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FASCINATING ADVENTURES...

GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST

  In the beginning of May I was invited with other British Columbia artists to paint in spectacular location on the West Coast. The Hakai Beach Institute located on the Calvert Island just south of Bella Bella invited us. It is a wonderful wilderness lodge which in the past only catered to fishing. The new owners Eric and Christina had new vision for this legendary and almost supernaturally beautiful property on Calvert Island on the British Columbia Central Coast. The site will be occupied by a nonprofit organization, the Hakai Beach Institute, which is funded by the Tula Foundation (www.tula.org). The Institute will house programs that foster Ecosystem Based Management of the ecological and cultural treasures.

  My friend David Mceown and I flew to  Bella Bella from Vancouver where we joined the other members. Eric picked us up at Bella Bella in a great 660 hp water taxi. With in two hours we were at Hakai Inlet. The crew at the lodge was working franticly to prepare for the upcoming gathering of the Coastal Watchmen and the Native People of the area. As artist I felt incredibly grateful and privilege to create in such beautiful spot. The hospitality of Eric and Christina was outstanding and we rewarded them with evenings filled with paintings created that day. Calvert Island consisted of many beaches of fine sand; inter tidal pools filled with mussels, starfish and other sea creatures. The old growth forest covering the island is stunted due to extreme winds and storms that happen here all year round.

On the last day when I run out boards to paint on I explored the inlet in sea kayak. The area offers countless painting opportunities and I am looking forward to paint

DECHENLA LODGE

  This year’s journey through out the North proved to be extremely eventful. Not only the weather was challenging, but also multiple issues with the vehicles contributed to the classic northern adventure. My painting has changed and improved this year, becoming less constricted and objectified. Responding to the subject matter has become intuitive with many creative solutions at my disposal. The joy of painting is intensified each year as I gain more and more experience.

  After returning from the Yukon River paddle, I was invited among other artists to Dechenla Lodge in the NWT. After meeting artist David Mceown and Tim Shumm in Whitehorse we continued to Ross River and then on to Canol Road and beyond. The following day after crossing the NWT border we were met by Norm the owner of Dechenla lodge and taken in all terrain vehicle for the remaining part of the journey. This part of the road becomes rough with large boulders and many river crossings.

The lodge itself is located on the tundra hilltop overlooking the Hess Mountains with the prominent Keel Peak on the horizon. The painting weather was extremely challenging with strong winds and occasional snowfall. It was definite change from the sunny and warm days on the Yukon River.

  Each morning we were able to observe multiple caribous feeding on the tundra. The 360 views brought constant change in the weather and atmosphere of the land. The great clouds and morning mist moved along the valleys and plains giving the impression floating ship in the ocean. The trees were scarce giving the land truly Arctic character. My weeklong stay at the lodge was filled with painting and exploring the neighbouring valleys and landscape. Norm, his wife and their son showed us great hospitality and shared their unique knowledge of the place, which can only be gained from being there for over 20 years.

CANOL ROAD

  We left our 4x4 at the NWT border and after a week at the lodge we drove back to the area of Macmillan Pass in the Yukon. The colours just started to peak with incredible reds and oranges of the low tundra. Our base camp was located on very old exploration road along the ridge overlooking the magnificent mountain panoramas. There was a painting everywhere one turned. Colours intensified the compositions, making them dynamic and so desirable to paint. After a couple of days I drove to Ross River to pick up my friend Emma Barr who was doing a mentoring program with me for the next upcoming three weeks. Emma desired to study with me to improve her outdoor painting skills and I was happy to be of help.

  With each day we found more and more exiting areas to paint and explore. Since the area is reach in m mineral deposits, we have discovered series of abounded explorations roads, which were only passable with our 4x4 vehicles. Passing many creeks and rivers we were rewarded outstanding alpine scenery. Emma and I painted side by side and each day I designed a different visual exercise for her, which created a challenge for old habits but in the course of three weeks expended her ability to see and use the paint in multidimensional way. High alpine tundra was covered in carpets of blueberries with its crimson leaves creating a spectacular contrast with green blue lichen and moss. It is such colour contrast that makes the autumn painting so exiting and visually rewarding.

  During one of the mountain drives my electronic sway bar disconnect assembly stop working and I was left with my sway bar totally disconnected. It proved to be a challenge to drive at higher speeds but I did not have much of a choice being away 800km from Whitehorse. The return drive south was long and stressful, since I was avoiding any sun den moves of the steering wheel, which would ultimately, caused me to loose the control of the vehicle. Upon arriving in Whitehorse and visiting Jeep dealership I learned that my electronic sway bar disconnect assembly had to be entirely replaced. The proposition would coast me over $ 2500.00, which   I was not prepared to spend. From the beginning I had no faith in the longevity of the gadget and I was not going to replace again with a same gadget. The idea struck me that I should replace it with just a solid sway bar and maybe in the future change it to the manual disconnects. So phoning around the country I located one in Nanaimo and was promptly shipped to Whitehorse. But meanwhile we had to continue the trip since the colours were at its peak and I decided the put the solid sway bar when I returned to Whitehorse at the end of September.

  At the beginning of August I canoed the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City. The distance of 780 km covers a spectacular range of northern landscapes.  The Yukon is one of the largest rivers in North America reaching from northern British Columbia across Yukon and Alaska emptying into the Bering Sea. After painting and living in the Yukon for last 15 years I was ready to embark on this classic Canadian river trip. The meditative silence of water travel gave me unlimited time to reflect on the joy of being in the wilderness. The river offers travelers not only great nature experience but also a glimpse into the history of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. The river was the main root to get to Dawson gold fields and the route covered by the remains of cabins, wood camps and abandoned sternwheelers. Before to advent of sternwheelers and mad rush for gold, Yukon River was and is a home for the First Nations people who lived, hunted and fished there for centuries. The cultural remains of villages, which are still used to this day, old grave houses and fish camps create vibrant background to natural beauty of this vast wilderness.

I started in Whitehorse and after a day of paddling arrived at the great Lake Labarge. This stretch of water is the most challenging and dangerous due to strong winds and waves which caused many deaths on the water. The weather fair for majority of the trip with sunny days and calm skies. Each day I covered 40 to 80 km either floating or paddling depending on the direction of the wind. There are no designated campsites, so the choice for night rest was always wide open, from little sand island in middle of the river, to forested river banks and many time within the vicinity of abandoned gold rush cabin. Upon reaching Carmacks I had a chance to restock on fresh food and take much needed shower. Weather continued to be sunny and I paddle the Five Finger rapids with out any problems. The northern part of the river becomes very wide and endless channels and islands. To this point the water is clear and drinkable. Upon reaching the White River junction the sediment from the glaciers turns the water milky white and one has to look for water from streams coming down from the mountains.When I reached Dawson, I felt the huge sense of satisfaction. It was a time for a cold beer, shower and a night in the hotel.

YUKON RIVER

KLUANE

  The next leg of the trip took us to St. Elias Mountains in the southwestern region of the Yukon. This time Emma took her Toyota Tacoma truck and our supplies were evenly distributed between three trucks. Our first leg of the expedition took us to The Alsek river valley, a rather arid part of the Kluane National Park. The landscape consists the rocky planes and mountain slopes which in previous millennia was the ancient riverbed. The landscape was doted with yellow poplars descending gently to the river’s edge. The beaches were doted with bear prints and we also spotted many residing swans.

  After this short trip we continued on the old exploration road for the spectacular Burwash Uplands. During the time there we used the Tim’s winch over 15 times to get our vehicles out of tight situations. Over the upland looms the white wall of the Donjek range, which is backdrop to Donjek River and glacier. We slowly made it across the tundra camping along its many ponds. The tree line was way below, giving us a grand view of Kluane Lake to the North. The evenings were especially beautiful with sunset light reflecting in lakes framed by bright white and blue mountain peaks. On the way back we descended into active gold mining operation and when we talked with miners we were told that no body traverse that route in my years in the vehicles. With certain satisfaction we have returned to Alaska Hwy. and the Haines Junction for much needed showered and supplies.

  Over the many years the area around Haines Junction had countless forest fires, which now provides a booming business for firewood cutters. In one of such areas we explored deep into the high forest plateaus to find abounded mining camps and old log cabins. The standing dead and burned trees with fresh undergrowth always attracted my artistic sensibilities. It the never ending cycle of life and death, the rebirth nature and it perseverance. Returning to Kluane for last fifteen years I memorized many spots to which I want returned or explore. One of them was a very exiting route west of Haines Junction leading to some spectacular mountain ranges. Having confirmed our topo maps on our GPS’s we decided it would make a really good painting location. The road proved to be more exiting than we anticipated. It was a mud play all the way in with many creek and river crossings. Half way through after particular deep river crossing Emma’s Toyota developed a strange engine knock and we decide to leave it behind for time being and not take it further into the mountains. After reshuffling our gear between our remaining two trucks we soldiered on, to be rewarded with great mountain vistas. We set out base camp along a river, further up stream were few lone old gold mine operations but we were the only people in the entire valley. I find it always challenging to paint the rocky shores of the northern river and once again I found myself struggling to find an appropriate language to pant the riverbed. This time I was successful combining the light gray foreground of river rocks with the middle ground of trees with aerial perspective of the mountains above.

  Upon returning to Haines Junction Emma arranged the pick up of her vehicle by her friend who was gracious enough to go with his huge diesel truck and flat bed to pull her out of the bush. The whole operation did not take more then two hours and her Toyota was safe in the civilization to be taken later to Whitehorse by CAA.

  Our journey was coming to the end and decided to complete with the visit to the Pacific Ocean in Haines, Alaska. We drove the spectacular Haines Hwy. noting possible future painting location and adventures. Our time in Haines was extremely rewarding. Although being completely burned out from painting we continued focusing on photography. Through talking to the locals we discovered most wild route to the Flower Mountain. It is a high mountain plateau with 360 views with unlimited creative potentials. The weather was fantastic and we spent whole day hiking along the surrounding glaciers and taking thousands of photographs. It was the last decant day of the weather we had and following day we took the ferry to Skagway and drove on to Whitehorse. Just before reaching the town we decide to explore the Montana Mountain near Carcross. A beautiful mountain road leads the very summit as a result of geological explorations. That morning, the area received its first snow and real frost. Through fog the tundra sparkled with shimmering white blanket and the occasional hint of yellow and orange created rather magical visual effect.

FOUR PART VIDEO - YOUTUBE

FOUR PART VIDEO - YOUTUBE

SOUTHWEST, USA

AFRICA

Republic of South Africa and Namibia

In August 2011 we left British Columbia and headed to Nevada to participate in the Burning Man Festival. My partner Mariko volunteered for the medical emergency services at playa and my good friend Mike Vanderberg joined me in the creative exploration. It turned out to be a classic road trip beginning with rather interesting border crossing. We were detained for over an hour at US border, since all of us had a different time of departure from the States. Mariko was flying right after BM, Mike was continuing with a friend to the coast and was heading to Arizona and further southwest. But after detail interrogation the officers let us crossed and wished us a great trip.

The first stop along the way was Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. The park consists of high plateau with volcano caldera filled with beautiful blue water. It is 9th deepest lake in the world. The lake has no real springs and it only fed by rainfall. We stayed at campground below the rim surrounded by old growth alpine forest. As Mariko hiked neighboring cliffs we got to work on painting. The colours of area are limited, with multiple variations of gray and blue. The park is snowed in till early summer due to its high elevation. As we traveled through the park with met other people heading to BM. You could always tell by the vehicle. I, on other hand always travel low key, so you don’t attract unwanted attention which makes the travel that much safer.

After leaving the park, we completed our shopping for the Burning man, since everybody has to be self-sufficient at the playa. The van was filled to the roof with water jags since we even had to bring water for washing. It took some planning as we were going into the unknown territory of burners. We saw the playa far from the distance and large cover of dust was following the endless line of vehicles. It took us about 5 hours to cross the gate where we had to subject ourselves to the initiation ritual and pronounce that we were no longer a virgins for the Burning Man. Dust covered and sweaty we found good site close distance to portable bathrooms and set up camp for the next seven days.

Now with the perspective of experience and time, my advise is that every one should at least once experience the the Burning Man. It was my bucket list for many years and I am glad that I have done it. It is great when you do it friends since the experience can be rather overwhelming. The seven days of playa life is nothing what you might expect and imagine. The best way to experience is to go with the flow. The playa does not sleep, and gets even more busy and intense after 12AM. I was impress how friendly everybody was and how safe the experience was. Every single person we met was character and had a colorful story. We spend our days wondering the playa, visiting different theme camps, participated in workshops and attended lectures. After few days I was not surprised to see a “ giant chicken “ riding beside our camp or motorized couch with silver clad aliens. What ever your creative imagination desired, it was there and more. The last three days are the final celebration where three main sculptures are burned at night. First is the temple, which this year was magnificent, then Trojan horse and on Sunday was the statue of the burning man.

It took us over 6 hours to leave the playa, this year the attendance reached over 53.000 people. There is only one exit into the hwy and one has to be a very patient.  The next morning we reached Reno where we had already booked a hotel, it was an opportunity to rest, wash and wash again. Being in the Peppermill Hotel was very luxurious in comparison to the life on the playa. Nevertheless I was glad to hit the road after three days. It was in Reno where we all parted our ways with Mariko returning to Canada and Mike continuing with his friend to Vegas. For me it was the beginning of the painting journey into the southwest. After a day I arrived at Grand Canyon, south rim and set up the camp there for few days. I try to avoid the crowds with passion and I am somewhat spoiled leaving and painting in northern Canada. I am got so use to my painting solitude. It became a daily challenge not only to find great painting location out of so many but also a quiet spot where I would not be interrupted. But with little work I was able to find locations where tourists did not venture too often. Grand Canyon is defiantly one of the wonders of the world. 18 km wide in some places and over 1.5 km deep creates breath-taking view. Painting in the canyon was challenging due to poor weather. Even so, I persevered and painted through several thunderstorms and hail the size of small walnuts. The park consists of South and North rim, and the South is most developed and receives most visitors. The colours of canyon walls changed with each weather pattern creating dramatic setting of light and shadow each day.

Following my stay at Grand Canyon, my art dealer Mark Sublette from Medicine Man Gallery arranged for me a stay at Toadlena Trading Post. The trading post is located Navajo Reservation in northern New Mexico. The trading post was established in 1909 and is also a home a spectacular Two Grey Hills Weaving Museum. Mark and Linda Winter who have great passion for the local Navajo weaving tradition currently run the post. Mark buys rugs local maser weavers, which he later sells to collectors from all over the country. Through his passion and dedication the weaving tradition is able to grow and support the local community.

Being on the reserve is like being back home in northern Canada with similar challenges, melancholy and of course the peculiar humor. I have made friends fast by painting in varied locations. The local native people often stop to ask me who I am, where I am staying and are were happy to hear that will be staying among them for a while. My visit there resulted in participation in the group show in Tucson in Nov 19, 2011.

The whole area around Toadlena is doted with natural and cultural attractions. After some time I headed to Mesa Verde in southern Colorado. It is spectacular series of canyons with ancient dwellings that are b build in or carved right into the wall. Arriving at high altitude I notice that colours have are changing fast, with yellow aspens creating beautiful patterns of gold against blue and purple mountains. I followed the scenic San Juan Skyway, exploring old mining roads and finding great campsites away from the rush of humanity.

My travels took north to Silverton and Quary mountain areas. It is one of the most spectacular alpine regions in Southern Colorado. The area is steeped in mining history dating back to 1600 and Spanish explorers.  With quick look into Silverton which reminded me very much of Dawson City, I drove high into the mountains following the 4x4 alpine route. There were some scary moments on some of the switchbacks, since my camping van is not exactly my Jeep Rubicon. But with enough off-road experience I have accumulated over the years I was able to navigate 2-wheel drive van into some extraordinary locations. Today I made it to Quary over a Million-dollar Hwy, which is equally spectacular as dangerous.

From Colorado I followed the route to Monument Valley in Utah. The park is on the Navajo land and it is administrate by the Navajo People.  Few days in the park provided me with gorgeous views. The ever-changing light creates a dramatic play of colour on the rock. For years it was favorite locations for film directors to recreate a western. The reaming weeks of my travels I dedicated to staying in the New Mexico area. It is a land of enormous natural beauty but also contains magnificent example of early Pueblo and Spanish architecture. I was inspired to paint the XVIII century churches on my way to Taos. The ambiance and feel of the mixed cultures is well preserved and attracts visitors from all over the world.

As I traveled mountains were getting cover by fresh snow and aspens growths were turning yellow. Winter is defiantly on the way. From the snowy northern NM I made my way to beautiful painting location of the town Abiquiu. It was there where Georgia O’Keeffe’s found her inspiration and Lived and painted for decades. After visiting this area I understood why she was so drawn to this landscape. There is a mixture of gentleness and drama of shape and light. The landscape is ever changing and with autumn in full swing it was truly gorgeous time to paint. While I was there it was a time when all local artist had his or her studious open to the public. It gave me a chance to visit with some people and exchange creative ideas.

Not far form Abiquiu is a Ghost Ranch a spectacular location of canyons, mesas and rivers. In a first hour I met couple of painters from California and Colorado and we ended up painting together for whole day. Ghost Ranch has a colourful history starting as a dude ranch and finally being a retreat for artists, writers and many other cultural and spiritual endeavors.

Time was getting short and I needed to get ready for my show in Tucson. With help of Mark Sublette of Medicine Man Gallery I rented a little house in Santa Fe and got to work on two large studio paintings for the upcoming show. I worked 12 hrs. days for two weeks and was able completed them in time for the exhibition. My studio was a walking distance from the Santa Fe plaza, which dates to XVI century. After full days of painting I often took a walk through old streets surrounded by adobe buildings.

My partner Mariko flew in to Phoenix and we continued together to Tucson for my exhibition. With in the first hour I sold the one the big studio paintings I completed in Santa Fe. It made my day; it was a great reward after a long, and hard working journey. We continued west through LA where I visited my good friend and fellow artist Jason Mernick. He is metal artist creating images using torch and plasma cutter on sheet metal. After over three months it was time to go home. As we drove through California landscape full of flowers and palm trees I was getting my self mentally ready for the weather change on the Pacific Northwest. But I missed home and when we arrived on the Vancouver Island, I new I was home again.

THREE PART VIDEO - YOUTUBE

I believe that each successful trip is one, which produces or leads to the next adventure. As we were painting in Mackenzie Mountains, my friend and fellow painter Tim Schumm kept talking about the his recent journey to Namibia. I became fascinated and we roughly decided to travel there together in few months time. At the end Tim could not go, but I traveled to Republic of South Africa and Namibia in the spring of 2011. The journey has taken me right across the southern tip of the continent covering over 10500 km in 5 weeks.  3 weeks into the journey my partner Mariko joined me in Port Elizabeth on the coast of the Indian Ocean. From there we traveled together to Namibia.

To most of us to African continent is shrouded in mystery, tales of war, colonial occupation and abounded wildlife. It is till you actually go and step your foot on the African continent, you realize how complex and entirely beautiful the land and its people are.

My journey began as always with rough outline of painting locations and with landing in Johannesburg I proceeded north towards Kruger National Park on the border of Mozambique. Getting used to driving on the left hand side took some time but with in few days it become just natural. I rented small 4x4 Daihatsu which had high clearance and had amazing gas mileage. The smell of Africa is hard to explain, but with in few hours I knew what people meant by it, it becomes addictive. It is a country full of contrasts, a society who regain the sense of independence but full of corruption and still very much catering to the white majority. It is a somehow disturbing feeling…

After spending couple of days in Joberg I traveled northeast to Pilgrims Rest an old mining town near Blyde River Canyon. The elevation is at 1700m and at that time of the year the majority of the landscape is shrouded in a dense fog. I traveled directly to Lisbon falls, a spectacular twin falls surrounded by lush vegetation.  The colours of Africa are subtle with lots of blues and greens. The immense horizon line and unlimited sky diffuses everything with aerial perspective.

As always each trip has to have its own challenge and this one is no exception. On that first day in Joberg my little netbook has died, which meant no communication, no photo transfer, ect. The only solution was to upload the whole new operating system. In a little town near the Kruger National Park I found a cellular phone/ grocery store operated by East Indian people. They uploaded the whole new system but I was still missing lots of programs that I lost due to the crash. The following morning I was driving, searching for photos when I encountered a sing advertising computers. The long driveway through fruit trees plantation took me to a beautifully position house. The owner was commuter repair technician and farm owner who after two hours of hard work brought my computer to life. Not only that my machine was fixed, but I also received a valuable lesson on local economy and political system.

After spending few days around the waterfalls I arrived at Kruger Park. The main attraction of the park is the animals, especially the big five. In the first hour I was fortunate to see the jaguar, which set beside by car for a moment and yawned. The only way you can travel is by car from which you cannot get out due the animal danger. The camps are surrounded by electrified fence and one has to be inside the gate by 5:30PM. They’re very luxurious by our Canadian standards; they include various types of accommodations, swimming pool, restaurants, cafes, internet, ect. The South Africans travel in style; big 4x4 rigs, many times with very fancy off-road tent trailers. The strange thing is that the 99% of park’s guests are white. The working people are the blacks.
Animals are of course the biggest attractions of the park, and I was not disappointed. Even at one time bull elephant charged me. I never went into reverse that fast. But my main interest is of course landscape and not being able to hike and get out of the car was somehow limiting.

From Kruger I headed south to Natal and Drakensberg Mountains. First I hiked and painted in the Royal Natal NP. It contains some of the South Africa’s most spectacular scenery the Drakensberg Mountains. The awe inspiring Amphitheater, a crescent shaped basalt wall 6 km wide soars to a 1500 m. The morning light illuminates the rock walls in the bright orange light and in the evening it turns it to beautiful blues and purples. The campsites were nearly empty then due to low season and upcoming winter. From there I traveled to Natal Drakensberg Park, which contains some of the highest peaks in that mountain range.

After 10 days of sleeping in the tent, I decided that hot bath and normal bed was in order. I arrived in the Cathedral Peak area of Drakensberg Mountains and checked in into beautiful mountain resort build with traditional materials. I have never stayed in such enormous and luxurious place as this. The price was rather small in comparison to our standards and I truly enjoyed the glorious views. I took the opportunity of great location to photograph the sunrises on both mornings. The light last lasted only for few minutes but I was able to capture the fleeting light.

The weather deteriorated in Drakensburg Mountains and I made my way to the South Coast west of Durban.  I stayed and painted in the spectacular Oribi Gorge nature reserve. This impressive gorge is 24 km long and over 300 m deep. I captured great sunrise with morning light reflecting of the rocky outcrop called baboon castle. The forest is tropical in nature full of monkeys and over 500 different tree species. After spending so many days in the interior I made it finally to the Indian Ocean heading west towards Port Elizabeth. The coast is made of large golden sand dunes cover by lush vegetation. The condition of the roads has improved greatly and there is less noticeable poverty. It is the beginning of the famous Garden Route, one of the major tourist attractions of South Africa.

When I finally made it to Port Elizabeth, a major urban center on the south coast I met Mariko my partner who flew from Vancouver to travel together further into Namibia. After restocking in the PE we made our way to the Addo Park where we spent a wonderful couple of days photographing countless animals. I saw more game in this area than in Kruger NP. Defiantly the elephants were a great attraction and I was not disappointed with the sightings. Also for the first time I saw zebra, warthog and buffalo in the wild. The entire park is surrounded by an electric fence with steel gates that closes to visitors at 5:30 PM and open 6 AM. The overall feeling is like visiting the set of the Jurassic Park.  It is refreshing to see all the animals in the natural habitat with unrestricted movement and not as we see them in the zoos.

Following the Garden Route to Cape Town we stopped for a couple of days in the famous Tsitsikamma National Park well known for its coastal trail and clawless otter. Mariko and I hiked the first 6 km of the Otter trail to a beautiful waterfall cascading through series of pools to the incomings ocean surf. On the way to cape we traveled through area, which consists of four mountains, passes. It was the most challenging road construction undertaken in the end of XIX century. One 30 km section took over 7 years to construct and still remains unpaved scaling nearly a vertical walls linking two fertile valleys. The Karoo region is famous for ostrich farming and was boom industry during the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

We made it to Cape Town, driving and stopping along the famous wine route consisting of such wineries as Robertson. Just before Cape Town I stopped in a little French established town from XVII century, which has a long tradition of growing and producing excellent wines and cheeses.  As we drove on a spectacular highway leading to town, the both sides of the road were covered by shanty towns made entirely of found materials and no running water. The Cape Town itself is beautifully position with view of the ocean and a mountain backdrop. I have finally reached the most southerly point of Africa the Cape of Good Hope. We spent two days in Cape Town exploring the cape peninsula. The highlight of the journey was seeing the African penguins called locally Jackass penguin. Upon reaching the very tip of cape I painted in nearly hurricane conditions capturing the vista of Cape of Good Hope. Seating beside me I had three juvenile baboons seating in a perfect row staring at me with mild interest.

After a 700 km drive along the western shore of South Africa Mariko and I crossed into Namibia. The border crossing was uneventful but full of paperwork, which we had to fill up. The Namibian authorities did not even checked for a permit to bring in a car into the country and after half an hour we were in Namibia. We spent the first night at the Ai-Ais camp, which has thermal hot springs at the south end of Fish River canyon. The camp was incredibly luxurious with indoor hot swimming pools, restaurant, bar, individual cottages.  The following day we moved north to spectacular series of viewpoints overlooking the canyon rim. The roads in Namibia are mostly gravel, which reminds me a lot of the Yukon. The country is scarcely populated with endless horizon line and a beautiful blue sky. 

The drive to Namib Naukluft Park took all day. The route took us along very sparcly populated areas with mountains a deserts stretching in every direction. The roads are unpaved here reminding me of my travels in Patagonia. The wild game is abundant reminding us how wild that country still is. The drive to the dunes to catch the sunrise started at 5:30 AM. As I was driving into the darkness only illuminated with countless stars I was trying to imagine what I should photograph. Since I never been here I did not want to miss the opportunity of the light, which last for such a short time. The distance is 65 km ending at 4x4 trail. Here were great formations of incredibly shaped life and dead trees, which presented splendid foreground to illuminated sand dunes. Rest of my day was spent at the little seasonal water hole, which took some 4x4 skills to get through soft sand. It is a landscape where photographer and painter can easily spent days; the landscape offers countless abstract compositions with ever changing light. The following morning was the highlight of our Namibia trip, or one of them, a balloon ride over the desert. We were picked up at first light at my camp and taken few miles into the desert where two balloons were being prepped for the take off. There were few people from neighboring lodges and we enjoyed a spectacular sunrise flight over the mountains and dunes.

Our days in Namibia were getting shorter and we had move on. The next stop on our agenda was the costal towns of Walis Bay and Swakopmund. It turned out to be rather gloomy experience where Mariko got nearly robed and things were just not going smoothly for us there. The only highlight of the area was a kayaking trip in Walis Bay to experience the seal and wild birds populations.

Just before crossing the official border into South Africa we explored the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park of in the Kalahari dessert.  It was a magnificent experience once again and we were rewarded with many animal sightings. Especially memorable ones were the family of meercats which high of Mariko’s to “ see “ list. On the last evening, just couple of kilometers from our camp we spotted a couple of lions that were grooming each other. Not only it was a perfect sight but also the sunset light gave the experience an enchanted edge.

The following morning we crossed the border and drove straight to Joberg for the last couple of days before departing for Amsterdam, Holland. In the last day we drove south of Joberg to a small park where we have encountered a herd of elephants.  They were crossing the grassy meadows and as they approached the road we were in the great position to photograph them. That was best elephant sighting of out entire trip.

The last few days of our journey was spent in Holland enjoying the European cuisine and merging us in art and architectural delight that Amsterdam had to offer. I am planning to return to Namibia in the near future, it is colours, people and powerful landscape tagged at my soul with an addiction feeling I can only compare to Yukon and Alaska.