he chronicles his daily life in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and his travels abroad. I really enjoy his blog because not only does he post his provocative photographs, but he accompanies his images with insightful thoughts and comments of his home and cities beyond. Really beautiful work.


5. Bryn Tassell

The colours of the sunset, the spray of the surf and the texture of the rocks in the foreground make this shot, shared by Bryn Tassell in our pool, absolutely spectacular. What’s even more stunning? You haven’t seen anything yet — Bryn’s photoblog, Techno-Graph (“a smattering of information technology and photography” — get it?) will positively take your breath away. His landscapes are amazing, and in addition to sharing beautiful work, he occasionally shares tips on how to improve your own photography (see: Tips for Winter Photography, for example). Bryn’s RSS feed has been immediately added to my personal feed reader, and has rocketed to one of my favourite photoblogs of all the ones I follow.


6. A Song Under the Sugar Sugar

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to come across this image from A Song Under the Sugar Sugar in the Gadling pool photostream — I’ve always been drawn to images that were different from the mainstream. A Song Under the Sugar Sugar’s images have a vintage, antiqued look about them, with a sepia tone that underlies all of the colours. And happily, her photoblog (not surprisingly entitled A Song Under the Sugar Sugar), is a true photoblog, and a feast for the eyes: she uploads an image every few days with very little commentary, so that your experience enjoying her photographs is unmarred by words. A truly beautiful site.

7. PDPhotography

When you look at the image above by PDPhotography, there’s not a question in your mind that this photographer is a master of Photoshop. And you know what? You’d be right: one look through his Flickr photostream will tell you that PDPhotography has taken his post-camera processing skills to an art form. But here’s the great news: PDPhotography photoblogs, as well, at Lit Pixels, and not only does he share more of his images with you, but he gives you his processing tips and tricks to help you create your own pieces of photographic art. Seriously, you gotta love a guy who’s that generous with his skills.


8. Hijodelafortuna

And last but certainly not least, I love the images shared by hijodelafortuna, whose amazing photostream is a perfect example of how creative photoprocessing and radical visual effects can still convey the story of a travel adventure. As it turns out, Hijodelafortuna is actually T.R. Ryan, who blogs at the equally beautiful From the Faraway, Nearby — a blog, he claims, is “a celebration of travel, nature and poetry of place.” His site is a true traveler’s photoblog, with images from 6 different continents, and filled with his impressions of the lands he visits. Definitely work a good long look.

And with that, I’ll leave you to comb through all of the beautiful sites of the very talented photographers you see above. If you know of any other really talented photobloggers, please leave the links to their sites in the comments section, below — I’d love to check them out. And as always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send them directly to me at karenDOTwalrondATweblogsincDOTcom, and I’ll be sure to tackle them in upcoming posts!

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks, and read her own photoblog here.
And for more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Marry at the House of Juliet, hope for better results

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Finally, there’s a wedding destination for fans of Ishtar, Zima and the Dukakis campaign – among other disasters. If you want a bit of hype to your nuptials, book some space at The House of Juliet. Maybe your marriage will have a little more traction.

Officials in Verona, Italy, where Shakespeare‘s famous play was set, will soon be used for weddings. Daniele Polato, the rocket scientist city official who proposed the program, says, “Verona is known worldwide as the city of love. We have inherited this splendid reputation and we want to promote it.”

Seriously? Splendid reputation? Two teenagers, who barely knew each other married, shacked up and accidentally killed each other. Yep, that’s a horse I’m going to bet on.

Adding your wedding to this fine literary tradition can be as cheap as $770 (for residents of Verona) to $1,280 for people who aren’t EU citizens. City officials claim that the need for more documentation is the reason for the price differences. Weddings could start as early as next month.

Lance Mackey Wins 2009 Iditarod

by Kraig Becker on

Two time defending champ Lance Mackey claimed his third straight Iditarod crown yesterday, arriving in Nome less than ten days after setting out on the trail from Anchorage. He was followed in the evening hours by Sebastian Schnuelle and John Baker, who finished second and third respectively.

The Iditarod is known as “The Last Great Race” and is Alaska’s premiere sporting event and has been held annually since 1973. The race commorates the rich dog sledding tradition of the the 49th state, while following a historically significant trail that was once used to run mail and supplies throughtout the region. Back in 1925, when a diptheria epidemic hit Nome, the trail was famously used to deliver medical supplies, with a chain of heroic mushers passing the serum along like a baton in a relay race. Fortunately, the serum arrived on time, and the events caught the attention of the entire nation.

The course that is used in the Iditarod race today stretches 1150 miles in length through some of Alaska’s most remote and demanding terrain. The mushers in this year’s race dealt with brutal weather conditions as well, with temperatures dropping into the -50º F with windchills, and howling breezes creating whiteout conditions on the trail. Some were forced to seek shelter wherever they could to wait out the worst of the weather.

There are still a number of mushers out on the course, and they’ll continue to cross the finish line over the next day or two. These men and women are celeberties in Alaska, and they’ll each be met with cheering crowds when the reach the finish. The last competitor to reach Nome also receives a red lantern sympolizing the old kerosene lanterns that were used to light the way for mushers in years gone by.