This image is a dead tamarind tree in Taungthaman lake near U Bein bridge in Amarapura, Myanmar. My travels took me to 5 continents in 2015 which included two new continents — Asia and South America and new countries — India, Thailand, Brazil and Myanmar. Though I saw some breathtaking places and had incredible experiences, nothing compared to finally getting to my paternal ancestral home of Myanmar.
The feeling of walking in the footsteps of my father, grandparents, great & great-great grandparents and meeting about 70+ members of my family in Mandalay and Yangon is hard to put into words.
Pampering elephants at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Elephant Nature Park is a sanctuary for rescued elephants from the tourism and entertainment trades in Thailand. Every elephant has a heartbreaking story. To help, you can visit ENP as a day visitor or overnight guest or you can stay longer and volunteer.
Please don’t ride elephants in Thailand, South Africa or anywhere. They are wild animals even if born in captivity. In order to ride an elephant in the tourism industry they need to be ‘broken’ and there is a lot of evidence that states the process is very cruel.
If you love elephants that much and want to be close to them, please consider visiting them at Elephant Nature park instead. You can walk with them, bathe them and even have your photo taken with them.
One of my favourite things to do when I visit British Columbia is to go on a whale watching tour. I’ve been to BC several times and have been on many whale watching tours in Victoria, Tofino and Vancouver, British Columbia.
While on a sunset whale watching tour in the waters of the Salish Sea near Victoria, we were surrounded by a family of orca whales. Suddenly, an orca whale came out of the water to check us out.
A wild & free transient Orca whale (also known as Killer Whale) in the Salish Sea, the waters near Victoria, British Columbia.
Shortly after the above photo was taken, a mother and baby orca swam under our boat, twice. We also had a rare opportunity to watch Orca whales as they taught their young how to hunt for porpoises and saw a humpback whale and seals. It was my favourite whale watching tour to date.
Mother Orca teaching her young one how to hunt for porpoise.
Two orcas in the water near Victoria, British Columbia with Race Rock in the background.
A humpback whale tale against the sunset in the Salish Sea near Victoria, British Columbia
I highly recommend Eagle Wing Tours in Victoria, British Columbia for these reasons:
They are Canada’s first carbon-neutral, eco-adventure whale watching company
They partner with the Songhees First Nation, traditional territory of Victoria, to offer the Songhees Nation Cultural Tour
They contribute to conservation and education
They have several tour options and boats available. I enjoyed the tour on the Goldwing.
Four-year-old Lason Taylor is a 3rd generation performer in the Le-La-La Dancers First Nations dance company. I captured this image as he performed at the 2nd annual three-day Aboriginal Cultural Festival in Victoria, British Columbia in June 2015.
The Le-La-La dancers are from the Kwakwaka’wakh First Nation in Northern Vancouver Island. They have been sharing their culture and traditions through beautiful songs and sacred dances of their
ancestors under the direction of George Me’las Taylor locally and around the world for 27 years.
The passing of stories from generation to generation is how their rich culture has survived and will continue to survive. Events like this are important so that we may learn about cultures in our countries and in the places we visit in our travels. Gilakasla Le-La-La.
Karula, a female leopard photographed in the Sabi Sands, South Africa
Meet Karula, the ‘Queen of Djuma’
In May 2015, I spent a night at Elephant Plains Game Lodge in the northern Sabi Sands. I was fortunate to see the female leopard known as Karula during both game drives.
My favourite encounter with Karula happened when we came across her and Tingana (a dominant male leopard in Djuma Game Reserve) on the morning drive. They were on the move. but stopped to mate. We spent 45 minutes following them through the bush.
She was a well-loved leopard in Sabi Sands but sadly, she disappeared without a trace and is assumed to be dead. Those mating sessions I witnessed did not result in cubs for Karula, but in February 2016 she had 2 cubs. They were named Hosana (male leopard) and Xongile (female leopard). Hosana still traverses the Sabi Sands. Sadly, Xongile disappeared without a trace just like her mother.
Photographing Karula
I was able to photograph Karula several times during those sightings, but my favourite moment and photo happened when Karula stood on a termite mound. I captured this image the only moment she looked my way. and had mere seconds to catch it. Fortunately, I was ready. This photo of Karula continues to be one of my treasured images as Karula was the leopard that drew me to the species and WildEarth.
WildEarth / safariLIVE
It was an amazing and surreal experience being in Karula’s presence because I have watched her over the years on safariLIVE by Wild Earth. WildEarth streams a live game drive from South Africa 2 times a day every day to their YouTube channel.
In November/December 2018 I had the opportunity to visit and live with the safariLIVE / WildEarth team and crew for 10 days. You can read about my experience on the WildEarth blog here.
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In May 2015, I spent a few days in the incredible Kruger National Park and captured this giraffe silhouette. It was my last sunset in the South African bush that trip and a shot I had envisioned for a long time.
