Capturing the Moment

Baseball season in Kenya is always September through October. Mostly this is because the boys in the area have free sports time but also because the weather is so good. The sun shines almost every afternoon and we only seen a couple drops of rain since arriving two weeks ago. There is actually so little moisture right now that what few water holes are left are drying up. All of the farmers, cow herders, and brick makers are expecting the rains to come later this month. Water is a very precious commodity here. This is one of the reasons why wildlife viewing is so incredible here during the dry season. All of the animals gather in the open around water holes instead of dispersing into the forest areas.

We had our first friendly match between Mukaa and Kilungu. Both of these teams are part of the original 5 that Jim, Special, and I started 5 years ago. They were both eager to get ready for the upcoming tournament so we scheduled for Mukaa boys to travel to Kilungu for a real baseball game experience. Unfortunately the coach from Mukaa contacted us and said the school's bus is broken. Thinking quickly we decided to put their team and coach into our Land Rover and drive them to the other school. Well, I have been a bit worried about how the Turtle will handle 4 people...now with Jim, Joseph, myself, the Mukaa coach, and 9 players we had 13 people! But the Turtle proved itself and got everyone there to the game on time. I coached the Mukaa boys and Jim coached the Kilungu team and we had a beautiful day for a baseballgame. Both teams are reallycoming along. The game ended at 1-0 in favor of Mukaa. I was very happy with the caliber of play and took it as a personal coaching victory as...

Some places the people are just naturally photogenic. Africa is definitely one of those places. The kids here often pose for a picture, especially after you show them the result on the screen. The one boy pushing the tire rim with a stick is a common sight on our walks. How this game came about I have no idea. And check out the little boy with an even smaller baby on his back. Imagine having that responsibility when you were six years old. Their mother was no where in sight. Seeing these kids smiling and playing also goes to show you how happy you can be with so little. Clothes on your back, food in your stomach, interesting foreigners walking around, and a couple of sticks make for a pretty fun day for these young ones. There is certainly something to be said about kids playing outside, getting dirty, and socializing. No lame cubes or no-friend-dos here. Maybe less really is more...

This year we brought along a few softballs and softball bats to introduce it to the girls schools and the younger kids. Our first attempt was with the Kiongwani Primary School. This is a 1st-8th grade school with girls and boys. At 3:10 they all came running out of the classrooms to the field where we were warming up. Everyone wanted to grab the bat and take a swing. As one child stepped up the crowd would get closer and closer. It seemed very unsafe, especially when the big kids were swinging, but we just couldn't keep them moved back. Finally one kid whacked it into the crowd off a another kid's head. That dispersed the crowd for about 20seconds. I figured at least its a softball...

Enthusiasm and smiles. The host of the baseball4africa tournament last year, Maiani Secondary School, came out swinging this year. With big hitters, a great first baseman, and an incredible performance from the catcher they have high hopes for this years tournament. When asked if they would like us to come back on the weekend for another practice they all jumped up saying yes. A crisis was also averted on this afternoon. Jim was pitching with the ladies coach standing behind him calling balls and strikes. I grabbed a bat to try and show the guys how far you can really hit it. He threw a perfect strike in and I swung and hit it about as hard as I could, right off the sweet part. But instead of a high arcing homerun I hit a screaming line drive right back at Jim and the coach. My heart stopped and I thought I had ended baseball4africa 2010 with one swing. It was heading straight for Jim's shoulder and if he moved it would hit the off guard coach in the head. Then, somehow, Jim caught...

Every morning we head out for a little exploration and exercise by walking around the hills and roads surrounding our host school. There are a surprising number of people for such a dry and dusty place. Houses made of mud dot the dusty roads accompanied by little farms. How they grow vegetables is beyond me in this climate and soil. Chickens roam everywhere and boys walk along with herds of cattle and goats. We often pass women carrying large amounts of wood for stoking the fire at home or for making bricks. The children are the best. You never know how they will react. Often they scream and laugh and come running over to see us. One toddler broke into tears, terrified. And sometimes they just quit what they are doing and silently stare at us as we pass and wave. Everyone is very friendly and full of smiles. They are usually surprised when I greet them with "habari" which means 'how are you?' in Swahili. Alot of the younger generation know a little English but swahili...

Baseball 4 Africa is well underway here in Kenya. We have visited and taught at 3 different high schools; Kiongwani, Mukaa, and Kilungu. I remember all of these schools from 5 years ago when we first introduced baseball to Africa. When we go to a school we are met and greeted by the principals and deputy principles and the games masters who preside over all the sports. Then we share Kenya tea (tea with lots of milk and sugar) or Kenya coffee (instant with lots of sugar) before waiting for the boys to finish class and head to the field. There has been a huge shift of personnel this year and many of the gamesmasters have been promoted to deputy principles at other schools. This means that the baseball knowledge has moved with them so we are having to work hard to get these teams ready for the tournament on Oct 9th. You can tell that they have a much better understanding of the game than when we first started. No one is running the bases backwards (although missing second base and head...

We arrived in Nairobi after two long, but comfortable flights from NY-Brussels-Kenya. We cleared customs around midnight with 5 out of 6 bags. Of course the one bag we lost would be the one with all my clothes/shoes/sleeping bag stuff in it. No worries, I'm sure it will show up eventually. We spent the next two days running around Nairobi getting the car, a 1988 Land Rover nicknamed the "Turtle", in order, getting insurance, and supplying up. The Turtle was a bit troubled after sitting for nearly a year, so we took it to the mechanics who toyed giving it the death warrant and then said it is fixable. So we rented a small economy and drove off east on the Mombasa highway to our host school Kiongwani Secondary School in Sultan Hamud, Kenya. Seeing giraffes nibbling at the acacia trees and looking for other wildlife kept us occupied and alert for the 1 1/2 hour drive. Yesterday we worked out with the kiongwani students for the first time. The quality of baseball here...

This is an excerpt from my last trip to Africa. And its why all of you should go to South Africa. This is in Gans Baii, near Cape Town, South Africa. It is where national geographic and the discovery channel go to film the Great Whites. I can't wait to do it again!

I am almost ready to head out to Kenya for year 5 of baseball4africa. This is all the equipment that we are attempting to cram into bags and fly with us to outfit the different teams we train in rural Kenya. Baseball4Africa was the dream of my dad, Jim Tamarack, put into motion over 5 years ago. The two of us, plus another longtime friend "Special" Ed Derst, traveled to Kiongwani Secondary School in Sultun Hamud, Kenya with enough donated baseball equipment to outfit 5 teams. We are talking gloves, baseballs, bases, helmets, catchers gear, uniforms, hats, cleats, and bats. It really takes alot of equipment to play baseball. I thought carrying all of those bags was going to be the hard part. I didn't count on baseball being such a completely foreign concept to these high school age African kids. I would ask them to throw the ball and they would roll it on the ground. No one had ever heard of the Yankees, or Hank Aaron, or Babe Ruth. Nor had they ever seen or bat, or p...

With a Braves win and a visit to the Big Chicken no trip to Atlanta will be a waste. I stopped in A Town before flying out to Africa and enjoyed non stop entertainment. Lea drove her 51mpg Prius up from New Orleans and my dad and I tried our best to get on the big screen at Turner field by wearing our matching jerseys. We thought we had a chance when we scored $65 seats right behind home plate with $10food credit and a parking pass for $50 outside the Varsity, another greasy Atlanta staple. We didn't get on the big screen but we were treated to an amazing game and fireworks after. The next day was spent at the GA aquarium. It was my second time but I was blown away. The whale shark tank (they have 4 now) was absolutely gorgeous. Whale Sharks, massive manta rays, sawfish, ragged toothed sharks, and tons of other fish swam in one of the biggest tanks in the world. And we managed to get back to Grandma's house just before the skies opened up and I experienced my first thu...

Savannah has been very good to me this past week. We have had nothing but sunny days without a drop of rain, yet everything is lush and green. The water is warm and butterflies are in the gardens flying from flower to flower. And Isle of Hope has been just that. Its been great seeing old friends but now its time to say farewell to this idyllic southern city.

Just another gorgeous summer day in the Georgia marshes. My mom and I drove down to Melon Bluff to meet a friend for a sunset kayak and what a sunset kayak it turned out to be. We started off against the quickly rising tide and past hundred year old live oak trees covered in draping spanish moss hanging precariously out over the creek. A few bare limbs served as roost for huge wood storks, ibis, comorants, and a lone roseatte spoonbill. Little birds and marsh hens fluttered out from the marsh grass when we glided by and a kingfisher darted past us at one point. The high tide allowed us to paddle up to secret spot in among the trees which is where I took the black and white picture from. Then as we circled back thru the finger creeks we were treated with a spectacular sunset. I hope these marshes never change.

It is pretty wonderful to be back on the east coast enjoying the warm, sunny summer season. It feels like it has been forever since I have experienced a summer here in Savannah. The gardens are lush, the water is warm, and its the perfect temperature to spend all day in the water. Ed, Dennis, Izzy and I headed out for a day of wakeboarding and skurfing in the Vernon River. Everyone did great, but the real surprise of the day was Izzy pulling himself on a surf board at age 6. The top two pictures show the difference between wakeboarding (feet in bindings) and skurfing (just the surfboard). And just for fun, the bottom picture is to show that not everyone can maintain grace when they go down.