Big Dreams..

When I was a kid I thought travelling the world with my camera would be a glamorous existence filled with exotic places and exciting adventures. I thought rare wildlife would miraculously appear and pose for that perfect photo at just the right time.
However when I could finally afford to do it, the reality was often painfully different but at the same time, so much better than the dream.
In my dreams the wildlife had their own communal bathrooms. But in reality I have rolled in, stepped in, knelt in, crawled in, slid on and fell into so many animal droppings that I can proudly say "watch out for the elephant pooh in five different languages.
I did not dream of second-degree sunburn, debilitating sea-sickness, pick-pockets, spider bites, cranky hippos, starving animals, suicidal African drivers, dubious street food, beggars, proposals of marriage, jittery cell phone coverage and cold showers.
And the truth is...the wildlife appear in their own sweet time. They don't care if you have come thousands of miles to sit in a bush for a week waiting for them and they couldn't care less about your schedule or your budget or your 200 mosquito bites.
When and if they do appear, it's always with a look of total indifference and if they could speak they would say...What?!?
Surviving all the challenges and coming out the other end in one piece with a couple of decent photographs is a great day for me.
Being followed around by a small posse of school kids because they have have never seen a white girl before or sitting next to a couple on an Indian train hoping to find work hundreds of miles from their family, or the very average looking Skua who saw his own reflection in my camera lens and was astounded at his own handsomeness are the things I really dream of.