In comparison to the previous horse this one looks radiant and healthy. People in rural Dominican Republic (and many Latin American places) are almost born in the saddle and it looks so elegant and easy.. Now me on the other hand after a couple of kilometers…!!??
Category Archives: Animals
Horse drama in Viñales!
One day leaving the guesthouse where I stayed in Viñales/Cuba for a walk, I almost immediately stumbled into this scene. The horse, probably fatigued and mal nourished had slipped. The owner eventually got some help to put the horse on his feet and a bit later they continued to wherever they where heading….
In Cuba Fidel Castro is often refered to as “El Caballo” : The Horse
22 meters below!
One of the highlights on my two-week visit at the Seychelles was the dive at the Ave Maria rock! You´ll see it as the silhouette island in one of the images.
It was me, the dive master and three french doctors who had arrived from La Reunion to do some sailing around the Seychelles archipelago on board an impressive catamaran. So I was in good hands..
Ave Maria is a granite rock that offers some nice diving conditions. White tip reef sharks are often spotted around here. The variety of life is astonishing as you can see on the images.
One of the interesting creatures we encountered was the Scorpionfish. It´s much like a chameleon. It is also very venomous, so don’t provoke! I have enhanced the fish sharpness and contrast and as you see it’s still hard to discover. Clue: you find the eyes at the lower part of photo.
After the visit to the underworld the french divers were a little disappointed for not having seen any sharks despite of my bleeding leg!! (collision with some corrals)
Bonus YouTube film from Seychelles Thank you Cinicas.
All photos taken with Canon Powershot S-100 with UW-house. This was my second visit under water with a camera. It´s tricky!
Breakfast in Santarem!
View from the breakfast terrace at my hostel in Santarem, Brazil.
A vulture drying his wings and the boats arriving and leaving on the Amazon river. Nothing beats a tropical breakfast with fresh “jugo de Maracuja” (passion fruit) and a panorama like that..
(Photo converted to black and white, added some sepia tone)
What are you staring at?
You shouldn´t!
pick your nose.. even if you are a Fruit bat!!
Going for octopus!
I met Adrian Willington a couple of weeks ago when taking a bicycle tour around the Seychelle island of La Digue. He was walking along the sea-shore carrying a big octopus and of course my curiosity was awaken
He told me that he was working as a security guard at night but during the day he used to go fishing for octopus and had done so since he was young.
After chatting with him for a while I asked if I could go with him the next time he was going fishing. That’s okay, he said. Two days later he came by the guesthouse where I was staying and a little later we took off by bicycle towards the beach where he usually goes fishing.
His tools are a bit dated. The flippers are not in best shape and there is a big hole in his wetsuit. He uses a couple of metal sticks to dig out the octopuses! It’s a great experience to accompany and observe the Seychellois diver. We are swimming around a pretty extensive area during more or less 3 hours!
When Adrian spots his prey he is capable of diving down to ten meters depth and stay down for a couple of minutes.
The area where we hunt is also a superb snorkel spot and the place is steaming with fishes of all colors and shape. I see a couple of sea turtles, stingrays and so on.
Adrian says that he almost daily sees sharks when his out but makes no drama about that!
Congratulations.. you´re alive!
Everything is not sunshine and eternal smiles even if you are in the Seychelle paradise.
First of August 2011 a 36 years old French tourist was eaten alive by a shark in the famous Anse Lazio beach in the island of Praslin. He was swimming about 50 meters from the shore.
The reaction from local authority’s and tourist sector was apparently to talk with a whispering voice about an eventual boat propeller accident.
No warning signs was put up!!
16 of August, two weeks later, the second tragedy occurred, same place, now a British tourist. His wife sins ten days stood screaming at the beach while the blue waters turned red. The hush-hush strategy from officials and other affected sectors showed to be a fatal mistake.. the story exploded on world media.
3 policemen were assigned to watch at the beach, a warning sign and a shark protection net was put up (still no mentioning about sharks though)
Now the big hunt begun!
A number of boats with machine gun crews ordered to shoot on sight were called in to catch the “beast”, most likely a Great White shark. One of the boats a 90ft trawler had the name “Amity”. Those who have seen the Spielberg film Jaws understand the irony in that.
The local Seychellois are still somewhat in shock.. I have personally heard the expression
“foreign sharks in our friendly waters” repeatedly. and talks about “Great whites from South Africa”
Trying hard to clear my mind from these disturbing facts I was walking the very very very narrow road on the Praslin island that leads to Anse Lazio.
Just a minute earlier I had passed a curve (those of you who have been in the Seychelles understand the magnitude of the word curve in this nation) and spotted the bus stop I was looking for.
Then suddenly a terrible, loud crash on the spot where i just had walked, palm trees cracking like toothpicks…. I immediately understood it must have been a car crash of some kind. Ran back towards the curve and saw a big truck upside down beside the road. Screamed at some nearby persons to call an ambulance. I was absolutely convinced that nobody could have survived that type of accident!
Filled with anxiety about what I was going to witness and of course that I would have to do whats necessary to help injured people!!
One guy had climbed down before me to aid the driver (and passengers??)
The miracle occurred when I observed the driver in shock get out of his truck cabin and as far as I could see with no fractures no blood.
He just stood there pale, (thats him on the photo) with an empty look on his face for a long while staring at his big truck with the wheels in the air and gasoline leaking out of the tank. Lots of people approaching screaming loudly.
After a while when it was evident that no one else had been in the “camion” I put my hand on the drivers shoulder and said “congratulations.. you´re alive!”
Ten minutes later the bus towards Anse Lazio arrived. I entered, asked the driver if he had seen the accident (obviously!) and muttered something about “please take it slow” found an empty seat and as the only passenger on the bus I fastened my seatbelt!
!!
Made three magnificent dives during my visit to the Seychelles.
As a guest in another world that belongs to its inhabitants we are to show respect to their environment. Some of the creatures in this world are predators by instinct. They are not “beasts”. The risk though of being attacked is minimal unless you are behaving in an ignorant or provocative manner.
In nearby future posts I will share some of the beauty I saw in the big blue!
And yes I dipped myself in the sea that day at Anse Lazio, inside the protection net. The day after my visit the net was removed!!
Drive carefully and fasten your seatbelt!
There is no such thing as..
paradise.. but The Seychelles surely comes close!
The Eco system appears to be in balance, people in general seem happy and the two Giant tortoises definitely had their moment in paradise this morning. (got my attention at breakfast doing their donkey like love noise)
The sea turtle I met yesterday when diving at the “Ave Maria” rock! White tip reef sharks often seen at that spot, but we were not lucky on this dive. Millions of other under water creatures made me happy anyway!
In one of the images you see the sun drop behind Silhouette island.
Jemmy posing at his restaurant at Grand Anse in La Digue, the smallest of the three principal islands in Sheychelles. The rhythm of life here is slow, main transportation is bicycle and ox cart.
Finally treasure island?? Well actually it´s Coco island.
Mon meyer ve. (best wishes)
Håkan
Walking the dog!
An old man and his “compañero” walking the streets of Guanabacoa, Havana at nightfall!
Håkan Rönnblad 