Capturing the Moment

 The Pull of Africa Back for the animal encounters    After three '100 day' self driving safaris across 10 countries in Africa over the past 10 years I still havn't seen enough of this beautiful continent. I have taught baseball in Kenya, slept under a baobab tree in Tanzania, hiked with the gorillas in Uganda, and fell through a tree in Zambia. I've surfed at Jeffrey's Bay , scuba dove off Zanzibar Island , listened to lions roar outside my tent at night, and watched the sunrise from the summit of Kilimanjaro . Yet I still havn't seen enough of this continent.   So I'm back. This time I have nearly six weeks to spend which means big decisions to be made. I was lucky enough that my girlfriend Heidi also managed to get this time off which makes the decision a little easier because now it must include diving for nudibranchs! Always looking for a good camping spot    To narrow things down we first decided to focus on Southern Africa instead of ...

Lilac Breasted Roller at rest Yellow-billed Hornbill Glossy Starling   Africa is a birders paradise. After spending one night in Kruger National Park near Joburg, South Africa I have already lost count as to how many different bird species we have seen. Here are some of the ones I was lucky enough to snap good pictures of, but there were many many more around. I think if you just stop for awhile and watch one big tree you will end up seeing dozens of bird species...maybe more. You will see every color of the rainbow in beautiful patterns. Then a bird like the lilac breasted roller takes flight and you see more colors than you thought could exist on a single bird. Birds of prey abound from hawks, to eagles, to owls, and even the pigeons can be brilliant green. Roller in mid flight It is a virtual birds-of-prey bonanza here in South Africa Vultures hovering above a lion kill Ponds are a great place to look for birds African Spoonbill

  A bonus of flying with Emirates Airline from Seattle to Dubai on a 14 hour leg to our final destination of South Africa is a rare chance to look out of the window down upon the frozen landscape surrounding the North Pole. On such a long flight the shortest distance is to fly up and over the globe instead of around. I was lucky enough to think about this just in time to check out of one of the windows to see the frozen coastline rapidly approaching. Snow capped mountains provided relief with massive glaciers in between. I could even spot giant ice bergs drifting through the water around the land. It was an otherworldly landscape that few will ever see. Even with all the people on our flight I don't think anyone saw except the pilots. Its a shame that there is no announcement for a sight so rare.   I tried to take a picture of the map on the seatback screen although the glare from outside made it quite difficult. If you look closely you can see our path leaving Seattle and...

 Relaxing on vacation after a solid summer season working as Expedition Leader with UnCruise gave me time to reflect a little bit on the amazing summer in Alaska's Inside Passage. I thought what better way to reflect back than to flip through my pictures and remember all the amazing sights and adventures that happened.