A team of three from University Communications at UW–Madison – videographer Justin Bomberg, photographer Jeff Miller, and me, science writer Kelly April Tyrrell – have traveled 8,779 miles from Madison, Wisconsin to Johannesburg, South Africa in order help tell important UW-focused stories about origins: from the origins of life on Earth, to the origins of galaxies in the universe, and the origins of humankind. Read below for more and also join us on our South African adventure on Instagram and on Facebook.
Day 1&2, 10-11 July 2017:
It was a slightly bumpy start for the team, with videographer Justin’s bag a bit too heavy and a passport name discrepancy that stymied photographer Jeff’s initial efforts to get checked in, but problems were quickly solved and we soon breezed through security at Dane County Regional Airport.
Despite a delay of 40 minutes leaving Madison on a warm and sunny summer day, the flight to our layover destination in Atlanta, Georgia was quick and uneventful. We landed just 20 minutes later than our originally scheduled time of 2:00 and with no shortage of hours to spare before our 8 pm departure. Final destination: Johannesburg, South Africa.