alilou's Adventures in Wonderland - all over the map.

Thanks sk8pics. Isn't that stick insect incredible?! You'd never know it isn't a twig of a tree it's so realistic. We were amazed by it, and by the walking tree. And by so many things there.
I'd love to see some pics of Kentucky. I can't remember if I've been there or not . Is the Jack Daniels distillery in Kentucky? If it is then I was there about 35 years ago :eek:
 
Wow, to the entire post!
The flora and fauna aside, I particularly love your photograph of the beautiful little girl wearing the pink shirt.
 
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Glad you are feeling better, Ali, and also thanks for the lack of tarantulas this time. ;) What a lovely, lovely journal entry, especially the pictures of the human and non-human inhabitants. I very much liked the little bat, the bright orange fungus, the gorgeous green snake with its patterned back coiling itself around a tree, the red and yellow caterpillar whose colours shout out, "Don't you dare eat me!", the beautiful macaws and hoatzins, the caiman hiding away in the luxuriant leaves of a plant I don't know and wish I did, and the sheer greenness of everything. Also, that little girl in the bright pink top is going to break a few hearts when she grows up! :)

It seems such a pity to introduce a heavyweight topic of sadness and concern, but I wonder for how many more generations the Amazon rainforest will stretch so far and wide, and what further destruction will do to the environment of not just South America, but of the whole world. We can only hope that its value will be seen for all that it is, and serious measures taken to prevent the various ways in which it is vanishing. :(
 
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skatesindreams said:
Wow, to the entire post!
The flora and fauna aside, I particularly love your photograph of the beautiful little girl wearing the pink shirt.
Click to expand...
Isn't she a beauty?! All the kids were just delightful once they got over their brief initial shyness.

orientalplane said:
Glad you are feeling better, Ali, and also thanks for the lack of tarantulas this time. ;) What a lovely, lovely journal entry, especially the pictures of the human and non-human inhabitants. I especially liked the little bat, the bright orange fungus, the gorgeous green snake with its patterned back coiling itself around a tree, the red and yellow caterpillar whose colours shout out, "Don't you dare eat me!", the beautiful macaws and hoatzins, the caiman hiding away in the luxuriant leaves of a plant I don't know and wish I did, and the sheer greenness of everything. Also, that little girl in the bright pink top is going to break a few hearts when she grows up! :)

It seems such a pity to introduce a heavyweight topic of sadness and concern, but I wonder for how many more generations the Amazon rainforest will stretch so far and wide, and what further destruction will do to the environment of not just South America, but of the whole world. We can only hope that its value will be seen for all that it is, and serious measures taken to prevent the various ways in which it is vanishing. :(
Click to expand...

I'm feeling much better thanks. I guess everyone needs to be thoroughly lazy from time to time :)
Thankyou for your lovely compliment. I really enjoyed putting this post together. I was completely taken by the fungus - such unexpected beauty. Same with the snake - gorgeous colours, and the caterpillar. Beauty in surprising places. I wish we'd been able to get closer to the hoatzins. Apparently they're quite clumsy and don't scare easily so if it wasn't for the lagoon we probably could have gotten quite close to them. I was absolutely thrilled to see macaws in the wild! I'd seen them several times over the years in bird sanctuaries. I think there's one in the conservatory in Vancouver, but nothing compares to seeing birds/animals in their natural habitat.

I know at least the part of the Amazon we were in is a national reserve of over a million acres (or hectares - can't remember which) so that at least is safe. I also know there are parts of the jungle being destroyed by mining, and of course by farmers in Brazil. But most of it is safe I think. I've always thought that if I were a millionaire the charities I would give to first would be to those working to save the rain forests of the world. If we don't have forests we don't have oxygen, and that's just about the end of it.
 
Another beautiful post, ali, thank you so much. I was :yikes: at the vampire fish. But wow, you swam with dolphins, how wonderful! And they were in their own natural place. It all looks very beautiful. And to your comment about the happiness of the local people under some harsh circumstances, that has been my experience in Guatemala, too. The poorest people are often the happiest and most generous. Obviously not always, but I've met a quite a few like that.

BTW, ali, I emailed you some pictures, actually a link to some.
 
Thanks so much sk8pics. I was :yikes: at the vampire fish too. I'd never seen anything like it. I would love to get to Guatemala, not least because I have close friends living there, but it just hasn't happened yet. I also have found that generally the 'poorest' people are happy but I don't mean those living in truly dire circumstances. It is those people who are materially poor by western standards but have housing, and close community, and most importantly clean water and enough to eat. Most of these people live close to nature and I think it feeds their souls in a way that people living in sealed structures in cities just don't get.
I got your email. Thanks. Sometimes I get lazy about replying to meals, but I will soon I promise :)
 
Yes, I think you are right, ali, and you out it very well. No worries about the email, just wanted to make sure you knew it was there.
 
Oh my, ali, your poem is lovely and touching. I am so glad to know you, if only a little bit. I will read the other blog post later, but I had to immediately tell you how lovely the poem is.

I remember on the TV show, Touched by an Angel, one of the characters once said, "I had a choice. I chose to love."
 
Thanks sk8pics. I appreciate it. That choosing love exercise came from a book I read many many years ago "Emmanuel's Book" - very clear and powerful. The exercise has helped me a lot. And yes I do believe love is a choice. Mostly a very difficult one that can take a lifetime of practice and commitment to achieve with any consistency. We (and by that I mean most (all?) people) have been hurt so much in one way or another that choosing love seems unrealistic and somehow not valid, and yet I finally am getting to see that it is indeed the only thing that sets us free from suffering no matter how irrational it may seem to be. 'Love anyway' is one of my mantras, even though I'm not always successful at it.
 
Wow, great stuff as usual, ali. So sorry to read about your injury, but glad it was not serious. Yes, from drama and suffering often comes growth.
 
Thanks sk8pics. The injury is healing nicely, and around the apartment at least I'm now walking without crutches. Another couple of weeks should do it.
I think it was a little of what dear Fr Rohr calls 'necessary suffering' :) Did the trick!
 
Thank you, for the continuing external and internal "travelogue".
I'm glad that you are recovering, though.

Lesson learned, whatever it was meant to be!
 
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Yes, a few lessons learned with this one. Much more comfortable in my skin. And so looking forward to being fully mobile again :)
 
So glad to hear your ankle is better! Make sure to do your P.T. so you will regain as much strength and mobility as possible.

And thanks for another wonderful post. I love all your pictures. The wolf looked almost like a coyote or fox, so small, sad that there are so few of them. And such beautiful vistas, and people! What camera do you use? You do a wonderful job.

I especially enjoyed this blog because I have some friends in Guatemala this week, and reading about your adventures in Ecuador made me think of them.
 
That was yesterday. Today I found myself spontaneously saying that my ankle is 89% healed :cheer: so a bit better every day. It's feeling good. I have an excellent ankle brace that keeps it stable and I'm now pretty much walking normally. We leave our current housesit tomorrow so I've spent just about the entire day cleaning and the ankle has been fine. Yay! :cheer:

Thanks re the post. It was a beautiful place. I wish we'd had better weather and more energy, but it was what it was and we still had some wonderful experiences like walking around that beautiful lake, and the Otavaleños, and the wolf. That was pure magic seeing a wolf in the wild. I'm sure there's more than 2 in all the Andes, just only 2 in that area. Oh and the golden church was gorgeous and surreal and heart-stopping in its beauty.

My camera is bridge camera, Panasonic FZ150. Currently doing the research to upgrade. Not wanting the weight of a full DSLR, but I'm definitely wanting a camera with a bigger sensor, and I'd trade some zoom capability for that. Also wanting built-in flash, and a flip-out monitor as well as view finder. I'm not sure the camera I want exists. :wuzrobbed:

I really really hope we get to Guat one day. I also have friends there.
 
You always provide "food for thought"; and your photos/observations about people/surroundings wherever you are make me smile,
 
Thanks skatesindreams. I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. Smiles are good :) I have such a lovely time putting it together. Currently working on Galapagos photos.

orientalplane I have absolutely no intention of stopping. I have 2 posts of Galapagos coming up, then 2 or 3 of Cyprus, then a couple about Vancouver, then one that's just portraits from Southeast Asia, then portraits from South America, and some more This Nomadic Life posts about who knows what, and by then we'll probably be somewhere in the South Pacific (Tahiti maybe) and then Australia - so at the moment it feels unending - in a good way :)
 
Thanks so much on both counts :)
Galapagos is truly extraordinary. I don't think our cruise/tour was anything special in terms of how much we could have seen (there are several islands we didn't get to) but we were amazed and completely blown away day after day. :inavoid: :swoon:
 
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