This expedition takes the photographer from Cape Town by sailing yacht to St Helena, through the mid Atlantic wilderness, past the Equator, to the Sine-Saloum Delta on the border with Senegal and Gambia and up to Dakar in Senegal. On this very special trip the photojournalist is working with scientists and reseachers, covering airport construction on St Helena, efforts to save rare and endangered species , and tracking bird migration routes, pollution levels and many more exciting projects.

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Or click underneath to watch Jeff's video journal of Day 1 (the Departure)
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Day 1, 6:55 PM June 16, 2007

Its almost 7 o clock and I am tired and feeling a bit queasy.
I guess its to be expected, and sitting in front of the computer
doesn’t help as the boat rises and falls against the ocean. We are
under diesel power so the engine is rumbling away and I have
retreated to my cabin in the front of the ship to get some sleep
before my night-watch . There was good weather today, but no wind.
Tomorrow there are supposed to be 20 ft seas and a raging wind
(blowing the wrong direction for us) hitting Cape Town for four days,
so rather than delay our departure until after it, we opted to onload
extra diesal to take us the 200 or so kilometers north up the coast
where good winds should be possible. We hope to reach there tomorrow and then turn left off to St Helena with a strong southeast wind at our backs.
It was a gorgeous mid-day depature, marred only by the
spring tide which conspired to drop the water level so low in the
Granger Bay Marina that we actually ran hard aground for 30 miutes or so before the tide lifted us up off of it. No harm done, according
the Andre, so once we were free of the muddy bottom we were on our
way. A couple of whales and dolphins were near the exit of the
Marina and it pained me not to be able to take pictures, but in the
rush to get the sail up and the boat moving there was no time. It
felt like we were getting a nice welcome into the ocean, and that’s
always good. I am excited about the project, but strangely unhappy
too. Partly it was the stress of the days leading up to the
departure, and partly the stress of the project. It may also have
something to do with my slightly nauseous feeling too… but no fully-
fledged sea sickness yet, so crossing my fingers. We have seen large
skuas and other ocean birds at sunset, and every so often the lazy
flap of a seal or two when they hold their flippers up out of the
water as if hailing the boat. I am painfully aware of my
inexperience in sailing, but figure that with only three of us to run
the whole thing its inevitable that even a blonde like me will learn
a thing or two by the end of the voyage. That seems so far away,
like the rest of my life will only happen within the confines of this
curved hull. Going to sleep now before the time gets away from me
and its my turn for a two hour watch. Tomorrow we may hit the trade
winds, and by next week we will be in St Helena, a place I have
always dreamed of visiting.

Pic of the day Beach at Saloum - photo Jeff Barbee

Crabs line the beach on Bird island, the barrier Island of the park. The Sine-Saloum Delta, on the border between Senegal and Gambia, is one of West Africa;s first Transfrontier National Parks and a biosphere reserve for migrating and other birds. Wetlands International has assisted the park in setting up the reserve, and bringing volunteers from all over west africa to be trained in bird counting and other important ecological preservation activities.