Tag: photog

Bucket list

As we start the preparations for our move to the Amsterdam region, we also are thinking about what we will miss once we leave. So we’ve started a bucket list of things to do while we are still around. Number one for me was a visit to my favorite forest pool on the St Jansberg in Plasmolen. It never disappoints!

Other items on the list:

  • Lunch at the newly renovated castle Jachtslot Mookerheide
  • Dinner at the Plasmolense Hof
  • A visit to the Oriëntalis museum about Middle Eastern history and culture
  • A visit to the landscape museum in Berg en Dal

Roman temple

Did a beautiful hike today in the vicinity of Bad Münstereifel. A Roman sanctuary to the matrons – three goddesses – was very special to find. People had left some offerings, like Mexican coins and Dutch pre-Euro coins. They wanted to make a sacrifice but not one that’s actually worth something? What does that mean?

The town of Bad Münstereifel was badly damaged by the 2021 floods, now two years ago. The process of rebuilding is still ongoing, but it’s definitely worth a visit!

World Leopard Day

Apparently it is world leopard day today! Leopards are such special animals – solitary, secretive, hard to find and absolutely stunningly beautiful. I didn’t nearly see enough leopards on our recent trip to South Africa 🥲 but this one, just waking up, time to get moving, silhoueted against the sunset-sky was really special.

Buffalo

You wouldn’t say so, because buffalo traverse in large herds, but they are actually quite hard to find. After an afternoon speeding from one end of the Thornybush Game Reserve to the other, we finally found this old, angry, solitary male glaring at us after he had to get up from his personal spot on the beach. Hrmph.

Cubs

One of the highlights of our trip was finding this mother lion with two cubs in a river bed. At this age – maybe three months old – they are still reliant on mother’s milk and too little to engage in the hunt with the rest of the pride, so mother will hide them for long periods to go hunting and come back for feeding and play time.

Falling…

A leopard dozing in a tree above us. In fact, he was dozing so hard that he lost his balance and needed some claw action to prevent him from falling out of the tree and on top of… well, me. That was a scary moment!

At first sight

It was a long journey from the Netherlands to Tangala Safari Camp in #Thornybush Nature Reserve. We were just in time to catch the departure of the afternoon safari drive – and this was the first picture I took. What a welcome in South Africa!

On second glance

Sometimes you take a photo and you come back home and it just doesn’t do anything for you. If that’s the case, it may be worthwhile to take a second look at it a couple weeks later. This one matured pretty well!