7 April CPIC arrival

We arrive at the Rhino drop off area a few hours before sunrise. I tell one of the security staff for the Rhino convoy that I’m with Public Affairs and would like to take a photograph of one of the Rhinos. He says go ahead, just don’t let the other riders see me take the photo. So I shoot from my hip with a 28-70 millimeter zoom lens. Of course looking at the monitor on the back of my Nikon D70S to make sure I have the shot.  A few minutes later, the CPIC media escort  team drives us to CPIC where we learn that there is no open cots or beds (there are six bunk beds in the room named the media pen). Jack decides to stay up and e-mail. I lay down on a sagging cot and catch a few hours of sleep despite a peculiar odor in the room. There were at least 12 media types sleeping in this small room, some on the floor. The rest of the day is spent catching up on e-mails and sleep. We decide to ride the Rhino back to Camp Striker later that night. Jack didn’t tell me this until we reached Striker early the morning of the next day that he heard a Rhino was attacked earlier in the day. I noticed that the driver was going faster than the night before. We arrive at Striker around 1:30 a.m.