Jagat's a journalist and a fine photographer, with his own commercial studio in Jamnagar. He's also a keen birdwatcher, and at the behest of the Maharajah, arranged a visit to Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, not far from the outskirts of Jamnagar. Lots else, too; in his generosity and apparent delight in helping and showing us his environment, he was typical of the people we met in and around Jamnagar. Thankyou, Jagat.
After dark at the game reserve near Kruger NP, a group of local school kids danced for us as a fund raiser. Some of the US students on the bus needed little cajoling to join in. Not wanting to intrude on the moment with flash (strobe), I dialled the ISO to 3200 and took my chances.
In Kruger National Park we saw few buffalo and most were difficult to photograph, being distant and having the low sun behind them. This, I think, is one of the better photos; it conveys something of the feeling of belligerence and curiosity underlying that confrontational look. Check out those flies, too — apparently characteristic of Cape buffalo, I was told later in Zambia.
Late in the evening we finally encountered white rhinos. They peered at the truck but their eyesight would not have allowed them to see the numerous eyes, human and glass, gazing back.
Southern red-billed hornbill (Tockus rufirostris), Pilanesberg Game Reserve, South Africa.
Watching this storm approach across the Nyika Plateau, I felt grateful I had a rented car for shelter and transport.
As the light began to fade, I drove slowly back to camp, hoping I might see a leopard. I had to settle for this and a few other delights.
The Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera, was built between 1860 and 1875 and even to rough rural kiwis like me it's spectacular. But I think what appeals to me is not merely the sheer opulence, but that it's more than an historical monument — it's a place that still lives vibrantly through the performances that take place there and everything those performances entail.
Rain cloud over the central Ruahine, December 2007. This is where the snowgrass meets the bush; from here it's a steep descent to the delightful Pourangaki hut.
Winter in the Pohangina valley. To maintain stock in good condition through the cold months when pasture has stopped growing, farmers ration the silage and hay and break-feed the fodder crops. It's mid winter now and the paddocks are looking thin; these steers, however, have plenty to keep them going for at least several months more (the ground's so muddy because they've congregated around the silage feeder). It's educated guesswork — no one knows how long the cold weather will last. Guess right and the spring pasture will be ready just as you're feeding out the last of the conserved feed; guess wrong and either you'll waste conserved feed or be forced to sell stock at the wrong time of year. A sequence of wrong guesses and the stress mounts.
By now, if it's survived, yesterday's child will have become something like this [Ranthambhore NP, India, 2007].
Monkeys can seem so human; their youngsters even more so. On the other hand, young humans can seem so much like monkeys, especially when they happen to be small boys (I've just returned from an overnight trip in the Ruahine with a friend and his three young boys. Quite an education).
A photo from within the castle. A record shot, but from what I saw during my three and a half weeks there, this is how many (not all but perhaps most) of the people live.
Elmina castle in Ghana has an horrific history, similar to the nearby Cape Coast castle which Barack Obama and his family visited recently. His speech is brief, but makes points we all would do well to reflect on and remember.
Domesticated buffalo are supposedly placid, but this one at Urgam, high in the Indian Himalaya, had a mean look. I kept my distance. In the background [L to R], one of the men who accompanied us on our visit to Engineer Baba, with Dr M and Mr S talking to one of the villagers. Mr S founded the school at Urgam and used to teach there, which was clearly one of the major reasons we were welcomed so warmly.
Not sure what kind of conifer this is, but it was abundant on the mountainsides above Tapovan (beyond Joshimath), where it formed an open, mixed forest with rhododendrons.
They seem so human, much of the time. After arriving at Kausani in the Indian Himalaya in late November 2006, I went for a wander. These rhesus macaques were abundant, and I hesitate to mention some of their other behaviours. Apparently once such incident inspired Paul McCartney to write Why Don't We Do It In the Road.
On the day Badrinath, high in the Indian Himalaya, closed for winter, this man seemed to delight everyone, running around placing tikkas/tilakas on foreheads and marking swastikas* on anything that moved, including jeeps and buses, and on many things that didn't. He seems relatively subdued in this photo, with just a hint of his infectious good humour showing; nevertheless, I remember vividly his energy and laughter.
We were among the last to leave Badrinath after the day's ceremonies. I waited with him and several others, hoping to find a place in a jeep back to Joshimath after all the buses had left. I ended up enduring a ride of several hours crushed into the back of a jeep with a collection of other travellers and enormous, blackened cooking pots. I couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't even kneel properly, but somehow survived by crouching in a corner and attempting to let my thoughts drift elsewhere. It must have worked. But meeting people like this was ample recompense for the hardship.
This woman was also one of the family of entertainers at the camel festival near Bikaner.
One of the family of entertainers who performed at the camel festival near Bikaner in January 2007.
A snapshot from the verandah yesterday. I've added a little fake film grain to sharpen it a bit; otherwise it's pretty much as is apart from a small crop and a contrast tweak. It seems to reflect the character of these mites.
This is the rump of a camel. Some of the clipping — presumably done specially for this festival near Bikaner in January 2007 — had to be considered sheer art. Not sure if that's the camel's owner in the background, but he looks mighty pleased.
I photographed this young man as he played a large drum during a performance at the camel festival near Bikaner, January 2007.
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