Dan Eldon

Dan Eldon was born in London, England in 1970. At the age of seven, a family move to Nairobi, Kenya ignited a lifelong fascination with the land and the people of Africa. Accompanying his journalist mother on her Interviews, he observed the power of media to inform and inspire. His father & work with local community leaders taught him how to connect and collaborate to create positive change.

Journey begins as Dan, still a teenager, combines his passion for art, adventure and activism into a personal philosophy he calls, "Safari as a Way of Life ". After graduating from high school, he and a group of friends launch a rollicking safari, “Student Transport Aid,” across Africa in a dilapidated Land Rover named Deziree. Miraculously, the team succeeds in its mission to deliver funds to a refugee camp in Malawi. Although the trip Started as a light-hearted venture, the safari changes the lives of everyone involved.

After his friends return to college, Dan continues traveling, and runs across a rowdy group of young journalists in South Africa. Enthralled, he follows them to Somalia where their photographs of starving men, women and children awaken the world to a devastating famine. Dan has discovered his Tribe. He stays on in Somalia, honing his ability to tell important stories as Reuters youngest photojournalist. 

Meanwhile, his enthusiastic spirit attracts friends-and girlfriends of every background and nationality -- until a beautiful young Somali-Kenyan woman captures his heart, leading to a dilemma that only he can solve.

On July 12th, 1993, while covering the aftermath of a tragic bombing on innocent people in Mogadishu, Dan and three young colleagues were stoned and beaten to death by a mob enraged by an unjust bombing of innocent people. The final scene of the film transitions into the charged and emotion Celebration of Life set in the rolling hills of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.  At 22, Dan Eldon's safari came to a sudden end. However, he left behind seventeen black-bound journals filled with drawings, writings and photographs...vivid collages that chronicle a child's journey into manhood and a lifelong struggle with the forces of good and evil.

While Dan's photos are works of journalism, his journals are works of art...a celebration of adventure and a testament of desire to live life to its fullest. Now, through his art, sense of adventure and creative activism, his journey continues. And if the journey truly is the destination, then Dan Eldon has certainly arrived.