Uploads from Sardionerak

Guanaco in front of Torres del Paine mountains

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:03:55 -0700

I know, it's a little cheesy, but with that composition, I just couldn't resist.
Before you think it might be hard to get a guanaco to pose on camera... it's really not. They seem to not care at all about tourists walking up close. Just be careful though, they do tend to bite.

Reflections of Torres del Paine

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:58:09 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Sometimes it doesn't take much... this was merely a small pool of water, but as soon as our little mini bus approached this, all the passengers with cameras screamed "Oh my god, stop!" The driver slammed the brakes, and we stumbled out of the bus and took as many pictures as we could. See, it's not only the reflections that make this pretty cool, it's also that there being no wind in Patagonia is pretty special, too.

Torres del Paine in all its glory

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:46:47 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

On our second full day in the Torres del Paine National Park, our guide hired a bus (not from the goodness of his heart, but because we paid extra for it) and drove us through the whole National Park. It was a lot of driving, but I thought it was great to see the mountain range from all sides, just because it gave us a good idea of its structure and obviously its incredible beauty.

It's a windy place, Patagonia

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:09:48 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Admittedly, not all trees look as extreme as these ones, but if you're travelling to Patagonia without a wind-proof jacket, you will have an exposure problem (and not of the camera kind). There are places, especially on the mountains, where the wind blows so hard that it's difficult to breathe. And in the steppes, it is simply a constant companion.
Well, good thing is, I LOVE wind! So I personally found this very exciting :-)

These particular trees stand about 40 minutes outside of Ushuaia on the very southern tip of South America.

Torres del Paine towers

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:42:26 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

I remember when I saw pictures of these towers for the first time, I thought they were fake. And funnily, when I then stood in front of them, I had the same feeling. There is something about the sheer size of these things (as you see them, they go up another 1.6km!!!), and the extremely strong wind up there, where your mind simply boggles...
I don't think I will ever see anything like this again in my life, and I do not at all regret that I went absolutely wild with my camera. It makes it even more special that you have to walk for about 4 hours uphill, partly alongside a massive boulder field, to get to this place. You feel you've earned this as a reward. Very hard to turn your back to it later though, let me tell you!

The most incredible valley I've ever seen

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:22:50 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Sometimes, it's an unexpected vista that touches you the most...

We had just gotten back from a very long (over 8 hour) hike up a very steep mountain to see Mt Fitzroy, and it had been a complete wash-out while we were up there. On the way back to El Chalten, a tiny village in Patagonia, Argentina, we turned a corner, and suddenly had this view on what I would probably call the most beautiful valley I had ever seen! The air was so crisp and clear from all the rain beforehand, you could see for tens of kilometres without any haze or pollution. The water of the river was a pristine turquoise, and the clouds were chasing across as you can only ever see it in Patagonia. What a great experience!

Iguazu Falls - shot from the Brazilian side

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:53:59 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

If you ever find yourself in South America, you MUST go and see the Iguazu Falls! After the Victoria Falls, they are the second largest waterfalls in the world, and although they were at about 50% strength when we saw them, they were still incredible. Nothing makes humans understand their own insignificance than standing in front of a massive wall of water that pours over a huge edge and plummets down a cliff face.

You basically need two days to see them - one day for the Brazilian side to get postcard-perfect shots (where this picture was taken), and another day from the Argentinian side, to get up close and personal with the largest falls.

Lots of wildlife to be seen as well, but prepare yourself to be one of many visitors - both sides of the falls try to make as much money out of them as possible.

Sunrise over Torres del Paine

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:24:24 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

I know that the moment people see this picture of a sunset over Torres del Paine, they will think that I went a little crazy on the "Vibrance" and "Saturation" settings - let me assure you, it really looked like this!!! I crawled out of our tent, looked up and could not believe my eyes how lucky I was to have seen something like this in my life! It was truly incredible, and for the next 15 minutes or so, everybody at the camp site just stood and watched as the colour changed... truly magical!

I don't feel like swimming today!

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:44:14 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

On a small island, about 45 minutes drive from Ushuaia (the southern-most city in the world), we were able to walk amongst penguins! They were so cute, and extremely non-plussed by our presence. We could walk up to them and they would just look at you in a bored kind of way. The best thing was to see them hobble to the beach, only to become extremely agile once they started swimming. Some, like the two above, just seemed to prefer to get their feet wet.

Mt Fitzroy - visible every now and then

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:05:34 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Mt Fitzroy is one of those stand-out mountain needles close to El Chalten in Argentina that look completely unreal - when you get to see them! Patagonian weather is legendary for its temper, and the 3 days we were in El Chalten, we saw it all: beautiful blue sky, wild rain and wind, overcast yet still, etc. Most of the time, all of the above on one day. It certainly does make you feel alive, hehehe.

Torres del Paine massif

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:18:46 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Torres del Paine is another one of those incredible Argentinian / Chilean National Parks that just takes your breath away. This particular cluster of mountains actually stands on its own (not connected to the Andes) and is therefore even more impressive in size. It's about 3000 metres high and there are some truly amazing sights (which I will reveal bit by bit, of course).
One thing though, if it's windy there, then it's WINDY!

Perito Moreno Glacier

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:12:54 -0700

Sardionerak posted a photo:

I just got back from my unbelievable Patagonia holiday, and this photo (well, 15 photos hastily stitched together) of the Perito Moreno Glacier is one of my absolute favourites!
What a fantastic glacier - we stood in front of it for several hours, and it just didn't get boring, with all the cracking in the ice, and huge pieces breaking off. Amazing, you haven't lived if you haven't seen a huge glacier, in my opinion.

Love me, I'm cute!

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:04:45 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Lemurs are definitely up there with the cutest animals to start with, but this little one takes home the trophy! He was just sitting there, eating his tiny piece of banana, all in all maybe 30 cm tall, and very soft and cuddly.

Makes you wonder whether being cute is almost like nature's latest defense mechanism - you look cute, it's less likely that humans kill you!

Les Grandes Etanges, Reunion Island

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:40:12 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Reunion Island is stunningly beautiful that on the island itself, there's not much advertising for places that other countries would charge exorbitant entry fees for. Les Grandes Etanges lies at the end of a pretty small road: there's a small lake, surrounded by huge cliffs, and we thought, we might as well just walk around the lake to stretch our legs. As soon as we started, we realised that we had uncovered a bit of a hidden gem (at least for uninformed tourists like us): the trek around the lake is fantastic, and ends with two massively high waterfalls that seem to be cascading right out of the sky!

I'll post the pictures of them a little later.

Rice paddies on Madagascar

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 04:41:54 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

As much as people would like to have romantic notions (remote island in Africa) or hilarious expectations (lemurs dancing to "I like to to move it, move it"), much of the island is in fact a staggering environmental catastrophe.

As soon as the ground is not a steep cliff, it gets transformed into a rice paddy. For this purpose huge amounts of forests are being logged or simply burned, and ground erosion is rampant. There were huge landscapes that hardly had a tree standing, and for hundreds of kilometres, the air smelled of burning wood. It's the exploitation of nature due to over-population on a grand scale, and frankly, looking how anarchic and culturally stuck the country is, I can't see it recover. Ever. Very sad.

"No cameras, please!"

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:10:53 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Madagascar is not known for many good things, but their lemurs are certainly one of them!

This one was obviously annoyed that I had followed him, and being in a foul mood, instead of asking me to put my camera away, he became violent and...

Nah, in fact, these guys are super-cute! Their hands are really soft, and when they climb up and all over you, it's like being touched by baby hands :-) This photo was taken in a nature reserver where the lemurs were very used to humans, so we got quite a bit of attention!

Freshwater lagoon in Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:42:10 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

I went on one of those tiny bus tours that are the only type of tour you get on Vanuatu's largest island, Espiritu Santo, and the bus driver drove straight into the djungle, across abandoned US military air bases, up to a point where we thought he was completely lost. And suddenly the djungle opened up and revealed this lagoon - the water was the most pristine I have ever seen in my life! The main pool was about 20 metres deep. No, I'm not exaggerating, because I can hold my breath for a really long time, and I didn't make it to the bottom... it was stunningly beautiful to be in there, because it almost glowed in this blueish colour, and there were tiny fish flitting about, and you could climb up on one a massive tree and jump into the lagoon. Basically, you could do all these things as an adult that kids love so much :)

Anse Source d'Argent - travelling into a postcard

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 03:17:07 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

When you travel to the Seychelles, you often walk along the beaches and think "Someone played a little too much with the levels and vibrances" and then you realise that you're currently not looking at a Photoshop view but at the real thing! It seems that everything on these islands has a stronger, richer, and most often bluer colour than on the rest of the planet.

The world famous Anse Source d'Argent is close to the Southern tip of the tiny island (about 3 km long) of La Digue - it's a fairy-tale mix of dark granite rocks, bright sand stone, and one picture-perfect beach after another. The water is crystal clear, there are fish everywhere, palm trees... really, it could not be any better!

Storm in the distance

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:21:50 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Pretty much exactly one year ago, I went up to the Northern tip of Stradbroke Island, near Brisbane, Australia, to stay in a gorgeous beach house for a few days. As much as it was absolutely beautiful being there (dolphins and sea-turtles everywhere you looked), a storm made swimming almost impossible. Well, and the sharks that our friends sighted when they went diving. That does make me a little nervous, I have to say...

Greed is not good for Giant Tortoises

nobody@flickr.com (Sardionerak) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:36:30 -0800

Sardionerak posted a photo:

Fun fact for your next trivia night - there are twice as many Giant Tortoises in the Seychelles as there are citizens (but they are not allowed to vote).

Now, knowing that these tortoises can weigh well over 150kg, you might be wondering, "How did this tortoise get into such an awkward position?" - Good question!

What happened was this: the keeper of the enclosure had just thrown a lot of vegetables to the about 20 tortoises. Being the greedy giants that they are, they immediately moved into the direction of the food, all of them at the same time. Unfortunately, one tortoise was already there, and when the other tortoises crushed in from all sides, it got lifted up, rolled around a litte, and then dumped on the outside of the heaving mass of tortoises. Luckily, it fell on its feet... I honestly wouldn't have known what to do to roll it over again.

This picture was taken in the botanical gardens of the capital city / town Victoria on the main island Mahe, Seychelles.