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Category Archives: Wildlife and Nature
Mayotte: From Above and Below
During my time in Madagascar, I had the opportunity to visit nearby Mayotte a few times. Never heard of it? It’s and island in the Indian Ocean – part of the Comoros Archipelago, claimed by the Comoros as its fourth … Continue reading
Posted in Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Comoros, Dzahi, Indian Ocean, Kani Keli, Maore, Moya Beach, Pamanzi, Plage de Moya, Sea Turtles
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Visit to Isalo National Park, Madagascar
Shortly before leaving Madagascar after having lived there for more than three years, I finally made it to Isalo National Park, which is one of the premier tourist destinations in country, and one I would have regretted missing out on. … Continue reading
One Last Trip – “Lemur Island”
Given today’s justifiable flak surrounding the keeping of pet lemurs or the existence of lemur “petting zoos” that rely on capturing lemurs from the wild, Madagascar’s “Lemur Island” (officially “Vakona Private Reserve”) near Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is seen by some … Continue reading
Locust Swarm in Madagascar
Shortly after arriving in Madagascar a few years ago, we watched the BBC’s Planet Earth II episode in which a film crew found it amazingly difficult to track down a swarm containing more than a billion of the tiny, destructive … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged aerial, locusts, video
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Swimming with Whale Sharks in Madagascar
Check another item off the bucket list: in November, we made it to Nosy Be to see the whale sharks – considered endangered by some – feeding on the plankton that “bloom” there the same time every year. This capped … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Chelonia mydas, green sea turtle, green turtle, Madagascar, Nosy Be, Rhincodon typus, swimming, underwater, video, whale shark
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…but what’s there to do in southern Madagascar?
In our quest to see everything there is to see in Madagascar (for which, honestly speaking, there is simply not enough time, but we’re trying our absolute best!) we recently made our way to south Madagascar. Specifically, we went to … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged fishermen, fishing, forest, Fort Dauphin, kingfisher, littoral, Madagascar, Manafiafy, mangrove, Toalagnaro, Tolagnaro
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Whale Watching in Madagascar
Every June or July, thousands of humpback whales migrate thousands of miles north from Antarctica to have their young just off the coast of Madagascar. And finally we made it up in time to see them (September is best!) Not … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged aerial, drone, humpback, Ile Ste Marie, Madagascar, mammal, Nosy Boraha, video
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Andringitra Park in Madagascar: Sheer Cliffs and Ringtails
Andringitra National Park is one of those places where adventure travelers go. It’s got peaks that people go out and climb over a four-day period. The one in the photo above is just a two-day climb for rock climbers, not … Continue reading
South African Safari – Addo Elephant Park
I previously posted about Ironman South Africa last April. Well, naturally you don’t go all the way to South Africa for a sporting event and then go back home. Nope – safari time! There are a number of parks and … Continue reading
Posted in Other Places, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Addo, Cape Recife, elephant park, hyena, marine, nature, Port Elizabeth, reserve, safari, South Africa, Wildlife and Nature, Woody Cape
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Kodak T-Max P3200: My First Roll
A notification from 35mmc today with Hamish Gill’s review of Kodak’s re-released P3200 reminded me that I, too, recently shot my first roll of P3200 – I just hadn’t gotten around to sharing my results. I’m a little bit late … Continue reading
Posted in film processing, Other Places, Photography, general, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Addo, Alaris, elephant, film photography, Kodak, P3200, push development, South Africa, T-Max, zebra
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Droning with the Dolphins
They were so majestic. About a half-mile out, I would swim directly overhead a pod of dolphins swimming directly beneath me, maybe 7 or 8 meters down. They’d swim slowly, all most like they were “letting” me keep up. Then … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Other Places, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged dolphins, drone, GoPro, Indian, Le Morne, Mauritius, ocean
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Madikwe Game Reserve – One of South Africa’s Best Kept Secrets!
For most people, going on a safari is the trip of a lifetime. And there are numerous well-known game parks and reserves, in many African countries, where you can do just that. But if you decide to take the plunge … Continue reading
Posted in Other Places, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged African wild dogs, Big Five, elephant, game reserve, leopard, lion, Madikwe, Photography, safari, South Africa, Wildlife and Nature
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Mahajanga, Madagascar: Antsanitia Resort – View from the Sky
We’re doing much better at seeing the country to which we’ve been assigned early in our tour, rather than late, rushing, and ending up with a list of “places we wish we’d gone.” Of Madagascar’s noteworthy destinations (really the list is … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged aerial, Antsanitia, beach, birds, boats, DJI, drone, flock, Madagascar, Mahajanga, Mavic, river, seagulls, sunset
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Trip to Nosy Be
I knew we had chosen the right place when the owner/manager greeted us in shorts and bare feet. No snooty welcome drinks and wet towels here! Although when I think back, I think there were actually welcome drinks and wet … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Anjiamarango, brittlefish, drone, frogs, island, Madagascar, Nosy Be, resort, snorkeling, sunset, travel
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Madagascar: Solar Eclipse at the Pangalanes Canal
I got an email from somebody at some point, soon after we arrived in Madagascar: there was to be a full solar eclipse, and we were invited to stay at the “Bush Camp” on the Pangalanes Canal, wherever that was. … Continue reading
The strangest animal you’ve (probably) never seen!
Meet the bizarre, but wonderful aye-aye. It’s an odd nocturnal lemur with a kind of creepily long middle finger and a bizarre, wild and wide-eyed expression. We were lucky enough to see a few of these in the wild and … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged ai-ai, ay-ay, aye-aye, lemur, Madagascar, night, nocturnal, primate, Wildlife and Nature
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Madagascar: Visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha (Part 2)
This post is a continuation of my previous post, where I described out trip from Antananarivo to Morondava, and then north across two rivers and to the “petit tsingy” and a boat ride through the Manamobolo Gorge and the caves … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial photography/videography, Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged advice, aerial, Bekopaka, Bemaraha, drone, geology, grand, karst, limestone, Madagascar, Morondava, park, tips, travel, Tsingy
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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: An Eco-sperience! Part 2.
As the title suggests, this is a continuation of my previous post, wherein I describe Saha Forest Camp and its surroundings…in case an orientation is needed! We’re not serious hikers. But our local guide had done a good job so … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Anjozorobe, architecture, customs, drone, eco-tourism, hiking, Madagascar, rain forest, rural, Saha Forest Camp, traditions, village
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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: an Eco-sperience! Part 1.
A couple of hours north of Antananarivo, at the end of a rutted, slick red clay road that meanders for about 10 kilometers eastward from the town of Anjozorobe, where the winding rice paddies finally end in a jumble of … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Anjozorobe, chameleon, eco-tourism, Fanamby, jungle, Madagascar, night photography, rain forest, Saha Forest Camp, uroplatus
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Madagascar’s Mantadia National Park: the Lemurs
Normally when we go on a trip somewhere, we end up with 6-10 really good photos worth sharing, which give an overall impression of the experience. But I have been stalling on this post because the number of close-up lemur … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged indri, lemur, Madagascar, Mantadia, primate, sifaka
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Madagascar: Paying Attention to the Little Things
Walking through the jungle in Madagascar in search of lemurs, it’s easy to overlook the little things…and trample them underfoot. Bugs, tiny plants, lizards. There are upwards of 100,000 species of insects in Madagascar. We didn’t see the long-necked giraffe … Continue reading
Posted in Madagascar, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Andasibe, ant nest, arachnids, clouded mother of pearl, Corythornis vintsioides, Foudia madagascariensis, Foudia madagascariensis); some sort of sunbird, insects, lined day gecko, Madagascar fody, Madagascar kingfisher, Mantadia, orb spider, phallus indusiatus, phelsuma lineata lineata., pill millipede, Protogoniomorpha anacardii, sphaerotherium, spider, stinkhorn
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Doing My Bit for Science
You never know where your pictures will end up! So far people have been pretty good about asking for permission (as far as I know). About four years ago I was experimenting with macro photography, taking pictures of odd bugs … Continue reading
Posted in Wildlife and Nature
Tagged assassin bug, entomology, Macro Photography, publication, UC riverside
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Birdwatching from the Hotel Pool
One of the highlights from our recent trip to Jaipur was the beautiful hotel pool. On our last day there, fed up with the heat, waiting for an evening flight, we arranged for a late checkout and decided to spend … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photography, general, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged bee-eater, birds, bulbul, diving, high-speed photography, passerine, Photography, red-vented
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Monkeying Around in Jaipur
With only a month or so before we leave India, we finally made it to Rajasthan, the country’s largest state, located on the northwestern border with Pakistan, and home to the inhospitable Thar Desert. Literally translated as the “land of … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Gaitor, high-speed, Jaipur, langurs, monkeys, Photography
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Thousands of bugs were bubbling up out of the ground…you’ll never guess what happened next!
On the grounds of a posh Himalayan resort – where the monkeys are normally kept at bay by G4S guards carrying long sticks – thousands of winged insects were bubbling up from the ground – seemingly from nowhere – and … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged bugs, eating, Himalayas, monkeys
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