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  • Lockdown Day 6 - South Africa<br />
.<br />
When you are in such close confines every day you do start to see things that perhaps you need to see? This tree and plant against a wall became a desert landscape with sand dunes and cool shade. I simply loved the single, round headed plant and it’s shadow companion but equally I live all the shadows, shadows that wouldn’t even have existed if it were not for that wall. Don’t ask me ‘why’ the wall has a graduated sunset appearance, but it did! .<br />
No news again today about any rescue flight, it’s Grounded Hog Day every day - but we have heard the lockdown in South Africa is about to be increased 😞
    AOP-16-GD002454.jpg
  • Between mountain ranges high above the South Africa coast en route to Mossel Bay
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  • Vast harvested fields on the Western Cape, South Africa. I was surprised, being my first visit to Africa, just how lush and productive the land is in this region.
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  • On the mountain plains high above the South Africa coast en route to Mossel Bay
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  • Between 300 and 400 wagons of iron ore are pulled by up to eight locomotives in a huge behemoth of a train on this Ore Export Line. The train connects the iron ore mines near Sishen in the Northern Cape with the port at Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape. I’ve never seen such a long train ever. The total vehicle length stretches for over three miles and took an age to pass under the bridge below my feet. Everything about Africa is huge but this gigantic train really gave some emphasis to the vast distances between destinations here in South Africa.
    GD002169.jpg
  • A giraffe holds her head high above the thick bush at a game reserve near Oudtshoorn in South Africa.
    GD002247.jpg
  • On the mountain plains high above the South Africa coast en route to Mossel Bay
    GD002379.jpg
  • Comical but very cute African Penguins at Boulders Beach south of Cape Town, South Africa
    GD002296.jpg
  • A solitary Quiver Tree bakes in afternoon sunlight in the middle of a vast desert landscape south the Orange River (the border between South Africa and Namibia)
    GD002250.jpg
  • Youngsters play and walk their dogs on the stunning windswept West coast beach of Melkbosstrand, North of Cape Town, South Africa
    GD002116.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 9 - South Africa<br />
<br />
Shot on my Sony for a change - so many metaphor rich images in this project. Can’t wait to be flying, though super nervous about being amongst so many potential carriers alongside us!
    AOP-23-GD002478.jpg
  • One of a long series of images taken during complete lockdown, stranded in South Africa
    AOP-28-GD002451.jpg
  • Ostriches dotted the rolling landscape on the Garden Route in South Africa. The hills were massive, but the low swirling cloud made them appear even bigger. I kept pinching myself to keep things real as everything just seemed so ‘surreal’ – ostriches as numerous and widespread as sheep in Wales!<br />
<br />
What I have noticed is that the heat haze, which was visible to the human eye, is particularly obvious when shooting on the 100-400mm Fuji on the XT2. The heat haze seems magnified creating a rather painterly effect when viewing the image in close up.
    GD002164.jpg
  • I’ve never been in such vast landscapes as in South Africa. Every trip felt like a major journey and we seemed to always be touching the edge of wilderness. <br />
<br />
Wildlife was abundant, especially birds, which all seemed to be on a mission, endless flights to endless destinations. <br />
<br />
We were camping right on a beach on a remote stretch of coast. There was no question that WE were the outsiders in nature’s home. Humans seemed insignificant in the vast space. The South Atlantic waves will continue to crash these shores for millennia, long after we’ve become dust.
    GD002162.jpg
  • This was my first trip to South Africa and I was blown away, almost literally, by this vast and exposed Western Cape, with the famous Table Mountain dominating the distant horizon. The white sand was warm but the strong South Westerly wind was actually chilly. It formed ripples across the surface of the soft dunes here at Duynefontein. I’d heard so many horror stories before visiting Africa, about being mugged at gunpoint, bitten by snakes or stung by scorpions that I was super nervous for months beforehand. I can’t say my fears disappeared completely, but walking barefoot on the sands in this incredible landscape on my first evening, made me realise that it’s a very big planet, and that with your wits about you, you could actually thoroughly enjoy a new world nevertheless. We are returning to Africa but this time with a lot less nerves and a lot more wisdom about what to expect and what not to do. It is without doubt a captivating country even if you have to be constantly aware.
    GD002132.jpg
  • So happy to be back here in South Africa. One of the first things we did was head down to the stunning white sand dunes from where the distinctive looking Table Mountain can be seen looming in the background haze. So many truly fantastic landscapes in Africa.
    GD002413.jpg
  • GD002412.jpg
  • Mossel Bay is a harbour town on the Garden Route in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. It’s known for the wide Santos Beach and the 19th-century Cape St. Blaize Lighthouse, which offers bay views. The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex includes the Maritime Museum, the Shell Museum and botanical gardens. The Post Office Tree, a milkwood tree in the complex, has been used as a mail collection point since the 1500s.
    GD002249.jpg
  • A baboon on the boulder beach at Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
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  • GD002399.jpg
  • This large reef formed the base of huge sand-dune headlands at East Cinsta in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. I’m no geologist sadly, but the reef appeared to be a mix of sandstone and other sedimentary rocks. I cannot work out how these amazing and quite surreal rock baths were formed. At low tide these 2-5ft raised ‘baths’ were revealed. I’m guessing the sides are a harder rock than the surrounding material, but I can’t work out how the erosion took place to leave the pools. on other stretches of the reef, dark nodules of rock (from 2-7”) appeared as if loose stones scattered on the surface, but in fact were solidly attached to the reef itself.<br />
.<br />
I do wish I’d studied geology a lot further than A-level geography!
    GD002353.jpg
  • Lockdown South Africa - Day 11 <br />
Massive drop in temperature today as summer ends. Torrential rain and howling winds so Gerard lit the indoor wood burning stove for the first time. It’s a solid cast iron beast but looks so wonderfully industrial. I loved the whole practical functionality of it, and of course raw flame, an element I’ve always been obsessed with.<br />
<br />
Lifting off one of the circular lids allowed a genie of fire to erupt and morph before my eyes. A burning hot couple briefly danced for me and I was lost in their embrace.
    AOP-32-GD002458.jpg
  • One of a long series of images taken during complete lockdown, stranded in South Africa
    AOP-20-GD002456.jpg
  • Really lush and varied vegetation on the mountain tops of the Keurbooms Corridor that connects the Garden of Eden section of the Garden Route National Park to the Tsitsikamma National Park section. NE of Knysna.<br />
<br />
As we climbed higher into the mountains the sunshine disappeared and a welcome cool cloud surrounded us. The vegetation up here was incredibly varied and abundant. Around this corner I ended up standing on a crossroads surrounded by wild Baboons as I was pre-occupied with the ‘Calling the Herd’ sound sculpture by Strijdom van der Merwe.<br />
<br />
It is sad that this corridor from Knysna to Addo used to be used by 1000s of elephants, but since colonisation they have all have been hunted to near extinction in these amazing valleys, that are otherwise still rich in biodiversity. There are no elephants left wandering this area and the Knysna elephants are no more. The ‘death warrant’ was issued and carried out on the tiny remaining population by ruthless hunter Major Pretorius, but even the British Royalty including the Duke of Edinburgh spent days hunting and killing these amazing animals.
    GD002244.jpg
  • Evening light spilled under the clouds to illuminate the incredible and imposing Hottentots-Holland mountain range (part of the Cape Fold Belt) East of Cape Town. These mountains reach 1590 m / 5200 ft at their highest point.
    GD002246.jpg
  • So happy to be back here in South Africa. One of the first things we did was head down to the stunning white sand dunes from where the distinctive looking Table Mountain can be seen looming in the background haze. So many truly fantastic landscapes in Africa.
    GD002356.JPG
  • A wild windswept beach at Cinsta on the Indian Ocean, at the Eastern Cape of South Africa. On the sand were hundreds of holes in the sand, and a moment or so after walking past them, dozens and dozens of fast moving crabs emerged from them and scuttled across the beach. <br />
<br />
I found this huge wooden log embedded in the soft sand and was taken by it’s figurative, animal-like form.
    GD002352.jpg
  • In the heat haze shimmering over this vast South African landscape, isolated trees formed some of the only features that stood out against this minimalist topography
    GD002163.jpg
  • Lockdown South Africa - Day 11<br />
<br />
Today it just pi**ed it down all day, never seen such rain over here, and it reflected my general mood and lowness. After the heaviest rain eased I went out into the garden for fresh air, no real hope or intension of taking pictures. This gorgeous, sumptuous hibiscus tree looked beautiful even in the rain, but is is gently losing its flowers. I fear I won’t see my captivating, flitting Sunbird much longer, with its long proboscis beak, vibrant emerald back and blood red bib.
    AOP-19a-GD002459.jpg
  • Exposed to the force of the Atlantic Ocean, baked in searing summer heat, blasted by gale force winds, it surprising that anything survives on these shores but with Table Mountain as a backdrop, small succulent plants cling to life amongst the dead Kelp and delicate grasses on this vast white sand beach.
    GD002295.jpg
  • At this rocky point lay dozens of sleepy seals, young and old, enjoying the evening sunlight and soaking up the warm rays. The fish are bountiful here and I watched two of the seals play with fish before devouring them. This pup was so chilled that I was within a few feet of him before he even raised an eyebrow. I’d loved to have seen the Southern Right Whales this bay is famous for, but sadly we were there in the wrong season.
    GD002292.jpg
  • A male baboon in a dead tree on the mountain tops of the Keurbooms Corridor that connects the Garden of Eden section of the Garden Route National Park to the Tsitsikamma National Park section. NE of Knysna.<br />
<br />
As we climbed higher into the mountains the sunshine disappeared and a welcome cool cloud surrounded us. The vegetation up here was incredibly varied and abundant. Around this corner I ended up standing on a crossroads surrounded by wild Baboons as I was pre-occupied with the ‘Calling the Herd’ sound sculpture by Strijdom van der Merwe.<br />
<br />
It is sad that this corridor from Knysna to Addo used to be used by 1000s of elephants, but since colonisation they have all have been hunted to near extinction in these amazing valleys, that are otherwise still rich in biodiversity. There are no elephants left wandering this area and the Knysna elephants are no more. The ‘death warrant’ was issued and carried out on the tiny remaining population by ruthless hunter Major Pretorius, but even the British Royalty including the Duke of Edinburgh spent days hunting and killing these amazing animals.
    GD002245.jpg
  • A surfer spends quite some time calculating how to throw himself into the powerful waves of the Indian Ocean at Mossel Bay in South Africa
    GD002248.jpg
  • The mountains of South Africa have blown me away. I have never seen so many mountain peaks in one place. These very steep-sided and dramatic peaks could be seen out of our car window for the two solid days of driving East to West through the country. In fact the mountains in this image are much smaller than many others we saw on our journey. It’s a complete guess, but over nearly 20 hours of driving there must have been literally 1000s of summits and I can’t begin to imagine where a mountaineer would begin to start choosing which to climb in this vast area. <br />
<br />
Even more strange is that the clouds you see here form the edge of a gigantic cloud blanket that created pouring rain on the far, coastal side of these hills. We drove in bright sunshine all day until we crossed the range through a gorge and then drove in rain for the next 3 hours!
    GD002354.jpg
  • Comical but very cute African Penguins at Boulders Beach south of Cape Town, South Africa
    GD002297.jpg
  • Deserted mountain dirt track, the (R339) on the mountain tops above the Keurbooms Corridor, which connects the Garden of Eden section of the Garden Route National Park to the Tsitsikamma National Park section. NE of Knysna.<br />
<br />
As we climbed higher into the mountains the sunshine disappeared and a welcome cool cloud surrounded us. The vegetation up here was incredibly varied and abundant. Around this corner I ended up standing on a crossroads surrounded by wild Baboons as I was pre-occupied with the ‘Calling the Herd’ sound sculpture by Strijdom van der Merwe.  <br />
<br />
It is sad that this corridor from Knysna to Addo used to be used by 1000s of elephants, but since colonisation they have all have been hunted to near extinction in these amazing valleys, that are otherwise still rich in biodiversity. There are no elephants left wandering this area and the Knysna elephants are no more. The ‘death warrant’ was issued and carried out on the tiny remaining population by ruthless hunter Major Pretorius, but even the British Royalty including the Duke of Edinburgh spent days hunting and killing these amazing animals.
    GD002166.jpg
  • Stunning views over Langebaan Lagoon in the West Coast National Park on the West Coast of Africa. The crags were quite surreal and quite beautiful, sculptural even. I rarely photograph people but in this case using Jani in the shot really did help with a sense of scale.
    GD002355.jpg
  • In the middle of a near barren Namib Desert, looking like a fishing net with floats entwined, bitter Tsamma melons (Citrullus ecirrhosus) or Namib tsamma, a species of perennial desert vine can be found growing in the baked earth.<br />
<br />
It is a gourd, and can be found in Namibia and South Africa, but particularly the Namib Desert.<br />
<br />
It can be a vital source of water and when cooked can be eaten. There are sweeter varieties.
    GD002272.jpg
  • The story goes that someone tried to drive his 4x4 across this vast lake bed, and was never seen again’ <br />
<br />
A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002263.jpg
  • A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002260.jpg
  • A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002259.jpg
  • Summer Dreams
  • These Cape Fur Seals were fascinating, beautiful creatures, with very cute seal pups! However, the smell was overpowering from the smell of fish, excrement, urine and death. There were many dead seal pups, which looked to have been crushed by the sheer weight of adult Cape Fur Seals as they charge around the colony. <br />
<br />
Sadly and unbelievably, Namibia permits the mass clubbing of 80,000 seal pups and 6000 adult bulls, over a four-month period every year. This is for fur and blubber but they claim it’s to protect fish stocks! Full details here:  http://www.harpseals.org/about_the_hunt/cape_fur_seal_alert.php<br />
<br />
I was completely captivated by this incredible seal colony, but I was left dumbstruck by the barbaric slaughter that is permitted here each year. Fortunately South Africa have now banned all such clubbing, but it remains here in Namibia
    GD002273.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Wildlife category)<br />
<br />
Keeping ourselves to ourselves on Melkbosstrand Beach - and no that's not us, that's three Oystercatchers looking for washed up crabs :-)
    GD002444.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Wildlife category)<br />
<br />
Keeping ourselves to ourselves on Melkbosstrand Beach - and no that's not us, that's three Oystercatchers looking for washed up crabs :-)
    GD002444.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 6 <br />
<br />
A different part of the garden today and a different emotional attitude from me. Today I’m more resigned to things taking their own time. Yes we have to push to get things in progress but after that momentum has to continue with others.<br />
In this part of the garden a tree has been growing for ages and plants come and go within weeks and months, but they all aim upwards, they all want to live. We place walls and barriers around them but still they want to live and they do, unless cut down by others. Amongst what man has created, nature’s beauty always excels and will always excel behind our own existence. I don’t want to die, but I’d die happier knowing the planet was improving not getting worse.
    AOP-15-GD002461.jpg
  • My assistant for my watery still-lives.
    AOP-29a-GD002460.jpg
  • The sunshine was intense beyond the palm canopy and I pushed up into the tree to see it more clearly. I was mesmerised by the movement of the light through the breeze-blown branches but as I tried to retreat the ‘leaves’ were in fact dagger-sharp barbs that stabbed and sliced at my slightest turn. Sometimes you should only ever move forwards, not backwards.
    AOP-19-GD002457.jpg
  • This amazing beach stretches for 18kms along the coastal edge of Walker Bay Nature Reserve. <br />
<br />
The sands are beautifully white and here you can see the characteristic morning fog slowly burning away to the left. <br />
<br />
The scene is idyllic and the water looks incredible, crystal clear azure seas, but heck the water was cold in January when it was at 15º. Most people were paddling only and I managed just fifteen bracing minutes before coming out needing a hot coffee! Yet the air temperature was already in the high thirties and the sand baking hot. I even managed to burn myself trying to warm up.
    GD002294.jpg
  • The cool morning fog had rolled in across the bay from the cold Atlantic currents and there was a chill in the air. The sea temperature was just 15º and although crystal clear azure water, it was only the brave few who ventured in. I’d be much happier being a Southern Right Whale in that ocean! <br />
<br />
Slowly the fog cleared and we ate lunch in scorching sunshine in a nearby cafe. One of many extremes in this fascinating country.
    GD002293.jpg
  • Deserted mountain dirt tracks on the mountain tops of the Keurbooms Corridor that connects the Garden of Eden section of the Garden Route National Park to the Tsitsikamma National Park section. NE of Knysna.<br />
<br />
As we climbed higher into the mountains the sunshine disappeared and a welcome cool cloud surrounded us. The vegetation up here was incredibly varied and abundant. Around this corner I ended up standing on a crossroads surrounded by wild Baboons as I was pre-occupied with the ‘Calling the Herd’ sound sculpture by Strijdom van der Merwe. <br />
It is sad that this corridor from Knysna to Addo used to be used by 1000s of elephants, but since colonisation they have all have been hunted to near extinction in these amazing valleys, that are otherwise still rich in biodiversity. There are no elephants left wandering this area and the Knysna elephants are no more. The ‘death warrant’ was issued and carried out on the tiny remaining population by ruthless hunter Major Pretorius, but even the British Royalty including the Duke of Edinburgh spent days hunting and killing these amazing animals.
    GD002171.jpg
  • Vast plains of lush looking crops stretch right across the enormous valleys, from mountain ridge to mountain ridge.  The roads are long and near deserted and houses and hamlets are few and far between. A VERY impressive landscape.
    GD002170.jpg
  • Having come down an incredible winding dirt track through the Kammanassie Nature Reserve from the mountain plateau above, we arrived at the most curious little cafe in the middle of nowhere. We drank tea and ate buttermilk cakes under the welcome shade of a huge tree. A silent, derelict looking barn drew my attention whilst we enjoyed refreshments in this paradise watering hole.
    GD002165.jpg
  • Blue Moons, Harvest Moons, Cherry Moons, Supermoons ZZZZZZZ ……….It’s the same moon, miraculous, magnificent and enchanting and this time without one vapour trail spoiling the pure air between us, such natural skies this day.
    GD002470.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 4 <br />
<br />
I can’t swim in this little pool as it’s just too small, yet it is my oasis. Today I just ducked under the surface and like a goldfish in a bowl, I studied my sunlight-dappled perimeter and worked my way around in circles.<br />
As I left the water, the breeze chilled my body and the roar of the ocean down the road made me feel as if I was on a beach. Oh to be swimming in open water again this summer maybe?<br />
.
    AOP-13-GD002467.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 4 <br />
Each morning I’ve watched the early morning sunshine slide over the neighbours wall and illuminate this post, highlighting it against the shadows of the paving slabs behind. It’s daft in a way but I just love the rounded cylinder of the post set amongst all the squares / diamonds.<br />
This morning I stood out there with my apple and suddenly decided to just place it in the shot - so not a pure find but it was a pure consideration. Hope you like it
    AOP-04-GD002466.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 4<br />
Evening sunlight through a rusted garden lantern. Love the warm evening light here.
    AOP-14-GD002462.jpg
  • Something utterly surreal and very sad about this baboon on a baking hot beach at Cape of Good Hope, trying to access the drink in the washed up bottle.
    GD002377.jpg
  • A brilliant white dust road leads out of the Tsitsikamma National Park forest and heads towards peak after knife edge peak of the mountain range beyond.<br />
.<br />
I can’t get over how high, serrated and steep these mountain pinnacles actually are.
    GD002351.jpg
  • After two days in the melting heat on the Berg River, we headed south to Langebaan and drank cold wine in the shade of the trees at the National Park 19th Century headquarters. With a couple of hours before park closing time we headed across the lagoon and across vast white sand dunes to see the tumbling Atlantic waves on the exposed West Coast.<br />
.<br />
There was a beautifully refreshing cool salty breeze from the spray of crashing waves and there wasn’t a soul around. At the end of the road lay a long sandy beach, dotted with sea birds confused by the two human beings daring to set foot on their deserted beach!<br />
.<br />
It was surreal to recognise that these Westerly Atlantic waves are from the same ocean that batters the coast of the UK on another side of the planet. I felt very at home here and equally happy that I wasn’t. The ‘associations’ of home are strange, that no matter where you travel you sort of take elements of home with you.
    GD002362.jpg
  • Evening light spilled under the clouds to illuminate the incredible and imposing Hottentots-Holland mountain range (part of the Cape Fold Belt) East of Cape Town. These mountains reach 1590 m / 5200 ft at their highest point.
    GD002172.jpg
  • The simplest forms and patches of light became my escape from fear. The sunshine was my saviour, the way it permeated through everything, casting light and positivity wherever it landed.
    GD002463.jpg
  • The huge open desert becomes a blank canvas for Daliesque surrealism when incongrous objects suddenly appear out of nowhere. There was noyhing behind me and nothing beyond except for distant hills. <br />
<br />
To come across this derelict house, alongside a railway that stretches as far as the eye can see and on which we never saw a train, really did make us question ‘why’ and ‘who would have lived there’. Genuinely surreal and a taste of things to come in the deserted mining town miles ahead.
    GD002284.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category)<br />
<br />
After miles of dirt-road driving through vast empty desert landscape, it was quite a shock to see anything man-made other than the road itself, let alone signs that indicated that civilisation actually existed somewhere amongst this isolation. It was a blast of ‘normality’ and ‘order’ yet seemed utterly incongruous to our surroundings. I loved the surreality of it all.
    GD002254.jpg
  • Honourable Mention in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
This is a deserted mining town in Western Namibia. In 1909 diamonds were found here and an industrial hamlet developed. Since then however diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and so this place went into decline. The small industrial complex is forever fighting to remain above the gale-blown desert sands but it’s still an incredible place to visit, as so little has changed at all since the early twentieth century. It’s quite eerie standing inside the large derelict buildings, the wind literally howling through the broken windows and doors, sand-dunes visibly creating within the broken interiors as you watch
    GD002289.jpg
  • Never seen anything like it. We were on the road to wind blown Atlantic coastal town of Luderitz and a few miles before we arrived the effects of the wind could already be seen. At some points you could hardly see in front of the car and at other sand drifts had built across the road. I stepped out of the car on this near deserted road and was instantly sand-blasted by stinging grains of fast-blown crystals. I was amazed that there was even a road as the sand blew so constantly across the landscape.
    GD002286.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category)<br />
<br />
One of the most perfect stretches of road that we found in Namibia. Miles of perfect black tarmac with distinctive white markers created such geometry amongst thousands of acres of desert sand. As with most man-made things that I observed in Namibia, they all seemed slightly incongruous within such vast wilderness landscape.
    GD002285.jpg
  • Within the expanse of hot white sand which stretched for miles here on the Skeleton Coast, a wonderful bubbling of hard-rock granite baked in the midday sun. Small weakneses in the rock had become fissues, divinding the stone hillock into strange and beautiful sculpted landscape. <br />
<br />
I tried walking on the exposed surface barefoot, to experience the textures and shape but my feet melted! The cold Atlantic Ocean in the distance had no cooling effect on this parched earth
    GD002270.jpg
  • The landscape altered, subtly at first, but shrubs and small trees started to grip the pure rock and dirt of the previous day. <br />
<br />
Two minutes after this image was taken, a motionless small tree ran across the road in front of us - our first wild ostrich! Nature was quietly making an appearance the further North we drove.
    GD002256.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category)<br />
<br />
After miles of dirt-road driving through vast empty desert landscape, it was quite a shock to see anything man-made other than the road itself, let alone signs that indicated that civilisation actually existed somewhere amongst this isolation. It was a blast of ‘normality’ and ‘order’ yet seemed utterly incongruous to our surroundings. I loved the surreality of it all.
    GD002254.jpg
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category)<br />
<br />
One of the most perfect stretches of road that we found in Namibia. Miles of perfect black tarmac with distinctive white markers created such geometry amongst thousands of acres of desert sand. As with most man-made things that I observed in Namibia, they all seemed slightly incongruous within such vast wilderness landscape.
    GD002285.jpg
  • The Blue Crane, (Anthropoides paradiseus) critically endangered in Namibia, occurs exclusively in the Etosha National Park and the Omadhiya lakes, a series of oshanas (seasonally flooded lakes) to the north of the park. To see this rare bird, tourists often visit areas near the Chudop waterhole in the Namutoni area, Salvadora in the Halali area, and recently at Nebrownii, east of Okaukuejo in Namibia’s most famous park.
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  • One of many giraffes at the Etosha Reserve, Namibia
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  • What would have been rather gloomy interiors of this old diamond mining town, the most beautiful shards of light from broken rooftops pierced the darkness and patterned the coloured walls. Wind howled at the windows and doors but there was relative calm within the sand-filled dilapidated rooms. It was slightly freaky imagining the conditions for the native workers at the height of the diamond boom there.
    GD002291.jpg
  • Still hundreds of kilometres from the coast but I still felt a sense that I was nearing the ocean, I’m not even sure why; perhaps the subtly changing light or wind direction or perhaps just that intuition you have when you’ve been raised near the sea. <br />
<br />
The earth was rich and warm-toned here, lots of red and yellow soils and an increase in vegetation growing on it. There was a gentle breeze but the air was still in the mid 40°s. <br />
<br />
One of the downsides to distance travelling, is that there is years’ worth of exploration to do even within a small area but we were eating up 500kms or more each day - so much space, so little time.
    GD002283.jpg
  • In a landscape that seems so barren, pockets of life form a sort of vegetated oasis. Where there are trickles of water during rain, shrubs grow. Where shrubs grow tress seem to grow, and where trees grow dozens of Weaver Birds flit in and out of huge nests that they have built in the branches. The tree of life is such a cliché but this dead tree really was enabling bird life at least, to survive in these harsh conditions.
    GD002280.jpg
  • Sort of incredible. No rivers or streams, no grassland, no rain, just arid rocky earth in the middle of a desert, yet amidst this ‘nothingness’ not only does life take hold but it does it so strikingly. This tree had such a large trunk that supported boughs and so many branches, twigs and leaves. I know there are good scientific reasons why life can survive where it seems impossible, but there is still something rather awe-inspiring  when you confront such a miracle in such an inhospitable place!
    GD002278.jpg
  • Under intense sunshine, surrounded by arid plains and distant mountains, we blasted along deserted dust roads in this vast empty space. It was quite a surprise on reaching the brow of an infinite hill, to suddenly see isolated trees dotted around. They were more like surreal incongruous sculptures than any object of normality. <br />
This is what we found about Namibia, that the landscapes although huge, do vary. It almost imperceptible at first but you come to realise that you are indeed no longer in the same place you were!
    GD002276.jpg
  • After wild and exposed stretches of the Skeleton Coast, we drove past the very busy port of Walvis Bay. The differences were huge, the narrow but endless roads were suddenly busy with heavy trucks and traffic leaving and entering the port. As we drove further south however the traffic eased once again, but signs of man, settlement and ‘civilisation’ were present for many miles further before gradually evaporating once again. These man-made structures appeared incongruous in the blowing desert sands, creating a surreal landscape of man and nature, but more than that – it was the tenacity of man and invention that enables society to survive in otherwise barren terrain.
    GD002274.jpg
  • We arrived at the wreck location, as always in Namibia miles from anywhere. It was a beautiful summer morning, the sand so hot you could not walk barefoot. The wind had furrowed the beach into long undulating ripples, and amongst the patterns lay this small remnant of a shipwreck. It was surreal, a vast tract of soft white sand punctured by shards of rusty broken hull. I loved the incongruity of it all.<br />
.<br />
I shot two frames before out of nowhere a dark Toyota Landcruiser appeared. They could see me photographing but that made no difference. It drove towards me, passengers hanging over the side of the truck, beers in hand, shouting and jeering at me. Their tyre tracks carved up the beautiful white sand surrounding the wreck, ending the shoot there and then. A huge 20 stone fat man sat in an armchair buckled into the rear of the truck; two fat kids and three muscle-bound rednecks pulled faces as their truck circled around to come and carve up even more of the scene I’d been photographing. These were not the sorts of people you’d want to engage with, so I just packed up my camera and without any gestures of annoyance, made my way back to our van.<br />
.<br />
Thankfully I’d grabbed this frame before the morons arrived but the strange beauty, the vivid sense of history in wilderness, had been ruined for me. Such a shame that wherever you go in the world, there always at least one sad individual ready to spoil thing for others.
    GD002271.jpg
  • It was somewhat unnerving being isolated amongst the burning and sharp white sands of the dunes beside the Skeleton Coast. In the foreground you can see Jackal footprints but our guide, who remained in the van, says that he’s wild camped out here and one morning he opened the zip to his tent, to see a huge dark and menacing looking Hyena in the fog just beyond him.<br />
<br />
In the silence I thought I’d be able to hear any approaching beast of the dunes but then I noticed my own footsteps were silent, so theirs definitely would be. I also noticed deeper, heavier set footprints across one of the dunes and I started to imagine that at any moment I’d go over a small hillock and see the beast staring up at me from the dip below. <br />
<br />
As it happened I never saw any wild canines, but instead thoroughly enjoyed the surreal sense of being lost in the inhospitable white terrain all about me.
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  • I’ve wanted to go to this vast, deserted coastline since I was a child. In my late teens I saw a picture in National Geographic of a lion prowling along a sandy beach, with a shipwreck in the background and it just stuck within me, always vivid. <br />
<br />
Of course those moments caught on film, are often rare and once in a lifetime, so it was perhaps no surprise that on my first visit to the incredible and weather-dramatic Skeleton Coast in January, I didn’t see my lion! However, the sheer scale of the coastline, the dense fogs that roll in from above the cold upwellings in the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes reducing visibility to a few feet, was awe-inspiring. Couple this with the numerous shipwrecks that strew this coastline and it really is surreal as well as exciting. Several of the major wrecks are within restricted diamond mining zones but a few are accessible to the visitor, such as this one here. I had to go early morning as crowds normal build up later in the day. <br />
<br />
This ship has become a permanent roost for hundreds of cormorants and seabirds.
    GD002265.jpg
  • At the waterhole most of the animals seem to be acutely aware of the presence of other creatures even as they forage, eat and drink. Today however, as the giraffe nibbled at the succulent leaves in the tall trees, a dramatic storm was building behind. There was soon the rumble of thunder and shortly afterwards gigantic fork lightening cracked through the dark skies and punched any tall object below.
    GD002264.jpg
  • I’ve seen elephants in zoos, restricted, moving around in circles, stared at by the thousands of noisy visitors - such a desperate form of existence. In the 111 year old and 22,270 km² Etosha National Park in North West Namibia however, I was for the first time able to see these truly magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. Watching David Attenborough programs is always a delight but nothing prepares you for the sheer awe of seeing these animals in real life in their own world.<br />
<br />
From the heavily corrugated dust track, the first thing I saw was what looked like a huge rounded boulder beyond a hillock, but as we drove to the crest of the mound we realised it was in fact the head of a huge African elephant standing at a waterhole! This was real & I’ve never felt so small or humbled by wildlife. There are strict instructions never to leave your vehicle whilst in the park so I had to accept that looking out of the window was the best I was going to get.<br />
<br />
Around us herds of Zebra were drinking, running and frolicking with each other. Springbok daintily skipped past & Oryx and Giraffe were there too. Hundreds of birds flitted about & falcons & other birds of prey circled overhead. It was a visual tapestry of wildlife with so many species all measuring each other up and acknowledging the hierarchies at the hole. What struck me most was the grace of motion of the elephants. Every movement of foot or trunk was slow, fluid & purposeful. At times they were just like living statues, almost motionless, just studying the world about them, and at other times when walking, able to cover big distances so quickly but so gently. I was aware that they were aware of us, large eyeballs measuring us up but not seeming irritated or intimidated.<br />
<br />
It was hard (especially from the car window) to take in the reality of it all rather than still imagining it was a TV program. I also felt deeply sad that it’s only a matter of time before wild elephants are hunted to extinction.
    GD002257.jpg
  • This is one of the main roads into Southern Namibia, shortly after leaving the border control on the Orange River. We had passed an isolated garage and a few kms later an agriculturally based township, but then we went around a bend of an escarpment and over a hill, and were faced with this arid but incredible desert landscape. We drove for over an hour on this harsh dirt track, without seeing another car. There were no towns, no hamlets, no roadside stores, not even telegraph or electricity lines. It was barren. No animals to be seen, no birds of any sort and no signs of snakes or scorpions or in fact anything. Stepping outside the car I entered an oven of heat, into the 40ºs and surprising silence. The landscape was vast and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a huge, empty, lonely space - but I loved it, I enjoyed the vulnerability it created and the recognition that I was really, truly alive - as little else at that moment at least, seemed to be. <br />
<br />
I knew I was going to enjoy this country.
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  • Honourable Mention in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Architecture category)<br />
<br />
Winning entry in the 2019 (31st) SUN Shot up North Awards<br />
<br />
In the middle of nowhere in a vast and inhospitable landscape, we came across an elderly looking man removing large stones from the dirt road. It was certain death in that climate but about a mile further on, we came across this mobile shelter, a workman’s refuge. <br />
It was surreal, almost incongruous in this desert environment. We could only assume that at some point later in the day, a work bus would come and free this man from this vast workplace.
    GD002253.jpg
  • Honourable Mention in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Architecture category)<br />
<br />
Winning entry in the 2019 (31st) SUN Shot up North Awards<br />
<br />
In the middle of nowhere in a vast and inhospitable landscape, we came across an elderly looking man removing large stones from the dirt road. It was certain death in that climate but about a mile further on, we came across this mobile shelter, a workman’s refuge. <br />
It was surreal, almost incongruous in this desert environment. We could only assume that at some point later in the day, a work bus would come and free this man from this vast workplace.
    GD002253.jpg
  • Nominated in 2022 International Colour Awards<br />
<br />
Wonderful colours in this old & dilapidated diamond-mine building. The hole in the floor was a most surreal illusion.
    GD002290.jpg
  • The architecture of this town has a very colonial influence. First mapped by the Portuguese, in 1883 Germany aristocrat Adolf Lüderitz purchased some of the original harbour area and surrounding land and developed the town as a fishing and trading post. In 1909 diamonds were found in nearby Kolmanskop and Lüderitz gained rapid prosperity. Since then however diamonds have mostly been found elsewhere and so the town went into decline. It’s still an incredible place to visit as so little of the town has changed at all since the early twentieth century.
    GD002287.jpg
  • In a landscape that seems so barren, pockets of life form a sort of vegetated oasis. Where there are trickles of water during rain, shrubs grow. Where shrubs grow tress seem to grow, and where trees grow dozens of Weaver Birds flit in and out of huge nests that they have built in the branches. The tree of life is such a cliché but this dead tree really was enabling bird life at least, to survive in these harsh conditions.
    GD002281.jpg
  • Under intense sunshine, surrounded by arid plains and distant mountains, we blasted along deserted dust roads in this vast empty space. It was quite a surprise on reaching the brow of an infinite hill, to suddenly see isolated trees dotted around. They were more like surreal incongruous sculptures than any object of normality. <br />
This is what we found about Namibia, that the landscapes although huge, do vary. It almost imperceptible at first but you come to realise that you are indeed no longer in the same place you were!
    GD002277.jpg
  • Under intense sunshine, surrounded by arid plains and distant mountains, we blasted along deserted dust roads in this vast empty space. It was quite a surprise on reaching the brow of an infinite hill, to suddenly see isolated trees dotted around. They were more like surreal incongruous sculptures than any object of normality.  <br />
<br />
This is what we found about Namibia, that the landscapes although huge, do vary. It almost imperceptible at first but you come to realise that you are indeed no longer in the same place you were!
    GD002275.jpg
  • We’d started out early that morning from Swakopmund, in thick fog, heading for the coast. When we arrived at our location there appeared a glow of light from the East and before long bursts of sunshine illuminated the beach, contrasting it against the dark fog behind. <br />
<br />
The air was chilly, even in the African summer, but the gentle waves of sunlight were a welcome warmth.  The roar of the waves on this exposed Atlantic coast was relentless but strangely familiar after many days in a heatwave in the Namibian desert.
    GD002267.jpg
  • Easy to be inspired by elephants, giraffes and even leopards, but when seen in isolation, even herd animals display characters of their own.<br />
<br />
This Red Hartebeest hardly batted an eye-lid as we pulled up nearby, and she just looked so forlorn. I wanted to give her a hug!
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  • This was our first sight of the dust roads of Namibia, shortly after the border control. There is a township just to the left of this image, and many of the inhabitants seem to be working in the agricultural industries based along the lush banks of the Orange River. After this sudden appearance of sand dunes pushing up mountain sides, the dust road disappeared into vast uninhabited volcanic plains, and we hardly saw a car or person throughout several hours of desert driving.
    GD002251.jpg
  • I don’t even know how it got there but a way off the dirt track had slumped this old truck, its faded layers of eroded paintwork peppered with shot-gun holes. <br />
<br />
Abandoned and left to nature and the elements, this vehicle jolted within me the recognition that nothing lasts forever, that eventually everything becomes dust, but in the meantime is a marker for own place along that road, literally.
    GD002255.jpg
  • GD001463.jpg
  • Generally we didn’t see much in the way of large wildlife as we travelled across the high open roads of Namibia, sometimes Ostrich, sometimes Baboons but here on the Skeleton Coast not much at all.<br />
<br />
As we watched volcanic hills to the right and acres of white sand dunes to the left, slip past us as we motored North along the baking-hot salt roads, I was quite taken aback to see a sudden movement off to our right. There were two Black-backed Jackals, one scampering about, skittish even, but the other almost motionless. We pulled the van over and waited a few moments to see if they’d be bothered by us, but nothing changed. I very gently stepped out of the van and lay on the burning ground so that I could steady the telephoto lens and also include some of the background hills.<br />
Although the active one immediately moved away after I exited the vehicle the other was clearly eating something and confidently remained in place. I was surprised that he’d found anything to eat in the deserted arid landscape, but knowing that they’d even eat spiders an scorpions I suddenly started worrying about what I was lying on! I couldn’t help but see them just as a dog, like a small Alsatian, and I had this urge to call it over and give it a stroke! No chance however, for as soon as I started to move from prone position, it began to walk slowly away. As I lifted the camera to take another pic it shifted further away again. It was clear my Doctor Doolittle dream was just that as soon they were just dots on the dusty horizon.
    GD002268.jpg
  • I’ve wanted to go to this vast, deserted coastline since I was a child. In my late teens I saw a picture in National Geographic of a lion prowling along a sandy beach, with a shipwreck in the background and it just stuck within me, always vivid.<br />
<br />
Of course those moments caught on film, are often rare and once in a lifetime, so it was perhaps no surprise that on my first visit to the incredible and weather-dramatic Skeleton Coast in January, I didn’t see my lion! However, the sheer scale of the coastline, the dense fogs that roll in from above the cold upwellings in the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes reducing visibility to a few feet, was awe-inspiring. Couple this with the numerous shipwrecks that strew this coastline and it really is surreal as well as exciting. Several of the major wrecks are within restricted diamond mining zones but a few are accessible to the visitor, such as this one here. I had to go early morning as crowds normal build up later in the day.<br />
This ship has become a permanent roost for hundreds of cormorants and seabirds.
    GD002266.jpg
  • Nominated image in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
<br />
This is the deserted mining town of Kolmonskop in Western Namibia. In 1909 diamonds were found here and this industrial hamlet developed. The nearby harbour town of Lüderitz nearby also gained rapid prosperity.<br />
<br />
Since then however diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and so these towns went into decline. This small industrial complex is forever fighting to remain above the gale-blown desert sands but this and Lüderitz are still incredible places to visit as so little has changed at all since the early twentieth century.<br />
<br />
It’s quite eerie standing inside the large derelict buildings, the winds literally howling through the broken windows and doors and dunes almost visibly being created in front of your eyes.
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Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

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