I can say with certainty that there are few places on this planet with as much beauty as southern Africa. I was fortunate enough to witness some of it, including Victoria Falls (starting with the rainbow). A shot of the riverboat Zambezi Queen, the home base for our water safaris. This is my last Africa post. I think.
As the old song goes, there are signs everywhere. Here are some in Africa that caught my eye as snapshots of place, culture, humor. And poverty. The last three were shot in Kliptown a “suburb” of Soweto. The water spigot serves several thousand people as their only source of potable water. A few yards away, one can open a bank account, apparently.
Here’s the first of my final blogs from our Africa trip. People. Most of the wonderful riverboat crew were brought in each day from the nearby villages. Workers carrying thatch for a roof repair of a riverfront lodge. We visited a village (carefully selected by the cruise line, I’m sure) and were entertained there by dancers and by the children. They were delighted to see images of themselves on the back of my camera—lots of giggles! We walked to a school that was having an awards ceremony. I sneaked a photo of the jail.
There are so many more animals to show you, though perhaps not as sexy as lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, elephants and giraffes, but worthy nonetheless. Warthogs, Kudu, Cape Buffalo and the gang. Got to see two males lock horns.
To see these graceful beasts going about their business in their natural habitat is a genuine privilege. Sometimes they are in a tower or just with their calf or all alone. They have to spread their front legs in order to eat from the ground. When they fight, they can whip around their necks and kill their foe. Seeing them in a zoo as compared to seeing them where they live is such a different experience. That is true for all these creatures.
Hippos and Zebras galore. I love how the birds show their symbiotic relationship with the Zebras, for example, by feeding off the ticks and other pests. Let’s not forget our reptiles, too.
Baboons and monkeys roam urban areas and the bush. It was surprising to see them roaming the streets as we might see dogs or squirrels in the U.S. Their hands are what makes me see them as our little brothers and sisters. The mothers and their babies brought smiles to all.
Here’s another slew of bird images. i just can’t help myself. Not your everyday robins and pigeons.
Besides the obvious candidates for “hunters” there are wild dogs, here feasting on their Impala, and hyenas. The lions walked within a few feet as if we were part of the bush. Spotting a cheetah (no pun intended) is rare and we found the leopard at night. They were almost as close as they appear. Primarily nocturnal, the leopard is tough to catch but we were lucky and I was able to get a few pics with my iPhone (the last one). More to come.
Here are some of the elephants we encountered. Some of the safaris were in a boat on the Chobe River but we saw elephants-a-plenty. (I have dozens of shots like these.) The last two photos capture elephants in a mud bath that these amazing creatures entertained themselves in with their calves. Lots more to come.
Lisa and I had the great privilege to travel to Southern Africa—South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana—recently. For a photographer, to say that it is a target-rich environment would be making an understatement. So many animals, people, and landscapes to capture! I will post many of my favorites, in categories, starting with birds, over the next few weeks, 8-10 at a time. This post will be the first of many to follow. Yes, the first bird is a penguin.
The Louisville Photographic Society competition category this coming month is double exposure. There are two ways to accomplish that: double expose in the camera or layer one image on another in Photoshop. I tried both and settled on the latter.
We ended the trip in Budapest by attending a Partnership Together Summit. The tours were focused on the Jewish people and culture of Hungary, with visits to synagogues, restaurants and holocaust memorials. The first photo is of the shoe sculptures along the shore of the Danube as a memorial and monument to the Hungarian Jews who, in the winter of 1944-1945, were shot on the bank. Go here for the story. Fortunately, many synagogues and such remain and have been restored.
Budapest is not immune to decay and neglect. The Ferris Wheel was fun, affording a great view of the city. No trip to Budapest would be complete without a chimney cake. Shops are all around-here’s one on the street. River cruise at night reveals a reflection of the Parliament Building—the white dots above are white birds circling all night. The Soviet Union liberated Budapest and erected a monument that happens to be across the square from the American Embassy. American culture is pervasive, as you see with the New York barbershop and in the shop featuring Barbie for teens.
In Budapest, there is a lot of graffiti and stickers about, but some it is truly art for art’s sake, whatever that means. There is also a lot of intentional art to see. Here are some of the ones that I liked that I left out of the last blog post.
Next and last stop was Budapest, Hungary. Many years ago, there was Buda and there was Pest, each on a side of the Danube. First visit was on the Buda Castle Hill that has the castle (duh), cathedral and presidential palace. If you ever want to visit a terror museum, this is the place to go. This vibrant international city features many easy-to-walk-to venues and lots of tourists mingling with the locals in the city center. We ate lunch at a Hawaiian restaurant, naturally, and a shout-out to Jason Momoa. There are also the graffiti and stickers that plague most every city, some racist as here, but also there is street art (more of that to follow). I had to snap a photo of a sticker of the two autocrats I saw on the bridge as we walked to the public bath. We spent a week in Budapest and I captured 354 images, so more blog posts to come.
Cruising down the Danube, you have to pass through many locks, such as this one in the first photo, and you will see random amazing things like the castle built on a rock formation. Next stop, Bratislava, Slovakia. Coronation City. The guides make sure visitors know about the Soviet influence over the society, the end of which is widely celebrated. Synagogues were razed at various times, as shown in the memorial plaque and mural. There is Soviet-era art, such as this sculpture, that remains.
Next up, Vienna. Beautiful, vibrant city with great things and lots of people to see at every turn. Home of great composers. First photo shows the amazing tile on the roof of this cathedral. Then there is the modest Hapsburg summer cottage, the Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens. What a dump!
Cruising along the Danube, there is lots to see. Colorful castles, abbeys, churches, mountains and charming towns. Here is the Wachau Valley in Austria, a World Cultural Site, where tiered vineyards take over the landscape. Weisenkirchen (“white church”) was one of those charming bergs where the vineyard comes right to the edge of town. I snapped a self-portrait (look closely). Then, we arrived at Dürnstein, another lovely town where we hiked up to the castle erected in the 12th century where Richard the Lionhearted was held captive and released for, wait for it, a king’s ransom. We hiked all the way up to that sucker! I earned that beer.
We went on an excursion away from the Danube to the Czech Republic and the town of Český Krumlov. This town of about 12,000 inhabitants is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Walking from the parking lot the first thing you see is the first photo. Now, there’s something you don’t see every day! The second shot shows a map of this place. Budvar is Budweiser in Czech, but it’s not much like the American version—not the same company at all. Lots of tourists, for a reason, and what would a tourist town be without souvenirs? (Are Crusaders PC?) It was difficult to cut down the number of photographs to post here.
