Africa Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgT8byKe0qE

Here is the link for my video I made. My friends John, Dave, Ben and I all had a competition to see who could make the best video based on the material we gathered while we were here. Dave's video won by far. It was really good. I like mine though.

For some reason, there are copyright restrictions from my bungee jump preventing the first 30 seconds of the video from playing. It just shows the bridge and their slogan. There was no way around it. It takes a couple hours to export so it's not something I can easily change. Hope you like it. I will see everyone in a month!

So Much To Say

                                                               June 17, 2013 (19:40)

So I have officially been a field specialist for the past two and a half months. I’ve only had interns for the past two weeks. I liked my job before because of what I was doing and the people I was spending my time with, but now it cannot even be compared to. At least once a day, the interns and myself (there are only two of them) go to a various expedition that myself or my direct boss, Cassie Coetzee, have predetermined. We go into town, go on a hike, visit wine festivals, go to game reserves, etc. Because there are only two of them, we are allowed to cater the program to their needs. Obviously when I have eight interns next month, it will be a little different, but for right now, this has been a great transition into our program.

My two interns are very eager and receptive and after editing a paper a few times, I can really see the changes in their work. It’s actually pretty cool. I like going back and looking at the first draft in comparison to the fifth draft. The papers slowly start to get much better and I know it’s because of the help I gave them. Because there are only two of them though, they are quite busy. Cassie and I were so excited to get the program up and running that we didn’t stop to think about the workload of the interns. We have all these stories for them to write and there are times they just cannot get around to it because they are too busy. With more interns, we will be able to tailor the program to fit our needs, but for the time being, June has been a great starting month.

The best part is that I’m allowed to write as well. I can choose to write for Africa Media and gain exposure while at the same time look for freelance work on the side for cash. I’m currently organizing a photo session for bodyboarders at a local “secret” spot in Mossel Bay. A magazine in Australia called Riptide just accepted my offer for the article and I am currently working out the details. Unfortunately for me, I am at the mercy of the swell, the weather and everyone else's schedule, but I have been trying to get everyone together. This past Sunday, I had three photographers and five bodyboarders set up to visit this spot referred to as “Nowhere’s” but the waves weren’t cooperating. The spot is really cool and I’m excited to write the piece. Hopefully I’ll be able to make a little money.

Over the next couple of weeks I have so many things planned and I hope I can publish a couple of really cool articles. It’s super competitive but I think I can get a lot out of this. I’m still working on the Beyond Blue Magazine. I’m in charge of writing 8 articles within the magazine. So far I have written and completed two of them. I have been looking for more articles but I want the articles to be the “right” ones. Obviously I’m going to use these as a reference for future careers and I want them to be as good as I can possibly do. I have two of my interns working on a story each, so they currently have their plates filled to the brim. They better be working on stories as we speak!

On a non-work related topic, today is exactly one year from the day Shannon and I started dating. It’s been pretty cool to have made it this far; especially with me being in Africa for a nice chunk of it. Super excited to see her and the countdown has begun. I only have a couple more weeks until I’m back in the states anyway. When I get back, I’ll be moving to Miami with her. She recently got accepted into grad school at the University of Miami and I told her if she could put up with me being away for so long, I would definitely go back to Florida for a year. I love that state. We’re currently looking for apartments and I’m currently looking for a job down there. If anyone has any leads on a place or job, please do not hesitate to let me know. For some reason when I tell google, “I just want to write about sharks and scuba dive in the ocean,” no jobs appear. I may have to try yahoo or something.

Also! I just found out I will be driving 15 hours along the KwaZulu-Natal coast to write about and dive in the sardine run! Absolutely unreal! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Africa Media called me today and told me they needed someone to write the story about the trip. I couldn’t have said yes quicker. For those of you who do not know what the sardine run is, let me explain.

Have you ever watched discovery or national geographic and seen those huge schools of fish where everything is attacking them? The sardines form this humongous ball as a defense mechanism and swim up the coast of Africa in search of colder water. As they do, they’re chased by common dolphins, sharks, seals, game fish and birds. Everything tries to eat them and I will be diving right in the middle of them and then writing a couple of stories about my experience. I cannot wait. This will be absolutely unbelievable. When they asked, I thought they were joking, but the head of the company specifically asked for me to come! I will be diving in the middle of blacktips, bronze wailers, dolphins, tuna, etc. If you still don’t know what I’m even talking about, here’s a link of one that happened a couple years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYl4m0xFcCU

They’re going to give me a camera and throw me in with the sharks! I cannot wait. I’ll be on the boat chasing these fish every day for the next week. I’ll be back in Mossel Bay on Monday. I’ll take lots of pictures!

Happy Father's Day

                                                June 16th 2013 (8:36 P.M.)

Hey Dad, just wanted to say Happy Father's Day! Lots to catch everyone up one. It's been a busy week with my interns and this week will be even worse. Tomorrow I plan on catching everyone up on what has been going on.

Mom and Shane: Make sure dad has a great day! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple weeks!

Karen's Reponse to the Video

Dear T.J.,

So, I used your video for the first time today in the freshman Preview presentation and I was amazed at the reaction---they APPLAUDED! I’m not kidding---they don’t applaud anything, they don’t applaud the dean, they don’t applaud Charles Harris, they barely applaud at the very end when I’m done with the presentation, BUT they applauded at the end of your video. It was a hit!

A freshman and her mom came up to me after the session and the student said, that’s exactly what I want to do---I want to travel the world, I want to shoot video of animals, that’s exactly what I want to do. You’re her hero! I knew your story would resonate.

Thank you, again!  

Thought that was very cool! I'm really happy they liked it.

New Interns Arrive Next Week

May 23, 2013 (14:05)

     I have now been working for Africa Media for nearly two months. I absolutely love the job and love what I'm doing, but I'm ready for the internship to begin with. I have been working in the office everyday from 7:30 a.m. until nearly seven in the evening and I'm ready to get out and write some stories. For the past two months I have been in charge of organizing the upcoming internship including scheduling, travel destinations, and organization of guest speakers I have been collecting and maintaining relationships with contributing writers, sending out emails and collecting daily updates for our program's social media sites. I have been designing videos, newsletters, analytic reports and magazine templates. I have written stories, interviewed staff members and started a magazine database for every magazine located within South Africa. I have pretty much done everything involved with sitting in front of a computer and now I'm ready to go out and write about some amazing things.
          Next week my interns arrive. I'm super excited. We are getting our van this week, meaning I am that much closer to getting out and seeing more of South Africa. The office is nice, but I know I'm not supposed to sit in front of a desk all day. It's time for me to go out and experience some more Africa.
          I did find out I will hopefully be able to make a little money while I'm here. Because South Africa is such a major tourism "hotspot," my boss Cassie and I will be pitching possible story ideas to magazines and online content sites in the U.S. The goal is for us to pick one of the incredible things to do here every week, pitch a story idea to the states and arrange a "trade" agreement with the various locations around South Africa for our accommodations to be covered in exchange for the publicity to the U.S. Because I am technically considered a volunteer, I cannot be paid in South Africa or risk deportation, but getting paid from the states to write a story about any number of the unbelievable safaris, parks, beaches, etc. is perfectly within the law. I'm hoping this will kill a number of birds with one stone.
1.) Experience in Travel Writing
2.) Experience in Environmental Journalism
3.) Income
4.) Free Housing/Accommodations throughout South Africa
5.) Unforgettable Experiences.

I really hope it works. I'm in South Africa; might as well take advantage while I can.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my younger brother! It is his 18th birthday today and I am very happy he elected to wear his seat belt. Stop scaring us like that Shane. Hope you're excited for your last summer before college and feel free to respond to any of my messages punk.

Have fun today Shane and text me back!

Pictures of Shannon and I in Africa

Shannon And I's Africa Trip

                                                        May 12, 2013 (8:03 P.M.)

Shannon and I had an amazing week. It was really awful to see her go on Wednesday; I almost didn’t let her. I feel as though we didn’t have enough time together, but I’d rather of had that than no time at all. I don’t know if I could have gone seven months without seeing her at all and I’m so grateful she was able to fly out here to see me.

When she arrived, we made our way to our hostel called Two Oceans Backpackers. It looked a lot nicer on the website but the price wasn’t bad and it was right in the middle of the city. On the first night she was there, we went out to eat on the Waterfront – a really pretty collection of bars and restaurants right on the harbor with Table Mountain in the background. After dinner, we headed over to a bar and grabbed a couple drinks. 

Despite the bar being slammed, we walked up and found two seats right in the front. We sat there for a while and ended up signing our names on an American dollar we taped on the wall next to everyone else’s.

On Thursday we woke up and headed over to Simon’s Town and Boulder’s Beach. It was a little different than the last time we were there because there were no people on the beach. We had the entire beach to ourselves and were able to relax on the sand as a couple penguins walked around us. It must have been out of season for the penguins or something because there were not as many walking around, but we still got some funny pictures and video of some curious penguins.

From there we had lunch at a local café and made our way back to Cape Town. With a long day on Friday, we stayed in and woke up early. We packed up our stuff Thursday night and on Friday we made our way back to Mossel Bay. We were excited to leave the city. Apparently Shannon and I are not city people because we were relieved to finally be out of the city. It was loud and dirty and those Vuvuzela horns you would see at soccer games never seemed to end.

On the way back to Mossel Bay, we stopped at South African Forest Adventures to give zip lining a try. They really need to work on their directions because in no way would Shannon and I have thought to walk into a casino and head into their “backyard” to find the zip lining building. If I didn’t call, we would have never made it. Once we got there, it started to rain and we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to do it, but the guides did not seem fazed by the ongoing drops and we were quickly rigged and ready to start.

We were given a quick tutorial about the proper way to do it as well as shown what not to do and before we knew it, we were zipping down the line. I quickly understood where the name came from. There was another couple with us too, but that was it. Including our guide team of two brothers, our total number was at six.

There were a total of 9 lines positioned throughout the forest; each one leading to the next. Some drops were steeper and longer than others, but our guides were professional and warned us about when exactly to apply the brakes, etc. With the rain coming in through the trees, we were warned to hit the brakes faster than normal because the water tended to dull the braking effect. The whole thing took about 45 minutes, but it was really fun and we enjoyed it a lot.

From there, we continued our journey back to Mossel Bay.

About halfway through the trip, I needed to stop for gas and was forced to take a random exit of the highway. It was during this side excursion that we passed a sign reading “Fairy Sanctuary.” Shannon spotted it and I think curiosity just got the best of us. We had to know what a fairy sanctuary was. After following the various signs to what I was beginning to assume was nothing more than a trick to rob American tourists, we arrived at the sanctuary. As we walked into the “enchanted forest” of this woman’s backyard, we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of eyes. They were fairies and magical creatures of every shape, size and color in every direction. With a route to follow as well as signs that read, “Do not pick flowers because fairies might be sleeping under them,” we made our way through the sanctuary.

After walking through the yard and into the house/gift shop a well, I would be comfortable saying there were probably more than 100,000 fairies on the property. The number fairies on the premise seemed to just rise with every turn; it was a little intimidating. Some of these things were kind of cute, but some of them were the creepiest things I’d ever seen. The walk couldn’t have taken more than a couple minutes, but at least we satisfied our curiosities. We left the sanctuary and made our way back on the road.

By the time we got into Mossel Bay and checked into our room, it was close to dinner time. We had originally planned to stay in on Friday because of our early morning chum trip on Saturday, but due to some unknown – and quite dodgy – circumstances on behalf of the head field specialist, our trip was postponed until Tuesday morning. The whole trip was set with volunteers and skippers and passport information, but at the last second, the field specialist cancelled the trip without leaving any room for response. It was random, insulting and annoying, but there was nothing we could do.

With everyone in the mindset to stay in regardless, our whole group decided to stay in and play some poker and pool. After a long day of traveling, I could see the relief on Shannon’s face when we said we would be staying in. Overall it was a nice, relaxing, successful night. Shannon and I went undefeated in pool (thanks to some lucky circumstances) and Shannon was one of the winners for poker!

On Saturday we woke up and headed to Eden Adventures at Wilderness National Park. We got a crew of seven people and canoed down the unbelievable river toward the waterfall. With canoes of two people per canoe – and our one friend Ben handling a solo kayak – we leisurely cruised down the river. When I say leisurely, of course I mean for Shannon. I think her oar was afraid of getting wet because it seemed as though I was doing most of the paddling. We did get some amazing pictures though. Shannon took one of the river and surrounding wilderness. It was so clear and calm; you couldn’t tell which side was the water and which side what the forest. So I don’t get yelled, Shannon did paddle a lot on the way back and we made great time together.

Saturday night we headed out to the bar for a little bit with everyone, but didn’t want to stay out too late because we had a cage diving trip early the next morning!

Sunday morning, despite Shannon’s protests, we headed into town for our Great White Shark cage diving experience. The weather was great and we made the short trip to Seal Island to start our day. Shannon and I jumped in the first group as soon as the first shark showed up. When we were in the cage, the first shark came pretty quickly. I was supposed to be filming Shannon and her reactions to the shark, but when it bit the cage directly in front of her, the only thing I could do was laugh. She screamed, I laughed and the whole thing was awesome. I figured I would get plenty more chances to capture some pictures, but unfortunately for us, that first shark didn’t stick around too much longer. We got a couple more pictures, but we ended up waiting in the water for a long time with no sharks making any appearances.

Of course the second we got out and the second group jumped in, five sharks appeared. It was ok though because we got some amazing photos from the boat and I was able to get a number of photos with Shannon and the sharks in the background. Also, if we were in the cage for the second group, we wouldn’t have seen our first natural predation breach from a great white shark! We were just casually watching the ocean while the second group was in the water when all the sudden, a great white completely left the water about 30 meters from the boat. Shannon and I were looking in the perfect direction as the shark flew from the ocean and flipped in the air. I had been waiting for a breach since I got here and had been listening to everyone else’s stories about their own experiences, but had yet to see one for myself. I was ecstatic! Plus Shannon and I saw our first breach together!

On Sunday night, Shannon and I hit the beach with everyone to play a little ultimate Frisbee with the rest of the interns. She played amazing. I believe she caught four touchdowns in helping us capture a win on the first game. As for the second game, it was rigged and never happened and the other team is a bunch of cheaters.

After dinner, Shannon and I dominated the board game “30 Seconds.” The game follows a Taboo sort of outline where one person has to describe something without using certain words and the other person has to guess what it is.

We destroyed it. Or clues to each other may not have been correct, but that didn’t stop us from dominating.

Shannon – “This is the capital of Australia”

T.J. – “Sydney!”

Shannon – “Yes!”

(Canberra is the capital city of Australia)

We still got the point.

Monday was one of my favorite days with Shannon. We woke up early and headed to Garden Route Game Lodge for our cheetah walk with Kim Schoeman. Kim brought the cheetahs right out and we were able to walk the cheetahs and take as many pictures as we wanted. Shannon was hugging them and the cheetahs were even purring. Apparently their one of the few large cats that still have the ability to purr. After the walk, Kim gave us a personal tour through the facility where we saw the Big-5 and a number of other animals. The Big-5 in Africa are named after the five most deadliest animals to hunt and they include the lion, water buffalo, rhino, elephant and jaguar. We even had a little scare with the lion’s pen that Kim seemed oddly comfortable with while Shannon and I were a little bit scared. W got to see wild cheetahs stalking prey, springbok grazing and the house where the volunteers stayed.

Shannon and I spent the day with the family whose story would later go viral on the internet. I wrote the story on the cheetahs while a film making intern created a video. We sold the story, video and photographs to a local site and the story spread internationally. It was amazing to see my stuff all over ABC News and Yahoo News, etc. but it was even cooler to know Shannon and I were just there earlier in the week. The whole thing was surreal.

After that, we made our way to Botlierskop; one of the prettiest places I’d ever been. Shannon and I had an elephant picnic schedule but we were not expecting what we saw. In the middle of this reserve, with three elephants grazing in the background – a father, a mother, and their baby – there was a white-linen table clothed table set up with everything we could ever want. With a bottle of champagne and water cooling off in the ice bucket, there were two chairs set up next to each other with a big bowl of fruit displayed on the table. For lunch we had a salmon wrap with cheeses and crackers, a deli spread, brownies, biltong and bread. The whole thing felt like a dream. We couldn’t help but feel like royalty as we drank our champagne and watched elephants grazing behind us.

After lunch, we were able to feed the elephants by hand; even the baby. We could feed it to them via trunk or place the fruit on top of their massive tongues. The guides took plenty of pictures and Shannon and I loved it. After lunch, a car was sent to pick us up and we were brought back to the lobby. It was absolutely amazing.

On Tuesday Shannon and I were supposed to go on the chum trip, but Shannon didn’t feel too well, so we decided to sleep in. It was much needed. We had been running and around and driving all week and needed some time to sleep in. We woke up late and lay by the pool. It was a really nice day and a perfect way to end our trip. Everything was packed up that night and on Tuesday I sadly drove Shannon to the airport.

Cheetah House

                                                         May 10, 2013 (8:32 A.M.)

Great news! The cheetah story I wrote a couple weeks ago – the first story I wrote for Africa Media – went international yesterday morning and was picked up by ABC news. Hein and Kim Schoeman’s story about the rescued cheetahs has been spread all over the world!

For the story, Africa Media handled the entire media coverage. I was sent out to interview the Schoemans and a Wildlife & Adventure Film Making intern made a short video. As a package, we sold the story and two days ago, it was picked up by ABC News, Yahoo News and a number of other smaller outlets.

Unfortunately for myself and the intern, we sell any rights to our work the moment we sign a contract with Africa Media, but it’s still very cool to see something you worked on and know personally go viral. I wish I could have my name on the story, but for now, I’m just happy to know I wrote something that became “famous” overnight. At least I can add it to my C.V.!

Here are a couple of the links to the places where the story was picked up:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321149/Boy-3-sister-grown-CHEETAHS-mini-Jeep.html

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/cheetahs-friends-with-children--kim-hein-schoeman-kayla-malan-big-cats-south-africa-104258052.html#41AI7Oz

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4919652/toddlers-raised-with-deadly-cheetahs.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/05/adopted-cheetahs-form-unusual-bond-with-toddlers/

Here is my original story:

A year ago, a cheetah living at the Garden Route Game Lodge outside Albertinia in the Western Cape of South Africa gave birth to four cubs.

With cheetah mortality rates highest during the first 16 weeks of a cub’s life and the risk of predation, infection and starvation constantly looming on the horizon, a mother cheetah is generally only able to provide protection and the necessary resources for half of her litter.

Deciding to not turn their heads away from the likely deaths of two of these cheetah new-borns and understanding the potential risks, Managing Game Ranger Hein Schoeman and his wife Kim, chose to rescue two of the cubs from likely peril.

What they did not expect was the relationship that would form between these two cats and their family.

“We decided to take two to raise and let the cheetah raise two; just to raise the chance of survival,” Kim Schoeman said. “When we took the cheetah cubs away, they were only about two weeks old. The only people they were exposed to in the beginning were my husband Hein and myself.”

 In an attempt to raise the cats themselves, Hein and Kim brought the two-week-old cubs into their home. The main concern would be the safety of all those involved, especially Hein and Kim’s then 2-year-old Malan and 3-month-old Kayla. The process would not be easy and there would be no guarantee of the cubs survival, but the Schoeman’s had to give it their all.

 At home the responsibilities for Kim never seem to end. Between maintaining a safe environment for her children, if she wasn’t feeding Malan or Kayla, she was feeding the male cub, Wakuu or the female cub Skyla.

 “I would be warming milk for babies and warming milk for cheetahs; I just kept feeding everyone,” Kim said. “When I was working, I would have them all in the office with me during the day and at night I would get up every two hours and feed them.”

Because the cheetahs did not have a mother, Kim had to be the one they relied on. Along with her own children, Kim fed the cheetahs, bathed them and did whatever was necessary to make sure they were taken care of. There were even nights the entire Schoeman family – cheetahs included – slept in the same bed.

“They wanted to be close to us. They didn’t have a mother,” Kim said. “They would call me at night and I would eventually go sleep with them or just bring them to the bed. They were so much a part of our family that I would end up having all the cats and kids with me in the bed.”

Kim explained how her children saw the cheetahs as any other children would see an animal in the house.

“They saw them as normal with nothing strange about them,” she said. “They weren’t very big at that point – about the size of normal cats – and there was no difference in the way they treated the dog or the cheetahs. The kids cuddled them like big teddy bears. Waku the boy, he likes to cuddle.”

As Wakuu and Skyla continued to grow, the Schoeman children were taught a number of procedures to follow when interacting with the cheetahs. Kim and Hein did not want to take any unnecessary risks with their children and teaching them just a few simple rules would make all the difference.

“The kids were taught they were not allowed to run anywhere near the cats,” she said. “When they walked, they had to face them. They were not allowed to turn their backs on them.”

When the cheetahs were about four months old, they were moved from the house to an enclosure built in the garden. Kim said with the cheetahs getting bigger, she felt more comfortable with them living in a confined area outside.

“We still kept taking the kids to them, but we would never leave them alone together,” she said. “The cheetahs are wild animals and their instincts are there and the kids realized they can’t just go into the enclosure to play with them.”

Jokingly she mentioned how her children, despite being much smaller than the cheetahs now, acted dominant toward the cats.

“Our kids are small but they think they are dominant. If the cats jump or pounce, then they just push them down and say ‘No, don’t do that,’ like other children might do to a dog.”

Kim thinks it has to do with confidence. If the children are not scared of them, then the cheetahs think they must be stronger than them. She said with cheetahs, they know their strength lies in their speed, not power. They won’t take the chance and fight something unless they know they can win.

With Wakuu and Skyla being a year old now, Malan and Kayla do not get as much time with the cheetahs as they used to. Despite the relationship between the cats and the children, the Schoeman’s still wouldn’t feel comfortable letting them interact without taking special precautions.

“What we do is have them interact with the kids on very hot days when they’re not active and don’t feel like playing,” she said. “When we are training them to hunt or playing with them with balls, we don’t have the kids with us for that. That way they don’t associate the kids with play time, running or feeding. The only times the kids interact is after they’ve been hunting so they’re relaxed and full.”

Kim explained how there’s always going to be a level of stress when dealing with wild animals. Even after taking all the necessary precautions, Kim still worries about the safety of her children on the reserve.

As the cheetahs continue to grow, the Schoeman’s know they will have to eventually release Wakuu and Skyla back onto the reserve. As much as neither Hein nor Kim wish to alienate these wild animals, consideration for the cheetahs and their natural environment is of top priority and because their children Malan and Kayla have essentially grown up with these cats, it will be a very emotional day.

“It’s a lot of work in the beginning but it’s worth it,” she said.

Hein and Kim have done an incredible job at assuring these cheetahs survival. Although they enjoyed the spoils of having two young cheetahs be a part of their family, above all they have given Wakuu and Skyla a chance they would have otherwise lost. Regardless of where Wakuu and Skyla end up on the reserve, there will always be a place for them with the Schoeman family and in the end, they will always be a Schoeman.