Niagara is a bit of an odd place. It’s an unashamed, huge, neon tourist trap stuck on the landscape next to a natural wonder. It’s definitely a different experience than that of visiting Victoria Falls. At Victoria, I watched a taxi driver aggressively chase away an angry looking baboon that had crashed down on the hood of his car and blocked my path. At the same time though, there is some sort of charm to Niagara’s dated gaudiness.
I haven’t posted a photo in a while as I’ve been preparing for some exams on Monday and Tuesday. It’s time for a break so I spent the evening processing one of the photos from my recent trip to Florence.
This was taken from Michelangelo Plaza overlooking the city. It was about half an hour after sunset and we’d made a quick drive back from the Chianti region to get here while there was still a bit of light about. It was so frantic that when we saw a deer next to the road in amongst the vineyards I, unfortunately, didn’t even think to stop and try to get a picture of it!
Still though, I think this night shot makes up for it. If you click on the image and blow it up you’ll be able to see the first stars streaking across the sky.
I’ve made it back from Guatemala and managed to do a lot: Mayan ruins, a pitch black cave on my own with a dodgy flashlight, climbed a volcano and visited an evil saint. It was a busy week.
To get to Guatemala I flew through Miami from Bermuda. It was actually really efficient, leaving Bermuda at 8:30am and arriving at Guatemala City at 1:30 in the afternoon. Then, I had a torturous 5 hour layover before my flight to Flores. Guatemala City airport has to be the hottest place in the world. There’s no air-conditioning and it resembles a giant greenhouse. I wandered for hours trying desperately to find a cool spot.
Eventually I boarded an aging turbo prop and took off for Flores, swerving between lightning storms. That part was actually pretty amazing, watching the clouds flash angrily, occasionally emitting bolts down to the ground. I was sat next to a Canadian girl on her way to volunteer at a center for animals that had been kept as pets or taken from traffickers. She also had a fear of flying. I tried not to point out the lightning storms, but she noticed.
I arrived at the airport and was soon outside looking for a taxi. It was 9:00 at night and I didn’t have a reservation anywhere, though I had a hostel in mind that I wanted to stay at called Los Amigos. I wound up in a taxi, which was actually a minivan that they loaded up with people. Then, we set off.
After arriving in Flores, I was the first person to be dropped off. The driver’s assistant returned my bag to me and gestured vaguely up the street when I asked where the hostel was. Then they drove off, I was left on my own in Guatemala without anywhere arranged to stay for the night. It was a nervous moment. This is where I was stood. Fortunately, the hostel wasn’t far up the street to the left and they had space for me.
I was up on top of a rock at Horseshoe Bay for the sunset. I stayed until dark and had a bit of a tricky climb back down. Once I got down there, I decided to take one last photo. This is it – I took a stab at capturing the clear, starry night sky.
I took a lot of photos on my first night in Iceland. You’re probably all getting sick of seeing this lighthouse. This is the last one I’ve got, I promise… at least until I go back there again this June.
I’ve added an about page. You can click the link above (just below the header) if you want to know a little bit more about me, about this site and what I’d like it to become or for info on how to license or purchase prints of my photos. I’ll also be adding some photos of me in action over the weekend.
This is one of my older shots from New York. I was going through some old files and found this tone-mapped image that I hadn’t tweaked in Photoshop yet. I’d been having some trouble with it over a year ago and it got cast aside. I decided to give it another go and now I’m happy with the final result.
My tickets are booked to go back to New York for a long weekend in December. So, it seems fitting for me to add what I think is my last photo from New York. I’ll have to resupply on my next trip.
Arriving in Iceland at midnight, in the middle of June, immediately makes you realise you’re entering a surreal land. As the flight begins it’s descent you can see the vibrant colors of sunset around you. The colors continue long after you’ve left the airport. Long enough that you can travel 20 minutes to your accommodation, drop off your bags and wake up your sleeping travel mate, that got there a day earlier, and still be able to take photos of the unending light!
This beach was walking distance from our guesthouse in Gardur so we made our way straight there. I spent at least two hours taking photos that night, despite my total lack of sleep, and didn’t even begin to feel tired. The air was crisp with a slight scent of sulphur from nearby springs. We even managed to climb up the lighthouse pictured in the distance here. It afforded a great view back across the landscape, including the newer, still-functioning lighthouse nearby.
Discovering my photo of these lights on My Modern Met has inspired me to process the other photo I took of them, with the casino in the background. It’s funny, if the mist hadn’t been so thick that I couldn’t see the falls, I probably never would have taken these two shots. I’m glad I did.
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.
