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Here is another look at the wild One-horned Rhino grazing in the distance. Now here was a Rhino just feet away from us (see previous pictures earlier in the album), sitting, and yet, although this beast was much further away, this was the animal that was most thrilling for us. This was a true wild Rhino, in the bush, very dangerous, and very wild indeed. Well, so was the one right in front of us as well, but he did not have that air of being formidable as he was sitting peacefully and appeared to be a juvenile. Rhinos inhabit the alluvial flood-plain vegetation of sub-tropical climates where water and green grass is plentiful all year round. Many Rhinos now live within specific pockets of suitable Rhino habitat in the Chitwan National Park. Rhinos occurred in highest densities along the flood plain grasslands and riverine forests bordering the Rapti, Narayani, Reu, and Dhungre rivers, suggesting that flood plain grasslands dominated by 4-6 m tall Saccharum spontanium (a type of grass) are the single most critical habitat for these magnificent animals. Grasslands interspersed with patches of riverine forests together make about 30% of the area of the Chitwan National Park and have plenty of specific grass types (like the one I just mentioned above) which is the fundamental food resource for the Rhinos, comprising more than 60% of their diet. Sadly,ue to the flood and vegetation succession, the grassland may have decreased, but then, so has the Rhino population unfortunately, compared to earlier at least, so the surviving population still find plenty to eat in the Chitwan National Park. (Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
A final selfie before the Koh Tapu pillar rock (called a 'stack in geological terms) on Khao Phing Kan or James Bond island before we move on. This island was the shooting location for the 1974 Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Khao Phing Kan or James Bond Island is part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park. Detailed notes about the James Bond film as well as about the Ao Phang Nga park appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures), so I will save you any further commentary. (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
I am on the Phi Phi Islands tour just off Phuket, Thailand, and we have just made our first stop of the tour at Maya Bay, which was the location where the 1999 Hollywood movie The Beach was filmed. Sadly, the sheer crowds and the consequent over tourism after the movie was released led to much damage to the coral reefs around Maya Bay and the environment, so much so that the authorities have closed the beaches on Maya Bay to tourists till 2021 at least. That does not however stop scores of tour boats disgorging large numbers of tourists here for swimming and snorkeling- so much for environmental protection. I was frankly getting a tad bored here as the stop has been longer than I had bargained for, but as you can see most boats have been calling their passengers back. But there are still a handful of people splashing about, unconcerned about others on the boat. So inconsiderate of them- sad. Detailed notes about the Phi Phi Islands National Park appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)(Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
While I personally travel solo, and love the advantages of it, traveling solo can be a curse at times, especially if you are cursed to be paired with a very obnoxious individual. I am on the incredibly shaky and unstable rubber kayak on the Andaman sea for a ride through the caves here at Ko Hong. Sadly, I have been paired with a very selfish and inconsiderate blogger from Lebanon who kept pushing his feet into my back all the time- he was filming and talking to himself all the time and couldn't give a damn that he was inconveniencing someone eise. I pushed his feet away politely initially, then with some force later but the he started grumbling to the boatman that he wants to switch places with me- mid sea when the boat is already rocking? Fortunately the boatman told him to hold his guns till he came to a little beach a little further away. It takes all kinds, including totally obnoxious ones, to make up the world I guess. (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
The Community Baboon Sanctuary Women’s Conservation Group hosted a summer camp for children from seven local villages. The summer camp is a community educational outreach program that focuses on environmental awareness, conservation issues and academics. The Community Baboon Sanctuary Women’s Conservation Group was founded in 1998 and is responsible for Co Managing the Community Baboon Sanctuary. The Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS) is a pioneering project in voluntary grassroots conservation. The goal is to sustain the habitat of the Black Howler Monkey (called 'baboon' in the local Creole dialect) while promoting the economic development of the participating communities. To learn more about this organization visit their website www.howlermonkeys.org/ and visit their profile at apamo.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&a...
Coral Reef, Cabo Pulmo National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico
American Robin is rare but regular on Herschel Island. This one was feeding along the edge of a retrogressive thaw slump.
Taken from Indian Run Overlook along Skyline Drive. The overlook is situated on Compton Peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Photo by Kevin Borland.
I am on a morning jungle walk following a boat ride on the East Rapti river in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal. (see previous pictures earlier in this album). Well, a wet, muddy, slushy and waterlogged jungle walk and one nasty fall into a wet and muddy ditch later, we came across another boat ride. Yes, this was another of those really low canoes in which you had to literally squat on the floor- well, not literally, but the stool provided is barely a couple of inches high. We then end up here, at the Elephant Breeding and Training Centre in Khorsor, another part of the Chitwan National Park. We approach from the rear and have to walk around the elephant sheds to get here. This little elephant calf was walking around on his own and was giving us pretty nice photo ops. Pretty cute isn't he? (or a she- I couldn't really make out). (Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
A tag indicating a trap in the area, Yoko forest reserve 34 km from Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Photo by Ollivier Girard/CIFOR
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Another halt in the Phi Phi island cluster to allow tourists time for a spot of snorkeling and swimming. I am on the speedboat our around the Phi Phi islands. What, another stop already? We've just had a pretty long halt at Maya Bay (see previous pictures earlier in this album). One again, I'm not 100% sure of the name of this stop but I think this is the Pi Leh Bay, also referred to as Pi Leh Cove or Pi Leh Lagoon. Pi Leh Bay is one of the most impressive sites in the Koh Phi Phi islands cluster. Pi Leh Bay or Ao Pileh is like a canyon, almost cutting Koh Phi Phi Leh in two. Located on the eastern side of the island, a few hundred metres south of Viking Cave, it takes about 30 minutes for a long-tail boat to get there from Tonsai Bay, the main arrival/departure pier on at Phuket, Thailand. This stop, again pretty crowded with speed boats and tourist vessels as you can see, has been offered as a snorkeling destination. The halt here was mercifully much shorter than the one we've just had at Maya Bay. (see previous pictures earlier in this album). (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
Hveravellir þar sem að litir eru magnaðir
Hveravellir Iceland
Speeding away from the Viking Cave with supposedly Western style paintings inside it, hence the cave's name. Of course we could not get off here, and this was a mere photo stop, meaning you had to shoot from the boat, which was almost impossible due to the high boat walls, ventilator like slit windows, a seat coming in the way, people on that side of the boat standing up to strain their eyes through the ventilator windows and the boat only slowing down a bit and not actually stopping. It was difficult to point your camera into that small cave under the circumstances. Part of the Phi Phi island cluster off Phuket island, Thailand and included in the Phi Phi Islands National Park, the Viking Cave is supposed to have some Western style line drawings inside (which I could not see for reasons explained above). Today the cave is used in season for collecting birds’ (swallow) nests which are used extensively as food in many countries in SE Asia. The props and ropes seen here are for that purpose. The Viking Cave is located at the bottom of a tall limestone cliff on the northeastern side of the island, Known as Tham Phaya Nak in Thai, Viking Cave owes its name to the paintings found on the eastern southern walls of the cave: they represent various types of boats, including what resembles a Scandinavian drakkar (Viking longship). These paintings are however believed by some to be certainly quite recent, and were probably done by sailors taking shelter in the cave during a storm. (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
Done with the jungle walks and a rather disappointing jeep safari where the guide tried to relegate me to the middle seat, my Chitwan trip is practically over now. After a few minutes to freshen up, it was time to go for the Tharu Culture Program at the theatre opposite to our hotel. Tharu are the original inhabitants of Sauraha village, and the cultural show is organized by Nepal tourism and several local hotels in the towns of Sauraha and Meghauli. Apart from entertaining visitors to the Chitwan National Park, after the day's safari activities, the Tharu cultural show also plays a significant role in introducing Tharu Culture and tradition to the visitors. Traditional Tharu dances like the Danda Nach (Stick Dance), Ago Nach (Fire Dance) Mayur Nach (Peacock Dance) etc. are some the popular highlights of the cultural show. This one seems to be the Danda Nach or Stick Dance. (we will get to the peacock and fire dances later as we go along in this album. (see subsequent pictures later in the album). The program starts any time around 18:00 to 20:00 every evening. Some hotels include dinner with the dances but this one was in a theatre and no food was available. I did have dinner provided by my resort though after the show was over. (Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
A number of ministry employees are practicing on how to properly install the tool for the Rod Surface Elevation Table Marker Horizon.
Photo by Aulia Erlangga/CIFOR
If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org
Another screen shot from a YouTube video In Nepal showing a wild One-Horned/ Indian Rhino waking dangerously close to a car filled with Chinese tourists. That's a tiny car, and won't take much to topple if the wild beast gets spooked- he fortunately didn't all though the video, despite a whole lot of catcalls and the Chinese tourists inside the car creating quite a racket around him, and stupid pedestrians trying to take selfies of him at dangerously close quarters. I was surprised that this totally wild beast totally ignores all those unruly humans all around him- and yes, there have been attacks in the past. The Rhino population was estimated at around 1,000 in the Chitwan valley until 1950. The area was well protected by the then Rana rulers for sport hunting. Chitwan was also secure from outsiders since malaria was rampant at the time. Only a few indigenous communities like the Tharus peoples (an ethnic group in that area) who are immune to the disease, lived there. Being the local tribals, who depended on the land, their impact on the natural environment was negligible. Sadly things began to change, with an increase in human population leading to indiscriminate hunting, poaching and loss of habitat. Happly, subsequent to successful efforts by Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), the declining rhino population began to rebound gradually. The subsequent establishment of the Chitwan National Park- a protected wildlife reserve- has happily demonstrated that the Rhino population can rebound vigorously when sufficient habitat and protection are provided. This is a perfect example of how a population that was almost on the verge of extinction could, with some support and conservation efforts recover and soldier on, while still maintaining a high genetic diversity. (Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
I am on the Phi Phi Islands speedboat tour and we have just finished a long lunch stop at Coral Beach. Now my tummy was full, and I had downed a couple of beers as well, and would have appreciated a bit of a long ride till the next stop, but no, it came painfully quickly! The first post lunch stop on the tour was this one: on Koh Mai Pai which literally translates from the Thai as Bamboo Island. We are greeted by this large array of warning notices as we enter the island. The name Bamboo Island is actually pretty strange as while the is covered in casuar trees there is not a sprig of bamboo to be seen on the island. (another blog said there are a few bamboo trees sprinkled in between the casuar trees but I do not recall having spotted any). Ko Mai Pai is a low-lying island which boats of a clean, white sand beach all around the island as well as a splendid coral reef which offers good snorkeling. I read on someone's blog that Bamboo Island is heart shaped- now that was not pointed out to us when we got off the boat, and it was difficult to make out once were were walking on the island. It is said that the best snorkeling at Bamboo Island is on Hin Klang, a submerged reef ½ mile to the SW. This was not a snorkeling stop, more of a place to stretch our legs and probably have a coffee, and most of us were pretty tired anyway, getting on and off the boat, so all of us were merely walking around- I had a coffee. Some of our boat mates simply stayed on the boat. Ko Mai Pai or Bamboo Island is a nice stopover for the day, as night anchorage is permitted only in settled conditions during the NE monsoon! I don't think tour boats anchor here by night anyway, as almost all of them stop by here on day tours, so that's another bit of useless information- thought I'd mention it anyway. (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)
Tourists waiting to take photographs of orangutans during feeding time at Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia.
Photo by Greg Girard/CIFOR
If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org
Different sets of toursts inside the Eravikulam National Park in Kerala in south India. One set of tourists are posing for photos while others are relaxing on the stone wall. Since this is a National Park, all construction is stricly controlled and you expect a lot more greenery in the location. There are a couple of children sitting on the ground, and the ladies are wearing traditional dress, either the saree or salwar kameez. Eravikulam National Park is a relatively small national park located in the Idukki district of Kerala, being a part of the Western Ghats. Small because the area of the park is 97 sq. km, while traditionally the sanctuaries located in other parts of India can be many hundreds of sq. km or more. The park is interesting to visit, since it is located at a higher altitude, with the park being located at a height of around 2000 meter, on a hill plateau. The park has a number of animals, the most famous inhabitants of the park being the endangered Nilgiri Tahir (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) with a number of different predators also being found in the area. The park has 3 different regions of greenery - forests in some of the lower sections, grasslands and shrublands (located at higher levels and in rocky areas). Visitor vehicles are not allowed inside the park, with entry into the park being through mini-buses that are run by the park authorities. These buses take the visitor to a higher point, and from there visitors can climb higher on the turning and winding road and even come into contact with the Nilgiri Tahir who come close to the road.
Chinese tourists frolicking and taking selfies at Coral Beach in the Phi Phi cluster just off Phuket, Thailand. I am on the Phi Phi Islands speedboat tour and we have made a long-ish lunch stop here on Coral Beach. Apart from lunch for us tourists,this is probably a place for the boat crew and our tour guides to get some lunch as well, as well as to stock up on supplies for the rest of the trip- we are about half way into the tour now. Lunch was a simple but delicious buffet spread, put out in a wooden building. I was lucky to get a seat on the balcony overlooking the sea, and so apart from enjoying my lunch, I could also do a spot of people watching. Being Thailand, apart from cooked items, there was also plenty of fresh fruit, much to my delight. Detailed notes about the Phi Phi Islands National Park appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Phuket, Thailand, Oct/ Nov. 2019)