I’m back home from Iceland now so can get back to my daily photo posting. It was difficult to get them done while in Iceland as any time that I wasn’t desperate for a few hours sleep I was out exploring. I’m looking forward to processing and posting the photos I took there. That being said, I’m still pretty worn out so you get a quick post today and a photo of a really cute, fuzzy Gorilla.
Heading off to Husavik soon to go to the Phallological museum, whale museum and then out whale and puffin watching! Apparently they spotted blue whales two days ago. Hopefully they’re still about. Last night, we visited Lake Myvatn and it’s weird lava field surrounds, including an under ground hot spring that made for a pretty cool photo opportunity. Having a jeep paid off last night as our GPS directed us up a rough track, it didn’t look anything like a marked road. After driving a fair way in, the GPS beeped and asked if our car was suitable for that road. I have no idea how it can direct people up that road as most cars wouldn’t be able to take it.
This is the last of the photos that I have of Boulders Bay South Africa. I love the way these rocks have been carved by the elements. The tall skinny one jutting up feels like a modern, abstract sculpture.
I’ve written these posts in advance so can’t tell you where I actually am. I can tell you where I hope to be, if everything goes to plan. There’s actually not much to report today. I arrive at Keflavik Airport at 11:50pm. Fortunately, my travel buddy will be getting in a day ahead of me so I’ll have a bed all ready for me. But, I expect I won’t be able to resist a first photo session under the midnight sun.
The first question I get when I talk about visiting the gorillas in Rwanda is, “was it scary?”
Who could be scared of this guy?
I wrote about this experience previously, here. We’d pulled our canoes up to an island in the middle of the Lower Zambezi. I thought we were there for a closer look at these elephants and started firing away. When I turned around I realized that our guides were setting up for lunch. We sat and ate lunch with these giant animals no distance away. They didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence. After about half an hour they walked to the other side of the island where they splashed into water and swimming off down the river, trunks raised like snorkels.
I had the pleasure of using a few of these shower contraptions while traveling through Bolivia and Peru. They use electricity to heat the water… in the shower head. Bare wires are not uncommon. I thought they looked a bit questionable but didn’t give them a second thought, I was typically desperate for a shower. None of the shower heads actually shocked me, though a few friends of mine got zapped. I did get a pretty nasty shock off of a light switch hanging from my ceiling with bare wires on the back though. This is an interesting little article on suicide showers with a bit of advice in how to go about showering safely when faced with them: How to Survive a Suicide Shower.
I’ve said that a lot in the past it’s true, I don’t normally take photos of people. It’s just never really come naturally to me and I don’t find it as interesting as setting out on foot to find that incredible vista for a landscape shot. I’ve always been more into landscapes, really only taking photos of people who ask me or candid shots. However, people clearly fit into the genre of travel photography. Some would say they are one of the main subjects. This has resulted in me gaining an interest in photographing people. Still, I’ve stuck mainly to candid shots, people doing things or people as part of a landscape. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to take photos of people posing. Then along came today’s photo.
If you’ve been following this site for a while you’ve seen my previous post, Three Generations, and may recognise the kids in the photo below. After I’d taken that photo I let my camera hang to my side, on my BlackRapid strap (awesome by the way). Little did I know, my camera was on and the photo I’d just taken was on display. The kids started craning their necks to get a look at their photo, so I held it up and pointed to the photo. Their faces lit up and I got ready to take another photo. They all started moving towards me and jostling for position. After motioning for them to stop I took a quick photo as I didn’t want a load of cheesy grins. As a result I got some very unique and interesting expressions. Right down to the boy in the back who had clearly already lost interest!
So, normally I find posed pictures of people boring, but I’m quite pleased with this one. What do you think, is this photo interesting enough to be featured as my photo of the day? Let me know in the comments, I read them all.
When you see a site called Amazing Pics you click on it with a degree of doubt, especially when it claims to feature only the best photographs. Typically it’s full of very good pictures, but the quality varies and you’ve really got to wonder if they really are the best. Whoever is making the selections for this site is definitely maintaining a uniquely high standard and the photos featured here are absolutely incredible. I hope one day to take my photography to a level where my photos could be featured alongside these.
You can help me out by clicking this link… a lot! That way the selector may take note of my site and keep an eye out for when I do achieve something truly amazing!
Here it is: http://mostamazingpics.com/
I know I’m sending you to another daily photo site. It’s okay, I can handle you seeing other people. Just don’t forget about Traverse Earth!
You can now follow Traverse Earth on Facebook. I like the look of the page, it’s nice and crisp and inspiring me to redesign the homepage here. It’s also the first place where you can see the new TraverseEarth logo. Likes and shares on Facebook are very much appreciated!
It’s a fairly long journey from Livingstone to Zambeezi Breezers, where our canoe safari started. We stumped up for the first class bus with 4 seats across rather than 5 and air conditioning so it was pretty pleasant. I spent the time watching the scenery unfold and sleeping. It was actually probably the first bit of rest I’d had in the past week.
The rest continued when we arrived at Zambeezi Breezers and discovered this deck. We plopped ourselves down and had a few beers as the sun went down, watching the hippos commute alongside dugout canoes. Then it was dark and all we could do was listen to the vast expanse in front of us. I decided to try to capture that.
These are really cool! Guy Laramee takes big old outdated books and uses them as his medium to carve striking landscapes. I find the seventh one down particularly impressive. It’s a Buddhist statue set back in a cave.
I’ve got ten days to wait before I depart for a whirlwind tour of Iceland. Looking forward to long nights finding locations to photograph, trying to touch a puffin, watching whales, playing with glaciers and swimming in 2 degree water. I already know a week in Iceland is not enough and I’m going to want to go back again for longer next year.
One of the girls I work with (Alexis) asked me why the hell I’d want to go to Iceland. I’ve had this question a few times, so I thought I’d post a link to what inspired me to go in the first place, Stuck In Customs: Iceland.
While I was taking this photo of Lake Ruhondo, one of the twin lakes, Cameron was off making friends. He spent quite a while chatting to a few of the local guys who asked that I take a picture with him. After the first shot this turned into a bit of a photo shoot. They gave us their e-mail addresses so we could share the pictures with them. At lunch on Monday, Cameron reminded me that I had yet to sort them out so we could send them. So, I’ve finally done it and figured I’d include them here.
I mentioned in a previous post that I’d seen a photo taken on a train where half the image showed what was outside the window and the other looked inside. The other day I happened to come across the same page again. So here it is: 45 photos selected from the entrants to the 2o11 National Geographic Photo Contest. They’re all incredible images!
Anyone who checks regularly for my daily update may be wondering what happened to me. It’s okay, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth. While having lunch on Friday I realized that I had the opportunity to go to Wembley for the England vs. Belgium game. Coupling that opportunity with the fact that my travel buddy to Iceland was in London, I found myself spending Friday night on a plane. I had packed my laptop so that I could keep up with my daily posts. Unfortunately, in my haste to pack I forgot my external hard drive, where all my photos are located, and as a result couldn’t upload anything! I’m back in Bermuda now, after a great weekend, and had planned on making amends by uploading a whole series of photos. But, it’s late now, and I haven’t finished the photos I had planned on uploading, so you get a normal post today and a larger one tomorrow.
I’ve decided to start adding interesting things that I find on the internet to my daily posts. It should provide a few more minutes of entertainment if you’re looking for a distraction at work. I’m not going to set out to do this on a daily basis, I’ll just upload bits and pieces as they strike me as interesting. I plan on keeping the topic travel and/or photography related. However, already today I may be stretching these topics a bit.
This link (click here) is to an animated map showing just how much turmoil the Middle East has experienced throughout history as it takes us through the various empires that ruled the region. I figure the geography and history of a region is closely related to travel, so have decided it just about fits the “travel” topic. Let me know what you think of it in the comments section below. I was particularly shocked by the extent of the Mongol Empire!
Going forward I think you’ll find the “Something Interesting” part of my post below the daily photograph.
I saw this scene developing and thought it would make for a pretty funny photo. All those tourists in their bright orange life jackets contrasted with the local fishermen on their way out for a night of fishing. The tourists had arrived at the Paradis Malahide on a bus tour. They ate lunch and then set out on a boat to explore Lake Kivu before piling back on their bus and taking off.
This photo of a Baobab tree has a lot to do with elephants. The scarring on the trunk is the result of elephants. They use their tusks to peel these hollow trees and eat their bark. There are many of these elephant scarred Baobab trees dotting the landscape. The reason that this baobab wound up being captured by my lens is a bit gruesome.
The night before we’d gone on a night drive, bag of wine in tow. As we left the camp we were informed that we’d be passing an elephant carcass (killed by anthrax in the soil). The smell was palpable and we knew the drive was coming to an end when we smelled it again.
The next day we went on a sunset drive and asked to see the carcass. This request may sound odd to you and thinking about it now it sounds odd to me. At the time though, we had the opportunity to see a dead elephant and no-one hesitated in saying yes please. Upon arriving it became clear that it would be an experience. I’m not going to go into details as it was pretty horrendous, but the smell was heavy – that’s an odd word to describe a smell, but it’s the only one that fits. Five feet from the truck one member of our group was gagging uncontrollably.
After taking a quick look at the carcass and concluding that it wasn’t something I wanted to photograph (I’d been hoping for vultures) I made my way back to the truck. I saw this tree and decided to photograph it. It was pretty tricky as I’d brought my 70-300 lens. As a result I shot a panorama and stitched it together.
In a previous photo of this penguin, he was described as smug in the comment section. I think he looks quite suave in this shot. What adjective would you use to describe him here?
