from Bordeaux, 2010
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Travel
All posts tagged Travel
The French don’t have the same view wildlife as Americans. They’re generally fans of “the countryside” (le paysage) versus what they call “le sauvage,” or the wild. When I explained to my host mom what I wanted to do (wildlife biology), the first thing she said was “Isn’t that dangerous?” I mean, the continent has been inhabited for thousands of years and many of their formidable animal species are extinct or nearly so. However to their credit, the French are starting to think more about conservation. An hour’s train ride out of Bordeaux is the Parc Ornithologique du Teich, an ornithological park near Arachon Bay. I got to visit twice, and it was awesome to see the European counterparts to many North American waterbirds, as much of the park consists of wetlands. It was very beautiful, and I have good memories from my visits. Plus it was nice to see some wildlife in the midst of living a typical European city life. There were also many informative signs around the park, including a series on bird bills as an indicator of what the bird eats, how it lives, etc. Most of these photos don’t have birds in them, but here are my favorites.
Next to Cathédrale Saint André
This is the base of the previous two posts of the “guardian”
Networking. It can help find you a job, prevent random Craigslist roommate searches, and even get you discounts at Disneyland. But what I did not expect networking to do was get me into a campsite at Kirby Cove, one of the most difficult campsites to reserve known to man. It’s basically right at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Marin side, offering stunning views of the bridge, San Francisco, and the ocean. THANK YOU MARISSA for being on the inside and deciding you wanted to go camping and wanting to invite me! We arrived at night so we didn’t get the spectacular views until the next morning. After we packed up our stuff some of us took a hike in the Marin Headlands, which I’d never been to. Let’s just say I’ll be going back.
I’ve said I need to be better about taking and posting photos, but now I have tangible goals, including:
-More wildlife at work posts to make a series, as well as “species profile” posts focusing on one particular wildlife species
-Creating photobooks from my time abroad and other trips, and possibly a book of flowers and wildlife.
-Printing out (large, possibly even poster size) prints of some of the great ones. I’m tired of just looking at my photos on my computer or online (coincidentally anyone know of a way to get reasonably cheap, quality prints?).
Other resolutions: Get out and do some trips. I’m thinking the Lost Coast backpacking trip, a long weekend up in Portland, Disneyland, and maybe a couple of other small ones. And FLOSS. I really need to start flossing.
I’ve enjoyed the little tourism I’ve done in San Francisco as a resident, but I did enjoy the Japanese Tea Garden. Definitely worth a visit, as it exudes such calm for such a relatively small space with lots of tourist traffic. Here are my favorite photos from that afternoon.
My motivation for working on my photos continues! I’m proud to say I already have ideas for quite a few more future posts. 🙂 I also decided that I’d better not bombard you with one post chock-full of flowers right after another. I’m breaking it up! The photo below was taken on an excursion to the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park about a month ago. The gardens are beautiful, and even though we went on a Saturday in the midst of lots of tourists, I still found it peaceful. Definitely a must-see, if only just once. The gardens sported many large trees, and there is something majestic about a large ginkgo tree. I mean, they’re an evolutionary relic! I like this photo because something so ancient seems so fresh and alive.
