photography
kuvat
2017 AFRICA
2017 AFRICA
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On one day the rains fell on the palm alley with such a force that the next day there were ponds of water even in the glider parking.
2017-01-11
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The next day there was time for recuperating from the strains of the flight over.
2017-01-01
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There was fireworks, of course, what else did you expect on a New Year's night?
2017-01-01
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And the sunsets were one more spectacular than the other.
2017-01-11
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As a compensation for the not so good weather, the African skies showed an endless variety of cloud displays, one more fantastic than the other.
2017-01-11
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Not all of the soil near the shores has been stabilized by vegetation.
2017-01-21
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If you'd like to move to Simon's Town, here is a house for sale.
2017-01-22
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Some are less inviting.
2017-01-22
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And the eastern side: less protected, less densely populated and more peaceful. This is a view of Simon's Town, with a vista over the False Bay in the background. Although generally dry, the total lack of anything green in the foreground is a result of a fire having raged the previous winter. Fires are a frequent phenomenon but this time there were no loss of life or significant property in Simon's Town.
2017-01-21
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Did I mention the kelps. Here they are in abundance in the waters of Boulders Beach.
2017-01-21
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The lodge being away from all the joys of big cities it is wise to come up with entertainment of your own, should the weather turn out to be unflyable for the day.
2017-01-02
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The lodge has an extensive private land area attached, wide enough for things like sunset mini safaris.
2017-01-02
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The main attraction of the safaris were the 8 or so giraffes, which could usually be sighted after a short search. I have no decent photo to show of them, so here is another weaver colony at sunset.
2017-01-02
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The combination of the red terrain, the clouds and the colors of the sunset were to be seen to be believed.
2017-01-02
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Kelp there is plenty of, both in the water and on the shores.
2017-01-22
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SS Thomas Tucker at Olifantbos lies, to a great extent, on dry land.
2017-01-22
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One of the closed areas is the yacht club. The private nature of the area is made clear by the electrical fencing around.
2017-01-22
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In Simon's Town itself this is jus about the only seashore area available for the public. Luckily, my hotel was in the middle of it, in the center on this photo.
2017-01-22
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Simon's Town has a line of mostly charming buildings west of the main street, towards the hills. Alas, towards the sea, the land is mostly reserved for official purposes and not reachable for general public.
2017-01-22
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Next to the hotel, on one of the most valuable spots in town there is a parking lot.
2017-01-22
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Some of the private houses have just about the most charming entrances imaginable.
2017-01-22
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More of redness.
2017-01-22
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Just a hint towards the full range of diversity here.
2017-01-22
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More boulders.
2017-01-22
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And the final view of the Olifantbos trail.
2017-01-22
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The Cape area has a reputation of constant blow and frequent storms. That the coast is dangerous for seafarers at times can be seen from the numerous wrecks found on or near the shores.
2017-01-22
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The redness is something typical for the vegetation around. But is it a result of especially dry period or just normal coloration for the species?
2017-01-22
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A view from the shorter trail at Olifantbos. A group of some 20 baboons was the main cause of excitement during this walk. Having passed them without anything threatening it was time to appreciate the scenery. Of the other animals sighted during the walks the ostriches were the most frequent ones, and single observations of a zebra and topi antilope should also be mentioned. Birds of various categories there were plenty of, too, that goes without saying.
2017-01-22
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Oh well, perhaps Proteas are a group of plants even I dare to propose. But why this dry specimen; a result of a fire or a period of drought?
2017-01-22
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The astonishing diversity of the Cape flora was beyond any attempts of mastering, even just a small portion of the species, so I don't even try to name any of the ones I photographed.
2017-01-22
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The rains did not fall all at once and at this stage the pan, or the main operations area of the airfield, was still mostly dry.
2017-01-03
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Rocks and surf are otherwise the main attraction of the coast.
2017-01-23
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One of the Proteas, I'm fairly sure.
2017-01-17
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Closer to the palm alleys and glider parking, the threshold of swimway 23.
2017-01-03
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Cape Point, not to mention the Cape of Good Hope, is not the southernmost point of Africa, but Cape Agulhas is. The lighthouse is the central point of the national park on the location.
2017-01-23
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Colonies like this one can have up to hundreds of nests.
2017-01-13
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In the morning of my visit the weather had changed from the prevailing clear skies to a coastal fog; some mistiness remained until late afternoon.
2017-01-23
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Even if there weren't showers at Bitterwasser necessarily, clouds could appear all around, both day and night.
2017-01-04
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Meet the Benguela on Dias Beach!
2017-01-20
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The color of the rocks, never mind what it is, is just beautiful.
2017-01-20
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From Namibia to South Africa. My impression of central Cape Town was that it wasn't particularly beautiful or well structured. It did have a few architectural delights of various kinds from the old days though.
2017-01-16
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I had my doubts whether to make the three-hour drive to Agulhas and three hours back on the last day of my visit. On afterthought, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. One reason were the ocean waves of which I had my last sight during this trip. The other reason were the gently sloping hills seen on the way. You can see gently sloping hills most anywhere on the planet but I doubt anything of the Big Friendly Giant scale of South Africa exists elsewhere.
2017-01-23
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One of the central points for tourists was the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, a shopping and entertainment center in the harbor.
2017-01-16
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The old warehouses had been turned into elegant shopping malls, in the nineties.
2017-01-16
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Corals and the fishes typical around them were displayed in tanks of various sizes. Only, there could have been even more of them, well kept and interesting in content.
2017-01-16
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Boulders Beach, a general view looking north towards Simon's Town.
2017-01-19
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An octopus, always a welcome sight.
2017-01-16
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One of the less commercial attractions of V&A is the Aquarium. As kelps thrive around the Cape, they are an appropriate choice to be displayed in the main tank.
2017-01-16
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Definetly a butterfly, a monarch of some kind.
2017-01-17
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In Namibia, and Bitterwasser in particular, the conditions for plain country gliding are superb. We were not so lucky with the weather but on two days the conditions were up to the expectations.
2017-01-07
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After a few less pleasant experiences in the city it was a relief to visit the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch.
2017-01-17
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The Cape, the peninsula around and south of Cape Town, has one of the most extraordinary congregations of exotic flora in the world: there are 800 species, of which two thirds are indigenous.
2017-01-17
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Ericas are another group of plants one sees regularly in Cape. One of the problems of Kirstenbosch is that for someone not so well versed in the local flora, like me, it is difficult to be sure whether any single plant is one of the rarities of the area or one of the cliches of any garden in Europe. So in fact, I have no idea what this plant actually is; to me, it only resembles Ericas.
2017-01-17
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This is silver tree, one of the proteas so typical for the area.
2017-01-17
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Next to the hotel there was a market place for local artifacts.
2017-01-18
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The trees, too, are in a hurry to push out leaves from every conceivable point on their trunks and branches.
2017-01-09
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All of the stands of the market had to be assembled and disassembled each day. One of the vendors, for some reason, thought it offending to photograph him. So I have omitted an image of him. This was not the general attitude of people in the city (or the country): wherever the black population had jobs, they seemed well adjusted and mostly very friendly indeed.
2017-01-17
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Long street runs through much of the city center. It has some of the most charming old buildings and is in many ways the center of nightlife. It's a pity that after the experiences of the arrival day I mostly avoided it: the beggars seemed to concentrate on anyone walking alone and the sex professionals almost entered the hotel lobby after me.
2017-01-18
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The Cape Riviera is the western, and protected side of the Cape peninsula, with lots of beaches and invaluable real estate. A photo of the true nature of the Table Mountain: looked at from this direction it is called the Twelve Apostles (although, someone has counted the apostles and come up with a total of 17 of them).
2017-01-18
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One of the pleasant properties of central Cape Town is that the waterfront can be reached on foot from the city center. There were surprisingly many who walked; and a lot of car traffic on the streets and boulevards in between.
2017-01-18
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One of the better maintained spots in the Company's Garden is the green in front of the Art Museum. This is the unavoidable photo of the Table Mountain as well. Table Mountain, in reality, is not a table mountain, more a facade instead.
2017-01-18
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In the Art Museum there was an exhibition of interest, various installations made to a great degree of fibrous materials, and by women. Outside, as a remembrance of the Apartheid period, there was a former police vehicle made harmless. Much of the art work, both inside and out, concentrated on coming to terms with the not so pleasant past of the country.
2017-01-18
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A soul mate in sight: tends to retreat into its shell, moves slowly and away from the open spaces. Small and flat turtles are of the water-living variety, this one lives on land.
2017-01-09
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The usual Namibian bush scene is devoid of any greenness, but after just two days of rain, new leaves will start to appear.
2017-01-09
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Colonial weaver bird nests are a regular sight as well.
2017-01-09
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The closest beaches are within a walking distance of the center of the town. A magnificent cypress tree stands on the edge of Boulders Beach.
2017-01-19
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Down on the ground, at least in the area around Bitterwasser, grass, bushes and small trees dominate. Most of the animal life is inconspicuous and for a newcomer it's hard to tell, which animal has left which signs. Could be termites, could be something else.
2017-01-10
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If there is a drawback to the Namibian gliding, it's the terrain underneath: just bushes and bushes without a place for outlandings.
2017-01-10
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The end of the Cape, or Cape Point, is the main attraction of the peninsula, and not without justification. The surroundings of Pringle Bay in the distance.
2017-01-20
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Walking on the Lighthouse Keeper's Trail you get a view of the end of the land's end, towards south.
2017-01-20
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A closer view of Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point. The stripes of foam mark the end of the cold western current (Benguela) coming from the west coast of South Africa. East of it (off Cape Point, and eastwards) is an area not dominated by any current, while further northeast the coast is washed by the warm northeastern current of Agulhas (flowing southwest).
2017-01-20
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On the same trail, a look back towards Good Hope Lighthouse, with Cape of Good Hope visible on the left (yes, the insignificant piece of land, left center).
2017-01-20
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My observation was that there is very little variation in water level caused by the tides. The waves also seemed steady and reliable, at least looked at from the rocks above.
2017-01-20
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These are not the boulders the place gets its name from but they are just one type of rock typical of the region.
2017-01-19
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Full-size termite hills are not so inconspicuous; and fairly easy to identify.
2017-01-10
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Arrived at Bitterwasser Lodge, Namibia, on New Year's Eve, into sunshine and evening heat. A view towards the pan (the main operations area) and the palm alleys from the main building.
2016-12-31
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Inside the main building preparations for the New Year almost done, outside a newly arrived cameraman posing for the only selfie of this trip (I apologize).
2016-12-31
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On another day, after a midday safari returning to the lodge, the clouds grew height all around. On this side of the clouds the pan, with the palm alley just visible on left center.
2017-01-13
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In the restaurant, after the dinner, it was time for the traditional Miss Sofie. Outside, by the "control tower", the excitement of the approaching midnight was being felt.
2016-12-31
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Relaxing and waiting for what was yet to come. Still weary after a night air travel?
2016-12-31
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