Today we start our journey into the jungle. Our first stop will be the Samburu Game reserve. First things first we meet our guide for the tip Alfred. Right off the bat we realize that this is going to be a great trip. Alfred is funny and very outgoing. So we pile into the safari van and off we go. Now one thing I did not take into consideration was the condition of the roads in Kenya. We travel down a dirt road full of potholes for 5 hours. Alfred is a great driver we should sign him up for the Baja 1000. 50-60 mph down dirt roads will wear you out. But we safely make it to our first lodge. It’s starting to sink in that we are in Africa, as we pull into the lodge we have to wait while elephants move away from the gate. Tony… I don’t think we’re in Kanas anymore!

We finally make it to Nairobi and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be standing up. That was way to long to sit still. I’m going to have to be sedated for the return trip. So now we make our way to the airport baggage claim (if you can call it that). The whole trip I have been worried about one thing. My camera equipment. We watch them throw baggage off the plane and sure enough there’s my camera case. However we wait and wait and no more luggage. Great, I’ve been in the same clothes for almost 2 days now and they’ve lost my luggage….

So as I drive to the airport it’s starting to sink in… I’m going to Africa! Lucky for me I’m going with some great friends. Tony is a trained Paramedic and Frank is an Attorney. What do you think I’m stupid or something? I’m not going to Africa without my medical and legal support team. So it’s a plane ride from Tampa to Philadelphia, 925 miles, then Philly to Heathrow in London 3,549 miles. There we have a 3 hour layover so we can have a nice dinner and then it’s London to Nairobi Kenya Airport. Or so we thought! You’ve just got to love British Airways customer service. Turns out the flight from Philly to London is cancelled, next flight 5 hours from now. So we catch the redeye flight to London and because we are late for the connecting flight we have to run through Heathrow airport. I actually saw London for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, they were holding the plane for us to board. So now it’s onto another plane for another 4,241 miles 12 HOURS! Total flight time 27 hours 32 minutes.

OK not really, I’m doing another shoot for Flair Magazine down at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. The Columbia is owned by my friend Richard Gonzmart and has been in business since 1905. Best Spanish food anywhere and a great location to do a photo shoot. It was fantastic, killer food, great clothes and a fabulous model. It was my first time working with Adrienne, she was wonderful to work with. I think the shoot turned out well!! What do your think?

Why do I have that ZZ Top song playing in my head? Let see, well I’m leaving for Africa in a couple of weeks, so I had to go down and get my shots for traveling out of the country. Now going to Africa is not like going to France, so there were a lot of shots involved. I mean a lot of shots! Besides the normal stuff like a Tetanus booster I had to add shots for Hepatitis A & B, an Influenza shot, meningitis and a polio booster, Typhoid Fever, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever. Now that I’ve had 7 shots, I have to start taking Malaria pills for the next 4 weeks and then the week after I come home. I just keep hearing the nurse telling me whatever you do DON’T drink any water. She says if you drink the local water it’s not whether you might catch Typhoid Fever, it’s YOU WILL catch Typhoid!!! What have I gotten myself into here?

OK why is it that when a band like Maroon 5 comes to my venue all of the girls come out of the woodwork. Most of the Marketing Department at the Forum are women. Someone like Adam Levine comes to our building and they all get into fights over who’s going to meet the band. Each act that comes to our venue gets a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey with their name on it. So here I am backstage waiting with a bunch of giggly girls all blushing about Adam. At least none of them fainted.

Started shooting for ESPN and University of South Florida Football. It’s been a while since I shot sports so this is going to be a challenge. Walking through the tunnel at Raymond James Stadium it all started coming back to me. The roar of the crowd, the smell of the turf and oh yea college cheerleaders. I love my job! Quarterback Mat Grothe took the USF Bulls to victory 37-10 over North Carolina. GO BULLS!

I did another shoot for Flair Magazine today. I was tempted to slip out the backdoor of the studio. We had over $300,000.00 worth of jewelry on the set. I had a great crew again, I like working with Flair they really put together well thought out shoots. Alla the model worked out great but the truth is the star of the shoot today was none other then Mr. Darcy the wonder dog.

Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt. I stopped smoking today, the good news is no one has died…. YET!