Africa ~ The Journal

I plan to keep a daily journal while in Africa. Of course I hope to take a lot of photos, but a little journal with hard copy words will be a back up, an old-fashioned way of keeping up with day to day highlights. Several hours during the middle of the day, between game drives, I think writing will be a pleasant pastime....................and something I need to get used to again with no laptop at hand. I'm also taking my box of watercolor pencils and a few markers, and will try to render sketches when I see something that catches my eye. I'm no artist but no harm in trying to draw little items of interest to add some color to my journal.

Do you have any tips for me regarding sketching? I have friends whose journals have delightful drawings on the pages. It seems just a few well-placed lines and curves turn into palm trees, sailboats, street scenes, mountain ranges and meadows. Perhaps the secret is not to try too hard........just a smidgen of detail with a light washed color to give the eye the idea of a cheetah up a tree, an elephant plodding through the grasses, and the green delta stretching out from the camp with hippos bathing in the muddy waters.

BUT..........please, please cameras don't fail me. Photos will definitely show more than any sketches I can bring back from such a huge adventure.

I'm not certain in which direction my blog will go from hereon out. Right now my laptop is at the 'doctor'. Hopefully the virus it caught while I was trying desperately to find a solution to the photo upload problem will be cured! I'm quite enjoying my time away from the computer........I'm doing some much-needed household chores to ready for a new season, also a little decorating consisting mostly of moving things around, and some gardening, sewing and crafting.