Tanzania 2014 - Safari

For the first time in my life I was in real Africa (for me that is everything South of the Sahara). My plan was to do a Safari so I had to choose between several African countries and ended up with a private Tour in Tanzania together with two friends. Getting a rental car is not advisable (route fees could be crazy for tourists, also local drivers know where the animals are and call each other for locations so you can focus on the photography). I chose a tour that also had some cultural visits included – we visited 3 tribes – Masaai, Datoga and Hadzabe. Especially the Hadzabe experience was impressive when we went hunting with them. I was only hunting with my camera of course.

More pictures are on my homepage: http://www.jsbpics.de

But lets start from the beginning. After we arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport in the middle of the night with Turkish Airlines (good food but small and narrow airplane) we spent the night in Arusha. In the afternoon we had a game drive in the Arusha National Park. A game drive is a safari with a car. We had a Toyota Landcruiser with a flexible roof. You can stand up in the middle of the car and take photos 360 degrees around. No need to open and close windows. On our first “warm-up” game drive we saw monkeys, giraffes, hippos and lots of flamingos.
The second national park we visited was Tarangire famous for the elephants (which we saw) and a lot of Baobab trees.
First big highlight was the Ngorongoro crater. We did a full 6 hour game drive in the crater with a fantastic amount of animals. It was very impressive to see some lions with small kids to cross the street and play around the cars. Also we saw Hippos, Buffalos, a Rhino in far distance and many more. Sadly we were leaving the crater 5 minutes too late and got charged with a 50$ fine which our driver could somehow avoid paying the next day…
The second highlight was the famous Serengeti. We were here a little before the main season (which means there are just a few tourists and we had our tented campsite almost for ourselves). The first gnu herds just arrived and it was very impressive to see the walking in a looong line. Also we got attacked by an elephant as we watched his kids playing in the mud. Luckily our Toyota was faster ;). For me highlight was seeing a cheetah with 4 little kids and a leopard coming down a tree. Other highlights were big birds feasting and fighting over a dead gnu and a lion couple trying to mate (she did not really want…)

More pictures are on my homepage: http://www.jsbpics.de

A little too warm for me was Lake Natron. Sadly there were not so many Flamingos as I had hoped. On a morning walk I had to carry my big tele to get at least some pictures. Other than that it was very! warm. It felt like above 40 degrees and it did not cool down at night.
One thing I was was worried about did not turn out that bad – mosquitoes. As they can carry lots of deceases I bought a lot of anti mosquito stuff. Of course I got 2-3 bites but it was not as bad as I expected. I think it depends on the season.
I was really impressed by the safari experience, although Tanzania was very expensive for that. They really take the money from the Tourists with crazy entry fees and hotel prices. Also souvenir prices are stupidly high even after hard bargaining (also when you buy from the local tribes). And everyone wants to be tipped…

Lets see what the next Safari destination will be. It was definitely not the last one. I really enjoyed having the 500mm lens, even if it was a pain carrying it.

More pictures are on my homepage: http://www.jsbpics.de

Rome 2014

14 years ago I was in Rome on a school trip. Now it was the second time I visited the city and I was really impressed. October was a great time for the visit, temperatures about 26 degrees, sunshine the whole day long and not so many tourists around. Of course the main attractions stayed the same – just with a little less access to certain areas. As it was a family trip we stayed in a big flat close to the Vatican with great views and most important – above a Pizzaria :). While the rest was staying for a whole week I had only time for 2 full days + 2 half travel days – time was really packed with sightseeing and photographing! First day we got up early and took the Bus to the Colosseum. After the visit we went to two churches – San Clemente and the Basilica San Giovanni. The afternoon we spend on Palatin and in Forum Romanum where we took the bus back. In the evening I went to take pictures at San Pietro of the Basilica (Petersdom) and Castel Sant’Angelo (Engelsburg).

 

More Pictures: http://www.jsbpics.de/rome-2014/

The 2nd day we went to visit the Basilica San Pietro (also the top) and went all the way via Piazza del Popolo to visit the Galeria Borghese. On the way back we used the Spanish Steps (Spanische Treppe) and went again via San Pietro back to the flat. In the evening there was a big event at the Vatican and a lot of people were outside. I had hoped to see the pope, but guess who was not showing… they just showed some old recorded prayers on the bigscreens… a little disappointing, but watching all the people around that came was quite impressive.





 





More Pictures: http://www.jsbpics.de/rome-2014/

The last morning I got up at 6 am to catch the sunrise which was great. At the begining no people were around but the Vatican filled up very early with people queuing for the Basilica. After a short (free) visit of the Castel Sant’Angelo I went back to the airport. Due to massivly crouded trains I had to take a taxi…










More Pictures: http://www.jsbpics.de/rome-2014/

Burtschakopf (2244m)

Again the weather forecast was not that great but I really wanted to go hiking, so I went. This time the destination was the Burtschakopf (2244m) above Klösterle (am Arlberg). From the top of the Sonnenkopfbahn it took about 1,5 hrs to reach the top – a short tour. Especially the last part was nice, a small secured path on the narrow summit. The sun was shining 30 minutes that day – the time we were on the summit – really lucky :). On the way back we took a little detour a steep path down and again up to the Sonnenkopfbahn.
Enjoy the pictures – especially from the summit:

more on http://www.jsbpics.de/burtschakopf-2244m/

Weekend Pfalz

Finally I found some time to upload some pictures from the weekend in Edesheim – Pfalz. The best time to visit the Pfalz is fall with a lot of wine festivals, but in August it is much easier to get a room just for the weekend. We stayed at Weingut Boos – a small place with good wine where we did some testing. Apart from the wine the landscape “Pfälzer Wald” is nice to visit. We did a short tour to a viewpoint above the Rhine valley and to Trifels-Castle.

More Pictures:
http://www.jsbpics.de/pfalz-weekend/

Seenachtsfest Konstanz 2014

Instead of going to the (very expensive) Seenachtsfest in Konstanz I went to the opposite site of the lake in Meersburg to watch the fireworks. A lot of people had the same idea and there was even a little festival going on with live music and food (Meersburger Wetterkreuzfest).
When it got dark it was nice to see how all the ships were going to Konstanz to see the fireworks. I took my tripod and shot some pictures of that with long exposure times. The fireworks was not that impressive, a little too far away. Next time I take a bigger zoom.


More Pictures:
http://www.jsbpics.de/seenachtsfest-konstanz/

Switzerland 2014 - Hiking in Grindelwald

Grindelwald has been one of the nicest destinations in the Alps I have been so far. The town is just below the famous mountain Eiger and starting point of the trip to the highest railway station in Europe – the Jungfraujoch at 3471m. The first three nights we stayed at a very nice holiday flat “An der Egg” in Grindelwald. From here we did 2 day-tours. The first day we took the Pfingsteggbahn and hiked to the Bäregghütte high above the glacier gorge. From the hut you have a great view back on Grindelwald and on the Grindelwald glacier. In the afternoon we visited the deep glacier gorge which was impressive.

more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

The following day we took the Männlichenbahn early in the morning and hiked to the peak at 2343m. From here you have a great view of the famous mountains Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. There is a fantastic trail from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg from where the trains to Jungfraujoch (and also back to Grindelwald) depart. We hiked a little further to the station Alpiglen just below the Eiger Nordwand from where we took the train back to Grindelwald. The train up to Jungfraujoch was far too expensive (>100Euros pP).

 more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

The third hiking day was the best. Fantastic blue sky. We packed our big bags and took the gondola to the First station. Here we left our stuff at the Berggasthaus First and hiked to the Bachalpsee which is famous for the Panorama. From the Bachalpsee we hiked up to the Faulhorn at 2681m with a hut at the top where we had lunch. With a long stop at the Bachalpsee we went back to the First. After dinner I took all my camera equipment and we hiked one hour back to the Bachalpsee for some sunset pictures. It was not perfect (there was too much wind to have flat water) but still great. In the dark we went back with flashlights. Totally worth it. Even if Switzerland is really expensive it was worth the money, especially the night (and view!) at the First mountain hut.

more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

Kyrgystan 2014 - Issyk Kul and Song Kul

"For work?" I was was asked when I told I was travelling to Kyrgyzstan. No it was not for work - yes you can make holidays in Kyrgizstan. The idea of that trip came early this year. Via Internet I found a local tour leader - Talant Asemov - that runs individual tours for individuals and small groups.  Without speaking (or reading) any Russian I do not want to do this tour on my own. Together with him I planned an 11 day tour through the North-East of the country and this time I could convince 3 friends (Rita, Ines and Torben) to join :). End of May/ beginning of June was the time of the year we go - a little before the season. We all met in Istanbul flying in from all over Europe  (Rita from London, Ines from Paris, Torben and me from Stuttgart). With Turkish Airlines there is a 5 1/2 hours flight from Istanbul to Bishkek that arrives early morning (at 2.40) in Bishkek.
After the chaotic pass control (there is nothing like lines) we entered the country. Since a couple of months you do not need a Visa anymore and just get a stamp in the passport. From here on we were in the hands of our Tourleader. This was not Talant, instead we had a young Kirgyz student called Aiturgan plus a Sprinter and driver.

 more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

The North-East Region of Kyrgistan is the main tourist destination. Main means once and then you see other tourists (did not happen every day). Bishkek itself lays close to the mountains and Ala Archa National Park. This was our first destination. Actually it reminds a little of the alps. Already here we had the first encounter with the Kyrgyz people and experienced their great hospitality. We were invited to take some pictures of a family and joined their picnic. The city tour of Bishkek was short - due to strong rain. In the evening we had a private performance of a (famous) Kyrgyz folklore band - a fantastic performance. The name of the Band was Kambarkan but they currently renamed themselfes to Dastan. The musik does sound really good in our ears - unlike a lot of other Asian music or sounds.

 more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

From Bishkek we drove to lake Issyk Kul - a huge lake surrounded by high snow covered mountains at 1600m above sea level. On the way to the lake we stopped at Burano Tower and a old German village called Rotfront near Tok Mok. At Lake Issyk Kul we first travelled at the Northern Shore for 2 days. We did a little tour into the Grigorievka Valley for a little hike and a picnic at the river. A lot of locals were on the bumpy roads with their cars or had their weekend bbq in the valley.
Two nights we stayed in Karakol. One full day we drove into the mountains to Altyn Arashan. A russian driver picked us up with an old stinky mini bus. It was a VERY bumpy but fantastic 2-3 hours ride up a horrible road into the mountains. Altyn Arashan is at the end of the valley and has hot springs :). The weather was cold and rainy, the hotsprings were fantastic. Due to the weather we only did a short 1 hour hike.
From Karakol we drove to Jeti Oguz and again into the mountains. First we stopped to buy some honey and to take some pictures of a Kyrgyz family and kids. Again we did a short hike, this time to a waterfall. Due to the cold weather we did not stay overnight in a yurt. Instead we drove back at the lake Issyk Kul to stay at a guesthouse in Tamga.
Another trip in the mountains was the drive into the Barkshoon valley. Unlike the other days the road was very good and constantly repaired. This is due to the many and heavy trucks for the mines. The road went up to above 3800 meters. On a little road we drove a little further to a pass above 4000m - the highest point of our tour - of course in snow (but not much). From here you could see the Chinese mountains. The afternoon we spend back at the lake Issyk Kul in the sun before heading to a place called Ferrytale Canyon with beautiful stones and canyons. I felt a little bit like Utah. The weather was getting better and better. For the first (and only) time we could take pictures of the sunset and the beautiful sourroundings.
Some more canyons were visited the following day - close to the lake - and with a fantastic view point. Here we also had our daily picnic. The rest of the day we drove to Koshkor.
Highlight of the trip were the 2 days at lake Song Kul. This lake is above 3000m and most of the pictures known from Kyrgyzstan are shot here. Flat and dry land with a big lake and jurts in the forground mountains in the background. Here we spent some time with hiking, horseback riding, taking pictures... We stayed one cold night in a yurt. Due to the weather we again drove back into a guesthouse in a town called Naryn. Dinner was quite late and suprisingly our restaurant turned into a Techno disco ;).
Also suprisingly my stomach turned bad so and I had a fun night... :(
Next day I did not do much except looking horrible and eating nothing at all... We drove back to Bishkek that day. Again on a really bad road...
The following day we were already leaving very early - the flight was at 6:40... 3 times! my luggage got checked...  but noone did say anything about the full bottle of coke...

Like expected before, 11 days is not even enough to visit the country. But at least it gives the chance to see a little bit and to get an good impression.
Kyrgyzstan is a country far off the beaten paths and tourism is just at the start point to grow. Especially with the locals not used to tourism (and all the bad influence with tourism) it gives a great travel experience.
The organization of the trip was fantastic the four of us had a great time. Thanks to Talant and our Tourleader Aiturgan.

 more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de

 more pictures are on my website http://www.jsbpics.de