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| Wednesday, 21-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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A more exciting Karoo sight...
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It's actually just the big and furries that aren't that exciting in the Karoo...  the plants on the other hand do get rather funky  . The Succulent Karoo is the world's only arid biodiversity hotspot (i.e. it's a big conservation target). It's a hotspot because it's got loads and loads of plant species quite a lot of which that don't occur anywhere else in the world.
Here are just a few of the funky shapes you find 
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| Tuesday, 20-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Unusual Karoo Sights
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The Karoo is not known for it's mammals... there's not very much exciting. However, some reserves are profit driven and one in particular has introduced some unusual animals into part of its property to keep the tourists happy... On wednesday afternoon there were field trips and I decided that rather than going on one that would make me think I'd go on one that would just be fun...
So I saw giraffes in the Karoo - where the vegetation generally only exceeds 1m in the riverbeds... I saw hand-reared buffalo who's noses you could touch and I saw lions! In amongst some funky plants that I'll show tomorrow
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| Monday, 19-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Another sunrise
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There's as much variability in sunrises as there is in sunsets... This was the treat on Wednesday morning
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| Sunday, 18-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Where have I been...
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Hello!!! I'm back
From Monday to Friday I was at Barrydale (out in the middle of nowhere in the Karoo) at a conference... there wasn't much photo taking time but I was up early enough several mornings to get sunrise photos! Rather an unusual subject for me I'll be putting the week's photos up gradually, this was the first sunrise: Tuesday morning.
Tuesday was quite a hectic day... it was the first of my two presentations and I was rather nervous. Things went rather well though in the end... you'll have to wait a few days to find out why 
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| Saturday, 27-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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The Spider and The Bee
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I first saw a bee at a funny angle...
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...from a different viewpoint, the spider was visible.
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After a bit of manoeuvring...
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I went out in the garden this afternoon (in the sunshine! ) to take some photos... There's a really pretty bush I've been wanting to try and take macros of for a while, needless to say the wind always starts up when I turn on the macro function  When I got there today it had a fair few bees on, I noticed one wasn't moving and was in a bit of an unusual position and that led to the above set of photos... very cropped and slightly blurry thanks to the breeze but an illustration of amazing strength  The finding of the dead bees with little flies on makes me wonder quite how often this happens, or how many spiders there are like this on the bush 
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| Saturday, 20-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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England Trip - Index
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Well I'm finally back in South Africa, getting back to a routine. I took loads and loads of photos on holiday, needless to say they're all in reverse chronological order! So if you're looking for something in particular, here's the index:
Bristol and the Boat
Dancing (SouthWest LeRoc Challenge): spin in this direction
Weekend away with Anna & Pete: day 1 and day 2
Catching up with Cass, Katy & Tim: click here
Walk and drinks with Anna & Pete: bumble here
On the boat with Lois & Chris: the boat, ducks, swans, geese and coots, a few macros, Hampton Court, Ripples & Reflections and Boats, Buildings & Bridges
Norwich
Grandma comes for the weekend: here
Flowers in the garden: here
Mexican meal with Andy & Sarah: here
Solo came to visit with Gail: here
New shoes for the first time in years: here
Milton Keynes & Grandma's
A visit to my cousin's: click
Night out in Milton Keynes: click
Pub lunch with Mike & James: click
Flowers at Wentworth: click
Evening with Grandma: click
Birds etc at Wentworth: click
London & Tewin
Lunch with Susie in London: photos
Tewin Church with Ann & John: pictures
Cambridge with Ann & John: carvings
Badger watching: wow!
Raindrops on flowers: sparkle
Orchid and summer pudding: red&white
Flowers in Ann & John's garden: colours
At the end...
Quilt my mum made: here
Night out in Bristol: here
Cotswolds walk: here
Enormous house: here
Enormous garden: here
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| Friday, 19-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Mansion Garden
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Along with big houses come big gardens... 4.86 acres in fact... enough for an enormous garden, a tennis court, a secret garden, a swimming pool, a trampoline, a paddock and lots and lots of amazing plants! Here are just a few of the photos
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| Thursday, 18-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Mansion Sitting
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The last stop on my trip was to stay with Lois & Chris (of the canal boat) whilst they were house sitting as the house was relatively close to Heathrow. They said "house sitting" but when I saw the place I figured it was more like "mansion sitting"... there were 5 bedrooms, the smallest the size of my sitting room... 5 bathrooms... 2 halls downstairs... an airing cupboard the size of my kitchen... It was huge!!!! A very luxurious end to my stay
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| Sunday, 14-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Cotswolds Walk
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After a night out, what better than lots of fresh air? We went for a walk along the Cotswold way which was really beautiful. Lots of ups and downs but I managed There were some stunning views along the way and we had an interesting stop at the cheese rolling hilll... apparently each year there is a contest where they roll a cheese down the hill and people run after it and try to catch it. Looking at the hill, which is actually more of a cliff I'm not surprised that no-one has ever managed to succeed!
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| Saturday, 13-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Bristol night out
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Anna & Pete
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Me & Anna
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Towards the end of my trip it was back to Bristol for a few days. Anna, Pete & I took the opportunity to get dressed up and go out one evening We ended up sitting in a pub chatting rather than going dancing but it was all good fun
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