Well we went out on two game drives today. Saw many animals, and they were out in herds today which was pretty cool. We were on the outskirts of the game reserve and we ran into a big herd of Giraffe. I love Giraffes, they’re so funny. A lot of them came up real close to our truck. I snapped this photo.
We have 2 more game drives tomorrow before we head to Rome on Wednesday.
Well we woke up around 7AM to get ready for our day. We met our guide Philmone and went out for our morning drive. The goal of the drive was to find some Rhinos. They only have 6 white rhino, and 1 black rhino on the reserve. We were up in the hills and our guide spotted something that looked like a rhino. Indeed it was, and as we were sitting there, we didn’t realize there were 2 more behind a big bush. There was a mother and her 5 day old baby rhino. This was a great find
We then continued around, finding tons of other animals. Many zebras and giraffes. We also found some elephants. They got pretty upset with us, and they started charging at us. It was pretty frightening since they could kill us very, very easily.
After lunch we went to a cheetah rehabilitation center. They more than just cheetahs there. They had a few different types of endangered cats, including African cats. The cheetahs were very cool, but also very mean.
After this we came back and had a very nice dinner at the game lodge. We treated our guide to a dinner with our whole group, and instead of sitting with people we came on the safari with, we mixed up the seating to talk to other people we have in our group. I am by far the youngest person on safari here, but it’s not that big of a deal.
Well we woke up early, met out guide, and heading out for a two hour drive to Tembe Elephant Park which is on the elephant coast. We stopped at a market on the way to get some snacks. The supermarket there was sortof like the ones back home, but everything else there was not. There were about 200 locals just hanging out around it. We arrived at the park, which is basically in Mozambique. We were only expecting to see elephants, but we managed to find a bunch of lions. It was awesome to see them.
We also saw many African elephants. They look big from far away, but when they get really really close to you, they’re huge.
Well today was pretty cool. Africa is so beautiful. We went out on 2 game drives. One this morning, and one in the afternoon till sunset. We saw many, many animals. We saw Nyala, Water Buffalo, Cheetahs, Impalla, Warthogs, Wildebeest, Elephants, and many other things. We’re in a group with a few other people, and they’re all very nice to be with. The internet here is Satellite internet that is beamed with microwave dishes from the other side of the mountain. Needless to say, it’s very, very slow. I struggled to get this one photograph online, but it’s a photograph of a mother cheetah and her babies, that are four days old. I’ll try to post one photograph a day if I can manage.
We made it safely to Johannesburg, then took another flight to our destination followed with a 2 hour car trip. But we are finally settled in the game lodge. The internet here is painfully slow, so uploading photos might not work, but we will see.
We decided we wanted to see Stonehenge while we were here in England, and the best way to do it was to take an organized tour with a company. We chose a 10-hour bus tour, which proved to be very very long, but definitely worth it. First, we stopped at Salisbury Cathedral which is an ancient cathedral with a spire that is over 400-feet tall. It was beautiful. They had no photography policy really, which was a nice bonus for me. Here are some shots of the place.
We then took a short ride through the countryside to Stonehenge. The English countryside is gorgeous. And the fields are covered in canola flowers.
We then took a 45 minute drive to the town of Bath. It’s named Bath because of the Roman Baths that were built there very long ago. The town is very old as well. All of the buildings are still in their original forms and it’s just a very cool place to visit.
Tonight we have an overnight flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. Hopefully that goes well. There are more photos from our trip in England here… http://scotteisenphotography.smugmug.com/Travel/London/
Well my father and I are safely in London, and just finished up our first full day here. We flew in pretty late Sunday night, and made it to our hotel without any issues. London Heathrow airport closed a few hours after we landed though because of Volcanic Ash in the area.
We got some sleep and got up early to go out and explore. We wanted to go to Westminster Abbey, but on the way we stopped at Westminster Cathedral. The cathedral was very very old and very ornate. It was also nice because you didn’t have to pay an entrance fee. Here are a few photos from inside.
There was also a tower that you could go up in, so we did that and I snapped a few photos from up there.
We then walked back on the street towards Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, you couldn’t shoot photographs inside of it, but we could shoot as much as we wanted outside of it, so here are some photos of that.
We stopped for lunch at a small tavern place right near the Abbey and then took a quick look at Big Ben and the waterfront surrounding it.
After that we heading towards Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. The palace was huge and the whole area was very crowded but it was definitely worth checking out.
We also stopped by a few parks on our way back and also checked out the Royal Guards Museum. Tomorrow we are going on an all day trip to a few locations including Stonehenge.
Well I’m about to head out of the place I call home here in Massachusetts and fly across the ocean to England. I’m not really expecting anything super-cool and different about England. I am not also very concerned about what could happen there at all. It’s supposed to be pretty safe. I’ll be in London.
After London is where my worry begins, but so does my excitement. We’re flying from London to Johannesburg, South Africa. Thankfully, we’re not staying in Jo’burg for more than 2 hours for our layover. It’s supposed to be crazy-dangerous, and I’m not really a fan of dangerous and sketchy places. We’re hopping on a small jet from there to a place called Richard’s Bay. There we will meet our driver who will then drive us to the game reserve we are staying at. It’s supposed to be around a 2 hour drive from the airport to the reserve. As soon as we get there, and get settled, I think I’ll be able to chill out and finally be in vacation mode.
We will be there for 6 nights as far as I know. We will have 2 game drives a day, one early in the morning, and one before sunset. We’re probably going to go on a few expeditions from where we are staying. One of them will probably be to a bigger reserve that has a lot of lions, the other expedition will be to a cheetah and leopard rehabilitation center which should be pretty interesting.
Hopefully we will meet a lot of interesting people while in Africa.
After our stay in Africa, we will make out way back to the airport and fly back towards Europe. We will be traveling to Rome, Italy, but on the way we stop in Madrid for a layover. Unfortunately we aren’t going to be exploring Madrid at all. We will be arriving in Rome at night, getting a ride to the hotel, and going to sleep! We will have one full day to explore rome, and 2 half days.
After Rome we are flying to London again for one night before our flight back to Boston. I plan on posting updates from the trip here if we have internet access, and if the access is good enough, maybe a few photos.
Well 2 bands I really liked played the House of Blues the other night. I have seen Angels and Airwaves twice before, and only photographed them one of those times, in less than ideal conditions. Same goes for Say Anything. Thankfully the House of Blues usually has sweet lighting so I was pumped. Say Anything opened with a powerful set, and frontman Max Bemis always works the crowd. Angels and Airwaves, who have a sort-of space themed type of music also rocked.
Angels and Airwaves
Say Anything
I was pretty upset when I had heard 2 of my favorite bands were touring this summer, and coming to Boston when I wasn’t going to be in town. One of these bands is called Circa Survive. Their new album is out tomorrow, it’s awesome. Anyways, I was recently tipped off they were playing acoustic in Massachusetts about a month before the big show. Well lucky for me, I made it out and got to get some photos of one of my favorite singers, Anthony Green, who fronts Circa Survive!
