Brendan's Adventures

Sometimes when you’re out photographing you see cool photo opportunities.  But then, there are these moments of perfection that something pops into your vision and says “that means something”.  When I shot this photo in the village of Akwidaa in southwestern Ghana that’s exactly what I thought.  This kid had such brilliant eyes that they [...]

The town of Akwidaa, along the western coast of Ghana, must be home to the friendliest children in the entire world.  Perhaps trained by the wandering tourists that come through this tiny village occasionally baring candy and certainly offering photographs, the kids race out of their houses with their friends to see the white men [...]

My time in Ghana thus far has been fairly focused around wildlife spots.  Between the incredible time I spent in Mole National Park as well as the trip I made into Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary I’ve been hanging around more animals than people of late, and that’s fine by me.  Every since arriving in Africa, I’ve [...]

I remember the first time I ever saw an elephant.  It was in the Calgary Zoo, and it was the middle of winter.  The enclosure for the elephant was massive, and almost seemed like it’s own little world.  But still, there was something wrong with an animal the size of a bus tucked away in [...]

Last year I made the effort to go out and take photos each and every day.  I figured that 1) I would find photography opportunities I would have otherwise missed and 2) that all the shooting would improve my photography.  Well, I was absolutely right on both regards.  Looking back at my favourite travel photos [...]

Well, I’m still in Bamako, Mali and it’s starting to look like I’ll be able to leave before Chritmas (*knock on wood*).  I’ve been stuck doing the bureaucratic two-step over a project I’m going to be announcing this upcoming week and it’s been insanely mind-numbing and frustrating.  Really, I want to get out of this country [...]

I took a bit of a break from my travelcation in Bamako a couple weeks ago to head out and explore a bit of the interior of the country.  As you may know, Mali is currently a country divided by a conflict involving a faction of Al-Qaeda.  Essentially, the conflict has divided the country in [...]

I spent an entire week holed up on the beach at Grand Bassam, and believe me I wasn’t complaining about it. I had to put some serious time in on the computer to get the latest issue of Vagabundo Magazine completed, and there was no place better to work than from a beachfront office. I’ll [...]

After the many bumpy roads in West Africa, the trip to the Abidjan- after visiting the stilt dancers in Man, Cote d’Ivoire - was like riding around on a pillow.  I had been joking around for quite a while that the capital of Cote d’Ivoire was going to be my reprieve from West Africa.  The bus ride [...]

I apologize in advance for the terrible puns that are about to roll through this website, but I spent about a week in a town called Man, Cote d’Ivoire; and with a name like that you have to realize some puns are going to flow. My arrival in Man was such a blessing (see I [...]

As sad as it was to leave Sierra Leone and move on, it’s equally as sad to leave the content behind as well.  But as the saying goes, the traveller must travel and his writing must follow. Anyways, I didn’t spend nearly as much time in Liberia as I had hoped or planned.  I ended [...]

I sat at No. 2 River on the Freetown Peninsula drinking beers, relaxing and shaking my head at the potential for tourism in Sierra Leone.  The beach was beautiful, the scenery was stunning, and aside from a couple of documentary film makers – who I shared quite a few of the aforementioned beers with – [...]

Throughout my time in West Africa I’ve kept saying the same thing: “people don’t think this image when they think (insert country here)!” Truth is, there is just so much potential for tourism in West Africa it’s unbelievable, but yet over the past 2 months I’ve not met another tourist anywhere. Sure, poor infrastructure, inept [...]

I’ve been holed up on the beach in Cote d’Ivoire for the past week putting the final touches on the latest issue of my travel magazine Vagabundo Magazine.  Believe me, there are worse places to be stuck working than the beach here in Grand Bassam.  I literally hear the ocean rolling away as I type, [...]