A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
From 1875 until 2016 there was a small zoo in the middle of Buenos Aires. With progress, the larger animals were relocated to nature reserves, and the area was turned into a park.
The park retains many of the old zoo buildings (some is less than pristine condition) as well as some of the small animal and birds, while being enhanced with a return of a more natural setting.
Also scattered throughout are many sculptures. Overall it is a pleasant setting to stroll around for a couple of hours.
This photography blog started out as a way to share some photos with friends, but after a number of years it has reached a milestone – posting number 1000!
To celebrate I give you my favorite 40 photos of all time. (I tried to make it less but could not)
Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Milwaukee sunrise
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
Duluth, Minnesota thunderstorm
Yellowstone National Park – All Hail the Geyser Gods
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Mendocino County, California
Cambridge, Ohio lumberjack contest
Cincinnati Renaissance Festival
Loudonville, Ohio – Native American Pow Wow
Alaska Peninsula
Columbus – Krampus
Chicago
New York City subway art
Cincinnati – Rosie the Riveter Contest
Lanai, Hawaii – Cat Sanctuary
Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Waimea Canyon Park, Kauai, Hawaii
Columbus – Krampus V2
Washington DC – Embassy Day
Houston – Lucky Land
Amarillo, Texas – Cadillac Ranch
Cleveland – Parade the Circle
Columbus Zoo
Montreal
Olivos, Argentina
San Antonio De Areco, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Casa Rosada
Bariloche, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Retiro Train Station
Buenos Aires – Recoleta Cemetery
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina
La Leona, Argentina
El Calafate, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Palacio Barolo
Igauzu Falls, Argentina
We spent two wet days in the rain forest of Argentina and Brazil at one of the world’s natural wonders – Igauzu Falls. Generally considered one of the two or three best waterfalls in the world, it is in reality 250+ separate waterfalls.
The challenge of photographing such a vast scene, in the drizzle and mist, was daunting. In the end the lighting and coloring provided many interesting views. – resulting in a long posting of 40 photos.
We also met a few new friends.
A great year of sights – these are my favorite 30 photos of 2019, with brief explanations why they are my favorites.
Chicago – Willis (Sears) Tower. The perspective of people out of their elements.
Washington – The former Capital Columns in the Arboretum. The morning lighting with the wildflowers and contrast of the columns.
Washington – Embassy Open House Day – and a young lady’s perfect timing next to their logo.
Near Frankfurt, Kentucky – I have a thing about old, seemingly abandoned buildings. This however had been reclaimed and re-used for it’s original purpose – bourbon storage and aging.
New Orleans – Mardis Gras World. It was like stepping into some psychedelic movie.
Avery Island, Louisiana – The symmetry of the rice fields with another old building.
Houston – The home of quirky art. This is from Lucky Land, a very cool place.
Houston quirky art part 2 – Giant President Heads.
San Antonio mission. Symmetry and historic architecture.
Amarillo, Texas – Cadillac Ranch, but after a storm where they appeared to be in a pond.
Columbus Zoo and a zoom lens. The statement in the face and amazing beauty of the animals.
Montreal – Ferris Wheel in Old Montreal – Perfect timing and lighting (just lucky on the timing).
Marietta, Ohio – Sternwheeler festival.
Chicago – Open House and another fantastic ceiling/light.
Buenos Aires – obviously the extended period spent in Argentina has opened a new world of photo possibilities. Recoleta Cemetery is the most popular tourist spot in the city, and I had the good fortune of some young lady there for (I suspect) a photo shoot when she ran by the row I was in, turned and posed for me! Who doesn’t want a photo of a young lady running through a cemetery with a knife.
Recoleta Cemetery provides so many great shots – the cob webs are natural, not staged.
The tomb of San Martin.
The La Boca neighborhood is known as a working class neighborhood in love with their team – La Boca juniors. The old car symbolizes the working class neighborhood and it was parked in front of the soccer practice fields with their bright colors on the walls.
Chacarita Cemetery is not as famous as Recoleta, but still a very stunning place.
The sunrises and sunsets can be amazing.
An hour drive out of town to San Antonio de Areco, and their gaucho festival was the event of the year. 4000 people and horses dressed for the occasion.
The Jacaranda trees are fantastic in bloom.
On a walking tour of street art the passer by’s sometimes fit the theme.
The Casa Rosada. A great courtyard and a bemused guard.
Hockey in Argentina – bring that soccer passion inside and combine it with hockey.
Finally – Bariloche, a beautiful mountain and lakes region.
Rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon meant a less crowded day at the zoo – perfect for wandering around and getting some close ups. There is so much expression in their looks and body language.
Our major museum visit this trip was to the Field Museum of Natural History. It is known as one of the premier natural history museums in the world, and attracts millions of visitors per year.
We were here to learn about natural history.
As we entered the lobby we stopped by a small kiosk with a display of bugs.
Our first hall major exhibit we toured was the Hall of Ancient Americas. This wing covered both North and South America.
Each region featured pottery, sculptures, jewelry and more, and started with South and Central America cultures such as the Aztec and Inca (and many more)
The final section included the Northern Cultures. While similar to the southern cultures, these featured more large scale sculptures like the totem poles.
The second level featured Griffin Hall – a large dinosaur exhibit.
The most famous is Sue – the most complete T Rex ever discovered. For some reason there was unusual lighting on Sue when we were there.
One the main display the head is a cast of the original, which is in the next room in a display so you can inspect it closer.
We paid a brief visit to the cultures of the Pacific
Our final stop was an Egyptian display, including mummies.
It’s December which means the annual Columbus Zoo ‘Wildlights’ is back.
We arrived early enough to check out the aquarium.
The penguin habitat was still open (it closed at 5).
They apparently were ready to go in for the night as they were honking very loud and often.
The Reptile Building was open. Most of them were very active.
The ‘Farm’ was open as well, as it was inside of a barn.
Finally we passed a sleeping bear.
A quick stop by the historic carousel…
And it was sunset.
Time for the lights.
The lights are nice, but the animals are always the best part.
Our trip brought us to Lahaina, on Maui. One of the oldest settlements in Hawaii, it was once the royal capital of Maui Loa.
Today it is a center of tourism (as is most of Hawaii).
We were anchored just off shore where we had great views of the houses and boats along the coast.
Another day – another great Hawaiian rainbow.
Meanwhile the first mate casually monitored the situation.
While the crew readied the skiffs.
Once on the skiff, we headed towards shore.
But first, a dolphin show (not planned, just lucky).
Once on ground, we made our way to the famed Banyan tree of Lahaina. Planted in 1873, it is the largest banyan tree in America, covering almost 2 acres.
We took a walk around town…
To check out some of the historic buildings…
Including the former prison.
Some colorful houses.
And a great mailbox.
Eventually it was time to leave Lahaina.
With one last look…
We sailed off into the sunset.
Day 10 started out with a Zodiac Boat tour down the coast to another snorkel location. A Zodiac boat is a rigid hull, inflatable boat that can go very fast across the water, as Captain Bill demonstrated.
Assisted by Chris, the first mate.
As we made our way down the coast we stopped by some sea caves.
Despite being formed by lava, they were very colorful.
We arrived at the bay where the snorkeling occurred. It is the bay where Captain Cook met his demise.
The snorkeling was great.
On our return trip we passed more sea cliffs
Along the way we encountered a group of ‘Spinning’ Dolphins, as this series of photos illustrate.
After returning to the boat, we made our way back to Kona one more time for a historic tour.
We toured the Queens summer palace.
Finally it was time to return to our home for the week.
The Cleveland Metroparks is one of the best parks systems in the United States, circling Cleveland in what is known as the Emerald Necklance
One of their main features closer into the city is the Metroparks Zoo, only 5 miles from downtown Cleveland.
While much smaller than the more famous Columbus Zoo, in my opinion it is nicer in that there is far less commercialization.
The Metroparks Zoo does have a number of themed exhibit areas including the Rain Forest. This building, as the name indicates, brings together the plants and wildlife of the jungles.
This little guy is a Golden Lion Tamarin, a highly endangered animal from Brazil.
The bird below is a Scarlet Ibis. The zoo found it was losing it’s natural color, until they added shrimp to it’s diet.
A Capybara. While he was in his controlled habitat here, we once had the opportunity to meet one up close in British Columbia. The Capybara is known as the world’s largest rodent, but they seem pretty cool to me.
Bornean Orangutan. So much for that vegetarian diet keeping weight down – this guy can weigh over 300 pounds.
The Emerald Tree Boa. 8 feet long with fang like teeth!
We left the Rain Forest and headed up through the main section of the zoo, stopping to check out the elephants.
Cleveland has some ravines, and the zoo is built in, and up above one. After the hike up the hill we made our way to the Primates, Cat & Aquatics indoor habitat (with some outdoor space as well).
The Mandrill below is a large monkey, weighing up to 80 pounds.
One of the many Lemurs.
This cat like animal is known as a Fossa, from Madagascar. Those in the animal business apparently debate if it is more like a mongoose or a cat.
More Lemurs – the is time Ring Tailed. This is the most common Lemur.
Another Lemur – I tried to have a staring contest, which I obviously lost.
But it was time to move over to the Aquatic side of the house. Our first tank we came to gave us this great view!
And more…
We headed back down the hill to the African Savanna section for lions…
And Zebras
Our final section was the Wilderness Trek. As I always note on trips to the zoo, I am always torn by being in the presence of such great animals, and the fact that they are stuck in cages. But as with the Tamarin without some conservation some breeds would be totally lost.
