Recap from the trip: Day 2

 So our second day starts right proper and early, off to the New River for jungle exploration and wildlife watching, and then to the Mayan ruin, Lamanai. Along the way we'd see all kinds of exotic birds (who are darned hard to catch in flight with any degree of clarity),  reptiles of all shapes and sizes, strange new plants (I now know where air plants come from), and plenty of mammals, like the wild monkey pictured here. 

We stopped at a midway point and had a traditional lunch of jerked chicken with red beans and rice. I would soon learn I was going to be eating that dish a lot over the vacation. No matter, I loved it.

One of the other things we saw, were people fishing on the river for, well anything they could catch, colourful houses, Mormon enclaves and John McAfee's summer house (for sale for merely 1.25 million US.) Along the way our wonderful tour guide pointed out to us (there were a number of other people on the boat, including some wonderful Canadians, who I took pics of later) the hidden wonders of the river that we traveled. Bats dozing in the sun, termite mounds in trees, cactus plants that looked like tree pythons ready to pounce, and he kept up a steady stream of very bad puns (It's Unbelizeable!)

Recap from the trip: Day 1

 So we arrive in Belize and right off the plane, things are different. For one, there is the old fashioned mobile staircase that attaches to the plane that you walk down. Two, the terminal has a live band playing while you go through the very light customs. A refreshing change from the sullen paranoia that permeates airports in the US.

By the time we got to the hotel, it was about 2pm and according to the desk clerks, Belize kind of shuts down at 5pm, so it's really too late to go out on an excursion into the wilds of the country.

So it's off to the pool instead. Here is where the reality of being in another country sets in, there are parrots flying over squawking at much larger birds of prey (some kind of vulture perhaps. The locals call them "eagles.")
And of course all the palm trees are laden with fresh coconuts. Anyway, here are two shots of the interior courtyard of my hotel. The pool never had anyone in it, so I had it all to myself the entire week. Now that's a vacation!
In addition, the bar that night (I don't drink, but I did visit to check it out) was playing calypso music. Fair enough, but the lyrics of the song were about the movie Terminator.
Sung by a woman who sounded a lot like Sade.

I could get used to this place...

Greetings From Belize!

Greetings to all my visitors from the sunny country of Belize!
I'm here on vacation for a week or so, but if I like the place (and it looks like I'm going to) then I may stay and become a ski instructor ;-)
It's 85 degrees here and about 90% humidity. In other words, just the way I like it. It's around 2.30pm here and the city apparently rolls up around 5pm, so today I'm hanging by the pool at the hotel. Tomorrow is the exploration of the Mayan ruins and river rafting. The day after that I will be doing kayaking and cave tubing.
Will have lots of wonderful pics (I hope) to share with you soon.
In the meantime, I'm turning on the A/C!

Another Rant

This journal is about photography. It's not about my political viewpoint, my societal viewpoint, world views or anything of that nature. I'm a photographer. I'm not a politician, or an actor, or an economist, or anyone that affects the way the world works. The way I see it, you come here for my pictures, not for my rants, and certainly not for my jokes (nudge nudge wink wink know say no more!)

So I keep these things down to a dull roar, only ranting about things photography related (or the rare soup one.)

Unfortunately I feel the need to rant once more. So to my dear readers, if you don't want to read a long-winded tirade, feel free to go back to looking at my pictures. I certainly won't mind, as I don't care to read rants either. For those that are still with me, here it goes:

Back in the late 80s and early 90s I worked at pet stores, working with reptiles and salt water systems. Back then, the only reptiles you could get, for acceptable amounts of money, were wild caught. Having been wild caught, they came with parasites and varying health, typically poor. They were stressed, starved, dehydrated and generally pissed off. Feeding was an issue because white mice, the most common food item available at a pet store, is not something found in the wild, so a vast majority of snakes simply refused to recognize them as food. 

I got to be very good at my job, rehabilitating, rescuing, reviving and feeding, these sad cases. I am ever so thankful that those dark days are behind us, and the reptiles available these days are captive bred and lack all those issues I dealt with decades ago.

Which is not to say they've been completely eradicated.

Enter "Lucky"

Lucky is an 11 year old Royal (nee Ball) Python. Lucky is half-starved, dehydrated, freaked out and very ill.

He was given to me by a guy who could no longer care for the snake.

The tank was too small, there were no hiding places, no water, no heat and it had never been cleaned. That the snake is still alive is a testimony to the resilience of Royal Pythons.

I am not certain he will live. I bleached the tank, put fresh paper down, got Pedialyte for him to drink, a hide box, full spectrum/heat light and some food. Lucky was too weak to constrict his prey, so fortunately the prey item didn't put up a struggle. Royal Pythons are supposed to be stocky bodied and round. Lucky is triangle-shaped. I can count his ribs and see his backbone.

This kind of neglect pisses me the hell off. The information out there on reptile care is legion. Royal Pythons are generally a forgiving bunch to begin with. Cases like this should have been consigned to the dust bin of history, and yet it's clearly still present in the reptile community.

Lucky is currently hiding, as Royal Pythons are wont to do, so no pictures of him, but when he de-stresses enough to come out, I will post a picture of him. 

Owning an animal as a pet is a responsibility. Their entire health and well being are in our hands. If we are unable, or unwilling to shoulder that responsibility, then we should not have a pet. Anyway, this concludes the rant, and I hope only to post positive comments on Lucky's health from now on.

Part of the Fun

One of the band members, doing a little Burlesque routine. Very well done and one of the few times I had too much reach with my lens (needed the 50mm on my camera) but didn't want to lose any shots by trying to switch lenses in the dark.

Prelude

The girl on the left, with the green wrist band, was part of the audience, pulled on stage to help play out a scene. Not sure if this was rehearsed or not, but she played the part rather well. It's always nice to see bands interact with their fans, far too many bands that I shoot, don't do that, and it really lends something to the concert when they do.

Helper

I missed what this scene was about, but it was clear that Death was behind her, picking her up and lifting her away from all her earthly troubles. Little too much red for my tastes, but not much I could do about that, the scene required it.

Brave

According to Wikipedia, Emilie has had a very rough life, and uses her music to excise the demons. She's a very brave girl for putting her personal problems out there in front of strangers, for all to see and hear. You can see the emotions play across her face in this shot, she was singing about her time in a mental ward, and the difficulties of getting out of there intact.

Audience

I have to give a special thanks to the venue, for letting me in areas normally off limits. Unlike the metal shows I've been to, where the crowd will shift position and allow me in for some shots, Emilie's fans were firmly rooted in one spot, and I couldn't get anywhere near the stage for love nor money.

Fortunately I had my 80-200mm with me and it could do a pretty good job of getting in close. Still had some tall audience members to deal with, but all part of the charm(?) of shooting live.

Spoooooooon!

Her show consisted of 3 performers, Ms. Autumn, and two helpers, done in several parts with lots of costume changes in between. Spoons are very popular in the latter half of the show, and there are reasons for their use, but being exposed to Ms. Autumn's stage show for the first time, I'm not certain what their significance is. 

The music is pre-recorded, and Emilie sings along with it, the only instrument on stage was a keyboard, used for the encores. Emilie is hell on wheels with an electric violin, but for whatever reason, didn't use it this time around.