Some years ago the Wanderlust magazine used to have a regular feature in which it asked contributors and readers: What are you? Mountain, Desert, Jungle or Ocean?
-
-
The wide waters of the Chobe River form the northern boundary of the national park of the same name. They divide Botswana from its neighbour Namibia to the north. But of course the wildlife that teems on its shores, in its waters and in the skies above knows no national borders. And nor does the sun, which sets and rises on all.
-
The fashion editor Diana Vreeland once said, ‘Pink is the navy blue of India’ and in Rajasthan I certainly saw why she would say that. Everywhere we went the women were dressed in the most gorgeous shades of that colour. Among all the wonderful colours that I remember from our time there, it is pink – a shocking pink – that stands out.
-
I have always been fascinated by the moon. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in the 1960s, during the space race era. I remember vividly being woken by my father to watch Neil Armstrong’s famous ‘first step’; and the wonder I felt at being able to see these grainy images beamed into our living room from the silver disc I saw in the night sky.
-
‘We'll always have Paris’ – true not only for Rick and Ilsa (in Casablanca) but also for me and my husband. We spent our honeymoon there; I’ve celebrated several significant birthdays there; and with a short journey by train on the Eurostar, it is the easiest European city for us to visit.
-
As one of the rainiest places in the US, the Olympic Peninsula coast is notorious for bad weather. So we counted ourselves fortunate to experience slightly damp but by no means unpleasant conditions.
-
As mind-boggling statistics go, reading that there are estimated to be 10,000 waterfalls in the relatively small country of Iceland is up there with the best! From tiny streams trickling down a hillside to cascades as wide as they are tall, Iceland has everything a waterfall lover can want.
-
Nikko’s Futarasan shrine is only five minutes’ or so walk from its more famous neighbour, Toshogu, but it seemed to us that we were in a different world. The crowds had dissipated, leaving just a handful of tourists and some local families. We strolled around in a much more leisurely way than had been possible at Toshogu, taking photos and soaking up the tranquil atmosphere and the rich colours of the leaves just starting to take on their autumn hues.
-
Or so the old rhyme goes. Actually of course, violets are violet, somewhere between red and blue. When I was young I used to say that green was my favourite colour, and I still love it, but shades of purple and deep pink have edged it into second place these days.
-
Wildlife photography isn’t all about those ‘ah, how cute’ moments, but there are plenty of them to be discovered, nevertheless. And never more so than when photographing animal babies. These adorable animals play on our evolutionary desires to care for the young and helpless of our own species. I try to avoid falling into the trap of anthropomorphising these little ones, but I’m not immune to their charms.
