Trip to Ethiopia

Some text

Posted with Blogsy

Namibia and Botswana

Few photographs were taken on this trip, especially of wildlife, as binoculars took over as the primary mode of viewing the country.

Camp site at Moremi, considered to be Botswana's most beautiful and well stocked game park.

 

Bogged down in the area approaching the Okavango Delta.

 

The camp cook

 

A stop in the Etosha game park for lunch.

On the Skeleton Coast is the Cape Cross Seal Colony. Home to approximately 80,000 to 100, 000 cape fur seals this is a major breeding ground for the species.

 

The town of Swakopmund is located on the Skeleton Coast. The town has a sizable population of people of german descent and is a popular tourist and holiday destination in Namibia. The town is famous for its half timbered houses and colonial-era buildings.

 

 

Damaraland has over 1,000 rock shelters exhibiting 45,000 examples of the rock art of the Khoisan people.

 

The Welwitschia plant is only seen on the gravel plains of the northern Namib desert. They are able to survive the harsh conditions due to a long tap root (over 3 metre). Despite its complicated appearance the plant has only two long intertwining leaves. They are some of the oldest plants in the world surviving for 1,000 to 2,000 years. The leaves contain compounds that make them unpalatable to grazing animials.

 

The Baobab and Dragon Trees are commonly sighted.

 

A group photograph at the Tropic of Capricorn, Namibia.

 

Sesriem Canyon has been carved by the Tsauchab River through 15 million year deposits of sand and rock. Approximately 1 km in length and 30 metre deep it provides a spectacular hiking trail shaded by the sun.

 

The Namib Desert, one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world.

 

Salt pan, Namib desert

 

The tour guide Thulani with the dunes of the Namib desert in the background.

 

Watching the sun rise from one of the highest dunes in the Namib

 

Spectacular dunes in the Namib.

 

Animals seen at Etosha game reserve include zebra, antelope, elephant and cheeta.

 

The view of the Okavango Delta from the air. The Okavango river is the third largest river in Africa and the delta covers approximately 16,000 sq km.

 

Boating in the delta is an excellent opportunity for bird watching.

 

The Bushman of the Kalahari

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Iran

 

Golestan Palace, Tehran

 

Segregated school class rooms, school on the outskirts of Tehran

 

Takht-I-Soleiman (Throne of Solomon), holiest shrine in Zoroastrism

 

City of Hamedan used to have a sizeable Jewish population. Now only 50 Jews remain.

 

Views of Persepolis, capital of Darius the Great. Founded 512 BC

 

Cliff face rock tomb of Darius I

 

Views of Esfahan's Imam Square

 

Interior of buildings lining Iman Square, Esfahan

 

Beautiful interior of a mosque

 

The people of Iran

 

Tomb of Cyrus, Pasargadae

 

Examples of Islamic pottery and wall carvings

 

Chehel Sotun Palace, Isfahan

 

Locals admiring examples of Islamic architecture

 

Grand Bazaar, Shiraz

 

Traditional tea house, Isfahan

 

Bridge over the Zayandeh River, Esfahan and relaxing in hotel gardens, Esfahan

 

Mountain village of Abyaneh has remained largely intact since Safavid times. Local woman in traditional constume

 

Islamic bathhouse and elaborate roof chimneys

 

Holy Shrine of Imam Khomeini, devotees chanting "death to America"

 

Cemetry at Behesht-E Zahara. Main resting place for those who died in the Iraq-Iranian War (1980-88). Each glass box devoted to a loved one: 200,000 tombs in total.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy