Juy 31 - Milford Sound Sunset

Woohoo.. Made it through the first month of Pic of the day! This photo comes to you from New Zealand in 2004. The sun was setting on a beautiful day in the Milford Sound. This is a lake completely surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 4000 ft. Needless to say the water is VERY cold, but very clear and the Sound is so quiet and peaceful. We spent the night on a little cruise boat that had heaters and electric blankets.

This is the opening of Milford Sound into the Tasman Sea. I love how the sun was setting behind the mountain opening and colors wash across the sky. The other fun part of it is the moon can be seen in the upper part of the photo.

Enjoy your weekend!

July 30 - Vienna City Gardens

While in Europe, we landed in Vienna, Austria for my birthday. After having one of my favorite pork knuckles, enjoying good company at an Irish Pub and crashing in our amazing suite at the Le Meridien, we wandered around the city of Vienna. This is the city gardens and overlooks many of the government buildings of this beautiful capital.

PS, This is one of the many crazy locations I've had the pleasure of spending my birthday. This year, I'm spending it in my beautiful home with my beautiful wife. I couldn't be happier.

July 29 - Spirit of the Pacific

This beautiful boat was my home for 3 days while in Fiji. It's name is the Spirit of the Pacific. There wasn't much wind while I was there, so we actually moved via motor most of the trip, but one morning they hoisted up all the sails for us and took us out on a little boat so we could get photos. It is definitely a beautiful boat and makes taking a picture of it so easy. We didn't actually sleep on the boat, we were able to enjoy huts on an island with no electricity or hot water.

I don't have much more to say today, so enjoy.

July 28 - Kindergarden, Africa Style

While travelling in Africa, I got to see different tribes. Some tribes you felt like they didn't really live there, they just showed up to "work" every day dressed in their "native" attire and then when the tourists left, they went back home to more "normal" lives. Other tribes you really felt like that's how they lived.

Unfortunately, this was one of the former tribes. It was very touristy, a lot of the people knew english and they sold "crafts" that were probably made in China. They took us to their Kindergarden, which was a caged in looking room just outside the main circle. They all lined up for us and then they sang their abc's. All of them very cute and all looked well nourished. Jon and Kate got nothing on these guys when it comes to exploiting kids.. I'm just sayin..

July 27 - Ica Sand Dunes

The dunes in Ica were absolutely amazing. They were huge and went on forever. We spent two hours out on a dune buggy going up, down and around. We stopped to take on sandboarding as well.

This photo is looking East, towards the end of the dunes, into the city of Ica and then beyond to the highlands of the Andes. I love the detail of the dunes close in, then seeing that lone huge dune right in the middle of the photo. Although it's pretty hazy in the background, the haze actually brings out the detail of the ruggedness of the Andes. The contrast between the smoothness of the dunes and the jagged edges of the mountains play here as well. The only greenery is from the valley in the middle where the city of Ica resides.

July 24 - Town Hall Meeting at the Watering Hole

This is back in Etoshia. A couple of the watering holes are lit up at night so that we can sit and watch the animals that like to come by at night. We are "protected" by about a 6 ft wall, but sometimes it doesn't feel so protecting. I was sitting here and there was absolutely no activity going on. I was about ready to pack it in for the night. Then off in the distance I could see an elephant coming towards the watering hole. I decided to stay, along with a couple of others in our group.

When the elephant got closer, you could see there was more with them. About 10 in all. Cool, we'll sit and watch. But then, from the other direction, another line of elephants started to emerge. Soon, 20 elephants were hanging out at the watering hole, only 20 ft from us. It didn't stop there, another 10 soon came forward. It was a little party now. The little ones are playing in the water and the big ones are moving around to greet one another. Again, I was about to pack it in, and ANOTHER 10 elephants showed up. Now it was a rave. You can see in the photo dust being kicked up with all the animals shuffling around. We waited to see if more would show up, but only a few minutes later, some began to leave. I decided it was time to call it a night as well.

Have a great weekend all. I'll be back on Monday!

July 23 - Waynu Picchu

Eventually I'll post a Machu Picchu picture on here, but I want to build up to it. This photo was taken on our hike up Waynu Picchu, a mountain next to Machu Picchu that means "Young Mountain". We got up early (5am) to be able to get onto the trail at 7am. The fog still covered most of the area.

While taking a break from climbing 1100 ft worth of rock-carved stairs, I saw the dew dripping from this branch and I wanted to focus on it. When I saw the minimum depth of field created from my close up focusing, I fell in love with this photo. You can still make out the fog, blue sky and mountains in the background, while still focusing on the water dripping from the branch.