My mission trip to Mali, West Africa

Looking for digital camera recommendations

I want to take plenty of digital photographs while I am on my short-term mission trip to Mali and I want to put them up on my Flickr account while I'm there.

I'm looking for recommendations and personal experiences with taking and using a digital camera in Africa. 

Presently, I have a couple year-old Canon PowerShot A40.  It's been pretty reliable and productive for a lot of different needs and situations here at home.  But, I know, it has its limitations.  But, so does my budget for this trip.  I'm looking for input on:

• Cameras that I should considering purchasing before I go.  I want something that's easy to operate both inside and outside and that's reliable for various weather and travel conditions.
• Storage cards for the camera; how big of a card should I get, which brand should I get and should I get more than one.
• Advice for traveling with and using a camera in a different culture, in this case Mali.
  

Technorati Tags: digitalcameras, Mali, CanonPowerShot, FrancophoneMinistries

Using Flickr to tell about Francophone mission in Mali

While in Mali and during the trip to and from, I'll be taking digital pictures.  When my daughter made a medical mission trip there earlier this year, it really helped to see the pictures that were sent to families while they were in-country.

My goal is to upload a constant stream of photos to Flickr from inside the country on a daily basis and, maybe, even more often if the occasion and opportunity presents itself.

Question: 

• Has anybody had experiences with using digital   cameras in Africa and with uploading the photos to Flickr?   
• Do you have any suggestions that you can share?   
• How many batteries should I take for the digital camera, realizing that they're probably impossible to purchase in-country?

Technorati Tags: Flickr, Mali, WestAfrica, Missiontrip, digitalphotos

An explanation for the pay-per-click ads from Adgenta

You'll notice the pay-per-click ads from Adgenta at the end of most of my posts.  You may ask yourself why I put those there.  It's simple.

I'm trying to raise money to purchase some extra equipment to take on my trip to Mali with Francophone Ministries.  One thing I would like to purchase is a digital recorder with a headset, so I can produce podcasts while on the trip.

One of my goals is to keep interested folks from around the world informed about what's happening with this ministry and how it's building increased community between the people in the two nations. 

If you find something of interest in the ad, everytime you click on it, I will get a small fee.  Check it out. There's a wide-variety of products that you can buy online.

Technorati Tags: PPC, Mali, Missiontrip, WestAfrica