Parades aren’t usualy on my list of interests but this one is the exception. I checked it out yesterday! Maybe the rain inspired me so. I decided to do another black & white, low-tech stint, with the old Nikon FM2.

Harvey K as Neptune, Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA

La Sirène, Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA

Pirates of Brooklyn, Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA

Rude Marching Band, Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA

SilverSeaMonster, Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA

For this part of the trip on the trails of the Caminho, I chose to travel light and go low-tech: Nikon FM2, one lens (35mm, f 2.0) and B&W film. Pretty basic and retro, ideal for the “road” through fields, stone villages, roman roads, bridges and medieval castles.

The Northeastern Caminho

This is a lesser known route to Compostela, a short cut of the main road from southern Spain, through the remote northeast corner of Portugal, rural and less populated. The region of olives, almonds and wine of the Douro river.

Most of our itinerary  was within the  Parque Natural do Douro Internacional, Portugal’s second largest nature park along the Douro river. The steep cliffs on the riverbanks (Arribas de Douro) offer prime shelter for nesting birds. We saw  Eurasian Griffons and Egyptian Vultures, Bonelli’s and Golden Eagles, Black Storks, Peregrine Falcons.

People living inside the park’s borders, created in 1998, are still exploiting farmlands, raising cattle and mostly sheeps.

Small villages are shrinking, many people have left to cities and other countries. Making a living off the land is not for the weak, but life has it’s own rhythm there, tuned on the cycle of seasons. This is sustainable agriculture as it always was. On the table, the olives, olive oil, sausages and wine come from the orchards and the fields nearby, the open pig pen, where hogs still get servings of acorns.

The Northeastern Caminho

The thirsty Jackal sharing water with Elephant is running on the two pages spread “around africa”  in the March issue of Africa Geographic, the major african nature&wildlife magazine based in Cape Town.

Black-backed Jackal and Elephant, Etosha National Park, Namibia

Ascent from the Côa River Valley to Castelo Mendo

The Grande Rota links the medieval Historic Villages of Portugal. The region including Serra da Estrela, the territories of Beira Interior and the border with Spain is loaded with history’s remains: roman roads and bridges, medieval fortresses and prehistoric rock art in the Côa River Valley.

Grey skyline, november sky, I must be home!

Time to reajust to the city buzz, time for editing and reflexions!

And the Thabazimbi gecko reminds us that “birds are just reptiles with feathers!”

The digital Gecko in Thabazimbi

A selection of the ballon drop in the Namib Desert for the December 2008 issue of Flamingo (Air Namibia’s in-flight) and a sequence of Karel Koster in the Namibian sky.

Karel Koster high above the Namib Desert

The keys for a successful photo travel are solid contacts abroad, in the fields you are involved! People with connections and knowledge of the country! My friends, hosts and guides were more than helpful for planning the different stages of the adventure and providing supports.

The Academic:

Adam Welz (my base in Cape Town) is a writer, photographer and film maker, he spend three month each year researching and studying  African Fish Eagles in the western Cape region

Adam on the African Fish Eagle mission

The Pilot:

Paraglider pilot, climber and world traveler Walter Neser splits these passions with nature and action photography/video. He is also working on raptors research programs.

Walter on the reptiles trail

It is very easy to travel within South Africa, car rentals everywhere and cheap internal flights and e-booking!  The problem with these low-fares are the restrictions on chek-ins and sometime carry-ons as well. I had to fight hard to keep my photo-backpack with me on a flight from Jburg to CPT! This time it worked out but who knows what restrictions we’ll face on the next air travel!

The big flyers:

The Vultures were the motivation behind this project! I wanted to see these birds on their daily routines: shredding carcasses, feeding the youngs and mostly on the wing! Gliding through the skies on their endless quest for thermals.

Cape Griffon on the wing at the Kransberg colony

Unfortunately all Vulture species are in precarious situations; poisoning, loss of habitats and folk customs to name just a few. In South Africa and Namibia they are on the endangered species list!