Not the best time to run out of media space on my blog, partway through travelling!
So my blog came to a grinding halt three days ago.
Unable to upload the photos to accompany the post, I couldn’t understand what was happening and I’m using a mobile phone to write and post the blog as we travel, so not all the options are available in comparison to logging in to my site on a computer.
The next day I realised that I had used up my free media allowance for the original blog, so I looked at the options and bought my domain…..but…on reading the instructions for moving the blog to my domain, transferring my existing blog to my new domain is not something I want to do on my phone. It looks like it needs backups, downloads and a quiet afternoon on the computer with no disturbances, not something Im going to get on this trip!
So I created another blog to continue the journey.
Once I’ve posted the first post on the new site, I will add the link to this post for anyone to click onto if you would like to follow me….I’m heading into new territory on the 3/3….watch for the link….
Time to get going…Dubai to Shannah ferry port, Oman….
Getting going was easier said than done.
Post car purchase,we discovered the tyre adaptor key for lowering the spare wheel wasn’t included in the tool kit. Bit of a worry with a 12k plus round trip ahead and trying to find one wasn’t proving easy.
Lexus had none in the UAE and it was a 3 month delivery for an order so that wasn’t going to work for us on this trip and everywhere else we called didn’t have one in stock…so we bought two spare tyres to carry with us.
Slightly awkward with the spare tyres stacked in the back of the car but, best be safe than sorry. As we had to go back to the car souk to collect the insurance cover, we thought we’d mention the tyre key was missing.
So, car packed it was time to start moving. Heading to the Emirates Road, the OH was fiddling with the GPS unit which wasn’t picking up satellites and therefore, annoyingly, wasn’t working and the trip ahead is a biggie…the route is to Fujairah on the East coast of UAE, cross into Oman at Hatta, down to Masirah island, then to Mirbat in Dhofar, Salalah then along the coast to the Yemen border, then back up through Oman to the Saudi border, cross into Saudi and drive via Abha to Jizan, take the ferry to the Farasan islands in the Red sea for a couple of days then return through the mountains to Taif, then visit a dormant volcano site and return via Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
A GPS unit is crucial for this trip, so a snap decision was made to replace it, but this meant a return trip to the Creek…..aagh, traffic, delay…what to do!
New GPS installed we headed off to the Car souk, where once the tyre tool predicament was explained , the boys headed off to look at their other cars for sale tool kits in case ours had been misplaced.That story will never be known but we left with the correct tyre tool and a saving of approx 200euro as that’s what this piece of metal costs to buy!!!
The reason for the Fujairah diversion to the journey was to collect Grayana cowrie DNA for scientific research for a project that the Smithsonian institute is carrying out in the Middke East… we had missed low tide from our delays but luckily found enough Cowries to take samples so then it was time to cross the border into Oman at Hatta.
…
Our route was Hatta, Sinaw, Mahout, Shannah…a long drive and sunset happened just after Hatta, so it was a long night drive…a little stop at the new Lulu supermarket in Sinaw for some fruit and a Tandoori takeaway…and a loo with a seat, not always available in the hinterlands of Oman and my new teflon hips are not yet adjusted to super squat mode, so that was a welcome supermarket stop in other ways!
Then the long haul night drive…. we always start off well, chirpy, chatty, music in the background, but after long hours of peering into the dark distance, trying to spot errant camels and blinded by big trucks, tiredness sets in…
Hitting Mahout we had 45 minutes to the camp site and Shannah port but as we came out of town and hit the Sabhka flats ( salt flats subject to tides), so quite dangerous in the dark if you drifted off the road, we hit intense humidity fog. I’ve never seen anything like it, we were completely blind driving using the GPs to stay within the road parameters, very unnerving and the OH was doing a driving/sleeping mode and so a mutual decision was made to pull off the road at the Comms tower as we knew it was high ground and not Sabkha…you cannot pull off the side of the road in Sabhka area, you may not get the car out again!
After an hour the peasouper fog cleared, the OH had had enough sleep to start the drive and we got to Shannah port at 3 am, we slept in the car, putting the tent up at 3 am is tense stuff, easier to crash in the car…
Car sleeping means you invariably wake with the dawn and as it’s really uncomfortable, you are happy to get up as the sun rises…so we headed off out onto the sandbanks to see what was around at sunrise…
Having had a successful day out on the low tide sandbanks,we decided to take the last ferry of the day across to Masirah and camp there to avoid waking at 4am to get the first local ferry at sunrise and could we could camp on Masirah without pressure to have another early start…
Trip route- Dubai to Fujairah, cross the Oman border at Hatta then to Sinaw and Shannah.
Running around, trying to get ready
Car bought, now it was time to get ourselves sorted and packed, ready to hit the road.
Initially we needed to repair the GPS which meant a visit to the Creek which is the oldest part of Dubai .
Post rush hour, this wasn’t a “sit in traffic forever” journey, the roads that are built to service the city are amazing 4,5,6,7,8 lane highways, daisy loop junctions, and now a lot of development has been done on raised roads and links around developed areas, the road planning is far sighted but the sheer volume of traffic makes rush hours, as in any city, a tedious time to travel around
After the GPS service we had a little time left on the parking meter so had a quick wander around the Abra station ( small boats for crossing the Creek) and the Dhow wharf. The Dhows are sailing mainly to Pakistan and the goods piled up for loading are a diverse mix of air conditioning units, refrigerators, food in bulk, car parts…the list goes on.
Then a swift return through the Souk, a tourist destination on the Creek, beautifully arranged displays of spices, perfumes, pashminas, clothing but each stall with its own tout welcoming you to buy…a smile, a joke and a fast walk deflects the hard sell…
It was time to retrieve the car and head off for yet another urgent trip errand on the other side of the city…
Because we could, we used Beach road instead of the highway, always interesting to take an amble down beach road to see what’s changed on the Dubai waterfront…
Then we remembered it was Valentine’s day so it had to be a meal out.As I wanted to see the Museum of the Future at night, we decided to revisit an old Dubai watering hole, Fibber Magees, Dubai’s oldest and most iconic Irish pub, just next to my old office on Sheik Zayed road…a little trip down memory lane…
The evenings plans fitted in well with visiting the Satwa area to have spare car keys cut, so I had a little wander around the fabric shops whilst the keys were being cut.
The Museum of the Future wasn’t lit up sadly, but it’s still an impressive building
and then to Fibbers for drinks and a meal…as it was Valentine’s day, ladies were on free drinks…my head hurt on the morning of the 15th!
In the Emirate of Dubai…
We are in Dubai for a few days, kindly hosted by the OH’s lovely son and partner, whilst we plan and prepare for the road trip we have spent a few weeks organizing.
First off we have to buy a car suitable for long distance travel. In the past we have borrowed Dubai son’s car but can’t continue to do that, as traveling to the south of Oman and back racks up the mileage and adds to the wear and tear, so we decided that he needed another one which is ours to use for travel.
Day 1 was spent in Dubai traffic, which once you are sitting in it in rush hour or school closing time is godawful, and you remember how bad it was on the way to and from work and thank your age (one of the few times you are grateful to be of a certain age)
A visit the to the Car Souk to check out one we had seen online ( looked good, I would have bought there and then but the OH wanted to review the others) and then a visit to a private seller, with more scheduled.
Then a little visit to Dragonmart which is essentially a massive mall full of stalls selling anything you would ever need.Mainly Chinese goods but it’s anything from heavy duty machinery, furniture, clothing, electronics, such random things as swimming pool equipment, fake flowers, beads, vitamins, food, the list goes on and on…it’s quite an experience, packed with buyers and traders and I can’t count the amount of times I was offered Rolex and designer handbags! We went for a few travel necessities and of course ended up with several unplanned purchases. Temptation is rife to flash the card deep in Dragonmart…
I was looking at lighting for my terrace patio, I desire a mosaicked, brass hanging type of light, slightly exotic….well…what can I say, I found them but I think they are larger than my patio, great to photograph though!
Then we headed off to view the other options. It’s probably enough to say that the one in Sharjah car souk wasn’t going to do us any favors on a long road trip and we never actually found the others in the depth of Sharjah industrial estate, (certainly not a place for designer wear, real or a Dragonmart copy) and after an hour of searching down muddy roads, we decided the first car was as good as we were going to get in our price range so we headed back…a paragraph or so above I complained about Dubai traffic, hah! In comparison to Sharjah it is amazing, Sharjah was basically grid locked, every road at a standstill and no way out of it, but to sit and be patient…
It was a gruelling return to Dubai car souk where we negotiated our deal and tomorrow will return to pay and collect. Exhausted by our day of sitting in traffic, we agreed it was just time to go home!
The Dragon at Dragonmart
Off we go….
The new journey has just started. I can’t quite believe I’ve just had a little walk along the Corniche in Beirut, some Pigeon Rock shots and then a sobering reminder of what war, disaster ( remember the Port explosion), economic strife and corruption has done to a once vibrant city and to its people.
I’ve visited Lebanon a few times but in the 15 years since I’ve been here it’s quite different now. An air of neglect hangs over the city, women and children begging every few steps along the Corniche, battered old cars but an obvious disparity between rich and poor as in the space of 10 mins I counted at least 10 Range Rovers driving past.
One wonders how they are affordable in a country where 6 drinks were billed at 1,440,000 lebanese pounds!! To have paid by euro debit card would have cost 90 euro, but if we found an exchange to change euro into dollars the bill would be $25.00….The OH exchanged the euro in a side of the road exchange and the dollars were paid, phew, need to have your wits about you! And best not to wonder how the luxury cars are bought methinks!
The wine was lovely, white for me and red for the OH from the Kasara vineyard, but excessive at 90 euro, reasonable at $25! I’ve never had a million pound bill before, kept for posterity!
The reason for the Beirut overnight stop is that we have chosen to travel to Dubai using Middle East Airlines as we can buy extra bags on the return journey up to 30kg each for under 50 euros and we have a box of shell books to bring back to Cyprus, kindly gifted to us on our last visit to Muscat.
The use of MEA instead of our usual EK plus a night in the Lancaster Raouche hotel, free airport transfer and a decent room and breakfast has saved 300 euro each.As we are not time constricted, why not, a night in a different city is always interesting!
Some shots from the city…
Almond time….
It’s spring in Cyprus, it’s 2022, it’s still a pandemic but hopefully curving downwards…maybe we can get back to a normal life sometime soon…
Spring is the time here for Almond trees to start flowering, the buds burst into white or pink flowers and it’s a joy to drive round a corner to be confronted by an ethereal cloud of white or pink flowers, dressing the tree like wispy candy floss…the sight adds a lift to the heart!
Just a few shots from yesterday, my first chance to get close up to a flowering tree, trusty iPhone shots! Next week it’s Almond tree photography expedition week !
Tripping to Trozena…
Cyprus, May 2020…how I felt on my first “BIG” nature day out and what I stumbled across…
Whilst we are encouraged to follow the new norm of social distancing, masks and regulations in all aspects of life where you mix with other people, now our quarantine is lifted, we can just go out now.
“Go Out”…after you haven’t been able to just go out without following a raft of procedures, it actually feels quite odd to get your freedom back.
Strangely I’ve had a reluctance to just go out over the last few days. Even more strange is the fact that my going out is to places where I am unlikely to meet anyone in a social context. I’m sure the reluctance will pass, we are just taking steps out into a world where there are new norms…
If you read my blog, you probably get that I like to just go out, not to party and have a wild time, but just to be outside amidst nature.
If I’m travelling in the Middle East and beyond, I’m usually walking miles down empty beaches searching for shells, but in Cyprus, I head to the hills and if there’s the chance to head off down a lonely track, I turn onto the track…
One of my favorite round trips that is a half-day trip, is to head up the Diarizos valley, visit the abandoned village of Trozena and head back to the coast via the village of Dora.
That’s the route I took today, but as the OH is here with me, trapped in Cyprus until UAE lifts restrictions for him to return, I decided to take an alternate route back. I hadn’t wanted to do it alone, as many years ago I got into trouble on the track and have always thought since that it wouldn’t be a wise drive on my own.
It was just a lovely day, the weather is glorious here at the moment and we ended up quite high in the hills, so some lovely views, but I’m very conscious that whilst we have been locked down, I missed the transition from spring to summer, the heat is starting to dry the vegetation out and soon the hills will be brown.
I hope you enjoy my nature diary for today…
At the first stop by the Diarizos river, butterfly heaven and a surprise sighting of a black snake on the lonely road…
Colias crocea, Clouded Yellow…
Large Whip snake
Thymelius action, Lulworth Skipper
Thymelius action, Lulworth Skipper
Thymelius action, Lulworth Skipper
Pieris rapper, Small White
Papilio machaon, Swallowtail.
Trozena is an old abandoned village in the foothills leading to the Troodos mountain range. There is a small river below the village that feeds the magnificent waterfall into the valley which contains a small pool in a shaded area which is a haven for dragonflies…
Epallage fatime, Odalisque
Calopteryx splendens
Calopteryx splendens
Orthetrum species
Pelophylas cypress, Cyprus Water Frog
Arbutus Andrachne, Greek Strawberry tree
Hipparchia cypriensis, Cyprus Grayling
Onychogomphus forcipatus, Small Pincertail
Ridolfia segetum with bugs
Ridolfia segetum with a massive Hornet
Possibly Pimpinella peregrine
Onychogomphus forcipatus, Small Pincertail
Onychogomphus forcipatus, Small Pincertail
Thymelius action, Lulworth Skipper
Calopteryx splendens
Calopteryx splendens
Pieris rapae , small WhitePi
Orthetrum species
Papaver rhoeas
Papaver rhoeas
Ancient tree
Calopteryx splendens
Wild honeysuckle and views to the Troodos mountains, beautiful plant bugs, a huge lizard, and a random catch of one of the smallest butterflies in Cyprus…
Lonicera etrusca, Honeysuckle
Lonicera etrusca, Honeysuckle
View to Mount Olmpus, Troodos mountains
Laudakia stellia, Starred Agama
Views towards the coast
Dolycoris baccarum
Dolycoris baccarum
Glaucopsyche Paphos, Paphos Blue
On the track to the abandoned village of Maronas, a special butterfly, wonderful old olive trees, landscape views up and down the valley and views of the abandoned village…
Olive trees parting the road…
A special butterfly, I’ve only seen this twice…Chazara briseis, The Hermit…
Ancient but elegant olive trees…
Check out this double Olive tree trunk…
Towards Troodos, spot the listening station atop…
View over Maronas…
The mosque at Maronas…
These abandoned villages are quite poignant…
Decayed…
but beautiful views…
Window view to the hills…
The Mosque door, open and welcoming, but its an empty building…
Ruins and the view beyond…
Oman butterfly diary 6- Myrina silensus, Fig Blue…
The butterfly, Myrina silenus, (Fig Blue) is utterly striking once you catch a glimpse of it’s open wings.
My first and actually, only sighting of it was in late October 2019 when we were in butterfly heaven at Wadi Darbat, Dhofar, Southern Oman.
If you have read any of my preceding Oman butterfly diaries, you may have seen the beautiful waterfalls and scenery at Wadi Darbat, if not it’s worth a look at this post to see the landscape.
This small, vivid beauty was found in the lower level of Wadi Darbat on a single bush, which was full of these butterflies on that particular day, only. I returned several times during the week, but never saw them again. In retrospect, it was my lucky day!
Looking down from upper Wadi Darbat to the lower reaches. Note that the landscape looks quite burnt out, but once in the lower Wadi, it’s quite green.
From the heights above upper Wadi Darbat, the vegetation is burning out in the heat…
But focusing on the water, you can see the vivid blue and greenery around the edge of the wadi…
Down by the lower reaches of the Wadi, its a vibrant green and blue environment…
I just had to include the biggest spider I have ever seen.
As I took the photo from the heights, my other half advised me to back off slowly and get my camera set up for a shot, without explaining what was hanging above my head… After a few seconds of a faster heart rate when I saw it, I calmed down to try to get the perfect shot!
Red-legged Golden Orb-web Spider, Nephila sumptuosa…
After that “Oh my (insert expletive)” moment, we drove down to the lower reaches of the wadi and searched around, actually for dragonflies, but the bushes were full of butterflies and on one bush, right next to the water, I spotted a brown butterfly with an unusual shape…
I felt it was worth waiting for it to open its wings… I’m glad I waited, it was one of those “Ohhh, wow” moments…
Information on this butterfly is taken verbatim from the book “Butterflies of Oman” by Torben and Kiki Larsen.
This is a striking and absolutely unmistakable member of the Lycaenidae, which is found throughout Africa and Southern Arabia. Together with Coeliades anchises it is one of the most characteristic of the true African species which have managed to penetrate beyond Dhofar to Northern Oman. It has not been found in the Musandam peninsula, but may well occur since its food plants are plentiful there. Generally it is quite common except during the coldest part of the year in Northern Oman. As indicated by its vernacular name, the food plants are species of fig; experience in Africa shows that almost any species will do.
At least three species of Ficus are used in Dhofar. Adult butterflies are fond of sunning themselves on the leaves of the tree of their birth from where they fly off on brief sorties at great speed, often returning to the same perch. Flowers hold no strong attraction for silenus, but occasionally they will settle on ripe figs broken open by birds.
During my many Oman travels, I have only found this butterfly once in Wadi Darbat on a single bush, which doesn’t appear to be the case when the Larsens wrote their book in the 1980s. Maybe our world climate changes are affecting this species…
Oman butterfly diary 5- Colotis Danae, The Scarlet Tip…
Wadi Darbat is located in the Dhofar Governorate in Southern Oman.
It is a spectacular wadi which forms at Darbat lake where the water runs into the wadi from sinkholes, then wanders through the upper valley, then down a series of waterfalls and finally spills over the escarpment in a magnificent waterfall, cascading from a height of up to 30metres, which is at its best during the Khareef season (Monsoon).
In the lower wadi valley that runs to the sea at Khor Ruri, the river banks during and after the Khareef (monsoon) are green and resplendent with flowers and the whole area is a magnet for butterflies.
Down by the lower reaches of the Wadi, its a vibrant green and blue environment…
One, in particular, is striking for its Scarlet tips on the wings.
Colotis Danae, The Scarlet Tip is a beautifully marked butterfly but flies quite erratically and quite low, so it is easy to lose sight of them behind bushes and is hard to photograph.
One day, whilst were concentrating on these lower reaches of Wadi Darbat, I struck Scarlet Tip gold and came across several nectaring on plants very close to the edge of the water.
Butterflies of Oman, authors Torben and Kiki Larsen, for identification help.
Oman butterfly diary 4- Precis hierta, The Yellow Pansy…
My butterfly bible for Oman is “Butterflies of Oman” by Torben and Kiki Larsen, produced in 1980 in the Uk for the Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment to the Government of Oman.
I haven’t found any recent updates, so possibly names have changed, there was a reprint in 1984, but I don’t have that version.
The binominal name is Junonia hierta, but Larsen uses the synonym Precis Hierta, and as I’m not up to the right level in the world of scientific classification, I’m following the Larsen’s identification!
This beautiful butterfly is described by the Larsens, as one of the most common butterflies in Dhofar (Southern Oman) on the coast and in the mountains. It had not been found in the North of Oman at the time of publishing and I have never seen in it during my forays into North Oman.
During my nature searching days in Dhofar, in October and November 2019, I only found two of these butterflies. They were up on the high escarpment above Mirbat.
We traveled the whole of the coastline, from the Yemen border to the north, and spent much time in areas where they should be prolific but, sadly only two sightings…
They are a beautiful species of butterfly.
I hope when I finally am able to return I will have more success in finding the numbers previously indicated…
May 2020: End of quarantine restrictions, heading back out to nature in Cyprus….
In Cyprus, some freedom now, after staying safe at home…
May 21st, 2020 was quite a landmark day in this strange and apocalyptic year.
In Cyprus, like many other countries, we have been quarantined in our homes under curfew and government restrictions that have only allowed one exit per day for one of 8 reasons.
It was managed by sending a text to obtain approval, the phone had to be carried plus any passport or registration documents. Police checks were everywhere and anyone found without permission or documents was fined from 300 euro up, depending on the severity of the offense.
On the 12th of May, Phase 1 of the lockdown lift was introduced. That was to allow the population to leave their homes three times a day for up to three hours at a time, as a gradual re-introduction of more population movement…a little test of the infectious waters, so to speak.
Then on 21st May our quarantine restrictions were lifted under Phase 2 of society re-entering the world, where the unseen threat of COVID-19 lurks in your consciousness and the population of the Republic of Cyprus were free to leave their homes.
The nightly curfew was lifted, and we no longer have to send a text to obtain approval to leave our homes for the 8 reasons initially allowed.
I have no criticism of the actions our government took to protect this small island.
New cases have been decreasing recently and today, 23rd May, was the first day we had no new cases, so, in my view, a successful operation and it’s up to us, as the population, to continue to follow the new norms that will dominate our lives for the foreseeable future.
Normally I am out in the hills with my camera a couple of times a week, especially March, April, and May when nature in Cyprus is at its glorious best.
The hills are green, wildflowers are rampantly growing, there is a constant buzz of bees, the dragonflies start to emerge, butterflies are taking wing and the whole island is awash with pollinators and vibrant color.
It’s the time to tramp the hills before the summer heat burns out the foliage, but, like everyone else, we missed it this year.
So when we got to the 12th, after 5 supermarket visits since March and no other exits from home, I had to escape.
The nearest get close-to-nature valley to my home, is the Esouza river valley, with its wealth of dragonflies, butterflies, and flora.
We headed to the water pools at Ayia Varvara, a small village along the Esouza river, which is also a magnet to our local bird watchers, but I missed out on the bird photos, sadly!
I wasn’t disappointed, having only spent time in my garden, to be walking in nature was utter bliss…
Some of the finds in the 3-hour escape…
Bugs and flowers…
Chafer beetle, possibly Oxythyrea noemi
Plant bug, Calocoris nemoralis (Fabricius, 1787)
Butterflies…
Lulworth Skipper ,Thymelicus action (Rottenburg, 1775)
Pygmy Skipper, Gegenes pumilio (Hoffmannsegg,1804)
Lulworth Skipper ,Thymelicus action (Rottenburg, 1775)
Lulworth Skipper ,Thymelicus action (Rottenburg, 1775)
Lulworth Skipper ,Thymelicus action (Rottenburg, 1775)
Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus (Rottenburg,1775)
Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus (Rottenburg,1775)
Small White, Pieris rapper (Linnaeus ,1758)
Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus (Rottenburg,1775)
Damselflies…
Common Winter Damsel, Sympecma fascia (Vander Linden, 1820)
Common Bluetail, Ischnura elegant ssp.ebneri (Schmidt, 1938)
Common Bluetail, Ischnura elegant ssp.ebneri (Schmidt, 1938)
Common Bluetail, Ischnura elegant ssp.ebneri (Schmidt, 1938)
Common Winter Damsel, Sympecma fascia (Vander Linden, 1820)
Dragonflies…
Violet Dropwing, Trithemis annular (Pallsot de Beauvois, 1807)
Broad Scarlet, Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832)
Southern Skimmer, Ortheterum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837)
Violet Dropwing, Trithemis annular (Pallsot de Beauvois, 1807)
Common Darter, Sympetrum striatum ( Charpentier,1840)
Common Darter, Sympetrum striatum ( Charpentier,1840)
Common Darter, Sympetrum striatum ( Charpentier,1840)
Broad Scarlet, Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832)
A little disclaimer: Some of my identifications could be incorrect. Dragonflies are hard to identify, I’ve had a year of accompanying a dragonfly recorder and I’m still learning. If any mistakes are spotted, please correct me in the comments…Bug and Flower ID is ongoing, to be updated when I have a positive ID…
Kenya diary: Elephants at Amboseli…
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency, Kenya, about 240 km southeast of Nairobi
The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km; 151 sq mi) in size at the core of an 8,000 km (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area, average 350 mm (14 in), one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400 species of birds including water birds like pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hamerkop and 47 raptor species.
The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semiarid vegetation.
The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants.
Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet Maasai and visit a Maasai village. The park also has views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
And when it says above “get close to free-ranging elephants” well, I hadn’t expected to be standing in an ancient camper van, head and shoulders poking through the open roof amidst a herd of elephants crossing the track in front and behind us.
Close seemed too close!
I was quite scared at first, but our guide reassured us that the driver was alert to the herd and would move quickly, but we were to not to do anything to make them pay attention to us.
Standing in a what seemed like extremely fragile protection from these enormous elephants, I didn’t feel particularly convinced that we were safe, but we had had a 4.30am start, suffered a 4 hour drive along the Nairobi to Mombasa road, and I was in the midst of a herd of elephants that I had come all this way to try and see, so I started taking photos….
Being scared turned to being awed and I realised that I was really lucky to have this close experience…
We did have a little incident as we were further round the park.
A very large elephant was running along the side of the track, quite a distance away .
As we passed the elephant changed direction and started to chase our little tin can, sorry… camper van.
I managed two very close shots before the guide asked us to sit down as they were going to drive faster as the elephant was charging us. I instantly complied!
Amboseli park information from Wikipedia….
Kenya diary… Grey Crowned Cranes in a mating dance…
My very first post on my brand new WordPress site way back in 2013, when I thought I’d be a blogger, having done all my 101’s, before I launched myself out there in the big wide blogging world was a tiny and very nervous step into blogging and I just threw out a teeny, weeny little précis of a truly amazing weekend trip.
I re-visited my photographs during our current lockdown and was quite amazed that I actually managed to get some really good photos.
As well as it being my first foray into blogging, it was also my first trip with a proper camera, which I really didn’t know how to use properly, apart from the auto function. (FYI it was a NikonD3200, but I think I bought a few days before and had no idea of its many functions, so it was a point and shoot expedition)
I’d booked a random travel to Nairobi for a weekend on a special offer (Dubai was a really good place for last minute special offers) and I booked a trip online to Amboseli National park.
I hadn’t quite taken into account that Amboseli was on the Tanzania border and was a 4 hour drive from Nairobi, but, hey-ho, when the company responded to my booking request and asked for a 4.30am pick-up, I just clicked the ok box!
Experience now tells me there were many closer places, but actually I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
I cannot describe the African light, especially in Amboseli, it’s totally different to our polluted European (and other) skies….
The day was a magical experience I will never forget. I have so many photos, I’m going to break this up into several posts but one of the many magical moments was stumbling across a Grey crane mating dance and being able to photograph the whole performance.
I wasn’t party to the result, they did fly away after the dance for a bit of privacy, but I did have a David Attenborough moment as the incredible performance took place right in front on my lens…
For information on the Crane ( thank you Wikipedia)
The grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum), also known as the African crowned crane, golden crested crane, golden-crowned crane, East African crane, East African crowned crane, Eastern crowned crane, South African crane, is a bird in the crane family, Gruidae. It is found in Eastern and Southern Africa, and is the national bird of Uganda.
The grey crowned crane is closely related to the black crowned crane, and the two species have sometimes been treated as the same species. The two are separable on the basis of genetic evidence, calls, plumage and bare parts, and all authorities treat them as different species today.
There are two subspecies .The East African B. r. gibbericeps (crested crane) occurs in the east of the DRC and in Uganda, of which it is the national bird represented in its national flag, and Kenya to Eastern S. Africa.
It has a larger area of bare red facial skin above the white patch than the smaller nominate species, B. r. regulorum (South African crowned crane), which breeds from Angola south to South Africa.
Burj Khalifa, Dubai… a little light show…
The Burj Khalifa is a spectacular building and landmark in Dubai.
At over 828 meters (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records: Tallest building in the world, tallest free-standing structure in the world, and the highest number of stories in the world (at the moment).
It dominates Dubai, can be seen from everywhere in the city and it is extraordinarily graceful for such a mammoth construction.
My son was visiting me, so we did the tourist trail and watched the early evening light show on the facade.
It was quite an event.
A few photos below, they show how spectacular the building looks with at night with the changing light show…
January 2020: Dubai Butterfly Garden…
Given my interest in butterflies and photographing them, a visit to Dubai Butterfly garden was a must, when I was back in the Emirate in early 2020.
I have never been to a Butterfly garden before, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. The entrance shouted “Theme garden”, but it wasn’t going to deter me, having made the effort to get there..
Beautifully done, as always in Dubai, the building consisted of 4 large garden rooms, full of trees, flowers, sitting areas in small gazebos with different butterflies, organized by region.
So, alphabetically, the butterflies,
(My OH very kindly identified them for me as I didn’t take notes in situ, (slap self for that omission, too much fluttering, and camera action), but it gave him something to do during this morning’s lockdown and as it was an important task, he could avoid home cleaning duty! Grateful thanks to the OH, he did an excellent job, but it’s also a little disclaimer!) Please hover over the photo for the name…
Athyma perius( Linnaeus 1758)
Cethosia biblis ( Drury 1773)
Caligo uranus (Herrich-Schäffer 1850)
Caligo oileus ( C. & R. Felder 1861)
Danaus plexippus ( Linnaeus, 1758 and Eryphanis automedon Cramer)
Hamadryas feronia ( Linnaeus 1758)
Hamadryas feronia ( Linnaeus 1758)
Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771)
Heliconius doris viridis( Staudinger 1885)
Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Hypolimnas bolina(Linnaeus 1758)
Idea leuconoe (Erichson 1834)
Idea leuconoe (Erichson 1834)
Idea leuconoe (Erichson 1834)
Junonia lemonias ( Linnaeus 1758)
Kallima inachus ( Doyère,1840)
Morpho achilles (Linnaeus 1758)
Morpho helenor (Cramer 1776)
Morpho helenor (Cramer 1776)
Morpho helenor (Cramer 1776)
Morpho helenor (Cramer 1776)
Morpho peleides(Kollar 1850)
Morpho helenor (Cramer 1776)
Morpho peleides(Kollar 1850)
Papilio thoas (Linnaeus 1771)
Papilio demoleus ( Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio demoleus ( Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio demoleus ( Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio lowi (H. Druce 1873)
Papilio lowi (H. Druce 1873)
Papilio lowi (H. Druce 1873)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio memnon (Linnaeus 1758)
Papilio polyxenes (Fabricius, 1775)
Papilio thoas( Linnaeus 1771)
Papilio thoas( Linnaeus 1771)
Parthenos Sylvia ( Cramer 1776)
Siproeta epaphus (Latreille1813)
Siproeta epaphus (Latreille1813)
Siproeta stelenes( Linnaeus 1758)
Siproeta stelenes( Linnaeus 1758)
Siproeta stelenes( Linnaeus 1758)
If you have got to this stage of the post, my grateful thanks for looking at the butterflies… I know it’s butterfly exhaustion by this stage, but there are some unusual offerings of butterfly art in the next part of the post…
You exit through the inevitable shop which consists of butterfly souvenirs and pictures that are made by using butterflies….hmmm, you can see for yourself below, some lovely ideas but I wasn’t rushing to buy one, not to my taste, I prefer to see them alive and I decided after my visit I prefer to see them in the wild.
However, reflecting, I did have the opportunity to see some beautiful butterflies, which I would not have the opportunity see in the wild as I’m quite sure now my future travel is limited for a while…so, whilst I felt slightly uncomfortable about the concept during my visit, whilst I was editing the photos for this post, I did think that I was very lucky to have seen some extraordinarily beautiful butterflies.
Realistically, I have to conclude that given my age and our current world situation, I’m not going to be hacking through jungles any time in the near future, so, I’m actually quite glad I did visit and can look back the photos of these beautiful butterflies…
There are also butterfly pictures of members of the Ruling families of the Emirates, a typically local mark of the affection for the Rulers.
I find it quite hard to imagine, that in either the UK or the US, anyone would think of creating Boris or Donald in such an affectionate platform. It was all a little strange, but, it is a popular attraction and as I’m in lockdown away from the UAE, I’m very glad I did take the time to visit…
Zanzibar: Intensely blue skies and rainbow sunsets- Part 2…
Zanzibar, June 2017: After a couple of days at the north of the island, I felt that the final day and night we had booked up there was wasted time, we had seen everything at the North tip and because I think you know by now if you read this blog, I’m not a beach bunny… I want to go somewhere and see it all.
I wanted time in Stonetown, I’d been reading up on the history and whilst you can say “Oh, we’ll come back another time”, well, practically, you probably won’t return and I so wanted to see Stonetown… so much history and the historical connection to Oman, another of my travel places, (a link about the connection history ) Slavery was a big part of the connection, sadly…
So, after breakfast, I found a room in an old traditional hotel in Stonetown at a good price (wifi and online booking is such a godsend in this day and age, instant confirmation…let’s go!) we cut our losses at Kendwa and headed off to town.
Stonetown is utterly fascinating and I was in my element, poking around the ancient streets, checking out the doors… see links to my earlier posts about the doors and old town , my Stonetown desire was all about the historical doors initially…
We went on a walkabout, we had about 36 hours in town and sleep could be minimal.
What a place… such history, such vibrancy, I just loved Stonetown.
At sunset, we headed down to the main beach, with everyone else in town, it appeared.
Sunset was a big moment that night, the streets were humming with life, street food everywhere, it was totally unexpected and so vibrant.
It was just after Eid, so I think that after Ramadan, there were a lot of people out, enjoying the beautiful moment after a month of piety …The beach was packed, loads of people in the water as the sun went down, swimming, playing, and enjoying life…
it was lovely to be part of the exuberant crowd and catch the glorious Stonetown sunset…
Zanzibar: Intensely blue skies and rainbow sunsets- Part 1
2017: An Africa trip, Mafia island (yes, really, it’s called Mafia island, just had to go there when it came to trip planning, Mafia will get a post of its own soon) Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam were the places for the trip plan.
Zanzibar was the “sunset over the sea” place of the trip.
In Zanzibar, we were perfectly placed for a sunset view towards the African coast, and the sunsets were really something else.
African light is just different, possibly the lack of air pollution… I don’t know why, I have no science knowledge, but I do notice on my travels that in remoter areas there is just a different clarity of light and intensity of color in the sky, day and night. So different from what I have been used to in Europe and Dubai.
We arrived at the Kendwa Rocks hotel late afternoon, drove up to Nungwi beach at the tip of the island, and just strolled along the beach, soaking up the atmosphere of this unique island, but out across the sea, an African sky drama was happening, a potential storm moving around in the distance, flooding the skies with drama and it was the backdrop to our walk, light and dark playing out in the distance until the sun finally set in vivid color…a beautiful experience to look back on.
Please enjoy my photos of the Zanzibar skies…
Thailand diary: Buddha, monkeys and weird and wonderful temple statues, Part 2…
In these strange times, my concentration is quite distracted. I’m drifting from one thing to another rather a lot and, on posting my previous post, I completely forgot that the ending should have been in another temple!
I did think this morning when I looked back at the original post “Oh, never mind, no-one knows anyway where I went” but actually the last temple was the “weird and wonderful temple statues” bit and in my thoughts, the images are too weird and wonderful not to post, so…. hey ho, I’ve climbed back onto the scooter, pootling on down to the road to Wat Tham Khao Tao temple to park up and start walking…
It’s quite a climb up to the top of the hill where there is a massive Buddha statue at the top and excellent views towards Hua Hin.
On the way up the concrete steps, you pass through a cave of effigies of well-revered monks and rooms with plenty of Buddha statues to worship…Whilst everywhere is full of gold, vibrant red and clashing colors, it’s actually all very serene and peaceful. There were no other visitors during our climb, there are many other more convenient temples to visit in the Hua Hin area and possibly the climb is off-putting, but it worked to our advantage!
On the corner of the steps, a rest by the laughing Buddha…probably placed to bring cheer to those toiling up the steps in August’s heat and humidity, luckily there are no photos of me and my humidity hairstyle at this stage!
Past my most favorite scary statue ever… guess which one?
And then a little break at a bell ringing area with another impressive Buddha on a corner…
An effigy of Ganesha, the Hindu god, surprisingly in this temple but, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are the three most important Hindu gods representing the recurring and continual cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth.
This trinity, along with the god Indra, Ganesha and some enlightened divinities and demons, have been converted to the Buddhist doctrine according to Buddhist belief. Hence, these gods often occur as guardians of temples and monasteries. In addition, they may also be seen attending the Buddha on important events in his life.
Another Buddha break at the top of another set of steps, he is very relaxed, but does have a dragon to ward off interlopers… it was a pleasant pause…
Nearly at the top, some rather elegant and vibrant statues, the light was good for the photos of these rather ethereal figures. By this stage, I wished I understood a bit more about what they represented, it was a regret that I didn’t have a guided tour so I could understand the reason and reverence for these slightly odd statues…
Just before the top, a beautiful Buddha room…
Reaching the top, fairly tired as it was a hot and sticky time in August, it was worth the climb.The view was quite stunning, back towards Hua Hin…
And a beautiful Buddha, serenely sitting at the top of the hill. Well worth the endless climb…
A lovely place to visit, off the beaten track, not busy at all, possibly the climb put this temple off the tourist temple trail.
After a scooter ride back to the comforting sanctuary of the hotel, it was time for a relaxing sundowner amidst the water flowers…
Thailand diary: Buddha, monkeys and weird and wonderful temple statues…
I picked up a too-good-to-be-true offer from one of the websites that offer holiday deals from Dubai.
Thailand, a week in the Evason Six Senses, Pranchanburi, Hua Hin, accommodation was a private villa/room with plunge pool, a week’s stay, less than a week in a comparable Dubai hotel…
Whoop-whoop, a bargain, ok, it was August, sussed the weather and it is the rainy season in August in Thailand, but, living in Dubai with temperatures of 45+ during August, a holiday in a rainy season is actually quite tempting and beach holidays are long past now, exploring is the key…. so, swiftly booked and including a 3-day tour of Chang Mai, Maehongson and Pai, The Golden Triangle area, added to maximize the Eid holiday leave I could take from work.
On arrival at the Evason, after settling into plunge pool villa (divine) we took a stroll around and instantly understood why the bargain holiday was on offer. The Evason sits behind the beach road, a short cross to the beach, but the beach road was being re-done, completely dug up with bulldozers, JCB’s and huge boulders stacked for the sea defenses, so there was no access to the beach at all.
Well, that didn’t matter in the slightest to us…we really had found a bargain that suited us, lying on a beach is in the past…
The area is all within the most beautiful National parks so we hired a scooter and trundled around exploring and enjoying the beauty of the forest area.
One of the joys of Asia is stumbling across exuberantly decorated temples and strange statues in odd places. Thailand didn’t disappoint. The color is always vibrant, unexpected and always a glorious discovery.
Pootling along on the bike, past prawn farms, then suddenly finding monkeys on the side of the road and then to arrive in a tiny little coastal fishing village to be greeted by a magnificent crab roundabout highly decorated in gold and red, well, it’s an assail on the senses and a lift to the spirits.
Some of the sights…
Between Pranchanburi and Hua Hin there is a beautiful forest park, so one day we decided a little scooter ramble was the order of the day. Very luckily I’ve been able to pick up the routes and shrines on Google maps, so I can find the temples and shrines many years on.
One of the joys of trundling around on a scooter is that as a passenger and pootling along at a slow place, I have the time to scan the surroundings and spot anything that looks interesting. Parking is always easy on a scooter, just stop…
Spotting a golden head towering above the trees we stopped at a shrine. I think this one is Jow Por Big Mountain Shrine, but I can’t be sure….stunning buddhas though… I was quite awed on seeing these in the mountaintop setting, in perfect light high above a beautiful landscape…
Just down the road, I spotted another golden buddha head and an odd crocodile…well, we just had to stop…this is Chao Mae Tubtim Thong shrine… I cannot find the reason for the gi-enormous crocodile sculpture at this shrine, but it was unexpected and quite fascinating that in this beautiful place with glorious views and a truly stunning buddha statue there was a massive painted concrete crocodile..I’ve tried to research it, but without getting deeper into Thai Buddhism, I can’t find an explanation…the photos are worthy of posting though!
Orchids in Thailand…
Whilst I’m in our world’s lockdown, I’m using the time to look at all my photo data. There is rather a lot and it’s opened up some forgotten memories too…
My Thailand travels were before I realized I enjoyed photography and made it a feature in my travels. I was using a fairly basic camera at that stage and I think I didn’t even look to consider adding the travels into the blog, but, actually, as I review the photos, some are worthy of inclusion.
I loved to see the orchids in Thailand, cultivated or wild… some of these are from a Chang Mai Orchid farm and others from a stop off on a canal tour around Bangkok…
