In recent years I’ve been fortunate to celebrate my birthday in a number of different places. A memorable day in Ecuador visiting Cotopaxi, which was somewhat spoiled by an attack of altitude sickness! An even more memorable one in Ranthambore National Park in India, where a guide promised to find me a birthday tiger – and did! A day spent travelling to the Atacama in Chile, one of my dream destinations. A number of birthdays in Paris, including my 40th when my husband surprised me with a weekend visit. And a lovely birthday weekend three years ago in Lucca, Italy.
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We had learned to dance in the rain on Iceland’s Golden Circle; now today we were dancing in sunshine! Well, OK, not exactly dancing but certainly smiling. The sun was shining for the first time in several days. We, all friends from the Virtual Tourist community, were enjoying each other’s company at a wonderful weekend gathering. And we were off to explore the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, so packed with scenic spots that it has been dubbed ‘Iceland in Miniature’.
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What do you think of when you imagine a traditional British seaside resort? My guess is that Brighton would have pretty much everything on your list.
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What does a Golden Circle sound like to you? Something shiny for sure, and probably bright. And on a sunny day I am sure Iceland’s most popular tourist route is exactly that. But when I was there a few years ago with Virtual Tourist friends, it was anything but. If ever we needed to learn to dance in the rain, it was today!
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It takes a certain amount of sacrifice and discomfort to visit El Tatio. For one thing, you will sacrifice sleep, as all tours leave very early in the morning. The steam from the geysers is most active and visible at dawn, so you need to be there before sunrise. You must also be prepared to be very cold and to cope with altitude; the geyser field is at 4,200 metres above sea level. So is it worth it? Oh yes!
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Looking for the ‘ah-ha’ seems to me to be an excellent mantra for any photographer. Although in truth I sometimes search for that not by stepping back but by zooming in. For me the important thing is not to settle for the obvious, for the first angle that occurs to me.
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The Empty Quarter, otherwise known as Rub’ Al Khali, is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world. It is so-called because this huge stretch of unbroken sand has defeated kings, adventurers, and nomads for thousands of years. In a region defined by deserts, the Rub’ Al Khali has come to be known as among the most daunting and inhospitable. And it is on an unfathomable scale.
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New Mexico dubs itself the ‘Land of Enchantment’ and indeed we were enchanted. What delighted us most was the variety. In two and a half weeks we saw natural wonders and man-made. We followed trails worn down over the centuries by the moccasin-clad feet of early inhabitants; and sat in the cramped confines of a Mercury capsule. We marvelled at the legends of those early Native Americans, and at the tales of aliens crashing near Roswell.
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'Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.' (Kahil Gebran) And if every tree is a poem, a tree that stands alone is perhaps a performance poem - a poem that is shouted to the heavens?
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Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway, is recognised as one of the most scenic drives in the North West, possibly in the entire US. It is the only real road through this vast wilderness of mountains, glaciers and lakes which constitute the North Cascades National Park.
