Lockdown 2020, part 1

As Gill and I are having to stay at home, I am making a photo record of our experience. I hope you find it interesting.

Our friend delivering our shopping, carefully disinfecting the bags!

Neighbours clapping as appreciation of the island's essential workers

Gilly had an upset tummy for 24 hours and a temperature so not taking any chances, she self-isolated. A tea and biscuit ready for her to collect once I was out of the way!

Leica have put on some excellent free webinars, one of which featured Cat Garcia talking about natural light portraits indoors. There was an assignment with 48 hours to produce our own, which she critiqued live online. This was one of my efforts.

I needed a facemask when I visited the hospital and unable to buy one, Gilly set about making me one - and very good it is! The only problem is she now has an order book for friends!

We make our own sourdough bread in normal times but it was helpful to be able to put a bit more time into their production.

We may be stressed out by the virus and its effects on our lives, but nature just carries on oblivious. Our Wisteria has put on a magnificent display this year.

South Africa, February 2015, part 4.

After Botlierskop, we stayed in Knysna for the night and then made our way back to the Cape Town area

We went to the very vibrant waterfront area in Knysna where these children were fishing
in the late afternoon sun.

We stayed in the Cambalala Guest House which was exceptionally high standard 
and very modern. The owners are charming and the rooms a very good size
 with good views over the harbour.

Apart from the views - breakfast was excellent.

We drove back to our friends house in time for another spectacular sunset over Gordon's Bay.

Next morning as there was no cloud we went to Table Mountain. Very clever
cable cars that rotate as you go up, so everyone gets a good view.

The view over cape Town is breathtaking. You can see for miles. This is looking north, over the city.

On the top, if you are lucky you see the unofficial mascot of Table Mountain,
a Dassie - or to give it it's proper name a rock hyrax, which is related to the elephant
even though it is only a foot long and furry.

After the mountain, we drove to Franschoek and had lunch at the Kitchen. It is the
restaurant part of a small wine producer. There is a small menu of very high
quality produce and some excellent dishes - many cooked in the wood oven. How
the chefs work close to that oven when the ambient temperature was
38 deg C in the shade, I do not know.

The next day, we drove along the coast road past Gordon's Bay to Cape Hangklip and on to Hermanus.
The drive is stunning.

The purpose of the drive was to visit a wine producer just north of Hermanus called
Creation Wines, a small producer of mainly French varieties but outstanding quality.
They have a tasting menu with about 8 tasting tapas type dishes and 8 of their
wines. Lets just say it was another memorable lunch!
Here you see the vines receiving some attention.

Another view of the coast road on the return journey.

We had seen quite a few groups of baboons but hadn't managed to photograph any.
On the coast road we came across a group in a car park. They are playful but
very destructive and dangerous to get too close.
The baby below had climbed up its mother's tail and back to get on the roof of the
car while mum tried to remove the vent in the door!

Back at our friends we had a BBQ and had this moonset following the exact path of the sunset 10 minutes earlier.

South Africa, February 2016, part 3

No trip to South Africa would be complete without seeing some of the wild animals.We decided not to fit a safari into the schedule as it would have required a trip to the north of the country but we did spend a night at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, not far from George. It had been recommended by  a friend from SA and we would highly recommend it. The accommodation (we had a "tent" by the river) is excellent and the staff are very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. After a superb meal, we retired to our tent by which time it was well after dark and the noise of the animals, birds & insects was incredible and it continued for quite a time.

Next morning we were picked up for a coffee and pastry before starting the safari just before dawn. It was a good job we remembered to take our coats as it was the only time on the whole holiday we felt cold!. I was not sure what camera gear to take so I took the X-T1 with a couple of lens but only used the excellent 55-200mm zoom. Before the sun came up the ISO had to be raised to 100 but as the light improved I took it back in stages to 200. The quality at 1600 was barely different to 200 provided the exposure was correct. Luckily, it was quite cloudy with occasional brief sunny spells so I didn't have to worry about the lighting too much.

All the animals fend for themselves and find their own food with the exception of the lions which are fed although they have plans for the lions to hunt for their food.

This was taken the previous evening on my iPad and shows the arrangement for getting to our tent -  literally 6 oil drums with a platform  strapped to them & you pull yourselves across using the ropes. A buggy picks you up on the opposite side as there are liable to be wild animals there!

The noise of this lioness tearing the flesh off the leg of this animal was incredible.

This is a 4 year old elephant which was being bought up by its father (below with the big tusks) as its mother had died. The father was also looking after a 1 year old baby which is the last elephant image.

After the large animals it was a change to see this small wild tortoise crossing the road a few miles away from the reserve