The virgin landscapes of Antarctica
Antarctica is a very special place for me. It is the coldest, driest and windiest continent. It is so hostile an environment that there are no permanent inhabitants. That such a hostile place can be so hauntingly beautiful is very special.
I have always had a fascination with vast open spaces and wildernesses. I don’t think I was much older than five years old when I announced to my parents that I wanted to go to the Outer Hebrides. After poring over a map of the UK in school I had singled out this set of islands as being remote and I wanted to go. I don’t think I knew Antarctica existed at the time or I am sure I would have chosen that instead.
It is the journey in every sense of the word that makes me love these places. Remote places are difficult to get to but that makes them raw, wild, largely untouched and completely authentic. It is as it is. No one has tried to mold these places to fit the tourist. Not yet anyway.
As the ultimate wilderness, I felt priviledged to visit Antarctica. The raw beauty of the place took my breath away. I don’t think I was expecting much more than penguins and icebergs to be honest. That would have been enough. The countless glaciers and massive mountain peaks as a permanent backdrop was a total surprise. We also did not come into contact with any other groups or travelling parties throughout the trip. It felt like we were alone to experience this huge continent by ourselves.
It was difficult for me to choose a photo to sum this up but I think this one comes close. Everything against the landscape looks so small in Antarctica – boats, wildlife, people. The landscape dominates and you have no choice but to respect it. I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with Antarctica.
Read more about our holidays to Antarctica or read our holiday guide to Antarctica.
Swimming with a sea turtle in Bahia Gardener, Galapagos
The photo was taken in Bahia Gardener on the western side of Isabela Island in the Galapagos.
I was on day five of a Galapagos cruise holiday on board Cachalote which is a charming but fairly small sail boat. The previous night had been the roughest of the journey as we rounded the southern tip of Isabela against the full force of the prevailing winds. At around 5am we came around the headland and into the still waters of the lee side of the island. It was a wonderful morning to stand on deck with a cup of coffee, enjoying the stillness.
What makes the western side of Isabela so lovely is that relatively very few boats have permission to visit. Whilst landings in the middlemost islands of the archipelago are very well managed, you are usually aware of a few other boats. Out on the far shores of Isabela this just isn’t the case and you really get a welcome sense of remoteness.
Gardener Bay is one of the few wet landing sites – i.e. you hop out of the zodiac into thigh deep sea and walk up onto the beach. From here there is a path leading off into a baking hot dry forest which is home to land iguanas and also giant tortoises, apparently. The tortoises weren’t coming out to play the day we visited so we headed back to the beach where we could relax, read, swim or snorkel.
At this particular site, you can swim anywhere within the bay so I took advantage of the freedom to float off snorkelling on my own. A few minutes later I came across this turtle, grazing on seaweed. For the next 20 minutes or more we drifted together, at times literally inches apart. There was nobody else out in the bay, no big group to rejoin, just time alone to swim with a sea turtle.
That was the moment it struck me how privileged I was to be in the Galapagos, how lucky we are that this place even exists.
You can read more in our guide to the Galapagos islands or on our Galapagos cruises page
Blue and yellow macaw in flight
I took this photo at dawn deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the Tambopata Reserve to be precise. These are imaginatively named blue and yellow macaws on their way for breakfast at the clay lick. Not just any clay lick but what is thought to be the largest parrot/macaw clay lick in the world.
It certainly seemd that way on the morning we visited. Positioned about 50m from the cliff on a small island in the middle of the Tambopata River, we had a grandstand view of proceedings. Actually, when we arrived it was before dawn so we had a grandstand view of the pitch black if I’m honest.
However, as dawn gradually broke, the trees all around us began to fill with squawking and screeching parrots and macaws. Expectations grew but for a long time no birds would commit to the clay. They don’t every day. If it’s cloudy they might not come. If there’s a hint of any predators, they won’t land. You never really know until the first bird makes a break for it. Then all hell breaks loose as the trees disgorge thousands of noisy, colourful visitors onto the cliff. We were lucky. For an hour or more the cliff was ablaze with a mass of flapping birds.
Parrots are amazing creatures, so colourful that it is hard to believe that they are products of nature instead of some cosmetic creation for bird fanciers. The scarlet macaw is the most extraordinary because of the sheer range and vibrancy of colours but oddly enough, they do sort of blend into the Amazonian environment. It’s the blue and yellow macaws who stand out the most, that’s why I love this photo. It’s also not easy to get anything like a decent photo of a bird in full flight with a pretty ordinary camera on full zoom so I was a bit chuffed.
I just know you have two burning questions in your minds:
1) What on earth is the difference between a parrot and a macaw?
Well, I’m sure there are more deep seated and interesting differences between the species but for a means of quick identification, parrots have feathers all over their heads whereas macaw have bald cheeks. There, saved you from that embarassing moment when you don’t know whether to enquire after Aunty Deirdre’s parrot or macaw.
2) What on earth are either of them doing snacking on clay?
Apparently there are some quite powerful toxins in the nuts and fruit on which the birds generally feed. The clay found on the local riverbanks contains a form af antidote or helps the birds digest the toxins safely. They don’t need to eat it every day, they just need to keep themselves nicely topped up.
Read more about our holidays to Peru or you might find our guide to Peru helpful.