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Happy birthday to me
2 Comments »16th November, 2011; Category: Adelaide, Adelaide Hills, Animals, Birds, Himalayas, Photos
Yes indeed – it is my birthday today.
As a treat for my many readers, today we will have something a little different. Instead of an article about somewhere I’ve travelled to, I want to share some photos of my favourite places.
Enjoy.
If you’d like to leave a birthday message in the comments section, that would also be great.
Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria
Ama Dablam, Nepal
Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour
Giant Panda, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
Please don’t wake the tiger
Tiger, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
During our visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney last year we had good views of the tiger shown in the photo above. I was carrying my 19 month old grandson at the time and he delighted in growling like a tiger while pointing at the animal – much to the amusement of the many people nearby. I was amazed at how low his growl was, considering his age. We had a good laugh about it. Fortunately the tiger slept on.
On my trip to Nepal in 2006 I went on an elephant safari ride through the jungle in Chitwan National Park in the south of the country. Although there are tigers in this area, sightings are quite rare. By way of compensation for not seeing one, we had excellent views of several rhinos, as well as many other animals and birds.
Further reading:
- Travels in Nepal - an archive of articles about my time in Nepal
- Tigers in Nepal
Himalayan Black Bear
Himalayan Black Bear
The Himalayan Black Bear is also known as the Asiatic Black Bear, the Tibetan Black Bear or the Moon Bear. It is a medium sized sharp clawed black coloured bear. It has a distinctive white or cream V marking on its chest. It is closely related to the American Black Bear.
The Asiatic Black Bear has a wide distribution range spanning from the east to west of the Asian continent. This bear can be found in the forests of hilly and mountainous areas in East Asia and South Asia, including South Korea, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, southern Siberia in Russia, northeastern China, Taiwan and Japan.
I found it very sad to observe the bear shown in the photo above on display in the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. Its cage was rather small and very uninteresting to the bear who was constantly on the move, obviously very bored with its enclosure. At least Australian zoos try to display this species in large airy enclosures that try to simulate its normal habitat. The keepers here also go to great lengths to keep the animals stimulated in many ways.
In today’s more enlightened world there is no excuse for displaying animals in the way shown in Kathmandu.
Top 5 Scenery Photos
Over the last fifteen months since starting this travel blog I have shared a vast number of photos from my photo gallery. This gallery now has over 850 photos posted, 550 of them mine; the remainder have been taken by either my son or my wife.
I thought I’d share with you my five favourite photos of scenery.
1. Ama Dablam, Nepal
Without doubt my favourite photo so far would have to be this shot of the mountain Ama Dablam taken while on a trek towards Mt. Everest. This magnificent mountain dominates the path taken up through this amazing part of Nepal. I love this photo so much I have used it as the wallpaper photo on my computer.
Ama Dablam, Nepal
2. Scene near Monjo, Everest region, Nepal
This amazing mountain was the backdrop from our lodge in Monjo, a small village we stayed in on our trek towards Mt. Everest. I don’t know its name and I haven’t the time to do the research to find out.
Scene from our lodge in Monjo, Nepal
3. Yak and Yeti Lodge, Everest region, Nepal
This beautiful scene was photographed on our trek through the Himalayas last year. We didn’t stay in this beautiful lodge.
Yak and Yeti Lodge
4. Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens, near Adelaide, South Australia
This beautiful scene is typical of many such photos one could take in the Adelaide Hills and the Mt. Lofty Ranges near Adelaide in South Australia. I feel privileged to live just a half hour drive from numerous scenes like this. Readers of my blog Trevor’s Writing will recognise this photo because it has been used in the banner on the home page.
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
5. Waitpinga Beach, South Australia
South Australia, my home state, has a long coastline. Scenes like this one can be seen in many different locations.
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.
To view more of my photos go to my photo gallery.
Special note: This article was inspired by the Group Writing Project being run by Darren Rowse on his blog ProBlogger. This article is NOT an entry in the project; my entry can be found here on Trevor’s Birding.
UPDATE: I have also written an article called Top 5 Writing Hints on my blog called Trevor’s Writing.
On a clear day in Kathmandu
Himalayas from a street in Kathmandu
One of the downsides of visiting Kathmandu is coping with the pollution. Because the Kathmandu Valley is like a natural amphitheatre, pollution from the city tends to sit over the city for long periods of time. I found the atmosphere to be somewhat distressing at times, and a dry throat is one’s constant companion.
Sometimes a breeze comes along and clears the air. It is then that one can fully appreciate the stunningly amazing setting of this city. With a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance, this has to be one of the more beautiful settings for a capital city anywhere. It’s just a pity that the view is restricted to a smoky haze for most of the year.