Three views from the corner.

Trio one

Trio two

Trio three
The walk.

Mogli blends

Shenandoah
Light

Tree fire
Science! Psuedo-science! Nature! Art! Nonsense!
January 2, 2020
dogs, farm, hiking, mountain, Photography blue ridge, dogs, gem, hiking, nature, photography, river, shenandoah, shenandoah river Leave a comment
Three views from the corner.
Trio one
Trio two
Trio three
The walk.
Mogli blends
Shenandoah
Light
Tree fire
September 16, 2019
hiking, Photography australia, blue mountains, gem, hiking, katoomba, nature, photography, stairs, video, wentworth falls 2 Comments
As it turns out, getting from Katoomba to Wentworth Falls in a taxi (all of 4 miles) costs more than a roundtrip train ride to Sydney. Brian and I had quite the adventure because when we arrived at the train station there were no luggage lockers. Ultimately a very nice hairdresser near the station said she would watch our bags while we did a quick morning hike.
So it was off on a 1 hour and 50 minute walk of around 3.5 miles with a 1000 foot elevation delta. Yes, we did some stairs, but not all of them this time. Once again, the weather was perfect.
We made the Sydney train with only 1 minute to wait before departure. Excellent “plan.”
Wentworth falls trail is cut directly into the cliff
Wentworth falls in the early morning
Upper pool
September 15, 2019
hiking, mountain, travel australia, blue mountains, dardanelles pass, federal pass, furber steps, gem, giant stairway, hiking, katoomba, lilianfels, photography, three sisters, travel, video 2 Comments
In about three hours, Brian and I hiked 6.3 miles covering an elevation delta of 1600 feet. We started at Lilianfells,took the Prince Henry trail over to the Furber Steps, went down the steps (with some great views of Katoomba Falls), hiked Federal pass to Honeymoon Lookout, doubled back through the Dardanelles Pass and then climbed up the 900 steps of the Giant Stairway to the Three Sisters. Finishing with the climb up the steps was interesting.
Katoomba
Katoomba falls
Brian takes a picture
Picture in picture
Katoomba
Overlook Mt Solitary
Katoomba Falls
Spring Fiddleheads (Australia September)
Rain forest Katoomba
Turning point
View from Dardenelles
Heading up the Gianty Stairway
Only 1/2 way up. Exhausting climb.
Three sisters. Alone.
All in all, an incredible hike on a gorgeous day. Better ending up than down.
April 10, 2019
farm, flowers, hiking, Photography, river bluebells, nature, photography, river, shenadoah river, shenandoah, Spring Leave a comment
The bluebells are peaking in mid-April this year (a bit early), so we are outta here, headed to Norway for more winter. Because we, um, actually we think we’re nuts.
Here are some pictures from the daily walk.
March 18, 2019
hiking, nature, trees amy, armstrong redwoods, armstrong redwoods state natural reserve, california, california coast, gem, giant redwoods, guerneville, hiking, nature, photography, redwood, trees, video 1 Comment
Whatever you do, make sure you visit the amphitheater (though this time of year it might have better been called the “amphibian-theater”). Also visit a winery and catch a buzz before you park the car.
The posse
Amy dwarfed by a giant redwood
The band at the crest
Crown
More crown
March 18, 2019
hiking, nature, ocean, Photography, trees california, california coast, David Joseph State Park, hiking, nature, pacific ocean, photography, Russian River, shell beach, sonoma, travel, video 1 Comment
On a beautiful Spring day (one of the first for months) we went to the edge of the continent with Uncle Jim and Chloe. Just south of the Russian river is Shell Beach and across Highway 1 from that is a nice set of trails traversing the coastal hills.
All told, we may have hiked 3.5 or 4 miles.
From the Pacific
Vernal mud on the trail
Spring mushrooms were everywhere (irises too)
To the fern forest
Then it was back down to the ocean.
December 1, 2018
flowers, hiking, mountain, nature, Photography, plants amy, australia, blue mountains, day trip, gem, hiking, katoomba, nature, photography, sydney, train, video 2 Comments
A two hour train ride outside of Sydney, you can find the tourist hamlet of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Tourists have been coming here since the turn of the century (1900). Katoomba itself reminds me of West Virginia in its old coal town turned bust turned tourist vibe. You can now find hipsters and artists in residence.
We took the train out in the morning and spent several hours walking from the train station to a trailhead, down the cliff face, and back up again.
Highlights on the mountain visit include the three sisters, the giant stairway (976 steps!), waterfalls, and the steepest railroad in Australia.
The two hour train ride is a little long. The tourist center by the train station is well worth a visit. That is where we finalized our plan.
We walked from the station to Echo point (2.3 km).
This is where we first caught sight of the famed three sisters. Which we saw many times throughout the day.
Here’s what happened in between. After honeycomb cave, we entered the giant stairway. Lots of stairs down (976 in fact). Amy did not do them all.
Eventually, we entered the rain forrest at the bottom of the cliff.
After the falls, we were back in what passes as civilization. Scenic world was first contemplated by coal miners. Just take the train thingy up.
And, why not? Try the cable car too.
We walked back from scenic world (another 2.5km). All told we may have hiked around 5 miles. We deserved a beer.
The 2 hour train ride back to Sydney was slightly too long.
October 9, 2018
animals, film, fire, hiking, Photography, travel africa, african environments, amy, arusha, denis mollel, environment, gem, glamping, hadza, maasai, nature, photography, safari, serengeti, tanzania, tents, travel, video Leave a comment
This posting is cross-posted on noplasticshowers.com
During our 15 day trip to Tanzania in September, we saw some remarkable things about as up close and personal as you could get. We hiked over 70km in four national parks. And we stayed in tents. But don’t let that last bit fool you, we were “glamping.”
So what, exactly is “glamping” anyway? That’s the subject of this posting. There are 92 pieces of media in this posting.
On the way to our first tent, we did a game drive for a few hours and saw many things. Including an albino baboon. But that’s another posting.
Without further ado, our first tent in Arusha national park.
These tents have multiple rooms, double beds, and non-plastic showers.
Of course, readers of noplasticshowers are going to want to know about the bathroom area. There was a chemical toilet. And some sinks that drained directly outside.
The shower also had no running water. It was somebody’s job to put 3.5 liters (not quite enough, that is) into the dispenser just before a “glamping shower.”
Then there was the food situation. Just great. Really. No camping food here. Fresh fruits and veggies. Great chefs. Delicious.
Of course, some lunch spots were better than others. Like, say, this one. No bees and only one land shark sighting.
The fig tree in Arusha is famous. This is a staged video.
Lots of stuff happened between camps. By the time we got to Ngorongoro crater we had seen elephants fighting, black hippos, and more. See this posting for all that nature stuff.
The roads in Tanzania vary widely. This one, recently completed by a Japanese engineering firm was all shiny and new. We stopped for gas. That’s because in Africa, the cars take gas, just like ours.
We’re here for the tents, though, and so tents it is. These tents are manufactured in Arusha. They are sturdy and must weigh several hundred pounds. Fortunately, whenever we arrived, they were already set up. Oh, and the best part about the tents? The views.
There was a lunch, this time close to some bees.
The Ngorongoro base camp was another two night thing.
More lunch is in order.
After Ngorongoro, it was off to the Serengeti for a completely different thing.
Yeah, there was lunch.
The roads in the Serengeti get some serious use. And so they also get repaired.
We arrived at sunset and were delayed when we came across a pair of mating lions less than a kilometer from camp. For more about the lions, see this posting.
The common areas in the Serengeti base camp were all hipster and very cool.
Make sure that you make up some Pele Pele for every meal. It is best if it stews in the sun for a week in some vinegar.
Base camp was great, but our plan was to do some hiking. Actually, it turned out to be mostly a walk in the park.
The scariest thing we came across on foot was this.
Camp was set up each night. Two different camps within walking distance.
Even in the field, there was wine.
Sunset was spectacular everywhere we were. This view from a Kopfe was typical in its atypical beauty.
Though the walking camps were less cushy than the base camps, they were still pretty cushy. Like, they were all set up, there was no carrying in stuff in a backpack, there were field showers with warm water, and so on. Yeah. We’ve backpacked 65 miles in Montana. This was definitely not the same thing.
Oh, and even when walking the Serengeti…there was lunch. This time buffalo.
The guys tried to surprise us with lunch, but we had binoculars and a sense of what was up.
Then it was back to base camp for a night.
And holy cow. On our way to the Hadza bushmen, there was this cheetah. In a tree. Remarkable. Cheetahs do not climb trees.
On occasion, one must stop for onions.
Our last camp in Tarangire was at a tent lodge. The lodge had power, running water, a bar, and a pool. There was net too. Talk about glamping!
Of course we were still, technically, in a tent.
Which had a view.
Though the showers were not all that, they did have LOTS of hot water that did not stop after 2 minutes. Woo hoo!
Anyway, that is pretty much what glamping in Africa is like. African Environments makes everything incredibly easy and fun. If you’re a real camper (like we are), it will seem unbelievably luxurious.
October 5, 2018
animals, film, hiking, nature, Photography africa, albino baboon, arusha, black rhinos mate, bushmen, bushmen eat a monkey, cheetah, cheetah climbs a tree, denis mollel, elephant, elephants fight, hunting, lion, manyara, massai dance, mating lions, ngorongoro, photography, safari, serengeti, tanzania, tarangire, vervet monkey, video 9 Comments
We’ve been talking about making a trip to Africa for twenty years, and we finally did it. We visited Tanzania for a private safari with the African Environments company from August 31st to September 14th. Our very high expectations were exceeded on every front. If you are thinking about going to Africa, do what we did!
On the first day off the plane, we were blown away by the wildlife that we saw during a first short game drive on the way to camp. Seriously. During our trip, we took thousands of pictures and saw every animal you might imagine seeing, up close and personal.
So how do you even begin to share an experience like that without boring someone to death? Chop the trip up into bite size chunks? Divide by animal groupings? Cross cut through the trip?? OK, we can do that.
This is posting one. In this posting, we’ll focus on seven remarkable things.
Yeah, everything was remarkable. But we set the bar way high for this posting. If we had an experience that even the guides who do this every day found special, then it made its way onto this list of remarkable things. Honestly. Remarkable.
In a nutshell here’s what we’ll cover. In addition to seeing four world class Tanzanian national parks with all of the associated animals and scenery, we got to see these remarkable things:
Even one of these things would have been a highlight. Together, they simply blew our socks off.
We’ll post another couple of contextual pictures and videos with each remarkable thing so you get a feel for the places we were. All in all, there are 68 pieces of media in this posting.
Off we go.
1. Albino baboons
Our first camp was in Arusha national park. On our drive in from the airport on the first day, we saw lots of animals, including two albino baboons.
Arusha is a rain forest up high and shrouded in fog in places, verdant and wet with strangler figs and other interesting flora.
Incidentally, this lunch setup is indicative of the kind of hospitality that the African Environments people provide by default.
We hiked 15km in Arusha, sometimes bushwhacking through the forest.
2. Elephants fighting
The second national park we visited was Lake Manyara. This park as a much different feel than Arusha and is definitely more crowded. We visited for lunch and an afternoon game drive. We saw our first elephants here.
We even saw an elephant fight.
We can’t say for sure, but it looks like one of these elephants broke a tusk. All of this happened within 40 feet of our vehicle.
3. Black rhinos mating in Ngorongoro
When we arrived in Ngorongoro, we were running late. But a stop by the overlook at the top of the entrance road was in order. Remarkably we spotted a rare black rhino from the overlook. That was only a taste of things to come.
We were greeted at our camp by the Massai.
The next day, we spotted a group of three black rhinos. Two of them were mating. One of our guides later told us that he had only seen something like this once in twenty years.
We also saw some lions in Ngorongoro. They did not seem to mind the humans (as long as the humans were in trucks). One of them was so close that we could reach out the window and touch it. Doing so was not advised.
3. A pair of mating lions
On our way in to the Serengeti base camp we were running behind (because pole pole!). About 1km outside of camp was a pair of lions who were off from the pride mating. This ritual can last up to 21 days. We saw this same pair 3 more times on the way in and out of camp. The most memorable time was the first.
The sun set while we watched the lions 50 feet from our car.
Of course the Serengeti was full of animals.
We set out from base camp for three days of walking in the bush. Amy and I were accompanied by our guide James and a hilarious ranger named Safe. Both Safe and James were armed. All together, we walked 36km in the Serengeti.
4. A cheetah climb a tree
Even driving around between parks is a treat. On our way to see the bushmen, we drove through one of the most remarkable areas and were lucky enough to spot a cheetah climbing a tree. Our intrepid guide Denis, who is known for palling around with cheetahs, said this is remarkable. Cheetahs do not climb trees.
BTW, this is Denis Mollel, the best guide in Africa.
On the way to that impossible sight, we watched this huge male lion on his way to water.
5. Bushmen eat a monkey
One of our most memorable and treasured experiences in Africa involved visiting the Bushmen. We spent time hanging out with the men from the (temporary) village in our camp, around the fire and under a huge baobab tree. We also went hunting. All told we walked/ran/chased 20km with the bushmen.
Our hunt was a big success from the Bushman perspective. We came home with a mongoose, 4 small monkeys, and the remaining haunch of a big male vervet monkey. The bushmen live the same way they did 10,000 years ago, venerating the sun, and waking up every day to see what they can find to eat.
We came home with the arrowhead from the hunt.
Once the vervet was cornered high up in a coconut palm, getting him down was a thing. The hunt paused for an hour while the monkey was finally targeted. Julian, the chief, shot him directly through the heart about 60 feet up. The bushmen were psyched and decided to eat the monkey directly on the spot.
Everyone always asks us if we ate the monkey. Of course we didn’t! Bush meat is riddled with parasites and things that we Americans (even if we’re from Tennessee) can’t eat. They did offer us the liver, though, just for the record.
Later that evening after returning to camp, we went to the lake to see the sun go down. Sharing our pictures with the Bushmen was really fun.
The next morning, before we departed, the bushmen danced and sang for us.
7. Lions hunting in Tarangire
Our final national park was Tarangire. This park was arid (we visited during the dry season), though there were waterholes and a river. As always, we saw lots and lots of animals: wildebeast, giraffe, zebra, elephants, lions, jackals, dik dik, water buffalo, cheetah, and more. We stayed at a tent resort with a lodge and running water.
Our guide Denis once again showed his remarkable understanding of the creatures we were observing. We found this female lion and her three cubs.
Lots of other trucks gathered around us. Another female (with a radio collar) walked right by us. Denis said, “Now we will be patient and have some coffee. Pole pole.” He knew the lions were going to hunt. We watched and waited for 45 minutes. All of the others left, off to see zebras or something.
Then it was time to zoom off to another location to catch the hunt itself just around the bend of the river. “Let’s go there,” said Denis. And we were off.
Instead of taking pictures or video of the resulting hunt, I watched it happen in real time. Amy has some fantastic video that she will share later (I know, this is like an Uncle Wiggly story).
After we got to our observation post, we watched the lions emerge from the bush and slink down the riverbed. A large herd of wildebeest and zebras was completely unaware of their approach. Finally, the lead lion took off running and spooked the herd just as she arrived in their midsts. Dust! Chaos! Confusion! Sadly for the lion, nobody was taken down and the hunt ended as 80% do, with no prey.
Incredible to watch.
Later that evening we returned to find the same lions. They climbed a tree beside us and together we watched the sun go down.
Those were the seven most remarkable things we saw on our trip to Africa. Of course we saw many other sights. An awesome experience to be sure. Our planet is an incredible place.
April 29, 2018
hiking, nature, Photography amy, andes, argentina, cerro de los siete colores (seven-color hill), gem, hike, jujuy, nature, purmamarca 1 Comment
A cycle around town in Purmamarca, Argentina provides really good views of Cerro de los Siete Colores (Seven-Color Hill) in an 8 kilometer very easy walk that starts in town. The Andes are incredibly interesting from a geological perspective. Seven different layers come from a remarkable range of dates stretching over 400 million years. Each color of rock is a different age.
If you are too lazy to walk the loop, there is a small hill in town that provides a good view.
Purmamarca itself is a small town situated around a market square. Crafts from all over Central and South America are available.