Tag Archive | El Calafate Argentina

Patagonian Memories!

Stunning Patagonia. We were back for the second time in January of this year.

This is a saltwater marsh bird-sanctuary in El Calafate Argentina. It looked like a Monet painting.

These Harrier Hawks were guarding their nest and dove at us repeatedly. We wore tie on hats and protective eyewear and ducked a lot. We moved out of their nesting territory, but not before I took some shots. It was quite exhilarating!
Note the talons!

He looks rather annoyed at me doesn’t he!

The Southern Caracara’s were everywhere!

We came upon this herd of oncoming traffic while exploring down a dirt road in Las Rocas, El Calafate. You can see why Patagonia is famous for its horses. They were a gorgeous sight, and a bit of a problem as the road had no shoulder! They streamed around us quite politely though!

El Perito Morena Glacier El Calafate.

This Night Heron was in Ushuaia Argentina, the southern most city in the world, nicknamed El Fin Del Mundo. Of course we want to go back!
Cheers to you and happy Tuesday!

Santons D’Art Avignon France!

Jul1

Avignon.
While visiting Provence this spring, I was fascinated by the Santons D’Arts. These are handmade and hand painted terra-cotta figurines made throughout Provence depicting everyday village life. They were first made in Provence in the mid 1700’s and the art form continues to this day. Check them out:

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What struck me about the Santons was how similar they are to the folk art Retablos I posted about earlier this year from Argentina. Check out the link and note the similarities:
http://cindyknoke.com/2013/02/09/one-of-the-finest-folk-art-retablos-ive-seen/
Both the Retablos and the Santons D’Arts are folk art that originally depicted religious scenes, but both also evolved to depict scenes from everyday life. Check out one more example of each, one after the other.

Santons D’Art

Folk Art Retablos Argentina
Remarkable aren’t they? And Remarkably similar, although quite distant from each other geographically.
It is a small world. Our similarities greater than our differences,

Last Call for The Flamingos & What Do You Think?

Feb7

What are the optimum number of photos you like to look at in a blog post? Will you look at more photos if they are addressing a common theme? (Click to enlarge.)

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I have this mental rule that I still try to stick to even though I constantly break it. This rule is that I should attempt to limit photos per post to no more than 6 photos. I made this rule because I noticed I couldn’t process more than six disparate images fully, it becomes sort of overwhelming, and I stop looking. I have a friend who sends me slide shows of photos of her trips that number up to a hundred, are unlabeled and completely overwhelm. I can’t focus on any photo because there are too many.

However I also notice that if the photos are a common theme, lampposts, birds, whatever, I can and do process many easily. It is almost like each image builds on the prior one.

Should I regret for example, not posting all my Flamingo photos together because I now wonder, since they are a common theme, would people like to see all the photos once, and would it have been a better post?

And last call for the flamingos. Do you like seeing all these photos or do you think the quantity is distracting?

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The Astonishing Andes!

Feb4

Patagonia’s incredible and unique beauty is created by the sheltering and formative influence of the incomparable Andes. The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world, stretching spinelike 4,300 miles across the continent of South America. The Andes are also the highest mountain range in the world outside of Asia, with an average mountain height of 13,000 feet. Mt. Aconcagua is the highest peak at 22,841 feet.
The world’s highest volcanos are contained within this mountain range, including the world’s highest active volcano, Ojas del Salado, which lies, visible, on the border between Argentina and Chile. Ojas rises to 22,615 feet. She competes with 50 sister volcanos in the Andes range all of whom rise to over 19,695 feet.
Everything you see in Patagonia is framed by these formidable mountains.

The Andes approaching Ushuaia Argentina (shot from the Airplane window.) The Andes terminate in Ushuaia, El Fin del Mundo.