Archive for August, 2008
Weaver Condominium
Monday, August 18th, 2008
If anybody has communal living down, it’s sociable weavers. Their “apartment buildings” hang on anything higher then a bush, looking like misshaped haystacks. Careful not to get pooped on, we stood under the high-rise and watched these busy little birds fly in and out bringing food to their young and constantly adding more wings to the structure until the host tree or electric pole buckles and breaks under the weight of the nest and comes crushing down.
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Rainbow in a Lizard
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
In Augrabies Falls NP a frantic substitute manager almost didn’t let us through. “We have a name for you: ‘Go away’, ha-ha-hah,” she attempted to joke with Vova who as a good journalist promptly stood by with his notepad ready to take down her pearls of wisdom. “And don’t quote me on that!”
The falls themselves were not that big of an attraction for me. More interesting was the rainbow that reflected in rainbow lizards sunbathing on practically every rock in sight.
Augrabies Falls NP Photogallery
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A Desert in Bloom
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
A desert in bloom must sound perfectly surreal; well, it looks perfectly surreal as well. Flat barren meadows look from afar like someone painting in the mountains had spilled a whole bucket of paint onto the grass below. “Accidents” like this are seen everywhere: orange, yellow, red, blotches of daisies by the pound catch the eye and make it hard to concentrate on driving. Finally we gave up and went swimming in these flower pools. Up close, Africa’s flora is strange and magnificent. Just watching the intricate cracks on the bark of an aloe tree can take the whole day, not to mention curly, spiny, and downright obscene plants, standing only inches tall above dry ground, made me crawl on all fours for a better look.
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Alone
Friday, August 15th, 2008
I took some time for myself in Cederberg Mountains falling behind the guys and letting them rest from my chatter. Alone among bizarre red rock formations, I watched yellow daisies and sugarbirds battle the wind.
Cederberg Mountains Photogallery
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Free!
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008
Free at last. Cape Town has had enough of us, and we of it. Buying a car through the buy-back system has proved to be not as complicated as I thought it would be, though rather lengthy as the company wanted to spend a whole week to make sure every nut and bolt was in place on now ours Toyota Hilux – a double cab pickup truck with the covered back that I’ve commandeered as my personal bedroom the very first night. Only I could fit in there with the rest of our stuff without twisting into a pretzel, Nevertheless, Shurik did join me in my new home the second night for company and warmth.
It was difficult to leave the great whites and penguins behind, but in exchange, on our first day out, we got rainbows that pierced through pink dawn clouds that reflected in sky-blue puddles surrounded by horned beauties that let you up almost close enough to touch. A fair trade, I think.
I’m getting good, if I might say so, in shooting wildlife. The camera feels like a ton of bricks in my hands, but I convince myself that if only I kept at it the way I have – all day every day – soon my only concern would be with signing up for bodybuilding competitions.
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