Bull Elephant in the Afternoon Light Raising dust as he trudges the well-worn path in the afternoon light, an old bull elephant approaches the King Nehale Waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia.
It was mesmerising.
Elephants in the wild move with a lumbering grace that lulls one into a trance.
At the King Nehale Waterhole, on the eastern side of Etosha National Park in Namibia, there is a fence that keeps the people out of the animals’ domain – and vice versa. Thanks to photographer Ben McRae and local guide guide Morne Griffiths, I was camped for three wonderful nights right next to the waterhole.
I spent hours and hours, across four days, just sitting there, on a bench behind the fence, with my camera on a tripod and the remote in my hand. The air was soporific, buzzing with heat and insect noise, tranquillising me into a dreamlike state as I watched the animals come and go (see: A Day at the Waterhole; Birds and Beasts on the Veld).
It was the elephants and their waltz-like rhythms that really captivated me. Perhaps is is the hot, thick air that slows these pachyderms down; they wade through it like we move through water, with sedate, measured strides. They are in almost-constant slow motion: plodding, swaying, swishing a tail or tossing a trunk in smooth, unhurried movements, then, for no apparent reason, the whole group stops still for a few moments. It is like watching a tableau where almost nothing happens for ages; then you lose focus and let your attention drift, and all of a sudden the whole scene has shifted.
It’s hypnotising.
Elephants at the Waterhole My first visits to the waterhole were rewarded with family groups of elephants.
Elephants at the Waterhole In the heat of the day, the elephants come …
Elephants at the Tree … and go. The single tree growing at the edge of the waterhole provides little escape from the unrelenting heat of the day.
Incoming Elephant New elephants approach the waterhole periodically. Apparently, these huge pachyderms have tender feet, so they follow the winding paths they have cleared through the rocks that surround the waterhole.
Splash! Elephants can drink up to 200 litres of water a day – but their time at the waterhole involves as much splashing as drinking.
Elephant Afternoon They are mottled with water and mud as they follow the well-worn path away from the waterhole.
Elephant on the Horizon On a morning drive, through the veld in Etosha National Park, it is not long before one of these magnificent creatures comes into view.
Elephant Walking Without pause or change of pace, the great animal approaches, crosses the road directly in front of our jeep, and lumbers off.
Pied Crow – Corvus Albus Back at our campsite, the birds watch carefully, lest we leave food scraps anywhere.
Elephants at the Waterhole Other animals seem to give the elephants a wide berth …
Elephants at the Waterhole … as they nuzzle and play. Elephants – especially the females and immature males – are very social animals, and bathing together reinforces group bonding.
Giraffes and Oryx Even when the elephants aren’t around, giraffes approach the waterhole very gingerly, watching their surrounds carefully.
Elephant Clans It is as if there is a secret roster system: when one group of elephants has been enjoying the water for a period of time, another batch comes into sight on the horizon.
Incoming Elephants The newly-arrived clan files into the back of the waterhole …
Face Off … while the original group continues to play a while, before moving off.
Afternoon at the Waterhole The late afternoon light bounces off the water as the elephants splash about.
Giraffes at the Waterhole The poor giraffes look very ungainly when they do, finally, decide to get a drink.
Black Backed Jackals (Canis Mesomelas) As the light and temperature drop, the jackals come out.
Dust on Fire The angled afternoon sun lights up the dust the elephants raise as they leave the waterhole…
The King Nehale Waterhole … and casts an orange glow over the whole scene.
Sunset on the Veld The sun drops quickly over the veld, but there are special lights around the waterhole, so I can continue to sit and wait and watch as the animals come and go.
Bull Elephants Everything looks different around the waterhole after dark. In the blue light after sundown, two males approached each other …
In the Blue Light … and spent a lot of time engaging in the elephant equivalent of arm-wrestling. This is how they fight for dominance, although – from where I sat – it didn’t feel like there was any real aggression happening here.
Tree at the Waterhole Under the protective cover of darkness, the rhinos, who have been elusive during the day, come out to drink.
Elephant After Dark I sit, half daydreaming, watching as a bull wanders off, before taking myself off to bed.
As I lay in my sleeping bag at night – in complete safety – I listened to the roars of the lions in the distance. Jackals were yipping and yowling as they scrabbled through a tent nearby, where some silly fool had left meat jerky unattended.
But it was the rhythm of the elephants’ slow waltz that lulled me to sleep, even as the night’s parade of animals at the waterhole continued.
Crystal Clear Waters It is not for nothing that this section of New South Wales (NSW) is called The Sapphire Coast. The views from the Kangarutha Track in Bournda National Park are stunning.
It is always a treat to explore one’s own back yard – especially when that yard includes some spectacular coastline.
As much as I love travelling, it is nice to spend some time at home – particularly when the weather is right for walking! My husband and I have been members of the National Parks Association of NSW for a lot of years, and every so often the walks that our local chapter offers line up with “pockets of availability” in our schedules. So it was that we were out on a glorious Sunday last month with a group of nature-lovers, walking one of the “60 Best Walks in NSW”.
Rated at a Grade 4/6difficulty by WildWalks, the Kangarutha Track runs up over the bluffs and down into the coves for nine kilometres along the Pacific coastline through the Bournda National Park. One of the advantages of doing it with a group was that we could shuttle vehicles to the other end of the track, parking some at our end point at Wallagoot Gap, and leaving the others at our starting point south of Tathra.
We had the most perfect winter weather: sunny and clear but not too hot.
Do join us!
Chamberlain Lookout – Vista Point, Tathra Google Maps are not perfect! Although I had programmed our meeting point: the Kianinny Boat Ramp, Tathra, into the search engine, the map delivered us to a lookout at the top of a cliff. Fortunately, we could see the parking lot far below us, and we had plenty of time to enjoy the view before setting off again.
Kangarutha Walking Track Once the cars are shuffled and the whole group has gathered, we can set off. As with most walking tracks in the NSW National Parks network, this one is pretty well marked.
Watching Water This walk has a lot of ups and downs – according to my walking app, I gained (and lost) 655 meters in elevation. After the first steep climb, walkers are happy to pause and enjoy the view over the coastline.
View from above Kianinny Bay The walk takes us through the northern half of Bournda National Park. Our first view, looking south from above Kianinny Bay, is pretty spectacular. A tourist boat is tiny in the water below us.
Into the Tea Trees Once we’ve caught our collective breaths, we set off again – climbing higher through the Melaleuca (myrtle – myrtaceae) tea-trees, …
Down into Boulder Bay … before dropping down again steeply into Boulder Bay.
Boulders in the Bay It is pretty easy to see where Boulder Bay gets its name!
Boulder in the Spray
Boulders in the Sand
White Water – Boulder Bay In summer, this would be a perfect spot to cool off.
The Colours of Boulder Bay
Still Life Found – Seaweed
Once Again – Into the Myrtle (Myrtaceae) What goes down, must climb up again!
Through the Trees The sapphire waters recede below our track.
The Sapphire Coastline Bournda National Park follows the coastline for about 13 kilometres south.
Rock Pools at Rocky Beach We drop down to sea-level again at Rocky Beach. The waters in the rock pools are crystal clear …
Reflections in the Rock Pools … and glassy smooth.
Grasses on the Rock Pools
Sapphire Waters
Echidna Hiding Although we usually see kangaroos and wallabies when we are out walking, on this occasion, the only wildlife we spotted was a little spiny anteater who was trying desperately to hide, …
Sea Eagle over White Rock … and a sea eagle, too high overhead to get a good shot.
Lunch at White Rock White Rock marks the half-way point in the walk and provides a great vantage point for a scenic lunch stop.
Inlet north of White Rock
Sapphire Waters south of White Rock
View from White Rock It was mesmerising watching the waters ebb and flow over the granite rocks of the rugged coastline.
Heart – Games Bay The next time the trail drops us back to water-level is at Games Bay, where someone has left their heart in the sand.
Seed Pods As we continue south, the mix of bush changes around us.
Wallagoot Gap The lookout at the dramatic Wallagoot Gap marks the endpoint of our walk; …
Bournda Coastal Walking Tracks … although there are further tracks south, around Wallagoot Lake, we head to the carpark, only a short walk away.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk – although, I confess, we were both too exhausted to move the next day!
[…] To take a break from the smoke-filled skies and to cheer myself up, I’m visiting photos I’ve taken in the past: on two walks in the Bournda National Park. This 2,655-hectare (6,560-acre) reserve boasts a magnificent coastline and three bodies of water: a fresh lake, a salt lake, and a brackish lagoon. It is just a short drive north of me, but I’ve only ever visited when my walking-group organises something along sections of the tracks (e.g.: Kangarutha Track). […]ReplyCancel
Young Girl : Big Fish Koki Fish Market, just outside Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, is a great place for fresh fish and free smiles.
I love Papua New Guinea.
I love it with reservations; the same kind of reservations one has about a disordered cousin whose heart is in the right place, but whose life is always a tumult of chaos.
I admit: I was cautious at first.
I had been warned before I booked the flights for my Jim Cline Photo Tour with Karl Grobl: early arrival in the country “is not recommended as there is nothing much to see in Port Moresby and it is not advisable to head out on your own.”
So, on entry to the country I was nervous. I became more vigilant when the person who had been assigned to meet me at the airport was a betel-nut chewing man with little English in tattered jeans and a grubby polo shirt. And, thanks to the vagaries of flight schedules, I had – against advice – arrived an extra day early.
I didn’t go far and I didn’t take the cameras on my solitary forays around Port Moresby. It was true that the neighbourhood I was in was dusty and dirty with little to recommend it except for the beautiful bougainvillea that climbed the barbed-wire fences. But, I never once felt uncomfortable or afraid. The people who passed by on the sidewalks looked like they were going to work and weren’t remotely interested in me. The other people squatting or sitting on the verges, selling eggs and cigarettes and hand-made bilum bags, were all chatty and friendly.
What I found most confronting in those first days, was the ubiquitous use of betel nut. Classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization since 2003, the effects of chewing the seeds of the Areca catechu palm tree were evident in all the broad smiles that welcomed me. From teething toddlers to toothless elderly, chipped, stained and decayed teeth, and receding gums, attested to the harms of regular chewing.
In many situations, this made taking pictures difficult: people were happy to smile, and their smiles displayed dismal oral hygiene. My pictures were at risk of looking as exploitative as the faux travel guide: Molvania: A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry (Jetlag Travel Guide).
That, plus the insanely chaotic backgrounds, is one of the reasons I decided to experiment with monochromes when I was processing the pictures from our first “official” group outing, to the newly opened Koki Fish Market just outside of Port Moresby.
Enjoy!
Making Bilum Bags In spite of all the warnings, everyone I met on the streets of Port Moresby was very friendly.
Mum and Bub Evidence of betel nut is everywhere: I was particularly distressed to see this carcinogen used as a teething salve.
Koki Fish Market Built with government funds and officially opened in December 2016, the Koki Fish Market is the first development of its kind in PNG. Designed to support the fishing business, it sits over the waters of Walter Bay on the south side of Port Moresby.
Gabatu Motu Motu The houses all around the Koki Fish Market are also built on pylons. Most of the people here are Motu, the original inhabitants of these southern coastal areas of Papua New Guinea. They believe that building over water keeps them safe from witchcraft and black magic.
Fish Market Lady Even though we are not in the market for the fresh fish on offer, the sales women are smiling and welcoming.
Fish Market Lady And it is mostly women: the men do the fishing and the women do the selling.
Market Lady (Colour) This shot – with no added saturation – of a woman selling bags, rubber gloves and elastics, gives an idea of the clean, but colourful mayhem that assaults the senses inside the market.
Market Lady (Creamtone) I much prefer the order imposed by a monochrome treatment.
Family Working in the market is a family affair.
New Mother
Fish for Sale The fish for sale in the market …
Spotted Fish … comes in all patterns …
Fish in the Market … shapes …
Colourful Fish … hues …
Woman with a Fish … and sizes. Some of the varieties looked as if they would be more at home in an exotic aquarium than at a local fish-stall.
Shell Fish
Shell Fish
Market Woman with Shells All kinds of shells are important in a country where special ones were once used as currency.
Family Group
Women in the Market The market is a busy place, …
Woman in the Market … but people still have time for a chat and a smile.
Family at the Fish Market I wanted a picture of a mother and daughter, but as soon as I picked up the camera, the male family members jumped into the frame!
Young Woman
Koki Fish Market As we return to our bus in the carpark, we can see the boats tied up around the market.
Shiny Fish Sculpture Outside the market, locals use a magnificent shiny metal fish sculpture as a resting- and meeting-place.
The Koki Fish Market is an interesting place, giving local shoppers a central place to buy their freshly-caught fish for dinner.
It also provides visitors with a nice, safe, bite-size “slice” of colourful every-day PNG life.
[…] had a brief time in the country – two weeks across four main locations: Port Moresby (see: A Slice of Life and Life on the Edge); Milne Bay (see: Portraits from the Dance and Innocent Eyes and […]ReplyCancel
Hindu Procession A Balinese temple procession is a noisy, colourful affair.
Religion permeates Balinese life.
According to Balinese Hinduism – Agama Hindu Dharma – the Gods, natural spirits and ancestral spirits all live on the volcanic mountains while the demons and bad spirits live in the sea. The land between is the humans’ domain, where good and bad spirits battle until eternity. All aspects of daily life try to keep these eternal battles at bay. Every village is built on the line between the mountains and sea, sunrise and sunset and even the main street goes from the mountain-side towards the sea-side. People make offerings on a daily basis to appease the demons, and to honour the Gods and ancestors: in their homes, in front of their shops, on crossroads, on cars, at shrines, and inside the many temples.
There is only one supreme God in Balinese Hinduism: Sanghyang Widi Wasa, but there are countless other Gods and lesser divinities, all of whom are manifestations of the One, and many of whom have special days at the local temples. There are thousands of temples on Bali, each celebrating the various deities, and also having a special “anniversary” celebration once a Balinese year – or once every 210 days.
So, you don’t have to be on Bali long before you come across one of the countless temple processions that are a part of festivals and observances.
When my husband and I arrived at our guesthouse in Ubud in January this year, there was a notice on the chalk board, alerting us to three days of special observances taking place at the Gunung Lebah Temple. We were able to catch a bit of the lively activity on the penultimate evening, and made a point of waiting for the procession out of the temple after the celebration ended the following day.
There was no shortage of colour, noise, and smiling faces.
Temple Gates Temples are everywhere in Bali: this one, across the road from where we were staying was all quiet; the festival was at another temple, a twenty minute walk down the road.
Pura Gunung Lebah The old temple we were looking for sits where the two branches of the Wos River meet to become the Sungai Cerik.
Gunung Lebah Temple This historic temple, named for the “small hill” – or gunung lebah – that it sits on, is normally very quiet.
Stairs to the Temple On festival days, however, …
Carrying Offerings … the temple is busy with people bringing in offerings …
Dad and his Boy-Child … and going home with blessings. Everyone wears their best traditional clothes to temple: all the men and boys have their heads covered with an udeng.
The Girls All the women, old and young, wear their kebaya; a blouse-dress combination that includes a lace or cotton top with a sash, worn over a sarong.
Temple after Dark Festival activities continue well into the night.
Another Temple – Another Gate The next day, as we walk back down the hill to Pura Gunung Lebah, we pass yet another quiet temple – one we hadn’t even noticed the day before. The dvarapala – gate guardians – keep watch.
Transport to Temple As we walk down the hill, locals make their way to temple to pay their respects.
Offerings On the roadside, offerings – made only of organic, biodegradable materials – fill every nook and shrine.
Daddy and Daughter
Daddy and Daughter
Inside a Temple Continuing down the road, we peek into yet another quiet temple.
Home from the Temple Finally! We can hear the noise in the distance, and worshippers start returning home.
Procession Home The procession is a colourful affair, with ornate flags and umbrellas.
Walking Home The official procession comes in waves, interspersed with pedestrians and normal road traffic.
Kids on the Run Shopkeepers have put out tables of bottled water for people marching home in the heat; young boys race each other, making sure they don’t miss out.
Directing Traffic A Balinese man makes sure the road is cleared before his group marches through. He’s wearing the sacred red (for Brahma), black (for Vishnu), and white (for Shiva), and carrying a kris (curved knife) at his belt.
Procession Band The procession is noisy, with pipes …
Band in the Procession … and cymbals and drums.
Watchers
Hanuman on a Jempana Hanuman, the divine monkey – a popular character in Balinese Hinduism – is carried through the streets on a gilded wooden litter.
Barong on a Jempana The Barong, a lion-like creature unique to the mythology of Bali, is the king of the good spirits.
Traffic Once the procession has passed, the backed-up traffic resumes …
Scooters in the Street … and people make their way home.
For our part, we left the jangling noise of the procession behind us, and took to the quiet green of the neighbouring rice paddies.
[…] the food (see: Gado-Gado and Satay) and the religion (see: Chasing Sunset; Pura Ulun Danu Beratan; A Hindu Temple Procession; and Temple Trails); and shared pictures from a traditional dance performance […]ReplyCancel
Uureg Lake and the Altai Mountains Blue skies, bluer waters, and sparse grasses – what could be more Mongolian? Uureg Lake, on a high (2,200 m/7,500 ft) plateau in UvsProvince, Mongolia, is just stunning in the afternoon light.
After five days of bumping across the rough roads of Mongolia’s seemingly endless grassy steppes, it was with a sigh of relief that I watched our Russian UAZ (Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod) four-wheel-drive vehicle climb into the Altai Mountains that run along the north western border of the country.
Mongolian guides G and Segi of Shaman Tours were looking after myself, a small group of photographic enthusiasts, and photographers Jeffrey Chapman and Winslow Lockhart from Within the Frame. We were taking the long roads to the Golden Eagle Festival in Bayan-Ölgii, West Mongolia, but we still had a full day’s driving ahead of us before we would reach our destination.
The little cabins at Suldet Tsakhir Tourist Camp on the shores of beautiful Uureg Lake were the perfect location for our penultimate stop.
High Power We had lunch on the last stretch of flat land before we climbed into the nearby mountains.
UAZs into the Mountains Our Shaman TourUAZs lined up for the last run towards the Altai Mountains.
Up into the Mountains Once we are finally out of the steppes, the hills rise steeply on all sides. (iPhone6)
Snow Patches in the Foothills
Circuiting the Ovoo or Obo At the top of our first pass, we came to an ovoo, or “magnificent bundle”. In keeping with local custom, we circled three times, clockwise, to ensure the continued safety of our trip.
Ovoo on the Mountain Pass This sacred pile of rocks which honours the spirits of the surrounding land is intrinsic to Mongolian folk religion or shamanism (also called Tengerism).
“… In Protection of the Sacred Mountain …”
Offerings at the Ovoo Visitors discard crutches, steering wheel covers, and empty food containers – especially empty vodka bottles – to give thanks for good health, a safe journey, or any other boon.
Offerings at the Ovoo
Yellow Khadag While the ovoo itself is predominantly adorned with khadag (ceremonial scarves) in blue – a symbol of reverence for the sacred “Munkh Khukh Tengri” or “Eternal Blue Sky”, the surrounding rocks are tied in Buddhist yellow, a symbol of knowledge and religion.
Bumpy Roads into the Mountains Never ask if a Mongolian road could be any worse! It can always deteriorate. (iPhone6)
Uvs Lake and Russian Mountains Our tailbones might be bruised by the bone-shaking climb, but we are rewarded with a closer sighting of the Altai Mountains, rising between us and Russia on the other side of Uvs Lake.
Mongolian Grass and the Altai Mountains
The Long and Winding Road Uvs Lake is Mongolia’s largest, and the best known lake in the Great Lakes Depression. As part of an endorheic (closed drainage) basin, the lake is five times saltier than the ocean!
Suldet Tsakhir Tourist Camp Now here is a “resort” I’d come back to! Simple, but located in a blissful setting high on a plateau on the south shore of Uureg Lake, the cabins at Suldet Tsakhir Tourist Camp beckon in the afternoon shadows.
Uureg Lake Foreshore This beautiful saltwater-highlands lake on the Mongolian – Russian border boasts exceptionally clear water.
Skull on the Rocky Foreshore The lake is home to Turkic stone statues, burial mounds, and rock drawings that indicate the area has been inhabited by nomadic tribes for millennia. And, of course, there are the more modern animals.
Photographers on Uureg Lake Foreshore The lowering afternoon sun led to a feeling of quiet, as we all explored the foreshore.
Reflections in Uureg Lake
Afternoon Sun on Uuleg Lake
Quiet on the Foreshore The snow caps over Russia turn pink…
Sunburst on the Grasses … as the sun drops below the surrounding mountains.
Last Layers of Twilight on Uuleg Lake Foreshore
Sunset on the Altai Mountains
Sunset on Uureg Lake The sun is down – it is time for dinner. (iPhone6)
It was a beautiful spot – albeit freezing! The flooring of my cabin was not yet finished, so the wind whistled up through the floorboards all night.
Still, a worsening cold was a small price to pay to be in such a magnificent location.
Travel may not always be smooth (or warm), but it is always enlivening.
- Performing the Ganga Aarti from Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi
- Buddha Head from Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
- Harry Clarke Window from Dingle, Ireland
- Novice Monk Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Myanmar
Packets of 10 for $AU50.
Or - pick any photo from my Flickr or Wanders blog photos.
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It also provides visitors with a nice, safe, bite-size “slice” of colourful every-day PNG life.
More of that some other time.
