Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
Madagascar-bound, flying from Australia?
Lucky you!
You’ll be even luckier if you spend some days on Réunion Island, en route; if the natural world is more your world than “resort world”, Réunion and Madagascar are infinitely more rewarding Indian Ocean island destinations than is Mauritius.
Comments closedOne of the world’s most spectacular volcanic creations, Réunion is young, geologically; the island emerged around three million years ago.
Territorially part of France, Réunion is geographically much closer to Africa.
At 3,069 metres above sea level, Réunion’s Piton Des Neiges is the Indian Ocean’s highest mountain.
One Comment(this little trilogy is best experienced in “1,2,3” order)
Remember the “apparently lifeless” appearance of the tidal flats that dominated this trilogy’s first image?
A closer view shatters that illusion…
Comments closed(second episode in an occasional series)
The featured image shows this individual as he or she first became visible to us.
In Hokkaido the local foxes “belong” – they are not feral, and most local humans do not regard them as “vermin”.
Accordingly – when well aware of nearby human presence – some of Hokkaido’s foxes behave in a relatively “relaxed” fashion that would be unimaginable in Australia.
Comments closedAs the immediately-preceding post observed, Madagascar’s emblematic domesticated animal has a great many uses/aspects.
Its horns can be turned into “cattle birds”, so to speak.
First step, once the abattoir has delivered the horns to the artists/craftspeople: throw the horns into the fire…
Comments closedThis is a wee postscript to previous post.
Nancy Eisenberg’s White Trash has many telling direct quotes.
My favourite is a remark made by Lyndon Johnson when he encountered a group of “homely” women holding up racist signs in Tennessee:
Comments closed…reading Nancy Isenberg’s White Trash (subtitled The 400-year untold history of class in America) will likely give you a whole new perspective on Trump & Trumpism.
(this post’s featured image depicts an absolutely “legitimate” bit of campaigning by an absolutely real Wanker. She was re-elected; all is revealed at this post’s end)
One CommentThis post is not a 2018 Melbourne Cup field update!
However, it will answer a question that you probably have never asked:
How does an echidna scratch itself?
Comments closedAll photos copyright Doug Spencer, taken on Wednesday May 16, 2018.
As you drive south, Ambalavao is the last major town in Madagascar’s central highlands.
Comments closed
