Apr 162014
 

Llamas have a bad reputation for spitting on people. I can tell you with absolute certainty that that’s a lie, at least where the llamas photographed are concerned. We walked all amongst these guys and they barely batted an eye at our presence.

This is another of my old photos taken with a point and shoot ten years ago. If you look close you can see little pink blobs in the background, those are flamingos. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen a flock of wild flamingos.

It wasn’t long after taking this photo that our guide woke us up at 2 in the morning and ordered us to get packed and ready to leave. We were supposed to fly from Sucre to Santa Cruz two days later, but he had heard there were protests scheduled in Sucre that would prevent us from entering Sucre if we didn’t leave Ayuni immediately.

After loading onto the bus, bleary eyed, we careened along the rough mountain roads, clinging to the cliffs, towards Sucre. Despite our early departure we didn’t make it back before the roads into the city were blocked by the haphazardly placed vehicles of angry bus and taxi drivers. Our guide went on ahead to assess the situation and came back to inform us that we’d have to complete the last few miles into the city on foot.

Apparently we were lucky it was drivers striking and not farmers because it was less likely that they’d throw rocks at us as we passed (That’s less likely… i.e., not completely out of the question). We were still told to stick together and keep our eyes up as we walked through the barricade. As it turned out, the protestors were content to get us off our bus and make us walk with our packs into the city, and we passed through without incident.

It was definitely a situation where using a backpack trumped a rolling suitcase.

Llamas eat grass in front of a snow capped mountain in Ayuni, Bolivia

Nov 152012
 

This is a photo I had to take in Iceland. Our trusty jeep that could take us wherever we wanted to go. We were either in this jeep or stood nearby the vast majority of the hours we spent in Iceland. I really don’t know how we got through with so little sleep. You can see my trusty driver sat waiting as I hopped out to take some photos in the crux of a Fjord in the East Fjord region of Iceland.

Pro-tip: When renting a car in Iceland, think about fuel usage, not just rental cost. You’re going to be doing a lot of driving and it won’t even feel like it. We got a good deal on the week’s long rental, but the fuel costs were astronomical!! Next time I may be on the bus!

White jeep on the road in front of snow covered mountains with a grey sky in the East Fjord region of Iceland

Jul 132012
 

Across the road from the somewhat creepy “Music House”, in the East-fjords, was this equally creepy shack. It was an odd location, but the mountains in the background were begging to become a picture. I had to act quickly as within a minute the clouds had rolled in and totally obscured the mountains from view.

Lonely wood shack with majestic snow covered mountains with storm clouds in East-fjords, Iceland.

Apr 152012
 

On my recent trip to Ontario I lucked out weather-wise. It was abnormally warm and, despite packing a big jacket, I was comfortable in just a t-shirt most of the time. It felt like the middle of summer. When I arrived at the shores of Lake Huron in Tobermory I found this remnant of winter. Across the water you can see Big Tub lighthouse.

Spring thaw at Lake Huron in Tobermory with snow melting on rocks at lake edge and Big Tub lighthouse across the water

Mar 292012
 

Bruce and Grey county are no distance from Toronto, but feel as far from city life as is possible. The landscape is dotted with farms, small towns and waterfalls. There are nine waterfalls, all of which are relatively easily accessible. This is the second waterfall I visited. After leaving the car in a well sign posted parking lot (this wasn’t always the case) I took off down a trail. I’d read that the majority of the falls in the area are a 5 minute walk from the road. I generally found they were a 5 minute walk back to the road, but on the way there I was either a bit lost or busy taking photos. This waterfall was particularly deceptive. About half way there the path disappeared. Eventually I decided the river bank had shifted and climbed down where I found the path again, going back up hill. There’s a viewpoint of this fall on the path that comes out just to the right of the top of the falls. This was my first stop, where I took a few photos with my camera perched on the edge of a ledge, on the outside of a safety fence. But, I wanted a shot from the bottom as this is where you could see the remainder of winter’s ice visible in today’s photo. Fortunately, on the way up I’d spotted a crack in the cliff face I could climb down. Soon I was on the river bank, hopping from rock to rock to get here. I set my tripod up so that each leg rested its foot on a separate rock, with my feet on an additional pair of rocks and got the shot I wanted.

View of Indian Falls, Bruce County, Ontario from the bottom with the last of the snow melting besides the waterfall.