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9/24/2012 Stadium Woods
VT is home to an unassuming 12 acre plot of woods behind its stadium. Turns out this plot contains some trees that are older than this country. On the east coast, finding a forest that isn't new is pretty difficult, because nearly every forest was harvested. The little forest is home to many birds, including cooper's hawks, and a rare piece of wildlife in the middle of a town: squirrels that are afraid of people. I'm happy to live in a community where a majority of people feel that those old trees and their wildlife are more important than a practice football field. I took a walk through these old woods.

8/18/2012 Boundary Waters
Went with Pete and 4 others to the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota. We canoed and camped on several of the lakes and took in the majestic beauty of the north woods. I was surprised to not see any large animals, but there were butterflies, dragonflies, caterpillars (as expected from so many butterflies), chipmunks, and loons in abundance. I was amazed at the number of colorful fungi too! We also saw a number of bald eagles, including a youngster near our last campsite who, we guessed from his constant complaining and proximity to a nest, was on his own for the first time and really wanted someone to bring him lunch!

7/24/2012 My Two Favorite Boys
Little Jack, three weeks old in the album below. Sleeping is pretty much his thing at this stage. Liam, four and a half (don't forget the half!). As you can see Liam loves Star Wars and has a flare for the dramatic.

7/19/2012 Tour of Hahn Horticultural Garden
I took a long, slow, mostly macro photographic journey through the beautiful Horticultural Garden here at Virginia Tech. You'll get a close up look at not only the flowers and leaves, but also some insects, spiders, ducklings and fish that live in the garden. May I suggest going into the gallery and choosing the slideshow option? It will give you the full screen view that I think the photos are worthy of (if I do say so myself). Enjoy!

6/26/ 2012 MACRO
I went on little walk down a nice trail in town to see what I could see. What I discovered is that the slower you walk, the more you see.

Slideshow

Galleries

Stadium Woods :

Stadium Woods

Updated: Sep 24, 2012 5:56am EST

Boundary Waters :

Boundary Waters

Updated: Aug 17, 2012 9:46pm EST

Nephews :

Nephews

Updated: Jul 24, 2012 8:38pm EST

Tour of Hahn Horticultural Garden at VT :

Tour of Hahn Horticultural Garden at VT

Updated: Jul 19, 2012 1:05pm EST

Macro :

Macro

Updated: Jun 25, 2012 7:32pm EST

Red :

Red

Updated: Jun 10, 2012 2:39pm EST

Trees in Bloom : 5/11/2012 IN BLOOM Most of the trees have long finished blooming, but here's a little reminder of what they looked like.

Trees in Bloom

5/11/2012 IN BLOOM Most of the trees have long finished blooming, but ...

Updated: May 11, 2012 10:09am EST

Virginia Birds : 4/7/2012 VIRGINIA BIRDS I've added a gallery of the birds I've photographed in the past month or two.

Virginia Birds

4/7/2012 VIRGINIA BIRDS I've added a gallery of the birds I've photogr ...

Updated: Apr 07, 2012 12:39pm EST

Tulip : 4/1/2012 HELLO AGAIN Its been some time since I've posted anything. I'm back in the US, and the end of winter in Virginia was photographically uninspiring for me (I guess that means I wasn't looking hard enough). However, spring has blossomed and beauty is abundant. So for the first gallery from Virginia, I'll give you a close up look at the tulips in my yard. Still editing some photos of flowers and birds, so there's more to come!

Tulip

4/1/2012 HELLO AGAIN Its been some time since I've posted anything. I' ...

Updated: Apr 01, 2012 2:04pm EST

Sossusvlei : 1/21/2012 FINAL LEG OF NAMBIA: SOSSUSVLEI TO BOTSWANA As we pulled in to A Little Sossus Campsite, we were greeted by widely spaced structures that looked like red barns with one wall missing. These were designed so that you could put your car and/or tent under cover and out of the wind. Attached was a bathroom and kitchen area. We checked in, set up camp, and listened to the resident cat, a cross between a Siamese and African wild cat, give us the tour of our campiste. Then we slid into the swimming pool. We were in a grassy valley with mountains around. We relaxed the rest of the day and went to bed early so we could make it into the National Park early the next morning. The next morning we got to the gate well before it opened, and had to wait a bit, but it was worth it. We were at the front of the line, so we were the first in. We had been told to get to Dead Vlei early, which was at the end of the park, so we had to go quite quickly. I did catch the moon setting over the dunes on the drive in, and we went up Dune 45 and ran back down (the best way to descent a massive sand dune). We made it to Dead Vlei fairly early, and it was quite an unearthly place. A white, cracked surface held dead trees, and the whole area was surrounded by red dunes backed with blue skies. I could have photographed it for hours (had the sun stayed low enough). When we exhausted our good lighting, we explored other areas and made our way out of the park slowly, getting some more good photos on the way out. If I were to go back to Nambia, I would go back here and spend a few days exploring this area. Near the exit, we turned and went to walk in Sesriem Canyon. This was another cool landscape feature, a quite large canyon that kept cool even in the mid-day desert heat because of the shade provided by the close walls. We found an owl resting in the rock face, and plenty of other birds flew about in the canyon. We drove back to our campsite to relax for the remainder of the hot part of the day and soon met the owner/manager of the campsite, a young Africaans man. His family owned an extensive piece of land and they had divided into different use areas: a lodge (A Little Sossus Lodge), a campsite (A Little Sossus Campsite), and another lodge/campsite that was part of a working farm (Betesda Lodge). There was also an extensive area that they kept natural for the wildlife. Although he and his brothers helped manage the accommodations, he was also a profession photographer. Displaying the typical Africaans hospitality, he gave us some free firewood when the sun went down and showed us the fastest way to Windhoek for our drive in the morning, and generally told us about his life growing up in the stark beauty that surrounded us. I asked him if we could stop into the lodge to see what it looked like on our way out in the morning, and he said that would be fine, and since he’d be there at that time anyway, we should all have tea/coffee before we started for Windhoek. The next morning we were very impressed with the upscale but comfortable beauty of the lodge. If you’re going to Namibia and you have the money, stay at A Little Sossus Lodge! The drive to Windhoek was pretty until we got there. We didn’t get to the pretty part of Windhoek, and therefore didn’t really enjoy anything about the city. It was a little difficult going from the solitude and magnificence of Nambia’s desert to the bustle of the city. We stayed in a hostel that was much too noisy for our taste and ended up getting our start a bit late because of a punctured tire that we had to have patched. We drove back up to the Caprivi, stayed there one night in a decent camp and made our way back to Kasane the next day. Over a month has passed now, and still the red dunes are sharp in my memory. I hope I get back to them someday.

Sossusvlei

1/21/2012 FINAL LEG OF NAMBIA: SOSSUSVLEI TO BOTSWANA As we pulled in ...

Updated: Jan 21, 2012 4:29pm EST

Swakopmund to Sossusvlei : 1/2/2012 SWAKOPMUND TO SOSSULVEI As we drove toward the coast, the land became flatter and more barren. When the water came into view, we were a little disappointed with the scenery. Flat, plant-less brown sand met a brownish ocean. The waves were small but the wind was big and it was fairly cold. Not exactly a beach paradise. We went to see the Cape Cross Seal Colony, which was quite an experience. Thousands of adult and baby seals lying around making lots of noise and lots of odor! There was a boardwalk so that you could get close to the seals without having contact with them, but a few of the babies had found their way onto the boardwalk. One thought perhaps Carrie was its mother, which upset Carrie very much because she could help the little animal. After getting no help from her, the little one briefly tried Elise and me, putting his little nose right on my leg. There were lots of babies piled up together waiting for the mommies to come back from eating, so I assume this one’s mama would be back soon to feed him. We also saw a newly born pup! Leaving the seal colony on our way to Swakopmund, we stopped to get fuel and some food. We rolled the electric window down to put the food in and found it would roll back up. This is a big problem, because with it open so much dust and sand would come in that we would soon have sand dunes inside the car. We took it to the mechanic that was next door to the grocery store, and he couldn’t fix it but recommended an auto electrician in Swakopmund who could. So we bought some tape and trash bags, covered the hole and set out. Thankfully it was only an hour’s drive, and we were staying 2 nights, so the electrician had a full day to fix it. Swokopmund is a good sized town with plenty of eating and shopping to do, but for us, the variety of activity and quaint architecture couldn’t make up for the depressing surrounds and unpleasant weather. The highlight of the place was eating at The Tug. Because we were traveling super low-budget, we’d been rationing our food very carefully (pb&j sandwiches and 2 crackers a day!). We were all extremely hungry and eager for the special splurge meal we had planned. The Tug did not disappoint. The setting was upscale and the service was fantastic, yet the prices were extremely reasonable. The food was amazing (I think we would have felt that way even if we weren’t the hungriest we had ever been in our entire lives). We each ordered a big plate of seafood and the table got silent when it arrived. We had to control ourselves and not shovel it in like savages, but we certainly cleaned our plates. Our waiter came and asked us if we enjoyed our food, and then looked down at our gigantic empty plates and said “I guess you did!” He asked if we wanted the check, but to his surprise, these three little ladies all said, “No, we want dessert.” I had a fabulous cherries jubilee, and we all took bites of each other’s desserts to make sure we had chosen our favorites. The next day, as the car window was being repaired, we wandered around and did a little shopping (or more accurately a lot of looking in shops and a very small amount of buying). When the car was finished, we drove out to the sand dunes and walked up the huge pile of sand to find a stunning world. We had fun taking silly pictures and then we ran down the dune as fast as we could, which is the most fun I’ve ever had running. The Carrie and Elise wanted to run into the freezing ocean, and I was quite happy to take pictures of them doing so in their santa hats. Another night and early morning and we were headed toward Sossusvlei. Not long after we left the coast and started through the desert, a huge granite rock rose from the flat sand. We stopped and walked around on it. I saw a kestrel flying and heard a noise coming from the rock. Upon closer inspection I saw it was a young kestrel, about fledgling age, apparently still begging for food from the parents. I didn’t have my long lens on, but I didn’t want to get too close and disturb him, so the photo is so-so. As we travelled on, the scenery changed, first to golden, grassy, flat plains with lots of meerkats then to an amazing rugged landscape with mountains that had strata at 45 degree angles jutting from the grassy pain. As we wound through the mountains, the words spoken most were “wow” “whoa” and “look at that.” As we traveled on through this beautiful desert, we came to Solitaire, where we had been told we had to stop in at Moose McGregor’s Desert Bakery. We were not disappointed. I was fairly sure Moose McGregor was actually Santa who decided he was tired of the cold and moved to the middle of the Namibian desert to serve dessert. This happy, red-faced, white-bearded, plump man told us about his delectable treats. Elise and Carrie got the apple crumble that our friend in Kasane had suggested, and I decided to try the blueberry pastry. We drove on and arrived that afternoon in what turned out to be our favorite camp.

Swakopmund to Sossusvlei

1/2/2012 SWAKOPMUND TO SOSSULVEI As we drove toward the coast, the la ...

Updated: Jan 02, 2012 11:47am EST

Out of Etosha to Twyfelfontain : 12/24/2011 NAMIBIA: OUT OF ETOSHA TO TWYFELFONTAIN As we left soggy Etosha behind we had no idea the beauty that awaited us. We were on our way to Outjo, where we were told we had to stop into a German bakery. We had a yummy custard pastry and as the rain came down while we munched, we wondered what we would do if it kept up, considering our tents were useless in the rain. We headed to our next campsite, Oppiklippe. When we arrived the owner met us at her house on the property and we asked if the campsite had anything we could pitch out tents under. She said no but that she had a cabin on the property that was empty for the night and hearing of our plight she gave us the cabin without charging us extra. We couldn’t have been more grateful, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with cups of tea and coffee and warm, dry beds. The property was stunning, and when the rain was very light we went for a stroll up the tallest hill to see the beautiful view. The ground was covered with small quartz stones. We also went over the the campsite to see what it was like, and it was amazing, with a small waterfall dropping from the rounded stone cliffs that sheltered the camp ground. A ladder led us up the cliff to a dam at the top of the hill where there was a zip line that could be used to jump into the dam pond. It was too cold for swimming, but we all decided this was one awesome campsite (just not for our tents in the rain). We only spent one night and the next day we headed toward clearer skies in the Twyfelfontain area. The landscape changed as we drove eventually becoming a plain of golden grass, bright green small trees, and big red mountains seemingly made of piles of boulders. We stayed at Aabadi Mountain Camp, a fantastic site with creatively designed outdoor bathrooms, some great dogs, and a friendly owner who is also a mechanic (and yes, he’ll take a look to make sure everything is okay under the hood). He even fixed my broken power adapter so that I could charge my camera battery! We had a lovely (dry) night and the next day drove to the ancient rock art carved into the stones by the San (Bushmen). This was an area they went to during times of short food supply, and their religious activity increased here, which is the reason for much of the artwork. Many animals are easily recognizable, including a seal from the seal colony on the coast (which we’ll get to) and a penguin, which lived much further north when the rock art was done. We then went to the Organ Pipes, which were just down the road, where Carrie played the Phantom of the Opera with gusto. We then made the mistake of making a rather long (about an hour) drive to the petrified “forest.” It cost money to enter (as most things do), but there was no information available about the “forest.” There was 1 complete log, and the rest was stacks of broken petrified rocks with arrows painted on the ground pointing to them. It was a long way to drive to pay to see not a lot. Oh, there were also welwichia plants, which are relatively small plants that can be thousands of years old. Although cool too see, not worth the drive and money! We headed back to camp and rested during the swelter mid-day. As began to cool off around 4, we got up and went for a walk, taking pictures of the beautiful landscape, the near endemic white-tailed shrikes, and the rock hyrax (a.k.a. rock dassie). Then next day we headed out early on our way to Swakopmund.

Out of Etosha to Twyfelfontain

12/24/2011 NAMIBIA: OUT OF ETOSHA TO TWYFELFONTAIN As we left soggy Et ...

Updated: Dec 24, 2011 6:06pm EST

Namibia: First days : 12/20/2011 NAMIBIA: FINALLY Now that I’m in the airport all day, I have some time to post about the Namibia trip. Namibia is an astounding country: so much beauty and variety. You can literally drive only 1-2 hours to get to new landscape and weather. The infrastructure is fantastic, with well-maintained roads and cell phone reception even in the middle of nowhere. The people are pleasant and helpful, and we always felt safe, even though we were just 3 young women travelling together. I’ll put photos and a description of just a few days at a time, because there’s a lot for you to see and read about! The first day was just a long drive through the Caprivi strip, which is a thin strip of land that juts from the northeast corner of the country to separate Botswana and Zambia. Its part of the Okavango Delta system, and was extremely green. We had to stop a number of times for veterinary (because of hoof and mouth disease) and police checkpoints, but the officials were pleasant and kind almost without exception. Our first campsite was at Treesleeper Lodge. There was no one there when we arrived, so we just chose a campsite. It wasn’t our most pleasant experience, since it didn’t have hot water and there were a few other unhappy details, but we took it in stride, and the manager listened attentively and promised to address the issues when we politely told him of our troubles. The next day we drove down to the town of Tsumeb, which was a pleasant city with some German influence. As we passed through and went on toward the Hoba Meteorite, we drove into some of the most beautiful green rolling hills you can imagine. We all instantly decided that is where we would want to live if we lived in Namibia, and that decision didn’t change throughout the trip. We enjoyed the meteorite and then drove on down to Grootfontain, which was definitely a stop we could have done without. The town was past its heyday and was kind of depressing. We went back to our campsite and got ready for an early morning to get to Etosha National Park the next day. Etosha was quite fascinating, despite us being there in the low season and the rainy day we experienced (the latter gave me bad light and evaporative distortion for photos, so sorry for the lack of sharpness). Since we live next to Chobe NP, which has one of the highest densities of wildlife in the world, we weren’t too worried about seeing a lot of animals, we just hoped to see a few that we hadn’t seen before. The thing that surprised us the most and that we enjoyed the most was the incredible number of large birds. Most of them we had seen before, but not so many and so close. The raptors were abundant and close, and acting a bit strange sometimes. At one point we saw a lappet-faced vulture, a yellow-billed kite, a falcon (need to id it still!), and a tawny eagle on the ground in one small area, even though there was apparently nothing to eat there. They were just hanging out together! The new mammals we saw were gemsbok and springbok. The day was amazing, and we camped at the Okokujo campsite in the park (thanks Guts!). It would have been a fine camping experience (nice bathrooms and kitchen) except that it rained that night and our tents didn’t keep us dry. We all ended up sleeping cramped in the car and waking up to lots of soggy camping gear to pack in the morning. That’s why camping is an adventure!

Namibia: First days

12/20/2011 NAMIBIA: FINALLY Now that I’m in the airport all day, I hav ...

Updated: Dec 20, 2011 9:40am EST

The rainy season begins : 11/21/2011 THE RAINY SEASON BEGINS My favorite thing about the rainy season: babies. The little creatures are being born, and the big creatures are enjoying the extra water and food. I love this time of year!

The rainy season begins

11/21/2011 THE RAINY SEASON BEGINS My favorite thing about the rainy s ...

Updated: Nov 21, 2011 1:32pm EST

Birds (can't think up another bird gallery name) :

Birds (can't think up another bird gallery name)

Updated: Nov 04, 2011 4:56am EST

More Avian Adventures : 10/29/2011 MORE AVIAN ADVENTURES Most of the photos in the new album are from a boat cruise this morning with Birdlife Botswana. It was an amazing cruise and we saw dozens of species of birds, and hundreds of individual birds. Not to mention many hippos, etc.

More Avian Adventures

10/29/2011 MORE AVIAN ADVENTURES Most of the photos in the new album a ...

Updated: Oct 29, 2011 12:50pm EST

Morris Minor : 10/23/2011 A FRIEND'S CAR Admittedly, I am not a car person. I don't think I've ever wanted to take a picture of a car before. But my friend in Vic Falls has a Morris Minor 1000. Which I had never heard of. But it is a beautiful little thing. I could not help but take pictures of it. And the lovely thing about taking pictures of a car is that you can walk all around it and it doesn't run/fly/slither away like animals do. It also gave me lots of inspiration for creativity in the editing afterwards. So I still am not a car-lover in general, but I love this little car. I want to go back to Vic Falls, give it a good wash, and wait for the right light, and get a few more shots of it!

Morris Minor

10/23/2011 A FRIEND'S CAR Admittedly, I am not a car person. I don't t ...

Updated: Oct 23, 2011 10:07am EST

Zambezi River Gorge : 10/21/2011 THE ZAMBEZI RIVER GORGE Last weekend a few friends and I went to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). I didn't participate in all of the (expensive) tourist activities that most of the others did since I've done them before, but I did go on the hike into the gorge. Although the linear distance isn't far, we went WAY down into the gorge. Today is the first day my legs haven't been sore from the hike out. The magnitude of the gorge is hard to capture without a wide angle lens, but hopefully you'll get an idea from some of the photos below.

Zambezi River Gorge

10/21/2011 THE ZAMBEZI RIVER GORGE Last weekend a few friends and I we ...

Updated: Oct 21, 2011 6:23am EST

Broad-billed roller and saddle-billed stork : 10/20/2011 BRIGHT BILLS Got some shots of some broad-billed rollers giving their singing their all. A frequent trend in the birding world (though not always true) is that the prettier the bird, the uglier the sound that comes out of it. True for the rollers for sure. But they put their whole bodies into it, so its worth watching. Also, for some reason, they hate cape turtle doves. Maybe they were showing off, but the 3 rollers I was watching chased any poor turtle dove that landed in a 20 m radius. The other bird in the gallery is a sleepy saddle-billed stork. He really wanted to sleep. He knelt down on his knees, then got all the way on the ground and his eyes soon closed. My mongooses saw him and wondered what it was, so they bunched up and went to investigate. The stork was not looking for a fight, so he got up and flew a few meters away.

Broad-billed roller and saddle-billed stork

10/20/2011 BRIGHT BILLS Got some shots of some broad-billed rollers gi ...

Updated: Oct 20, 2011 6:51am EST

More Cats and Dogs : 10/18/2011 MORE CATS AND DOGS I saw the wild dogs a second time. When I arrived the puppies were enjoying their breakfast, fresh impala. And I do mean enjoy, there was so much tail wagging! The adults looked tired and like they were longing for a bite, but they were letting the pups eat. I saw the leopard a couple more times, the last sighting being the best one. This young leopard just lays by the road and enjoys his (or her) stardom. He's quite happy to create a sixteen car pile up as he sleeps. For the last sighting though, it was just me and him most of the time and he gave me lots of yawns and grooming for a few funny pics. If he looks these up online, he's going to say "I can't believe you posted those embarrassing photos of me!" the next time I see him. But there are enough beautiful ones to make up for the silly expressions.

More Cats and Dogs

10/18/2011 MORE CATS AND DOGS I saw the wild dogs a second time. When ...

Updated: Oct 18, 2011 12:14pm EST

Officially too many birds : 10/12/2011 TOO MANY I think I officially have too many bird pictures on this site now. Too bad! More to come!

Officially too many birds

10/12/2011 TOO MANY I think I officially have too many bird pictures o ...

Updated: Oct 11, 2011 7:44am EST

Let sleeping lions lie : 10/10/2011 LET SLEEPING LIONS LIE....OTHERWISE YOU GET DA GWUMPY FACE! On a game drive on Saturday we happened across this sleeping kitty and her not-so-small cub. She woke up. She was clearly quite groggy, and not at all amused. She very soon went back to sleep.

Let sleeping lions lie

10/10/2011 LET SLEEPING LIONS LIE....OTHERWISE YOU GET DA GWUMPY FACE! ...

Updated: Oct 10, 2011 8:43am EST

Cats and Dogs : 10/8/2011 THE LONG WAIT IS OVER: I FINALLY SAW DOGS Not just any dogs, wild dogs. And I don't mean they like to party. They have been the top of my list since I got here, and thanks to Corn and Carrie I saw them on friday. I was eating breakfast in my pj's when Carrie sent me a message from the park that they were there with a kudu kill. So I changed clothes and hurried out with my camera. When I arrived, an adult dog was leading the pups to the site, so I was the first to see the puppies that day. The kill had been made the evening before, but there was still enough left for the puppies to get awfully fat. The adults are used to cars and didn't care to investigate me, preferring to digest their feast behind some bushes, but the pups are still curious, so I got a lot of shots of them looking at me. Some elephants came along and scared them away, and I wasn't able to see where they went in the thick bush. I drove around a lot looking for them, and got to see some jackals, including an interesting reunion between two of them. One was standing, the other trotting towards it. When the standing one saw the other, it ran to greet it, laid on its side, wagged its tail and licked it on the mouth begging for food. The one being greeted obliged and threw up food. I couldn't tell if they were mates or one was an almost grown pup, but I am so glad we don't share food that way! Then I saw a leopard in a tree, and later its almost grown cub on the ground. The tree made the mother almost impossible to see and the distance from the cub made for fuzzy pictures, so those aren't so great. One great thing about these sightings is that I was the only car around for all of the dog stuff, and eventually got to be the only car with the leopard in the tree. She and I hung out (her literally, me figuratively) for some time together, with only a few meters of air and a car door with an open window separating us. It was a great day!

Cats and Dogs

10/8/2011 THE LONG WAIT IS OVER: I FINALLY SAW DOGS Not just any dogs, ...

Updated: Oct 07, 2011 12:13pm EST

Busy birding : 10/1/2011 MUSE AND NEMESIS: BIRDS There are so many beautiful birds here, I can't help myself. It doesn't matter how many times I've taken a picture of a carmine bee-eater, there could always be a better one. And birds in flight are the real challange, a dark moving spot against a bright background. I consider the lilac-breasted roller my truest muse and nemisis. I am constantly stalking them, sitting with my camera focused on them until my arms fall asleep, waiting for him to fly so I can get the perfect flight picture. I've yet to get it. They seem to be resistant to the idea, flying beautifully in front of me when I'm driving or otherwise can't take their photo, but sitting stubbornly when I'm ready. Below is a new gallery of the recent and exciting bird sightings. Includes among others, a parrot, an owl, and a woodpecker chick!

Busy birding

10/1/2011 MUSE AND NEMESIS: BIRDS There are so many beautiful birds he ...

Updated: Oct 01, 2011 6:37am EST

Where birds flutter :

Where birds flutter

Updated: Sep 21, 2011 3:58am EST

Where mongooses play :

Where mongooses play

Updated: Sep 21, 2011 3:47am EST

First shots : 9/18/2011 THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED Okay, maybe its a little overly dramatic to say that the world changed the day I got a new camera. But at least MY world changed. I've taken a step up and I'm in the process of learning about all the new possibilities with my new piece of technology. The gallery below contains just a few of my first shots. It was the first time in a long time that it was hard to choose which photos to upload because I liked so many of them!

First shots

9/18/2011 THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED Okay, maybe its a little overly dr ...

Updated: Sep 18, 2011 10:20am EST

Is that a tape player? : 9/8/2011 SOME THINGS YOU CAN’T GET IN AMERICA Though it may be the most consumer-oriented place on the planet, there are some things you can’t get in America. Is that a tape player? Why yes, yes it is. Not only it is a tape player/radio ala 1986, it also has a USB port and SD card slot for playing mp3’s (and only mp3’s). What? Why do I own this unusual specimen of electronics, you ask? Because I needed something for my field work that would (1) play sounds from my computer, (2) at a decent volume, (3) run on batteries and, (4) was cheap. And thanks to the shops that sell cheap junk here, I found this gem (Walmart eat your heart out!). I’m using it for an experiment with the mongooses (I play them their own sounds, not 80’s boy band music as one might suppose coming from this thing). The amazing thing is that I bought this new. Somewhere in China, they are still making these. The second thing you won’t find in America is ice cream *. The only dairy found in this stuff is powdered milk. The fat comes from vegetables. Needless to say, its not the most delicious dessert. Of the 3 food stores in town, its only the upscale Woolworth’s (Wooly’s as we call it), that sells actual ice cream with no *. See both of these treasures in the gallery below! I'm getting a new camera in a couple of weeks, so the uploads should explode when I get it!

Is that a tape player?

9/8/2011 SOME THINGS YOU CAN’T GET IN AMERICA Though it may be the mos ...

Updated: Sep 07, 2011 7:31am EST

More of Chobe National Park : 7/26/2011 MORE OF CHOBE NATIONAL PARK New gallery with lots of zebras and a variety of birds, among other animals.

More of Chobe National Park

7/26/2011 MORE OF CHOBE NATIONAL PARK New gallery with lots of zebras ...

Updated: Aug 18, 2011 1:23pm EST

More and more birds : 7/28/2011 ITS GETTING HARD TO NAME THE GALLERIES And also hard to remember which photos I've already put here. Hopefully I didn't repeat. Anyway, more birds below.

More and more birds

7/28/2011 ITS GETTING HARD TO NAME THE GALLERIES And also hard to reme ...

Updated: Jul 28, 2011 7:03am EST

Lilac-breasted roller and swallow-tailed bee-eater : 7/18/2011 LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER AND SWALLOW-TAILED BEE-EATER The most difficult photo subjects I've found are birds. Basically, small+fast=difficult to photograph. But it doesn't stop me from trying. I spent some time with 2 of the beautiful birds in the area yesterday, and among the nearly 200 photos that I took a few came out ok. The ones below are about the best that my amateur skills and low-end SLR can accomplish.

Lilac-breasted roller and swallow-tailed bee-eater

7/18/2011 LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER AND SWALLOW-TAILED BEE-EATER The most ...

Updated: Jul 18, 2011 8:17am EST

Sunset and other Africana : 7/13/2011 SUNSET ETC Just 4 pics below, but somethin's better than nothin' right? We went on the river at sunset on Monday for Pete's farewell (tear). The sunset was amazing and there were a zillion birds flying in to roost. So there are a couple of sunset pics. Other pics: a slender mongoose and a lucky shot of a white-crested helmet-shrike as he takes off.

Sunset and other Africana

7/13/2011 SUNSET ETC Just 4 pics below, but somethin's better than not ...

Updated: Jul 13, 2011 7:37am EST

Lion Kill : 6/29/2011 PLAYING AROUND I was just messing around in Lightroom with some presets and did some work to the photo of the lion. The photo to the left (its also in the gallery) is one of the products, and there is another one in the Lion Kill gallery. 6/24/2011 LION KILL Driving into CNP to find the mongooses on Wed, I happened across this. Lions had killed a baby elephant and were finishing the feast. On the drive in there were too many cars around and too little time to get good photos, but when I drove back out there was not another car in sight, so I got some time for photos. This female had clearly already eaten a lot, but she was really going to gorge herself. The male was finished eating and was watching her eat for a while, then he got up and left. This is probably the same female with cubs I saw a couple of weeks ago, since its in the same area and I saw a cub when I drove by the first time.

Lion Kill

6/29/2011 PLAYING AROUND I was just messing around in Lightroom with s ...

Updated: Jun 29, 2011 6:59am EST

Puff adder, lion cubs and more : 6/11/2011 PUFF ADDER, LION CUBS, AND MORE Sorry for the long wait, I've had some um, difficulties with electronics lately. The gallery below has a puff adder that the mongooses found. When they got tired of surrounding him and telling him they knew he was there, they walked away and I was able to take a few phtos of him. I'm not as close as the photo looks, I was using a zoom lens! That same day, as I was driving out of the national park, I happened upon a lioness with 2 cubs. You'll see the cubs playing below. Of course, a few birds are pictured in the album, including a Pel's fishing owl, which is a rare sighting, and a pic of its chick peeking out of the nest. There is a picture of me (!) taken by my friend Cornelia. She traded cameras with me for a few minutes so that we could have pictures of ourselves on our own cameras. I put this one on so that you can see the shirt I designed here. I used one of my photos and kind of converted it to a graphic arts representation of the photo. Its an African skimmer skimming. My hair is covering a little of it, but you can get the idea. We are selling them to raise money for the Kasane branch of Birdlife Botswana. Holler if you want one! Finally, there's a super close-up of a warthog, just because I could. They are ugly but endearing creatures.

Puff adder, lion cubs and more

6/11/2011 PUFF ADDER, LION CUBS, AND MORE Sorry for the long wait, I'v ...

Updated: Jun 11, 2011 6:38am EST

Lenyanti and Savuti camping : 5/16/2011 CAMPING IN LENYANTI AND SAVUTI This weekend we went on a camping trip for the Kasane branch of Birdlife Botswana. We stayed for 2 nights at the Lenyanti camping site. It was very sandy, and we discovered the hard way that the 4x4 on Pete's new car isn't working. The 3 ladies in his car had to push him out several times. We are strong! We decided it was just part of the adventure. We got to the campsite just before dark, so the first day we just set up camp, ate and went to bed. The next day we drove to the Savuti channel, but not to Savuti itself. It hasn't been flowing in like 50 years or something, and just started last year. We swam it just to say that we had. We saw some nice birds and had a good time. The next morning we got an early start, packed camp and headed to Savuti. Its an open marshy area surround by a few rocky hills, quite beautiful. The elephants there seem very large and the males have very thick tusks. We stopped often to enjoy the view and eat too many snacks. It was all very fun.

Lenyanti and Savuti camping

5/16/2011 CAMPING IN LENYANTI AND SAVUTI This weekend we went on a cam ...

Updated: May 16, 2011 11:52am EST

No. 1 Ladies Opera House : 5/8/2011 NO 1 LADIES OPERA HOUSE Admittedly, I haven't read the books, but I have now been in the building that was the setting for the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. It is no longer a filling station, but it is indeed very near to Kgale Hill (which is beautiful) in Gabarone (which isn't so beautiful). It has been converted to a small theatre. I took a few pics of the inside; it was dark when I arrived so I couldn't get photos of the outside. The annual general meeting of Birdlife Botswana was held there, which is why I was there. Its a cute little space.

No. 1 Ladies Opera House

5/8/2011 NO 1 LADIES OPERA HOUSE Admittedly, I haven't read the books, ...

Updated: May 08, 2011 1:14pm EST

Camping at Ihaha : 4/23/2011 CAMPING We went camping for Keith's birthday at Ihaha in Chobe National Park. It was a pretty spot (although the facilities weren't worth what we paid) and we saw pretty birds. There was also an elephant that appears to be used to campers, and he fed around the campsite without being bothered by us. Possibly for the first time in history, you can see what an Ford F350 looks like next to an elephant. Keith had his shipped over here from Texas.

Camping at Ihaha

4/23/2011 CAMPING We went camping for Keith's birthday at Ihaha in Ch ...

Updated: Apr 23, 2011 9:38am EST

random conglomeration : 3/30/2011 RANDOM CONGLOMERATION OF PHOTOS I haven't kept up with putting photos on here, so now the new album is from a bunch of different days. The first few are from the camping trip/bicycle trip we did a couple weeks ago. We camped in this awesome spot in the middle of nowhere. It was the day before the full moon, the brightest in 19 years. Even the day before full, it was crazy bright. We turned out all our flashlights and the moon shone through the tent. It was almost like sleeping during the day. The next day we, and by we I mean Trish, Pete, Craig and NOT me, went for a long cycle. I was the support vehicle, which is my favorite way to cycle. The three of them were amazing! And crazy! Craig went 81 km, Pete 53, Trish 32. Craig is just abnormal and could have gone the rest of the day, and probably the next day as well. Pete's 53km is awesome considering he has been sitting in front of a computer for 4 months without exercising. Even in the year preceding that, he didn't have much time to exercise. And Trish's 32km was fantastic considering she is....well, I guess its not right to say a lady's age, but lets just say she could be my mom. I don't think I could do 32km if I had been training for months. Oh, and it was uphill with a headwind the whole way. They're AMAZING! and INSANE! I had a fantastic time being the support vehicle, going a few kms ahead and then stopping to take pics until they caught up. There are also pics of baby mongooses from today, pics of lions from yesterday, and pics of baboons, one from recently and another from years ago. I put them up because a friend requested pics of "baboons and trees." The tree pics are from the cycle. So there you go.

random conglomeration

3/30/2011 RANDOM CONGLOMERATION OF PHOTOS I haven't kept up with putt ...

Updated: Mar 30, 2011 12:02pm EST

I heart presets : 3/14/2011 I HEART PRESETS A friend of mine who is very supportive of my photography got me Photoshop Lightroom. Its a little different than Photoshop itself, but it can do a lot of editing of images more easily than Photoshop. This is the next big step in my photography, because my digital editing skills were pretty bare bones until now. So in Lightroom I have discovered presets. These are edits that are done just by clicking one button, like making the photo look old, black & white, sepia, etc. It came with some built in, and I tried some, but they weren't so great. Then I found out you could download more for free. So I went preset hunting. I found a couple of great ones and I have fallen in love. Its almost a one-click portal to a great photo. I shouldn't say one-click, because once you apply the preset you usually still have to do some fine tuning to make it look correct on that particular photo, but its at least instant access to a new and better starting point with the photo. My favorite one so far is called silky smooth. A baby photographer designed it to make babies look all satiny and glowy, but it also has great effects on adults. Who doesn't want to look satiny and glowy. It also has a very cool effect on flowers. The other preset that I like is called post-apocalyptic. It gives everything a dramatic, sort of heavy look. It might not be something I use all the time, but it will make a few photos really fantastic. So the newest gallery shows the before and afters for these presets. 3/12/2011 MY YARD I don't have to go very far to see some really interesting things. In fact, sometimes I just go outside for 10 minutes at lunch time and see amazing things. There is a little acacia tree in my yard that I was looking at the other day and I noticed groups of ants on it. I looked closely at the ants and realized they were bunched around some other little insects. Then I remembered the example of symbiotic relationships I was taught in some of my bio classes. The bugs that the ants are grouped around are aphids, which bore into the tree and suck the sap. Normally, a tree would try to prevent this by making its sap unpalatable. But the tree doesn't do that in this case, because the aphids produce a sugar liquid that the ants eat, and the ants in turn protect their aphids and their tree. If anything starts to eat the leaves on the tree, the ants swarm to the spot and start biting the offender. So the tree allows a little sap loss for the protection it gains from the ants. Isn't that cool!? Other interesting things I see in my garden include really beautiful birds. One of my favorite species, the grey-headed bush shrike has been a frequent visitor, and I think its actually a family of them, 2 adults with some youngsters. These are not a super rare siting, but they aren't common either. I have also had a number of raptors in my yard lately. Below you'll see the little sparrowhawk, although he didn't live up to his name because he caught and was eating a dragonfly in the pictures. And finally, the last photo is more than just leaves. Look closely and you'll see a little preying mantis, just the right size and shape to match the leaves on the acacia he is on. Maybe he's after those ants...

I heart presets

3/14/2011 I HEART PRESETS A friend of mine who is very supportive of m ...

Updated: Mar 14, 2011 8:59am EST

Ants and birds :

Ants and birds

Updated: Mar 12, 2011 5:58am EST

Valley Cycle, church, mongooses : 2/21/2011 VALLEY CYCLE, CHURCH, MONGOOSES We are trying to go to the Valley once a month for Birdlife Botswana to see if the white backed vultures are sitting on nests yet. Pete and Trish decided to cycle through. I don't have a bike and always want to take photos, so I opted for my car. The plan was for Trish to cycle on the road to the border, then Pete and Geoff would come in the truck and they'd go into the Valley to cycle, with Geoff driving the truck for safety (lots of buffs and ellies in the Valley). I had planned on going early to take photos and meeting them at some point, but on my way I found poor Trish by the road with a puncture in her bike tire. So by the time Geoff and Pete came in the car to get her, we were all in the same place. After Pete fixed the tire, we went into the Valley and I drove the backup safety car, took pictures and counted the vultures. It was a lovely time in the Valley. I took my camera to church to take photos to send to Bron for her birthday. I've posted a few. The mongooses came into my yard about an hour ago and I snapped a few of them too. They have about 15 new pups that are just old enough to go foraging with the troop now. So enjoy the mish mash of photos in the new gallery!

Valley Cycle, church, mongooses

2/21/2011 VALLEY CYCLE, CHURCH, MONGOOSES We are trying to go to the ...

Updated: Feb 21, 2011 11:22am EST

Sunday Afternoon Boat Cruise : SUNDAY AFTERNOON BOAT CRUISE We live a hard life here in Botswana, what with leisurely Sunday afternoon boat cruises watching birds and wildlife in abundance that most people never get to see once in their life. Here's yet another set of pics from one of our outings. 2/15/2011 (ANTI-)VALENTINE'S DINNER AT THE MILLION STAR HOTEL The single friends of mine decided we'd have a Valentine's day dinner that would blow any date out of the water. We went to one of the most beautiful spots around Kasane, behind the sewage ponds....I know what you're thinking! But we were some distance from them and you usually can't smell them, and it truly is one of the most beautiful places around. Its a narrow grassy valley with forest on either side, and the treated water from the plant is dumped into a little lake that animals like to visit in the evening. We got there before sunset and set up our picnic on the hillside at the edge of the forest so that we could look down on the valley. When we arrived, a small herd of elephants were there with a very tiny baby. Then the buffalo came out out of the forest into the grassy valley. It was a huge herd probably around 400 animals including very young calves. At one point 2 males had an epic battle, with the clash of their horned and helmeted heads filling the valley. As the sun fell behind the trees we started our dinner, lit by candles, a waxing moon, and a million stars. The dinner was delicious, especially Corn's fake shrimp cocktail (Pete is allergic to shellfish, so we can't have real shrimp), and Pete's roasted chicken. As we finished dinner, I was going to serve up the strawberry shortcake I had made, but started laughing as I went to get it. I had remembered the "shortcake" (which was actually sweet biscuits (if you're American)/scones (if you're....well pretty much anything else)), but forgotten the whipped cream and strawberries in the fridge! So we decided to enjoy a little more time under the stars and then go back to my house for dessert. We sat and watched the dark shapes of elephants grazing for a while, and then Corn played the guitar and sang. When we had packed everything away we went back to my house and enjoyed our dessert. It was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had! (sorry no pics!).

Sunday Afternoon Boat Cruise

SUNDAY AFTERNOON BOAT CRUISE We live a hard life here in Botswana, wha ...

Updated: Feb 15, 2011 2:02am EST

Jan Feb in Bots : 2/8/2011 PHOTOS FROM THIS YEAR I don't have any extraordinary pics yet this year, but I thought I'd just throw a few decent ones up so you don't give up on me. So here ya go! 1/20/2011 WAITING Breath in, breath out. Watch the birds. Don’t watch the homeless dogs for too long, you’ll get depressed. Breath in, breath out. Quiet the American hurry. They’re almost done, just 15 minutes. Breath in, breath out. This is Africa time. 1/13/2011 HOME It’s a tough word to define. I’ve lived in so many places in the last 10 years that I seem to have had a lot of homes. When I got back to Blacksburg in December, people said “welcome home.” When I got back to Houston, people said “welcome home.” When I got back to Botswana this week, people said “welcome home” (which probably and understandably makes my family in Houston wince). I think most people think of going to where they grew up as going home, but they also think of going back to where they currently live as going home. It’s clearly more than the place where you pay rent and own stuff (which is mostly in Africa for me, but I’ve also got a lot of stuff stored in Blacksburg). It’s more than where you usually sleep, although that has something to do with it. During my first long term experience in Botswana (at least 7 months felt long to me) it didn’t feel like home. Everything felt foreign and usually uncomfortable. The second time and this time (which I count as the third, although there’s only been a month separation!) it has felt like home. I attribute this to many factors, including getting used to life here as well as getting a car and internet at home (you think these are small things, but they make an enormous difference in my life!). Home definitely has to do with being comfortable in a place. But I think home is mostly about people. Having people that I love and trust, and who love and trust me back is what I think allows me to call a place home. So I accept the “welcome home” in all three places. But right now I’m especially thankful that there are people in Botswana that make it home, since I’ll be here for this whole year. It’s nice to know there are so many places to be at home.

Jan Feb in Bots

2/8/2011 PHOTOS FROM THIS YEAR I don't have any extraordinary pics yet ...

Updated: Feb 08, 2011 10:10am EST

RAINY SEASON BONUSES : 12/3/2010 RAINY SEASON BONUSES: LITTLE CRITTERS AND FLYING KITES No, not kites that are flown with string, kites the birds. As a storm was blowing in, dozens of black kites and yellow-billed kites gathered near the river and sat around on the ground, flew together, and ate dung beetles on the wing. Good thing I had my camera. I also got some photos of the Chobe Game Lodge troop and their little ones. I'm also uploading a great video of the troop's shaningans on my youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/bonniemf1022.

RAINY SEASON BONUSES

12/3/2010 RAINY SEASON BONUSES: LITTLE CRITTERS AND FLYING KITES N ...

Updated: Dec 04, 2010 2:21am EST

Hither and Thither : 11/29/2010 THANKSGIVING This is the first year I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving. I know, I know, it sounds really sad, but I actually didn't miss it too much. Part of it is that the weather is so wrong for Thanksgiving Day, but also, I've just adapted to living here. But a turkey-less (ok, the turkey isn't what I would really miss, its the pie)...a pie-less thanksgiving doesn't mean I'm unthankful. I had the most spectacular morning, so I'm making today my belated thanksgiving. Here is what I'm thankful for: 1. The most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen. 2. So many doves singing at once that there was literally not a moment of silence for about 10 minutes. 3. Baby mongooses at my feet. 4. Seeing a python killing a baby impala. Ok, I know this is weird, but I'm an ecologist. I don't see predators as evil for killing, they actually have a very hard getting their meals, so seeing one succeed is pretty cool to me. Its the circle of life, people. 5. Feeling better (I was sick last week). 6. Having people on 2 different continents who want me with them. 7. Plenty of food and a roof with no leaks (made more real by seeing those without). 8. My car (I love my car!). 9. An amazing Sunday afternoon on the river yesterday with my Kasane family. That should cover it for now. 11/14/2010 RAIN There is nothing like unbelievably hot dry weather for months on end to make one appreciate the rain. The rainy season has officially started. We had a ripper of a storm on Tuesday. I've been through less fierce hurricanes (I'm not joking). Strong winds, lightening, hail, the works. Some damage was done to property (including my front fence), but it was still a blessing to have the rain. I love storms, so I really enjoyed sitting through it in my car. I was watching mongooses at a lodge when the rain began. When I decided it wasn't going to be the typical little drizzle we'd been having I started to my car, and not a moment to soon. I was drenched below my rain jacket by the time I got in the car, but I was laughing. The rain was coming down too hard to see to drive far, so I thought I'd just sit it out. Then the hail started, so I drove to the covered area at reception of the lodge. I sat for a while before realizing the spot I was parked in was flooding. Quickly. So I drove to the covered parking where the safari trucks are parked, which is on higher ground. Luckily I'm friends with the manager of the safari company, and I knew he wouldn't mind. The safari trucks weren't exactly going anywhere at that time. Once the rain let a little I went home. It has rained every day since then except for 1. Yesterday's rain was the best thus far, somewhat heavy, but slow and steady enough to soak in rather than all just running into the river. Also no wind and not much lightening, so little chance for more damage. The animals will be happy to have water dispersed throughout the land as well as more greenery to eat. I will now get used to being muddy most of the time (wish I had grass!) and I'll have to stay prepared to protect my equipment and run for shelter while I'm working in the field. The humidity is not so welcome, but the temp is lower, so I'll deal with it (I'm from Houston, I know humidity). Thus begins the new season. In other news, I posted a video of the baby mongooses at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbfM-T65d1Y

Hither and Thither

11/29/2010 THANKSGIVING This is the first year I haven't celebrated ...

Updated: Nov 29, 2010 12:06pm EST

First Baby Mongooses of the Season : 11/11/2010 IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN Time for baby mongooses!!! My smallest troop had only 1 pregnant female, and for some reason she got pregnant and had her babies earlier than any other troop. Today I found out that she had 6 pups! The pups are just at the age where they come out to play for a little while, so, of course, I took photos.

First Baby Mongooses of the Season

11/11/2010 IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN Time for baby mongooses!! ...

Updated: Nov 11, 2010 9:55am EST

Morning Game drive in Lesuma Valley : 11/7/2010 MORNING GAME DRIVE IN LESUMA VALLEY There weren't a lot of mammals about in the valley (which is fairly typical), only saw buffalo, a black-backed jackal, baboons, and giraffes. But there were a lot of colorful birds. I've made it a goal to get a great photo of a lilac-breasted roller in flight, because they are just spectacular. They are also rather fast, so its hard to do. I still haven't gotten a great photo because I haven't been close enough yet, but I've got a few decent ones. At one point I was snapping pics of one flying and he went low to the ground and came back up. It wasn't until I looked at the photos on the computer that I saw he was attacking a snake on the ground! They are quite fierce birds. A few photos below. These should be looked at enlarged (2XL or 3XL) since I was at some distance and birds are small creatures. 11/4/2010 GETTING USED TO SWEATING Its hot (HOT!). The only air conditioning I have is in my car. I suddenly enjoy driving. Otherwise, I'm getting used to sweating all the time. It actually has cooled down a bit since mid-Oct. Nowadays, at some point during the middle of the night I usually wake up and put the sheet over me (even though the fan is still blowing on me. If I turn it off I get too hot, so better to leave it on and use the sheet). I wake up at 4:15 or 4:30am everyday to get to the mongooses before they get up. That's early. The nice thing is being outside when the sun comes up though. Its the coolest (least hot) part of the day, and the temperature and colors make it the coolest (grooviest) part of the day. No pictures added, just thought I'd post my thoughts. Should have some to add after this weekend, because I'm planning on going on a morning game drive in the valley tomorrow and we're celebrating Kim's b-day Sunday afternoon. 11/8/2010 PARADISE FLYCATCHER Bron informed me that they have a paradise flycatcher pair nesting low in a tree in her yard and that I'd want to take pictures of it. The males are extremely devoted fathers and will sit very tight on a nest. So I went with my camera on Sunday and got some great shots. I've added them to the Morning Game Drive gallery.

Morning Game drive in Lesuma Valley

11/7/2010 MORNING GAME DRIVE IN LESUMA VALLEY There weren't a lot o ...

Updated: Nov 08, 2010 10:47am EST

30th Birthday Party : 10/30/2010 30th B-DAY PARTY So yesterday we had the party for my bday since we couldn't have it last week. What a blast! I basically just wanted to dance, so that's what we did. The theme was elegant with a touch of the ridiculous. The decor was black and white with candles, plus a number neon green ridiculous touches, such as water guns (these turn out to be great for a outdoor summer party). Most of the ladies dressed elegantly with some little crazy thing, while the boys dressed ridiculous with a touch (a small one) of elegance. We had it outside a friend's house in their beautiful pool clubhouse (Cathy Rann and Rob Price's boma, for the African readers). The pool was submerged during the last flood, so it was a murky fish pond rather than a pool. Not anything that I would choose to get into, especially in my birthday dress, but late in the night I was thrown in. Luckily I had extra clothes because I had worn normal clothes to set up before the party, so i was able to change. Kasane was in fine form, plenty of friendly craziness. Corn was the dj, which was a tough job at a party where there are people from ages 7 to 80 and you're trying to keep them dancing for hours, but she did a great job. Bron was a legend helping me prepare for the party and Elise also helped with set up. We had such a great time! Photos in the party gallery are by Bron, Elise, and Kim. Also added some from Elise to the 30th B-day Weekend gallery.

30th Birthday Party

10/30/2010 30th B-DAY PARTY So yesterday we had the party for my bday ...

Updated: Oct 31, 2010 1:08am EST

30th B-day Weekend : 10/24/2010 TURNING 30 IS FUN I had a splendiferous b-day, despite having to wake up at 4:30am. Bronwen, Elise and I decided on Thursday that we would go to Vic Falls Fri afternoon and stay until Sat afternoon. We did this because many people from Kasane were going there for a golf tournament, most importantly my good friends Pete and Corn. I still had to work on Friday, but it wasn't bad. The morning mongooses only stayed in view for a couple of hours, and when they went into the bush for an hour, I went home. Then I thought about going to the afternoon mongooses, but I realized that the troop was far away and we were leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon, so it wouldn’t make a lot of sense. So I stayed home and did some computer work and then a friend came over and we chatted a while and I cut his hair. Then Elise, Bron, and I drove to Vic Falls to meet up with some friends already there. On the drive there, there was a bunny beside the road and I started doing baby talk about how cute it was and then it leapt into the road and I ran over it. It sounds so horrible, but the moment it went under the car we all cracked up because I hadn’t even finished my baby talk about how cute it was. It actually went between the wheels, so maybe I didn’t kill it. When we arrived in the Falls, we found our friends. Bron, Elise, Pete, Corn, Luke (a friend of Elise's who lives in the Falls and fit right in with our mocking love language) and I went and ate a fancy restaurant and then went down to the river and sat about 75 m upstream of Vic Falls! It was amazing. We sat on the rocks as the full moon went in and out of the clouds, creating real silver linings. The frogs and moving water filled our ears with their music. Sometimes we talked and laughed, sometimes we just sat quietly. Then some friends had asked us to meet them at a dance club, so we went but didn’t stay long because the music was terrible (what's the point of staying at a dance club if you don't like the music?). Then we went to our beloved hotel, the Sprayview. By this time it was about 1am. The Sprayview is an old, cheap, but well kept motel. They have an awesome pool, so we decided to go swimming before going to bed. Elise, Bron and I had such a blast in the pool. We were trying to be quiet, seeing as it was 1am, but one of the employees heard us and turned on the music for us. So we danced in the pool! As a matter of fact, we mimicked our favorite show by doing "So You Think You Can Dance in a Pool." I was a dancer and Bron was Nigel, and gave the the critique that my techniques was very good, I have great lines, but I need to use more emotion to connect with my audience. Then we went to bed. We slept late and then when we got up we talked and talked. It was great. The morning chat with Bron and Elise might be my favorite part! Then we went to the golf and walked with Pete and his partner Craig, but unfortunately they were not at their best. The golf was at this super posh hotel, so we left the premises and went and had a picnic under a tree by the side of the road. We forgot to bring utensils, so we had to spread the pb and j on the bread with our fingers! (see photos on Bron's facebook page)Then we went back to the fancy-schmancy hotel and pretended to be guests so we could swim in their pool while we waited for the golfers to be finished. We couldn’t think of anything else to do, so we just lounged at the pool the rest of the day until driving back home. Saw a common duiker on the way home, which I haven’t seen before. When we got back to Kasane we went to Bron’s and ate dinner and watched a movie. I got home around 10 and went to bed. I checked my email in the morning to find dozens of b-day wishes. Went to church and got more b-day wishes, along with a great service. Afterwards, at tea at Heather's house, there was chocolate cake! It was such an incredible 30th b-day weekend!

30th B-day Weekend

10/24/2010 TURNING 30 IS FUN I had a splendiferous b-day, despite havi ...

Updated: Oct 31, 2010 12:49am EST

The Professor's Visit : 10/28/2010 THE PROFESSOR'S VISIT I totally forgot to put photos up from when Jeff was here. He's a professor of mine who came to help me for about 1.5 weeks. He stayed at the William's B&B, so in order not to confuse Geoff and Jeff, they called him "The Professor." It stuck. The pics are from the boat cruz and game drive we went on. He's an ornithologist (among other things), so there's a focus on birds in the pics!

The Professor's Visit

10/28/2010 THE PROFESSOR'S VISIT I totally forgot to put photos up fro ...

Updated: Oct 28, 2010 2:56pm EST

Cricket Final : 10/1/2010 THREE PHOTOS ADDED TO CRICKET FINAL AND VIDEO! I added 3 photos that other people took to the gallery so that you could see the fans all decked out in our mostly homemade Flatdogs gear! I can't put video on here, so I'm putting some on YouTube. It takes a looong time to upload them, so they'll only come on slowly. Here is the first one: mongoose in a jar! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu2W6jO10Vk To find them as they get added go to my channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/bonniemf1022 9/19/2010 I SAW A LEOPARD! I SAW A LEOPARD! A LEOPARD! I SAW ONE! L.E.O.P.A.R.D.! FINALLY, MY FIRST LEOPARD! I'm rather excited about it. Yesterday we (Pete, me, Bron, Elise, Corn, Trish, & Geoff) celebrated Pete's 30th birthday by having a nice dinner at a lodge/campsite called Senyanti in Lesoma Valley. It has a watering hole that draws lots of elephants every evening/night, as well as other species, though usually in smaller numbers than the ellies. So we were happily eating our meal and watching the elephants at close range when Corn and I both interrupted Pete by saying "What's that?" and jumping up to get a better view. I could tell it was a big cat, but it was dark and Corn had to tell me that it was a leopard. He tried to come to the water, but and elephant cow with a tiny calf chased it away. Corn said he'd be back. So I stopped watching the elephants and stared in the direction I suspected he'd return from. The instant he broke through the bush, I whisper-shouted "There he is!" No one knew what I was talking about so I then said "the leopard!" He came to the water and drank and drank and drank, even though he could see all the people across the water from him and about 60 meters away. It was an excellent first leopard sighting, though a bit dark. Through binoculars we could see his spots. I didn't bring my camera to the table because I knew it would be dark and take quite a bit of set up to get any shots, but Corn had hers on her and got some decent ones (when I get those from her I'll put them on here). The whole dinner was very fun and relaxing, even not counting the leopard. And hopefully and most importantly, Pete realizes how much he means to all of us. Today we went to Vic Falls for the cricket final. The Kasane Flatdogs won (flatdogs=crocs)! This is the first championship win for them, maybe ever, but at least in 12 years. Pete played really well, staying in when they were batting for nearly the entire time (if you don't understand cricket, neither do I, but apparently that is a good thing). It was lots of fun, there were a lot of Flatdog fans, and the boys really appreciated our support. A few photos from the day are below. Did I mention I saw my first leopard? Its about time. All my friends here have been appalled when I've told them I haven't seen one yet. They didn't know how I could live here that long without seeing one. But now I've got one!

Cricket Final

10/1/2010 THREE PHOTOS ADDED TO CRICKET FINAL AND VIDEO! I added 3 pho ...

Updated: Oct 02, 2010 2:24am EST

NOT animals : 9/2/2010 ADDITIONS TO THE "NOT ANIMALS" GALLERY A request for more pics of people has been made. So I added pics of people to the gallery. Most of the new pics were not taken by me. They are, after all, pics of people, which I rarely take. 8/27/2010 ALRIGHT, FINE I’ve had a number of people comment on how I haven’t been keeping this blog/photo gallery up to date. That was mostly because I didn’t have good internet access. Now I do, so no more excuses. And I just went to Brit’s blog and read about their adventure of moving to Chicago and realized how much it makes me feel connected to her and reminds me of how much I love that lady. So fine, I’ll give a decent update cuz I want yall to feel connected to me and remember how much you love me ; ) But seriously, I realized that I didn’t know so much about her current life, and I know that people will have no clue what its like here unless I tell them (or unless you come visit. So come see me!). My update last month wasn’t bad (now its in the photo gallery that went with it. I think I’ll move the updates to their galleries after a while so they can be read but not all be on the main page), but its been over a month now. So alright, fine…here it goes: My barber career is continuing and expanding. I’ve cut twice this week and I’ve got 3 more mops waiting who I hope to get to this weekend. I like doing it. About halfway through I usually think, “WHAT AM I DOING TO THIS GUY? I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CUT HAIR! THIS IS GOING TO BE TERRIBLE!” But then by the end I’m totally astounded. He looks great and I can’t believe that I’m the one who did that. I have only one problem with it: some of the guys want it very short and when I’m done with them they look so clean and well-groomed. It just isn’t right. These are bush guys, and they should always look a bit disheveled, in my opinion. It just looks out of place to have these GQ guys at The Old House. But a couple of weeks go by and they are back to the way they should be: just a bit scruffy. I should take before and after photos and post them here. I bet only Craig will let me do that, and I just cut his hair on Tues. So it might be another month or so before you can see my handiwork. In other news, I have received my 2 wishes: a car (make that an awesome 4x4 SUV) and the internet at home (Pics below). Kasane life requires nothing more. Except fuel for the car. Here’s hoping the workers don’t strike in South Africa and the station owner here keeps the orders coming. Yep, I’m in Africa. On the mongoose front, I’ve encountered much frustration, especially the last 2 days. I’ve been trying to trap the troops that I’m observing with a new trap. It is huge and not portable. It takes 2 people (at least) and a trailer or safari truck to move. The first troop foiled me. They would go in it, but not at the right times (we need to catch them in the morning). Then they went in at the right time and I trapped them but they escaped. Always kinks to work out in a new system. Then they moved to a new location. So I decided to give up on them for now and start with a new troop. Pete (always my hero) helped me move the trap. The new troop loves it. Cool. So we were going to trap today. It seemed fool proof. Then, as the mongooses were looking towards the trap, beginning to make their move toward it, a huge, scary tractor drove between them and the trap. And the mongooses turned and booked it. Foiled again! We’ll try again on Monday. But how exceedingly frustrating. I needed this done a month ago. AND yesterday, the radio collar on one of the troops failed. Just died. Not even old. Grrr. So I called Pete (again) and he came out with the little traps and got that mongoose and replaced the collar. He put on the eartags I needed to a couple of other animals since they went into the traps too. Pete’s a legend. But unplanned trapping is never fun. Any kind of trapping is never fun. So the mongoose frustration has been intense. But there are always those little moments of joy. Like when I’m kneeling down for a few minutes to collect samples (read “mongoose poo” (eww)) and the mongooses come and lay down around me and look up at me and make their little happy mongoose noises. As if to say “we like you.” Thanks guys. I like you too.

NOT animals

9/2/2010 ADDITIONS TO THE "NOT ANIMALS" GALLERY A request for more pic ...

Updated: Sep 02, 2010 1:04pm EST

New Bots Photos : 8/24/2010 NOW THAT I HAVE INTERNET AT HOME I've put up new photos, most of them are from when Mom and Dad were here, but a few are from before. Mom and Dad and I had a great time while they were here. The first Sunday they were here they went to church (I had to work), then we went on a long game drive through Chobe National Park. At first Mom yelled every time we saw an animal ("ELEPHANTS!!"), but she got over that after a while! Thankfully, the animals were out in full force and showed that there is no place like Chobe NP. The next day we got on a little charter plane and flew up to the northern part of the Okavango Delta to Nguma Island Lodge. It was a beautiful place and we really enjoyed staying there. The bedded ensuite tents were pretty luxurious, and the food was great. The managers were a pleasure to talk with over dinner. We went on a mokoro trip on our full day there. Then we flew down to the Southeastern part of the Delta and camped there for a night. We had a fantastic guide. We saw plenty of wildlife, with the highlights being the very young baby giraffe and the 3 lionesses (both in the gallery below). Don't worry, the lionesses weren't near the baby giraffe! Then we rode to Maun and stayed there for one night before flying back to Kasane on Friday. The pilot was the same guy who took Dana and I from Maun to Kasane last year! I can't remember what we did on Saturday! Mostly recuperate I think. Sunday we went to church and then in the afternoon we went out on the river with Cornelia as our captain. The wildlife and birds of Chobe again came out to dazzle us, and we had a great afternoon on the boat. The next day I had to work, but we went on a night drive in Lesuma Valley for Mom and Dad's last night here. We didn't see lots of animals, but it wasn't bad. We got a glimpse of a hyena and a gennet, but they really only saw the eye shine, because by the time Pete and I identified what they were with the binoculars they were gone! They left on Tuesday for Vic Falls and I'm back to my regular routine with the mongooses!

New Bots Photos

8/24/2010 NOW THAT I HAVE INTERNET AT HOME I've put up new photos, mos ...

Updated: Aug 24, 2010 12:57pm EST

DC and Bots : 7/3/2010 LONG TIME NO UPDATE I realized that I haven’t given an update since I’ve been back in Kasane. I don’t have lots of pictures yet, but I put a selection in the album below. Since coming back to Botswana in May, I had to go back to the US last week, for an orientation in Washington DC. So I’ve got both Botswana pics and DC pics in the newest album. DC was fun, I saw some old friends and made some new ones. The pics below are from when I went with Victor, Phil, Jess, and Mike to the monuments at night. I only had my little automatic camera and it had a hard time figuring out how to take these pics, but I got it to work! The Botswana photos are from various times and places, and don’t have any interesting stories to go with them. But watching the football (that’s soccer, for Americans) here has been a lot of fun. I usually go to the restaurant/bar where the locals hang out, so I always know a lot of people. The place is called The Old House and is run by a great young couple. Its got a thatched roof and wooden floor, but there aren’t any walls, so we can watch the sun set over the Chobe River. There’s always something odd and funny going on. On Friday night, Holland was playing and the mom of the woman who runs the place is from there, so everything was orange! They had bought lots of a very cheap version of Cheetos, and they were enormous, and not very tasty, but strangely addictive. As some friends and I were eating dinner, the chicken that has adopted The Old House made her way to the place where she roosts above the bar. And I don’t mean that she roosts on the roof. She jumps from beam to beam above us until she makes here way to the wood that holds the recessed lighting over the bar and sleeps up there. Occassionally she wakes up and peaks down at the bartenders and those sitting around. Very strange chicken. After dinner, one guy decided to make the Cheeto wanna-bes into a contest: can you eat 10 in under a minute? I hold the women’s world record of 54 seconds, but Luke the bartender put us all to shame with a 26 second finish. Following this, another friend walked in with a horrendous haircut that his girlfriend had given him (she also admitted to its terrible quality). I told him that I gave my guy friends haircuts occasionally and he asked me to fix it. We asked the female bartender for scissor, she went and got them from the office and I proceeded to fix his hair. The guy bartender liked it so much, he asked me to come cut his the next day! I might become the town barber now. So it goes in Kasane!

DC and Bots

7/3/2010 LONG TIME NO UPDATE I realized that I haven’t given an update ...

Updated: Jul 10, 2010 9:39am EST

Sunday evening at the Short's (a.k.a. Bonnie took pictures of people!!) : That's right, pictures of people. I was testing out my camcorder/camera. Not too bad for a point and shoot. This was my last Sunday at Ekklesia Blacksburg, which makes me exceedingly sad. Our usual hanging out at the Short's after Sunday evening Bible study. Except this time there was a fire. And cake. And homemade hot apple cider. And we were celebrating 2 graduations and an engagement. And saying good bye to me :(

Sunday evening at the Short's (a.k.a. Bonnie took pictures of people!!)

That's right, pictures of people. I was testing out my camcorder/camer ...

Updated: May 14, 2010 6:07pm EST

"Mt." Rogers : HIKE UP MT. ROGERS I went on hike with Chris and his fam on Sat. We went up the highest "mountain" in VA. Its over 5,000 ft. But ya know, VA really just has big hills. Pics below. There are feral ponies on the way, but it fun to call them wild horses. The little animal is vole. Used my new 400mm zoom lens for it!

"Mt." Rogers

HIKE UP MT. ROGERS I went on hike with Chris and his fam on Sat. We we ...

Updated: Apr 05, 2010 12:36pm EST

Back in VA : First 2 pics are taken in heritage park. The rest are of mossy ash trees on campus that have acid leaching out from bacteria infection. It sounds terrible but it looks really pretty on the bark. There's also one of the bark of another kind of tree, a Chinese Elm, its really cool orange and gray.

Back in VA

First 2 pics are taken in heritage park. The rest are of mossy ash tre ...

Updated: Jan 23, 2010 6:35pm EST

Mongoose pups : 12/3/09 MOVING DAY After playing outside the den for a little while (pics below), the 5 pups got moved to a new den. I was sitting in a car in the path of the move, so I got pics of pups being carried to the new den.

Mongoose pups

12/3/09 MOVING DAY After playing outside the den for a little while (p ...

Updated: Dec 06, 2009 6:26am EST

Baby mongoose!! : 2/2/09 MONGOOSE PUPS It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Mongoose babies!!! The pups of this troop are just starting to take their first short peeks outside the den. I caught one on film! Or pixels, I guess. There was also an African harrier-hawk on their tree this morning, causing the adults much consternation. The babies didn’t get it, but the adults kept them inside except for a few seconds because of the danger. Enjoy in the gallery below. I added 3 more pics to the “Baby warthogs and heap of mongooses” gallery also.

Baby mongoose!!

2/2/09 MONGOOSE PUPS It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Mong ...

Updated: Dec 02, 2009 9:16am EST

Baby warthogs and mongoose pile : 11/29/09 BABY WARTHOGS AND A HEAP OF MONGOOSES Finally! I haven't been able to upload for a while, there was something wrong with my smugmug. But now it seems to be working after a few hours of troubleshooting, sooo.... Brace yourselves…you may think you have seen a cute thing or two in your day, but you are about to be taken to a new level of adorable-ness. Have you ever seen baby warthogs frolicking? Here is your chance. And some of it is with the mongooses! And if that isn’t enough to send your cuteness meter off the charts, we have a mongoose pile, up close and personal. I crawled to within about 6 feet of these little sleepers and snapped away from ground level. I’ve got them well habituated to me so when they occasionally woke and saw me, they just stretched, hugged their neighbor, and went back to snoozing.

Baby warthogs and mongoose pile

11/29/09 BABY WARTHOGS AND A HEAP OF MONGOOSES Finally! I haven't bee ...

Updated: Dec 02, 2009 8:50am EST

Recent Bots :

Recent Bots

Updated: Oct 31, 2009 8:43am EST

Vic Falls :

Vic Falls

Updated: Oct 15, 2009 6:31am EST

Cheeky Monkey and Friends :

Cheeky Monkey and Friends

Updated: Sep 07, 2009 11:28am EST

Mostly Monkey Business :

Mostly Monkey Business

Updated: Aug 29, 2009 10:28am EST

Okavango Delta :

Okavango Delta

Updated: Aug 16, 2009 7:45am EST

Mongoose cuteness :

Mongoose cuteness

Updated: Jul 22, 2009 11:30am EST

More of Africa :

More of Africa

Updated: Jul 22, 2009 10:57am EST

Chobe National Park Game Drive :

Chobe National Park Game Drive

Updated: Jul 22, 2009 9:50am EST

Sunset and mongooses :

Sunset and mongooses

Updated: Jun 16, 2009 4:59am EST

Dragon's Tooth :

Dragon's Tooth

Updated: May 15, 2009 7:13pm EST

Mountain Lake Hike :

Mountain Lake Hike

Updated: Apr 26, 2009 9:31am EST

Disney :

Disney

Updated: Mar 18, 2009 7:08pm EST

Liam-13 months : Liam at Momaw's (his great-grandmother's) and at Nettie and Grandad's.

Liam-13 months

Liam at Momaw's (his great-grandmother's) and at Nettie and Grandad's.

Updated: Mar 11, 2009 6:21pm EST

Cascades 2 :

Cascades 2

Updated: Feb 12, 2009 12:14pm EST

Africa Dec 2008 :

Africa Dec 2008

Updated: Dec 25, 2008 8:16am EST

Snowy hike in the Cascades :

Snowy hike in the Cascades

Updated: Nov 26, 2008 11:35am EST

Overlook :

Overlook

Updated: Nov 02, 2008 4:29pm EST

Church retreat :

Church retreat

Updated: Oct 13, 2008 8:24pm EST

Church :

Church

Updated: Sep 15, 2008 8:34am EST

Apples and house :

Apples and house

Updated: Aug 30, 2008 1:32pm EST

Rattie-roos :

Rattie-roos

Updated: Aug 16, 2008 1:51pm EST

Mistnetting :

Mistnetting

Updated: Jun 29, 2008 4:26pm EST

Backyard and Hike :

Backyard and Hike

Updated: Jun 21, 2008 4:50pm EST

Dogs (Killian, Barley, Sasha) :

Dogs (Killian, Barley, Sasha)

Updated: Jun 14, 2008 9:30am EST

Final Ichauway :

Final Ichauway

Updated: May 24, 2008 8:31pm EST

Old houses :

Old houses

Updated: Apr 27, 2008 4:01pm EST

More Ichauway :

More Ichauway

Updated: Apr 27, 2008 1:50pm EST

Recent animal encounters :

Recent animal encounters

Updated: Apr 08, 2008 6:04pm EST

Beetle and Beach :

Beetle and Beach

Updated: Mar 26, 2008 8:43pm EST

Eclipse :

Eclipse

Updated: Feb 21, 2008 4:52pm EST

Liam :

Liam

Updated: Feb 05, 2008 12:56pm EST

Ichauway :

Ichauway

Updated: Feb 04, 2008 1:28pm EST

Dogsitting downtown :

Dogsitting downtown

Updated: Nov 29, 2007 1:07pm EST

Baby Shower :

Baby Shower

Updated: Nov 08, 2007 3:46pm EST

Brit's wedding :

Brit's wedding

Updated: Oct 22, 2007 2:04pm EST

DC :

DC

Updated: Oct 01, 2007 8:57pm EST

Jones Park :

Jones Park

Updated: Sep 24, 2007 12:56pm EST

Hawaii :

Hawaii

Updated: Sep 19, 2007 9:52am EST

Around the house :

Around the house

Updated: Sep 11, 2007 2:41pm EST

Canada 2007 :

Canada 2007

Updated: May 14, 2007 5:09pm EST

Brit's NYC pics :

Brit's NYC pics

Updated: Dec 23, 2006 12:40pm EST

NYC Dec 2006 :

NYC Dec 2006

Updated: Dec 23, 2006 11:56am EST

Philly Zoo and South NJ :

Philly Zoo and South NJ

Updated: Nov 22, 2006 8:16pm EST

Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough, Ontario :

Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough, Ontario

Updated: Nov 22, 2006 8:00pm EST

Kansas City :

Kansas City

Updated: Nov 22, 2006 7:58pm EST

Utah's Hogle Zoo :

Utah's Hogle Zoo

Updated: Nov 22, 2006 7:54pm EST

Oakland Zoo and San Francisco :

Oakland Zoo and San Francisco

Updated: Oct 30, 2006 11:50am EST

Phoenix, AZ :

Phoenix, AZ

Updated: Oct 30, 2006 11:28am EST

Alexandria Zoo :

Alexandria Zoo

Updated: Oct 05, 2006 4:44pm EST

Monkey Jungle and LA Purchase Zoo : Everything except the gorilla is from LA Purchase zoo. The gorilla's name is King.

Monkey Jungle and LA Purchase Zoo

Everything except the gorilla is from LA Purchase zoo. The gorilla's n ...

Updated: Oct 05, 2006 10:15am EST

Lion Country Safari :

Lion Country Safari

Updated: Sep 20, 2006 5:47pm EST

Montgomery Zoo :

Montgomery Zoo

Updated: Sep 02, 2006 8:08pm EST

Naples, FL and surrounding : These are all the pics from the time during my internship at the Conservancy of SW FL. Ah, good times, good times.

Naples, FL and surrounding

These are all the pics from the time during my internship at the Conse ...

Updated: Aug 25, 2006 7:59pm EST

The Dogs : Sugar and Pete. There are lots of pics of Pete because he is particularly photogenic. Sugar is beautiful (if slighly "voluptuous") but as an older lab, she is a professional lounger, which doesn't lend itself to great pics.

The Dogs

Sugar and Pete. There are lots of pics of Pete because he is particu ...

Updated: Apr 03, 2006 7:23pm EST

Canada 2005 :

Canada 2005

Updated: Jan 21, 2006 3:58pm EST

Europe :

Europe

Updated: Jan 10, 2006 8:13pm EST

Burundi Africa :

Burundi Africa

Updated: Jan 10, 2006 7:59pm EST

Canada 2004 :

Canada 2004

Updated: Jan 10, 2006 4:27pm EST

Photo Timeline

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