Category: Places
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Caprivi is for the Birds
Caprivi is that northeasternmost region in Namibia that looks so odd on a map. I’m sure there is a really interesting historical reason dating from the colonial days for Caprivi being part of Namibia. But for now it just sticks out there, too thin to really even qualify as a panhandle. It borders Angola, Zambia,…
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Scenes from the Kavango
The thing you notice about the Kavango region is the endlessly long, straight roads. You expect it in Nebraska or Kansas, but somehow here the roads seem surprising. The main road running east-west through this region bordering Namibia’s northern border with Angola is well-maintained and passes village after village of thatched huts, reed fences, yellow…
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Under the Namibian Sky (Time Lapse)
Namibia is truly one of the most amazing places for stargazing – sparse population, cloudless sky… Here is a timelapse by a group of folks who spent 10 days (and nights) on a Namibian farm doing just that. Add a bunch of time on a computer making this video. I didn’t see a figure, but…
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Cheetahs and Leopards
Had the opportunity to do some filming of cheetahs and leopards (well, actually just one leopard) recently. They make excellent photo and video subjects! The first was an amazing opportunity at Okonjima & Africats, (about 2 hours north of Windhoek, Namibia) – I blogged about it once before – when we found 3 cheetahs lounging…
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Supermoon + cheetahs: nature goes out of her way to cooperate
Namibia really is an amazing place for photographers. On this occasion, everything lined up, but as a photographer I was unfortunately not fully up to the task. Still, some amazing photos. The location: Okonjima / Africat, where two organizations collaborate on a 22,000 hectare plot of African bush to rehabilitate injured carnivores. Africat has taken…
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Photographing a Leopard
Leopards make excellent photographic subjects, but they tend to stay hidden in the wild – when they’re not trying to EAT you. Seriously, some subjects are best photographed in captivity or a controlled situation. This particular leopard is in a pretty large pen, but he gets fed daily. The experience can be unnerving -sitting in…
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What’s with these alien plants in my yard?
Moving to southern Africa has led me to discover all sorts of strange and bizarre plants that don’t behave the way my grade-school teachers taught me the way they ought to. First, I thought this tree was dying last spring (i.e. October in the southern hemisphere), when all its leaves started falling off. Then it…
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Best music for hanging out with giraffes
When you’re editing vacation videos, it’s always fun to come up with the best music – ideally one that conveys the right mood, maybe something that relates to the place you’re visiting. But sometimes the best music to convey the mood is no music at all. In this video, we managed to get awfully close…
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Our Coast, Your Photo Contest Entries
The entire TAZM Pictures crew entered a local photo contest sponsored by the Windhoek newspaper, The Namibian, and Studio 77, a photography studio. The contest was set up to raise awareness about the fragility of the Namibian coast, most of which is one or another national park (37% of Namibia consists of national parks). You…
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Life and Death at Avis
We have this pretty amazing reservoir just outside Windhoek created by Avis dam – it’s a wildlife protected area / bird sanctuary / dog walking area / jogging area. And fishing/boating pond. And you can get some awesome pictures out there if you pay attention. Examples: An egret takes flight Pretty good fishing at…
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Namibian fairy circles – mystery solved?
There’s an odd phenomenon in southern Africa – especially in Namibia – that the locals call “fairy circles”, whereby vegetation refuses to grow inside a circle of anywhere from 3 to 10 meters in diameter. Even stranger, the circles are dynamic – apparently they grow and “die”, to be filled in by grasses. While they…
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Video: Sossusvlei and Namib Desert from the air
I had an amazing trip to the Namib Desert recently. The oldest desert in the world, the Namib is where the Tsauchab river ends, seeping into the ground amid towering ochre dunes. A few gnarled, dried camelthorn trees stand on the baked clay pans that explode into blossom just a few weeks per year. Surely…
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Windhoek’s Informal Settlements
According to some statistics, 60 percent of Namibia’s urban dwellers, 25 percent of all Namibians live in so-called “informal settlements.” They come to Windhoek in search of jobs, opportunities and a better life. And in spite of the fact that Windhoek enjoys a reputation as a city which has taken better care of its newest…
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Namibian Blues. Or German.
When 18 white dudes from southern Africa with German names get together for a blues show, you know it’s gonna be authentic. Or was that ironic. Anyway, enjoyed a rare blues show in Windhoek a couple weeks ago when local “Mojo Blues Band” teamed up with the 11-piece brass “Wikiaphoniker Orchestra.” Although at times there…
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Video: 24 Hours at Etosha
Along the southern fringes of Etosha National Park, Namibia’s flagship park, are scattered a handful of camps and watering holes. The oldest of these is Okaukuejo, 18 km from Anderson gate in the southwest corner of the park. At Okaukuejo, the “bush chalets” are oriented around the watering hole in a westward-facing orientation, which makes…
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Video – Elephants at Okaukuejo
We spotted the first elephant in the distance, and soon noticed he was followed by many more, all neatly in line, ears flapping and trunks swinging in that crazy, bouncy, elephant way. Eventually 32 of them arrived at the watering hole at Okaukuejo Camp,where they drank, bathed, played, and in some cases were a little peeved with…
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Photos: Reflections at Etosha NP
It’s fun to play around with reflections off a body of water – though in my experience, it’s rare to come across a body of water (a) that’s calm enough to reflect without too much distortion (b) at the right time of day and (c) where there’s something worth reflecting. At a recent visit to…
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Why Afghanistan Matters
For what it’s worth, I spent the last five years of my military career (now retired) working for Afghanistan in the communication realm. Over the course of my ten trips there between 2006 and 2011, I felt constantly annoyed, yet challenged, by the relatively superficial portrayal of the country being served to the rest of…
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Supporting Africa’s Dwindling Wild Dog Population
Today I’ll be participating in N/a’ankuse Lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary’s “Corporate Eco-Challenge” to help raise money for their efforts to advocate on behalf of Africa’s dwindling wild dog population. African wild dogs, also known as “painted dogs“, are the second most endangered carnivore on the African continent, after the Ethiopian wolf. Estimates of the remaining…
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Sandboarding. Swakopmund. Sony Vegas
For years, I’ve been editing with versions of Adobe Premiere and Premiere Elements, and the one complaint I’ve always had is its tendency to lock up on most computers. The exception has been my old desktop running XP with 512 MB memory – but even there, I’ve got to restart the computer after I finish…
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Spring has Sprung in Windhoek
Spring is definitely in the air in Namibia. At least that’s what my daughter tells me – she informed me that September 1 was “spring day”. Apparently in South Africa and Namibia, it’s not the 21st that heralds the coming of spring, but the 1st of September. And given the weather these days, it’s not…
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Moon over Windhoek
This morning when I woke up, the moon appeared full and orange in the sky just above the horizon. Here are a couple of shots of it.
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Rolling Thunder rolls into Washington DC
Memorial Day weekend, Washington, D. C., an overcast sky that doesn’t quite suggest the scorchingly hot day ahead. Standing on the DC side of the Memorial Bridge at noon with an expectant crowd along the barriers and covering the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and a faint rumble can be heard from the direction of…
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Tracks in the Dust: Songs from Afghanistan
It’s said that combat duty consists of long periods of boredom interspersed by brief moments of terror. In Kabul, Afghanistan, it tends to be long, tedious work hours, interspersed with sleep. In this environment, maintaining one’s sanity often leads to skimping a bit on sleep in order to have some “personal time” – whether it’s…
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Cherry Blossoms in our Nation’s Capital
A couple of weeks ago, the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC were in full bloom. The National Cherry Blossom Festival in the capital is in its 99th iteration and marks the coming of spring in a visual celebration of pink and white blossoms surrounding some of our nations most stunning and recognizable landmarks. It presents…