Juerg is definitely not a shop-a-holic, but creative as he is, he proves that ( from a photographic point of view) shopping centres at Christmas time are not just stress, they can be fun, inspiring and they are beautiful….
See, we sent in 9 photos for the Mala Mala photo competition, and were really very disappointed when we didn’t even make it in the top 10…. so we forgot all about it, well, sort of put it in the back of our minds. Till one day early August I got an e-mail : Mala Mala calendar 2015. Figured they wanted to sell me one of the calendars, opened it, and to my surprise they didn’t want to sell me one, but use one of my photos ! Yes, yes, yes ! I am going to be a famous photographer, someone has “discovered me”. Boy, I am so proud ! They even sent the email twice. As I opened the second one it turned out I was wrong again. They want to use another photo ! Even more proud now ! We still didn’t really believe it, decided to wait till we saw the calendar, had it in our hands…..and here it is.
The good thing is, one photo is Jürgs, one is mine, so we can keep the discussion going as to which of the two of us is the better photographer. Judge for yourselves !
The thank you part is the most important ! We couldn’t have done it without these two guys.
So here’s a very big thank you : to Greg du Toit, my absolutely favourite photographer. His photos are just something else, different, unique and inspiring. He showed me how to really use and be master of my camera, and inspired me to keep trying, wait for the light, and see with my eyes and heart.
Just as big a thank you to Pieter van Wijk, my favourite ranger ever. He tracked down and drove us to these wonderful animals, got us in prime photo position more than once, and to my opinion is one who truly sees with his heart.
In the following picture Greg and Pieter are the two pretty ones on the right !
So we left home a little early, hoping to take some photos before it got too crowded. An hour’s drive got us to Alpnachstad. The exit is well posted and the parking lot was easily found and half empty, good for us ! All right maybe this was because the weather was getting from average to rather lousy…. We got our tickets for the cogwheel railway. It goes up all 30 minutes, and we had of course just missed it, so we had plenty of time for a coffee before we could at last get up there.
Which do you like best ? I believe most of you will spontaneously go for the cheetah, the sleek, athletic hunter, as compared to the hyena, the not so pretty and oddly proportioned hunter and scavenger, which even in Walt Disney movies is pictured as an ugly, stealing coward. But what if we look at the cubs ? All small animals are adorable, but as my ranger told me he was a big fan of the hyenas I didn’t quite believe him. That was till we got to the hyena den…
Cheetah…
or Hyena ?
P.S. I am very proud and honoured that this blog is also featured as a blog for Africa Geographic
Read More»This is a mountain restaurant, not like many others that I’ve seen. Location, location, location !
This tiny restaurant at about 1450m above sea level is perched like an eagles nest at the bottom of a steep cliff. It is precariously set at a small ledge, from where there is a 600m drop down to the valley, rather a steep drop I must add. The views of course are no less than spectacular, and their chäs rösti, (a swiss national dish like a big hash brown with melted cheese on top) is so good, it alone is worth the hike up there. So we started our hike…
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