Well... I survived Africa. (pics!)

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mhambi

mhambi

Burning Hunk
Sep 10, 2010
128
UT
Again thanks to everyone for the pre-trip pointers. We had a great time! No problems w/ baggage theft, sickness, missed connections etc. I've been so busy since getting back w/ lab work that I really haven't even sorted through all my pics/video. But here's a few.

Trip was from SLC-JFK-JNB by air... car from JNB to Swaziland, 2 weeks there, back (with a detour through Mpumalanga) to JNB-JFK-PHX-SLC.

Breakfast in Nhlangano out of the back of our trusty rental.
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Group Kitchen at one of the places we stayed
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Collecting water samples... dangerous business!
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Nice cascade near Hawane
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And because this is Hearth.com.... firewood is big business there during the winter. Of course my definition of winter is a little different than theirs. Nights were 45-50, days were 85ish. But you can buy firewood on the side of the road all over down there.

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Pretty amazing piece of the world.
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On the way back home
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Thanks all!
 
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Jags said:
Was this a work affiliated trip or more of a pleasure trip?
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Returned to school after a long absence... this trip was part of my senior research project. Basically a water quality survey of the Kingdom of Swaziland


Travelling w/ 40lbs of water samples and testing equipment = airport security fun!!! ;)

about half of my samples
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Nice photos. I always wanted to go to Africa, but the diseases and political instability scare me. When I was younger I traveled a lot, mainly to Central and South America. I came back with various parasites one some trips (all curable, fortunately). I would imagine that drinking some of those bottles would be lethal. What are you looking for in the water? Parasites/diseases? Heavy metals or pollutants?
 
Jags - Safety wise I felt fine the whole trip. Like travelling anywhere, keep your wits about you and pay attention. There are parts in RSA I'd be a little more alert, or avoid altogether, but I didn't feel threatened during this trip. I took my 15 year old son w/ me, and we had a great time.


StihllHead - Swaziland is a world away from... let's say Sudan. Go! Even w/ all the bad press South Africa is getting right now... I wouldn't hesitate to go back, as long as someone else was paying this time. Funny thing is- I have a friend that travels to the DRC (Congo) for work monthly. That would freak me out safetywise, but he's fine w/ it. But every once in a while he has to go to Joburg, which makes him uneasy. I think what you get used to.

Here's a short blub from the proposal that explains what I was doing/looking for:

Swaziland, an independent kingdom in southern Africa, suffers from the highest per capita rates of both HIV (26-31% of adult population) and tuberculosis (1.3% of adult population) infection in the world. There is considerable overlap among the infected populations as 80% of tuberculosis patients are also HIV positive. Recent studies have shown that elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals (especially cadmium and lead) in blood, hair, and nails are good predictors of development of secondary infections such as tuberculosis in individuals who are HIV positive. Swaziland is an area that would be expected to have elevated arsenic in surface water and groundwater due to gold, iron and tin deposits/mines, and the continued use of arsenical pesticides and herbicides in sugarcane farming and pulp forestry.
The objective of this study is to carry out the first arsenic survey in Swaziland. Since the measurement of arsenic concentrations in surface water can provide a rapid assessment of arsenic in the regional hydrologic system, 100 water samples will be collected from the major rivers (Komati, Umbuluzi, Usutu, Ngwempsi, and Lusushwana) and their tributaries. Water temperature and pH will be measured on-site with the Hach EC10 pH Meter. Samples will be returned to *** where concentrations of arsenic, the transition metals normally associated with arsenic (iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, cobalt, chromium) and other heavy metals (lead, cadmium, silver, tin) will be measured with the Optima 8000 Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer
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I have heard that ZA is a nice place to go to see wildlife, and has the best parks in Africa simply because they shoot poachers there. I also have friends here that are from Joburg and Capetown, and they tell me horror stories of the street violence in the cities with the car jackings and home break-ins. So its a mixed bag.

You could do a water study here on the Columbia river and find gobs of contaminants as well. I do not eat fish caught in that river any more. The Boardman coal-fired electric plant layers mercury on the water, and the dams there all had transformers full of PCBs dumped into the river over many years. Then there is the nuclear development and military dump site at Hanford, which is percolating into the river. Then there is the China drift that is depositing more mercury and heavy metals around here. *sigh*
 
Fantastic pics . . . would love to go to Africa some day . . . will probably never happen, so it's nice to be the arm chair traveler and share just a bit in your trip with the pics. Thanks for posting. Great pics.
 
AWESOME MHAMBI! Hey guys, I was gone for the whole summer. Did they do away with the perfect picture thingy and is everyone just sharing that stuff in the inglenook now?
 
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mhambi said:
Returned to school after a long absence... this trip was part of my senior research project. Basically a water quality survey of the Kingdom of Swaziland


Travelling w/ 40lbs of water samples and testing equipment = airport security fun!!! ;)

about half of my samples
Click to expand...

Looks like an awesome trip. Hope each one of those bottles was 3 oz. or less. LOL
 
Gasifier said:
AWESOME MHAMBI! Hey guys, I was gone for the whole summer. Did they do away with the perfect picture thingy and is everyone just sharing that stuff in the inglenook now?
Click to expand...

Yep.
 
A little video/slideshow that I threw together... need to fix a few things, but oh well... I'm am amateur. At least I didn't invite you over under false pretenses and force you to sit through all my slides... lol

 
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