For a few weeks during February and March each year blue whales, the world's largest mammals, visit the the Sea of Cortez off the eastern coast of the Baja California Sur peninsular. They come to calve, mate and feed on the krill that flourishes in its rich waters.
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Stay in the right place and you may find you don’t have to stray far from your accommodation to see beautiful birds. Such a spot is Mandina Lodge in Gambia, a few miles inland and a million miles away in spirit from the coastal resorts.
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How do most grandparents respond when asked to do something by their grandchildren? They try their best to oblige, of course. So when, on our recent visit to Paris, our friend Pete mentioned that he had promised to send his grandchildren a photo of himself by the Eiffel Tower and to buy them miniature towers, we all agreed to accompany him on this mission.
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There are luxury resorts all over the world where you can, if you want, relax on a beach knowing that you and your fellow guests will have it to yourselves. No one will intrude to disturb the illusion of perfection or remind you that you are (quite probably) in a third world country. Eden Lodge, on Baobab Beach, where we spent our last few days in Madagascar, is definitely not such a spot.
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Did you know that there is a World Lemur Day? No, nor did I, until we happened to find ourselves in Madagascar on the last Fridy of October which is when it is celebrated. It was wonderful in any case to be able to view these beautiful animals in their natural setting, but especially so to do so on their special day!
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Many of the fascinating and endemic creatures of Madagascar are nocturnal. Frogs, geckos, chameleons and lemurs all include some species that prefer the cover of darkness. So to see them you have to get out at night too, of course.
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There are a lot of reasons to visit Madagascar, but for most people the biggest draw is lemurs. These cute animals are endemic to the country, having evolved there separately to apes and monkeys, their closest relatives. And of all the lemurs the one I most wanted to see, and hear, was the Indri.
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My interest in Frank Lloyd Wright was sparked by Paul Simon's song on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. Over the intervening decades I’ve seen many images of his buildings, read a bit about them, and visited one, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. But only one.
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When out with my camera I often ‘shop’ for windows, seeking out ones that might make interesting images. Whether peering through them, looking for reflections or simply enjoying the geometry of their frames, windows make great subjects for photography.
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Of course if you want to see Paris from a high viewpoint you can do as many tourists do and go up the Eiffel Tower. Or you can stand on the steps in front of the Sacré Coeur on the hill of Montmartre. And once those obvious tourist boxes are ticked, there are still plenty of other options.
