Favorite Things - Photography #2

Today I practiced using manual mode and my flash, learning some interesting things about shadows and reflections and backgrounds as I did.

My photos are of some of my favorite things from our recent travels.

First is my 'Matryoshka Doll' or Russian stacking doll.  George bought this for me on our Black Sea Cruise.  The reason he bought it was that I was seasick in our cabin and it was the last night that the Russian things would be for sale.  I sent him to the shops, which are not his favorite area on a cruise ship, to buy one for me.  I think he did a great job.  She's a beauty!

Then there is my "Vodka Holder" which isn't a real necessity in the Lewis household!  I just thought she was beautiful with such intricate details!  The funny thing is that just after we got home, my visiting teacher brought me a gift of homemade vanilla extract.  Do you know how you make vanilla extract?  You soak vanilla beans in vodka!  I had the perfect place to keep the little bottle until it ripened into delicious vanilla extract!

 

And from a different part of the world - a carved fisherman, boat, and fish trap from Inle Lake in Burma.  A little boy followed our group around for an hour or more trying to sell this little memento.  We all kept trying to get him to go away with many polite "No thank yous." Finally, just as we were getting on the boat to leave, I took pity on his sad little face and bought it for a whole $1.  Now it is one of my favorite keepsakes from that trip!

 

While in Zanzibar I looked at this Masai mask for days in the hotel shop knowing I wanted it but not being sure whether I wanted it badly enough to spend the money.  Finally as we were leaving I decided that I did want it, only to discover that the store was closed.   Luckily I mentioned this to the receptionist as we were checking out and, guess what, they opened the store just for me.  Now I love the memories it brings back!

 

Last, again from Africa, my Zulu basket.  Supposedly these baskets are so sturdy that they can hold liquid. George and I do know that it is sturdy enough to survive the trip from South Africa to the USA in our checked baggage.   We stuffed it with our dirty clothes and put it in our largest bag.  A perfect fit!   Such fun memories of traveling the world!

 

A few favorites from the Africa trip.....

Lets see....mans or gents??????

After more than 3 hours I finally have my Visa to enter Mozambique!  Some people waited 5 1/2 hours!!!

Would this discourage you from going for a little stroll after your picnic?

Hungry for some Kudu or springbok? Here is the place!!!

Early morning lily pond

Does anything say 'Africa' like the Acacia trees?

Maybe not a laughing hyena but at least a grinning hyena!!!

Victoria Falls! Looks photoshopped huh?

Birds more talented than I

When we were first married and I had the goal to be the 'perfect homemaker' I signed up for a knitting class.  I remember that it was a series that met once a week for several weeks.  After the disaster of the first week, I never went back.   It seems that I am 'knitting challenged', in fact I am 'knot challenged' as evidenced by my experience teaching knot tying to cub scouts!  I didn't even think about knitting again (except maybe in my nightmares) until just a few years ago when I decided that I wanted to be able to knit a baby blanket for each of our future grandchildren.  One of my treasures is a baby blanket knit by George's mother for Mary.  She had severe rheumatoid arthritis so I know that knitting that blanket was a real labor of love.  On the card she wrote, "there is love in every stitch".  So with some misgivings I set about learning to knit again.  This time I had a wonderful, patient teacher who just kept working with me until finally I could do it.  I'm no expet but when the time comes, I will be able to knit a blanket with 'love in every stitch'.  You may wonder what this could possibly have to do with birds....well when I watched this video about weaver birds I was reminded of my own experience knitting......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6svAIgEnFvw

I definitely knitted like the young novice bird!  My attempts were eerily similar to this......

Not tightly woven like this.....

Interestingly the variety in the nests!  Some are clearly done by experienced older birds who have been weaving for years, while other are obviously a first attempt.  I hope those young male with the odd shaped creations kept at it until they finally built a nest perfect for a first home!

It is an old adage but a wise one, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  Good advice for birds and people!

Waiting

One of our excursions was to the Chobe National Park in Botswana.  As we zipped along in our bus we passed trucks and more trucks and more trucks, all parked on the side on the road.  We counted on the way back and there were 148 and we knew that there had been more in the morning.  The line just went for miles and miles.

                                          

Our guide told us that these truckers were waiting for the ferry across the Zambezi River.  The wait can be one to two weeks...yes that is right 7 - 14 days sitting by the side of the road waiting for their turn to finally go down the ramp....

And get on the ferry!  One large truck or two smaller trucks at a time, they finally get the chance to continue their journey. 

The ferry is open from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening.  Why they don't stay open round the clock or at least until it is totally dark, I don't understand.  The truckers sleep in their cabs, cook by the side of the road, and use the 'facilities' in the bush.  We saw the local butcher making deliveries on his bike with a dead goat and a couple of dead chickens strapped across his basket.  Definitely fresh meat! Because of my time in Kenya I immediately wondered what impact this situation has on the young girls of the area.  It can't be good and I don't even want to think about the potential for the spread of AIDS. Truckers with a lot of free time and a little money in their pockets spell big trouble for teenage girls.

Why don't they build a bridge you might wonder.  Same question we asked and the answer was, the governments of Zambia and Botswana have promised a bridge for years.  Why don't the trucks go another way is the next question.  Other routes take them hundreds of miles out of their way and the cost of gasoline is just too high to add that expense.

I can not imagine truckers in America putting up with this.  There would be a riot or a strike or some type of protest.  My friend who has had vast experience in Kenya says that Africans have an amazing ability to just accept what IS.  So much of their lives are difficult that I think they just expect hardships and learn to make the best of things.  And our driver assured us that "This will be the year they build the bridge."  Eternal optimism!

And how did the American tourists get across, you might wonder.  In speed boats!  We had 4 wheel drive vehicles waiting for us on the other side of the river!!!  No long waits for us impatient Americans!

Birds

My interest and love of birds is in my genes.  When my great-grandmother, Lelia Grace Witherspoon Webster, died the local paper in addition to her obituary, published the following article:

 "After Mrs. Webster, who for years had fed the birds in the winter and who begged her daughters to fed them, was confined to her bed, a cardinal flew to a limb near her window and sang the entire time.  All were touched by the stirring song.  This incident caused her friend E B Robinson to write the following poem: (I've included only a part of the rather long poem)

Feed them daughter for they can not find
beneath the winter's snow the food they need.
Now I am so old I can not find my way
to reach the place they used to feed.
I hear them chirping on my window sill
So gentle they would eat out of my hand
And when I'm gone they'll warm the winter's chill
And cheer your hearts with songs of edenland."

My mother also loved to feed and watch the birds.  Interestingly when we left the church after Momma's funeral a cardinal was singing!

One of my delights in Africa was seeing some really amazing birds.  I'm sure my mother and Great Grandma Webster were equally thrilled!

Black Oyster Catcher

 Red billed Ox pecker -  I think he should be called a 'black winged ear-picker'!

 African Jacana

 African Openbill

 Yellow Billed Horn Bill - our as our guide called them 'flying bananas' Notice the thorns on that tree!!!

Lilac Breasted Roller

 Common sandpiper

 White backed Vultures

 African Fish Eagle

 Pied Kingfisher         White fronted Bea-eater

Scarlett-chested Sunbird

Rhinos

Of all the animals we saw in Africa the Rhinoceros was one of my favorites. There is just something so almost prehistoric about them.  Our guides said that at the current rate of poaching they might well be extinct in the wild in about 10 years.  The rangers have been given orders to shoot poachers on sight. An average sized rhino horn is worth close to a quarter of a million dollars in Vietnam.  The poachers are paid something like $10,000 and if caught they can spend 20 - 25 years in prison. $10,000 is probably more than a year's salary for most people in Africa.  I am sure that because of the extreme poverty there will always be men willing to take the risk. Unfortunately these middle men are the ones punished and the actual salesmen who make the big money go free.  It seems to me that the only way to stop rhino poaching is a media campaign in the far east to teach people that rhino horn is not an aphrodisiac; in reality rhino horn is very similar to a horse's hoof.  Our guides told us the horns were made of compressed hair, but I've just read on the internet that actually they are keratin, like hair, fingernails and hooves. 

 

We spent a long time watching these two mothers and their babies interact.  The mother on the left didn't seem to be too friendly. Male rhinos are solitary creatures while females are usually more social.  Mothers keep their babies with them for as long as 3 years, although they are likely to throw the male babies out earlier! 

On one side of the road was a water hole and on the other a beautiful meadow so the rhinos crossed the road very close to the jeeps.  It was just thrilling being this close to these giants!

Even weighing up to 2 tons they are very agile and can run at speeds of 30 miles per hour and can turn quickly in small spaces.  No one was tempted to get out of the jeep for a really great photo up close and personal with a rhinoceros!

Notice the birds on his back.  They are called 'Oxpeckers' and they have a symbiotic relationship with the rhinoceros. Their swahili name is 'askari wa kifaru', meaning 'the rhino's guard'.  The birds eat ticks they find on the rhino's skin and noisily warn of danger.  Of course the only real predator for a full grown rhino is man.

Another interesting fact about rhinos is that the males make a 'midden' or toilet.  They defecate and then stomp around in it and walk around the area that they consider to be their territory, thus marking the area as theirs.  When another male or a female not in heat come through the area they defecate on the edges to indicate that they are just passing through.  When a female in heat comes by, she leaves her 'calling card' so to speak, right in the middle.  It is an invitation, "Hey big boy, I'm here, come and find me!"

Sorry that may have been too much info and too icky a photo but I think it is quite interesting.  Maybe I've spent too much time with dogs!

Zebras

After our trip to Africa we decided that the British and South African way of saying zebra sounded much better.  It isn't a zeebra with a long e but a zebra with a short e.  Sounds much nicer!

We stayed in one lodge in a game park run by a very nice husband and wife.  Their two darling little boys acted as bell men and helped us with our luggage.  As we arrived at our cabin the little boy said, "We have a surprise for you.  Do you want to know what it is?" When I told him that I did, he shared the secret with me.  They have a pet zebra!  Well it isn't actually a pet.  For some reason the little guy was kicked out of his herd.  The human mom became his surrogate mom and bottle fed him.  They hope someday he'll go back to his herd.  He isn't kept in a pen but has free range of the whole area.  I was amazed that I got to not only see zebras but pet them!  They are super soft!

Then at our last hotel in Zambia there were zebras grazing on the lawn!  I have never stayed in a hotel with zebra just outside the room before.  Definitely not in Oregon anymore!

Speaking of elephants....

Here are a few of my favorite elephant photos from the trip

 I had no idea that elephants had eye lashes like this....

 Or that they enjoyed snorkeling!

 This little baby must be about the same age as our Oregon Zoo's little Lilly!  The guides said that for the first year they are small enough to walk under their mammas.  What a different life this little one will have from our Lilly!  Interesting idea from The Life of Pi concerning animals in zoos.  People often think that animals in captivity are unhappy.  Pi's question is, "Would you prefer living safely in the Ritz with unlimited room service, entertainment provided for you, and excellent medical care?  Or would you prefer to be homeless on the street fending for yourself?"  In good zoos the animals are definitely living at the Ritz.

You can see how close they got to the jeeps!  According to our guide this big bull is out looking for a female.  His musky scent might be appealing to female elephants but it was overpowering to me!

A Walk on the Wild Side

After we had signed up to participate in the "Lion Encounter", George made the mistake of reading the State Department advisory on this particular activity.  My personal opinion is never, ever read the advisories because then you'll never want to travel anywhere.  According to the State Department a woman was mauled by a lion at an encounter near Victoria Falls....hmm.  Do I look nervous?

These lions were trained to be submissive to humans.  Right now they are about 18 months old.  Soon they will figure out that the humans carry a very small stick and really are not that dominate....and then they will be released into a very large but protected area where they will hopefully produce cubs.  These cubs will not come in contact with humans and it is hoped they will be able to be released into the wild.  The lion population in Africa is declining.  The lions from the "Lion Encounter" will help stop the decline.

I loved watching them play.  In every way, except for their size, they are like kittens rolling around, licking and touching each other.

After a bit of instruction we were allowed to pet them.  We were told to talk to them as we approached so as not to startle them.  Never approach from the front as that is considered aggressive and above all don't be nervous. "Hello Miss Lion.  I'm about to touch you and I AM NOT NERVOUS"

See those small sticks we were carrying.  If a lion started looking at us in a 'naughty manner' we were supposed to point the stick at him and in a firm voice say, "No, stop that."  What exactly is a 'naughty manner' you might wonder, well so did we.  This lion is ok. He's not naughty.

This one is sizing me up for her dinner.  Normally a lion looks like he is about half asleep but when their eyes are wide open and staring, you could be in trouble.  I think this pretty girl was just enjoying having her picture taken.

I love this photo.  Camera and I pads, one lion and one small stick to keep  him under control for the paparrezzi! 

Quite a fun 'walk on the wild side'!