Pretty Girl: Lion Walk in Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  5 Responses »
Nov 032013
 

Today’s photo was taken during a day where we rode elephants and walked cheetahs and lions. The cheetahs are walked on leashes and then you get to watch them chase down a bit of meat, which resulted in this photo. It was an amazing day capped off by coming face to face with the king of the jungle.

We were introduced to two adolescent lions, the female you can see below, and a white male who was starting to get his mane in. Rather worryingly, the guides said that these lions were reaching sexual maturity so would be released onto the reserve soon as they would get aggressive and be too dangerous to walk. The plan is for these captive bred lions to breed in the reserve and produce lions that have had no contact with humans.

Fortunately, for this trip, they were pretty docile, walking along with us a we patted them on the back and held their tails like leashes. The most exciting part was when the female decided to leap into a tree above us. From where she was I’m pretty sure she could’ve pounced on any one us at any moment.

Face of a female lioness up close on a lion walk in Livingstone Zambia

Flores, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  2 Responses »
Oct 302013
 

On my first day in Guatemala I planned on taking an easy boat tour around the lake. As it turned out, it was pretty hard work. Our first stop was the mirador offering a view back over the island town of Flores, where I was staying. I agreed to do this with no concept of what getting to the top entailed.

In most climates it probably would have been a lovely stroll. In Guatemala, carrying a backpack full of camera gear, it was an arduous half hour trek. My guide skipped along with ease as I panted and sweat my way to the top. Still though, the view from the top offered an interesting vantage point of the town in the lake below.

Flores Guatemala taken from above

Inside La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

 Europe, Spain, Travel  3 Responses »
Oct 292013
 

This is the inside of Gaudi’s incomplete cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. It’s a weird structure that will only get weirder as they continue building it.The columns shape was inspired by trees, hence the branches at the top. It was pretty tricky to get this shot as tripods were not allowed.

Inside of La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona looking up at roof and tree columns

Sighisoara Morning, Transylvania Romania

 Europe, Romania, Travel  6 Responses »
Oct 282013
 

This is an old photo, taken with my old rebel, in Sighisoara, Romania very early in the morning just before sunrise. Sighisoara is a beautiful little medieval town in Transylvania. It’s known as the birthplace of the real life Dracula, Vlad the Impaler.

Sighsoara Romania cobbled street and streetlight before sunrise

Almost there…

 Africa, Namibia, Travel  16 Responses »
Oct 222013
 

Actually, she wasn’t. My travel buddy, Harleigh, was almost to the ridge at this point, which led up to the top of the immense Dune 7. In an earlier post, she was making good progress on two feet, striding up with no problem. Then, it got steeper and she had to use her hands to claw her way up the last few meters.

There were three of us on the dune and we all took different routes. Harleigh got to the top first, I didn’t make it at all (I blame the camera gear).

Girl climbing a sand dune in front of overcast sky in Namibia

Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  8 Responses »
Oct 212013
 

This arch seems to be the number one landmark to pop up when searching for Antigua, Guatemala. It’s understandable, its bright orangey-yellow color and placement in front of the Volcán de Agua make it very distinct. It was built to allow cloistered nuns in the convent to reach the school without having to set foot in public. The arch will certainly be instantly recognizable to anyone who’s visited the first capital of Guatemala. Considering that the capital was moved due to the regularity of earthquakes in the area, it’s quite amazing that it’s even still standing.

It seems like in every photo of this arch the photographer has stood a distance away using a telephoto lens to let the volcano loom large in the background. I was determined to do something different with the volcano so I decided to get close to the arch and frame the volcano beneath it. It was pretty overcast the whole time I was there so the volcano was quite obscured. When it did decide to peek out from behind the clouds, this is the shot I managed to get.

Santa Catalina Arch in the evening, Antigua Guatemala

Climb Every Tower, San Gimignano

 Europe, Italy, Travel  6 Responses »
Sep 262013
 

San Gimignano is an amazing little place. The town has successfully preserved fourteen medieval towers. These were built for defense and from the top, as you can see below, you could see people coming from miles around. They were built by wealthy families living there. Each time someone built a new tower, someone would begin plans to build a taller one. Apparently towers like this were common in Tuscany but most were lost to war, catastrophe or urban renewal.

I’ve been to San Gimignano a number of times. I remember visiting with my parents on a trip where I insisted on climbing to the top of anything we could climb and dragged them up more than one of the towers.

This time, one tower was enough. We were actually looking for lunch when I spotted a little doorway inviting you to climb to the top of the tower. It wasn’t the usual tower that tourists climb (the tallest one), it had actually been renovated to act as a vacation home. As we entered, I said we’d missed out on our chance to stay in one of these towers, thinking it would be amazing.

It wasn’t long before I changed my mind. Each floor was only big enough for one small room. So, we saw a sitting room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, another sitting room, a bedroom, another bathroom, and another kitchen on our way up. I was four flights of tiny spiral stairs in when I concluded that staying there would be absolute torture. Eventually, we burst through the roof into the sunlight, panting for air, and interrupted what appeared to be a romantic moment.

I set about taking photos from the tower. I actually liked being able to look up at the taller tower more than I think I would have enjoyed being up on it. It was full of tourists and after the happy couple descended, we had the place to ourselves. This photo is actually a panorama comprised of five photos to let me show you the whole scene. I actually wasn’t able to see down into the courtyard as the walls were so thick, but I edged my camera and tripod out as far as I could and let it peak over for me.

Once we returned to Earth we went to a little restaurant for a seriously garlic-heavy bruschetta while a man in a tailcoat with a bushy beard and sandals played the flute beautifully, before packing up, hopping on his bicycle and weaving away through the crowd.

The towers of San Gimignano viewed from one of the towers overlooking the main square

Coppers in the Heineken Experience, Amsterdam

 Amsterdam, Europe, Travel  3 Responses »
Sep 252013
 

The Heineken experience in Amsterdam is pretty cool. It’s located in the old Heineken Brewery. I visited it for the second time on my last trip. You learn about the history of Heineken, how they make it, and then they teach you how best to drink it. Then, you drink more of it.

These are the coppers, it’s where they heat various mixtures at the various stages of beer making.

Heineken Experience brewery Coppers in Amsterdam

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