Wildlife
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Africa Underway – Trouble On The Streets Of Nairobi
Nairobi, Tuesday 7am. Darkness lifts as we progress slowly through passport control and baggage reclaim, then out into the melee of taxis, buses and safari jeeps clamouring for passengers or waiting for someone to spot their name on a board and head out under the big morning sky. The expressway from airport to city is a racetrack of vehicles constantly changing lanes and squeezing through gaps which are barely there. Alongside and parallel, huge numbers of people make their way on foot to their workplace, giving the industrial quarter the look of an African Lowry painting, stick figures jostling through crowds in every direction. We are met at our one-nighter…
- Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, Independent travel, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Wildlife
Biding Our Time
“Wasting my time, resting my mind And I’ll never pine For the sad days and the bad days When we was working from nine to five” Lyrics from “Biding My Time” by Pink Floyd We’re in a bit of what you might call a hiatus. It’s been a strange year, one way and another, with the whole of January at home to deal with a property matter, then our Brazil trip interrupted by the sad news of Michaela’s Dad’s death and our return to England for the funeral. Of course, we then reconvened our trip and enjoyed ten weeks of Brazil, the southern states of the USA and a little…
- California, Independent travel, North America, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Travel Blog, USA, Walking, Wildlife
California: Chill Time Before We Head Home
Underfoot the ground is parched, rock hard and dusty, the sun shines hot from crystal skies and occasional breezes rustle the trees and send dust clouds up into small eddies while only marginally cooling the heat. Tufts of weed and grass remain but seem to be turning to pale yellow by the hour, some already sun kissed enough to disintegrate into more dust if we step on them. It’s all very different from the verdant forests and regular rain of the last three weeks. Spring is turning into summer into the mountains above Los Angeles. Acton, the small town which is my daughter Lindsay’s home, receives its hot days of…
- History, Independent travel, North America, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Tennessee, Travel Blog, USA, Walking, Wildlife
Smoky Mountains, Black Bears & The Trail Of Tears: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
It’s the sort of thing you take with a pinch of salt, advice placed inside the apartment on what to do if you meet a bear when you go out the door. I mean, it’s never really going to happen, is it…. Except it does. On our fourth, and last, night here, we set off towards town for our last evening meal, and get no more than 50 yards from our door when we come face to face with a young black bear in the street outside. Thankfully he or she is more scared than we are, and turns and trots the other way, soon joined by what looks like…
- History, Independent travel, New Orleans, North America, Photography, Travel Blog, USA, Wildlife, World food
New Orleans Is Unique, Y’All
Unique is an adjective regularly used to describe New Orleans, with guide books and websites consistently referring to the city as “unique in the whole of the USA”, a description based largely on the amalgam of cultures which have clashed, fused and evolved into the persona which The Big Easy enjoys today. To us, it feels like this fusion and integration has created a single style: a Nawliner is one particular type of person, regardless of historical cultural background. No barriers, no segregation, joyous inclusivity. You are more from this city than from any one particular background. A big guy is playing Barry White and Bill Withers on his keyboard…
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Spiders, Snakes & Pink Dolphins: Four Days In The Amazon Jungle
Jim is telling us to be minimalistic in terms of what we take with us tonight, yet at the same time he’s giving us our strict instructions on the essentials which must form part of the minimalist pack: waterproof jacket, mosquito repellent, long trousers, decent walking shoes, sun lotion, waterproof cases for cameras and phones, and drinking water. And then there’s mosquito repellent and, if we still have room, some more mosquito repellent. This promises to be an interesting night. Once we’d made the decision to spend time in the Amazon jungle – which, to be honest, was one of our red lines when we had to redesign this Brazil…
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There’s Something In The Kitchen
There’s flies in the kitchen I can hear them buzzin’ And I ain’t done nothin’ Since I woke up today Lyrics from “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine It arrives precisely on time. All the weather apps had said that the tropical storm would hit around 9am and, sure enough, rain starts to clatter the roof at 8:55 and five minutes later thunder is crashing and we have to raise our voices to be heard above the sound of the rain. Three hours later it’s still hammering down and we are mopping sections of the floor at various points: this is when you discover that these quaint old houses aren’t…
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Iguazu Wildlife
Our week or so on the Brazil-Argentina border may not have been our most spectacular ever in terms of spotting wildlife, but it had its moments – moments dominated by butterflies. Here’s some nature shots to wind up that part of this trip….
- Argentina, Brazil, Independent travel, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Wildlife, World food
Across The Border: A Glimpse Of Argentina
I have always been fond of making the point that flora and fauna, and therefore consequently the cuisine which is invariably traditionally based on what is available locally, don’t know where international borders lie. In other words, just because mankind placed a dividing line in a certain place doesn’t mean that one cuisine stops and a different one begins the moment you cross the line. Or that because you’ve travelled five miles everything on your plate, and in the countryside, will have changed, just because some bloke some time decided that’s where the line is. I may however have to shift that opinion slightly having made the short, hassle free…
- Brazil, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Hello Again Brazil: Discovering Paraty
Exotic bird calls boom or squawk through the trees, now and again the undergrowth rustles with the movement of an unseen creature. We are drenched in sweat, dripping wet from head to toe; the baking sun casts searing heat into the occasional clearing but for the most part the lofty canopy traps intense humidity in the spaces below. Official signs warn of poisonous spiders, scorpions and snakes. The heavy air is full of the scents of foliage and damp earth. This is the Atlantic Forest, its million shades of green scaling every mountainside and sweeping with sumptuous colour to the very edge of the shore. The climb has been testing,…
