Just a Klick Away

The Dead Dead Sea

2012-02-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

Dead Sea. February 2012

We left the club at dawn, pale red lines in the sky were already announcing the coming of the sun. Leaving the Mediterranean coast, we climbed up to "the Jerusalem mountains" (about 700 m altitude) and went down to the Judean desert and the great rift valley. We actually drove the width of Israel, with 2 coffee breaks, 2 kayaks on the roof, and it still took about 2.5 hours. When we say we have a small country…we mean it.
Going down to the Dead Sea is a beautiful drive. Across the Judean desert, the last few rains left hints of soft green grass covering the northern side of the hills. Down to Sea level, minus 100, minus 200, signs of the altitude lead you to the lowest place on earth, the bottom of the great rift valley. Lowest and getting lower by the year. In fact, the Dead Sea is a meter lower every year. Still beautiful turquoise water, still in a spectacular location with the walls of the rift valley closing from east and west…

The name is taken from the salinity of the water, making it impossible to for any living creature to survive in it. It's uniqueness is also it's curse. Being so fertile with phosphates, the Dead Sea is serving both, the country of Israel and Jordan, being the number one origin for export in both countries. Being such dry countries, along with drying up the sea for its minerals, we also prevent the good water of the Jordan river from arriving at the Dead Sea. The result: a drop of a meter a year in the Dead Sea level. It is not only the Dead Sea, but it is a dying sea. It's ecological problems screaming to the sky. We might need another Sodom and Gomorra to save it.
However, still the Dead Sea is a unique place to paddle in. When the sun is out the water is a beautiful turquoise, when it is behind the clouds all is grey and in areas of shallow water it's a strange green. Layers of salt cover the one meter drop of the previous year, enabling snow like photography. And the high cliffs of the Judean desert are the best scenery to paddle in. Paddling in a postcard.

We paddle in the Dead Sea every year, this year along with comparatively warm weather, we also had a short shower to wash away all the salt. A perfect day in a spectacular place and back home on time for the Sabbath dinner.

Paddling the Sea of Galilee

2012-02-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

Movie- Paddling the Sea of Galilee

Every year Optimist kayaking club goes to check the level of the Sea of Galilee. You can't feel truly an Israeli if you don't do that, it is the country's national sport in the winter. News will talk endlessly of the level of the sea, every little boy knows from an early age that it's been years that the level is too law and you don't take long showers because the Sea of Galilee will get dry. We also check the level, annually, but we just do it with our Kayaks.
Mind you…the Sea of Galilee is just a small fresh water lake, one of the rift valley's lakes that gives Israel much of our drinking water, but we like to call it 'SEA'. In a small dry country like ours it is sort of a wishful thinking.
So, the level is high this year due to several weekends of good rains. One in which we were suppose to paddle and had to cancel.

We waited another week, and it was a cold and wet week and finally, headed north with our Kayaks. The weather was perfect, Friday was calm and warm and Saturday started with heavy eastern wind that made us change our plans. Instead of circling the Sea of Galilee all the way south, we rode the wind back to our vehicles on the other side of the sea. What an amazing weekend it was!!!

Sea of Galilee, Israel. February 2012

You only need to run faster then the slowest one in the herd

2011-12-10T03:40:00.000-08:00

Ngoromgoro, Tanzania. December 2011

It was the end of an ok safari. The clients were happy so I couldn't tell them that the sightings weren't as expected. I even survived almost the whole tour without cursing the person who stole my camera a few safaris ago. An ok safari can be handled with the ok camera that I borrowed from a friend due to the lack of time to buy another one. There were 10 vehicles in the group so it also made sense that everyone would come back with a different experience every evening. But in Ngorongoro we still didn't have the chance to spread the "herd of vehicles" around the park. We just finished descending into the crater when we saw a lioness coming towards us, looking very interested at the warthogs standing behind us. As she got closer a heard of Buffalos began running our direction as well, followed by the rest of the lionesses pride. Within a short time 2 young buffalo were taken down. Hyenas started to join the celebration from all around, scaring the lions away. We stayed for almost 2 hours, all 10 vehicles in perfect positions to watch it all. We all had a successful kill that day- lions, hyenas and photographers.

Well they do say that in Africa, every morning the lion gets up, knowing that it only needs to run faster then the slowest buffalo, and every morning in Africa a buffalo gets up, knowing that it only needs to run faster then the slowest buffalo in the herd...

Canopies

2011-11-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

Praslin, Seychelles. November 2011

During November 2007 the company I was working for had charter flights to Seychelles. With great generosity 10 guides were selected to go for a week holiday. At that time I had stayed away from Africa for a full year and was missing it terribly and I just got my new digital camera to play with but saw no real opportunity to enjoy it if it wasn't for wildlife.

Seychelles start from the point we approached it looked from the air like a paradise. The green forest on the dark rocks of Mahe, looked like nothing I had ever seen before. And there I was, traveling in this paradise, trying my new toy, diving, cycling, swimming, meeting a friend from Kenya and loving every minute of it.

By the 3^rd day of course, like every beginner, I have mistakably erased all my beautiful photographs.

By the 4^th day I had almost the same amount I have erased just to cover up for the fuc up.

But by the 6^th day I found myself walking in the strange forest of Coco de mer with a friend. As most of the plants there resembled house plants of Israel, ones we grow in small pots and get small results, this canopy of huge leaves was like a dwarf tour in the land of giants. I was trying to photograph but felt like I was playing around. Just as I was going to pack my camera and give up, I heard a sound from the dry leaves covering the floor of the forest. I sent away my friend and was waiting to see what's coming out. For at least half an hour I was lying and waiting and sure enough, from the thick dry cover, came out a rodent with a long nose, like a Shrew. It was there only for a moment, the moment I needed to catch it in the frame. We looked at each other, smiled, and it went away. I wasn't in the wild savanna of Africa nor was I watching a pride of Lions but this small Shrew made me feel at home. In different times of our lives we may wear different hats but some hats will always be more comfortable. Although I was never a wildlife photographer by training nor by the type of equipment I was using, it was always the hat I felt most comfortable under.

It took years to be able to set a routine in my life which Africa is a big part again. It felt like a long way to cover up for the years of distance. But that small Shrew was one of the first steps just by reminding me of a feeling I lost and wished to have again.

They Call it a Game Drive

2011-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Samburu, Kenya. September 2011

They call it a game drive and a game it is. You are going to look for wild life. You might see a lot or see nothing.

Well, this group went out of the plane in Kenya announcing that I should not worry. They came for 8 days, they intent to see everything and they have luck, always. They looked serious but…considering the 15 years of guiding safaris well…I've heard it all before.

Mount Kenya, first day.

Samburu, Second day.

Going out for the first game drive and just as we headed back to the lodge after a plesent afternoon, a Leopard appears in the bushes. We barely saw it coming but all of a sudden it was by our car, running full speed, catching a Hare, carrying it and disappear into the thick bushes. It was so quick but so near to the car.

Next morning we went out of Samburu lodge into a group of Wild dogs. Although there is a group known to visit Samburu a few times a year, I myself haven't seen those for 20 years. Just the site of these 12 Dogs was shocking to me and I could do nothing but laugh when from the back of the car we heard 8 years old Yuval complaining that she wants to see a Hyena and not just a Dogs!!!!

But the real shocking part was a few hours later, to see them killing- Twice. Those poor little Dik Diks didn't stand a chance.

Trying to go back to the lodge that same same game drive, we bumped into another good site of Leopard, and then a Caracal.

So yes they do call it a game drive, but I'm afraid this game was a sold game..…..

Don't Be a Victim

2011-09-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Mljet, Croatia. September 2011

Born with a very energetic temper, I always had a sportive look. But I never found something to put myself into. I grew up in a village so obviously HAD to play basketball as a kid, although now at my top height I am maybe 157 cm, on a good day… I use to hike long hiking trips as a teenager but never regularly. Yoga was better in a later stage in my life, and my great Mountain Bikes are at times begging to be used.

But when I sat in a kayak the first time I knew this is it. Though I am not a fast or strong paddler, I try and paddle every day when not guiding groups. I do my best to get better and as a part of that effort (and of course because it is fun), I never miss the annual Symposium in Optimist club in Israel, in which guides are coming from various countries and teach. It is an amazing atmosphere with great energy, many Kayaks and Kayakers in the water for 4 days, morning till the afternoon.

In one of those I have joined a clinic with Jeff Allen on handling difficult situations in high sea. Jeff suggested, if anyone comes to rescue you, don't just wait but help to be rescued. He called it- Don't be a victim. I then understood something about me and sport, physical difficulty always use to bring me to the point of starting to feel sorry for myself, and then I would be angry with myself and spend the rest of my energy there. And so I adopted Jeff's ideal and even in personal life, when things got rough, I would find myself reminding myself- Don't Be a Victim.

Last week I went paddling with a friend for a week around Mljet area, Croatia. It was a magical week in a paradise for kayakers and we both liked the place a lot. Days were not so short and I was happy to find that I do keep up. In one of the evenings we were heading to camp a little too late in quite a bumpy sea. As the waves were shaking me from side to side I was happy as a kid in Disney World. We played close to the rocks, caching the most energetic point of the waves to move faster and were taking a lot of Photographs. But as the day started to end and dark started to take over, I wasn't so happy. I knew we still had quite a way ahead of us. It wasn't something to worry about but as time went by I was trying to see what could we have done to plan the day better. It was a long dialog with myself as I was quietly paddling along my friend. I then felt a familiar feeling sneaking in and taking all my energy. Yes…I was starting to feel sorry for myself.

Hey, psps, I heard Jeff Allan's deep voice coming out of the dark. Don't be a Victim.

Boy was I happy for the remindment!!! I told myself to gather some more energy and paddle. No one will bring me to camp if I don’t bring myself. And of course, the evening finished well in a safe place.

As I saw my brother a while ago preparing for his first Iron Man I asked him what comes to his head when things go rough. He said he then thinks of something one of our previous Generals of the army said in one of the battles, that when it's raining, everyone get wet. I told him about Jeff's" Don’t be a victim". He said he liked it and will consider adopting it…

Missing all the magic

2011-08-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

Summer 2011

Ishan Kilise was built by Georgians that kept a Christian island, surrounded by a Muslim crowd in the 7th century. It's still there, built high up, watching the beautiful view of Kackar Mountains, enjoying a privilege that we no longer have.

I was guiding in Turkey 5 good years. I have enjoyed the view of the Kackar Mountains and the bright white pillars of capadokia. I have enjoyed driving or hiking, swimming in the cold spring water everywhere and taking my groups to places that I just got to know with the help of our Turkish team. I have enjoyed learning about the great Ataturk and give a part of his legacy to visitors. I have enjoyed a hot burek from the bakery of Artvin, or fish served wrapped with vine leaves on the Kuprulu river. I love the view, I love the size and the beauty of it, but I mostly love the people and the Turkish hospitality. I had never come across such hospitality anywhere else in the world.
Although I am sure it is still there, I know it shell never be the same for me. Working in a place is not like being a visitor. You get to know people along the route and can follow the changing of the seasons. The awakening of the mountains after the snow melts, the great flowers that are flowering higher in altitude as time goes, and the people preparing themselves for the winter. Collecting firewood, harvesting the crops, drying fruits everywhere they can. Like a huge nest of busy aunts, working hard but still having the time to smile and welcome travelers to drink a small hot cup of tea with them.

I heard blames coming from both sides in a very unfair way. I heard remarks said out of the situation that Israel and Turkey found themselves in. Some of the remarks were ignorant, some resist. But all was telling me one thing- it will take years to heal, if at all.

Some times while being in a situation you can't imagine it'll ever end. But when it does, you'd give much to return to a specific moment, to a simple thing that you use to have in your everyday life. To a morning walk in Rose valey before the day in Cappadokia is becoming too hot, or a free afternoon in Ayder when the group is in the hot spring. To a conversation with my dear friend Mehmet, his broken English with my broken Turkish. To a drive with Shaban that knows the roads of Kackar better than anyone. To Lunch at Ibo when the Firtina strong current is taking over the conversation around the table and you can only listen and eat hot hot Muhlame, to a visit up in Ishan Killise that strikes you with the beauty of it. The small and the big things and the magic of it all.

Lion's Print

2011-08-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Samburu, Kenya. July 2011

It was just another good hot morning in Masai Mara. Must have been somewhere around March of 1998. I went out with a friend on a footpath we use to walk quite often just outside of the Lodge he lived in and there was a Lion footprint in the fresh mud. We both came up with the idea to cast it with plaster and went to get some plaster to do it. We didn’t estimate the size well and mixed too little, we poured more, adding a new mix to the already dried plaster in the footprint. In short, we made what we call in Hebrew- BALAGAN, a total mess.

When waiting for it to dry we started to learn from out lesson and planed to make many more, but when lifting it- it was perfect. I still have it in my house, and that plastered lion print takes me right back to that hot morning in Masai Mara so many years ago.

Yes, we had tried to make more, I have a box full of them put away somewhere. Nothing came out like thiat first one.

While guiding groups in Africa I have little chance to play in the mud with plaster, though every good footprint brings up the wish, so occasionally I photograph them.

This Lion footprint was taken in Samburu- July 2011. Just looking at it made me think of the one I have at home and wondered if my friend that is still leaving in Mara had ever tried again to cast a good print.

This photograph is also the last one that was taken and stayed with me when my camera was stolen. A good Masai would say that as long as it was in the camera, the power of the Lion protected it from being taken away.

No Image

2011-08-02T23:00:00.001-07:00

Kenya. July 2011

I would have liked to put a very good photograph that I took above this post, but I am afraid it will be impossible. It is no longer in my possession. I can still see it very clear though, so clear that if I had good drawing skills I would have been able to recover it perfectly.

I have arrived to Samburu R. in Kenya as a safari guide of a very nice group. On the first day I had asked every member of the group what would he like to see the most during the next 8 days safari. People came up with their wishes. Leopard, Cheetah, Giraffes, the big migration of Wildbeasts and Zebras that started to come into Masai Mara just that month.

For myself, I wished for the ultimate photograph. One of those that while clicking you already know that it is one of the best you ever took, one that holds the moment in a perfect way and can hand it well even to someone that wasn't there when you took it.

Our Second day in Samburu, while watching 4 Grevy's Zebras grazing I had that chance. From nowhere came a big male Zebra looking for his females. He run around them kicking and barking and took a sharp turn while facing our vehicle. There was a moment there that his striped body leaned to the side due to the sharp fast turn, clouds of dust came up from his fast run and his nostrils were wide open. I could hear my own click and felt that my smile is from my head to toes. I was in the perfect position and was just playing with the settings of my camera to try something new. It was perfect and I knew it even before looking at it.

For the next 2 days that this photograph was in my possession I was looking at it so many times that I can still see it in my eyes very clearly. I admired this photograph and felt that my mission was accomplished. I also had a growing fear of loosing it. Little did I know that my camera along with all my photographs in it was going to be stolen only 2 days later.
3 years I have traveled with this camera everywhere I went. I has became my traveling body until someone in Lake Naivasha Country Club has decided that he would be better off with it.

Theft is a strange thing. Someone is going through your personal stuff, taking things that might mean money for him, but mean much more to you. As someone that can get sentimental even to hair band that had traveled with me somewhere special, yes I admit- I was very sentimental about this camera. It was a very big part of my life. And along with loosing it, I lost a week of photography and I lost my perfect photograph.

The next 2 days I spent between my group's activities and taking care of paper work. The management of Lake Naivasha Country Club was more worried about their reputation then about the well being of their client and made it an even bigger head ace.

I use to say that the most perfect shots are the ones stuck in your mind after having missed them. The ones you never took. Wrong setting, wrong position, battery died on you or you just didn't have it with you. We all know those frustrating moments so much that it seems like we are ever ready. But I can say now that the best shot might be one that you took perfectly, but will never be able to enjoy again.

Yoga for Elephants

2011-03-17T02:47:00.000-07:00

Samburu, Kenya. August 2010

Samburu N.P can give you the best Elephants show around. Young clumsy babies are everywhere, big happy families are moving gently in the thick bush showing no signs of stress, that is, if you can read the signs well. Of all those, young Elephants never fail to amuse. They look as if they can barely control their directions or manage to walk without stepping on their own trunk. One thing about a young Elephant, as amusing as this sweet baby can be, it always have a BIG worried mom somewhere within site.

As I was watching this young Eli displaying its yoga abilities, I remembered an old story. A French photographer was working in Samburu N.P some years ago and was following Elephants much of his time. One morning he was watching a baby Elephant for such a long time that when they got use to each other and felt comfortable enough, the small calf came closer to the car. The photographer was happily organizing himself for close up shooting, little did he care about the mother. But as it turned, she didn't like the situation. She came rushing in, causing great damaged to his vehicle and equipment. He was left with the cloth to his body, his camera and his great new photographs. Every now and then it's good to be reminded of our place in all this…

The Nomads of Morocco

2011-03-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Atlas, Morocco. May 2010

In a country occupied by many different empires during the history and with such a big variety of landscapes and geographical conditions, people live where they can. Being strong meant that you could keep yourself in the fertile areas of this big country but then had to protect yourself from invasions of the inhabitants of the less fertile areas. The weaker you were the closest to the Sahara you found yourself as a place to live.

In Morocco, as many other African countries, identity is more by the ethnic group you come from then from the fact you live in Morocco.

There are the Arab Moroccans and the Berbers and even these are divided into different ethnic groups one can recognize by the different languages.

There is white and there is black.

There are farmers and there are nomads. Those that live in the most difficult areas, having no land of their own and hardly any property.

During 2010 I was guiding quite a lot in Morocco and met Aisha's family quite a lot. I started to stop with my groups to visit her. Most cases her husband wasn't around and she felt quite comfortable with the people sitting in her tent, playing with her kids. On my second visit she marked on her belly and explained she was pregnant. 2 month later she wasn't and there was no baby around. The Moroccan guide working with me said the woman in these areas never rest, one baby goes out, second being conceived.

Aisha and her kids seemed to be very happy to have their photos taken and watch it with us on the camera screen, never once did I hear her asking for those photos but I have organized a small photo album to give on my last tour before the winter started. Not much for a family that has almost nothing but something that I thought they would be happy to have. The morning of that last tour up the Atlas mountain was very cold and I started to have my doubts about spending the winter so high. Although everyone kept telling me that they normally stay around even in winter, we didn't find Aisha and her family that day. They might have moved to the lower part of the Atlas for the long cold winter, or found shelter in one of the caves in the area. Whatever it was, that wasn't their first winter to survive in such harsh conditions. Thinking of them while sitting in my small hut back at home in the mild winters we have in Israel, I thought how these people redefine for me the meaning of have or don't have. And how having too much takes down your appreciation to what you have.

The Rocks of My Childhood

2011-02-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

Faran Vady, Israel. February 2011

As a kid I have joined kid's activities, involving nature walks and studies. It very much paved my way on. Environmental Studying High School, Guiding kids on nature tours during my army service, then finding my way to Africa.

Last weekend, I had an invitation from one of the kids I use to hike with, to relive the adventure almost 30 years after we started these hikes. The invitation was for a hike in the southern part of Israel, the dry desert of Israel, the Negev. I have hikes in the Negev during the past few years several times but there was something different in this hike. We both lived in other places in the world since we last hiked together in this area, and changed a lot the way we hike. No more running, heavy duty carrying and counting k'm. Just a calm walk, quiet and pleasant. More exploring than running through an area.

Taking this photo it was suppose to show me as a silhouette on the desert's impressive rocks. But looking at it I thought it looks more like me image was curved out from the rocks. That set me thinking of the rocks of my childhood, and the place they took in building my personality and my path in life.

Painful Dance

2011-02-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Arusha N.P, Tanzania. December 2010

It does look like a well choreographed dance- Necking. 2 mail Giraffs, bouncing around, pushing, hitting neck to neck in their fights. A Giraff head is quite heavy and the swing of the long neck looks almost unnatural. It accelerates the movement and the hit of the neck is very powerful. Sometimes you can hear the sound from a distance and as much as it is beautiful to watch, it never seem to be a pleasure to take part in it

These 2 males were in Arusha N.P. We stood by them for a long time wondering whether what we are watching was a proper necking. They were very gentle with each other, very nicely rubbing each another's neck as it was for the attention rather than a fight. We left them dancing and went around the park. When returning an hour later it started to warm up a bit and sound more like a fight. As we were on the way to catch our flight out of Tanzania, we didn't have the chance to see the end of it and congratulate the winner…

A World of Sands

2011-02-03T01:25:00.000-08:00

Sahara, Morocco. 2010

Sahara. Ask anyone what comes in his mind when he hears the word and most of the people will picture sand dunes, Huge ones. Truth about the Sahara is more in what the Tuareg call it. The thousands deserts. Sand dunes are just a part of it, but a great part indeed.

Every time I have a group coming down to the Sahara, we spend a night in a nice camp planted in the middle of the sand dunes. It is a way to get all the luxury services tourists want and still feel that you are out there. In the evening we can sit out under a canopy of endless sky, it's beautiful. The morning in the Sahara is my favorite morning of the tour. I get up early before the sun does. Some clients join for a walk to see the sunrise, other prefer to sleep on, but I am going for a hunt. The great hunt of photos. About half an hour after the sun is up, it shines on the dunes in a angle that brings up all the beauty of it. It can last for long or just stay there for half an hour, depends on the weather, wind and season. But it's there. I was once walking for my morning hunt with one of the clients. He was an engineer in some big hi-teck company and never spent a night out in nature before. Sahara was a revelation for him. But when he saw me looking with my camera to the same direction, selecting the right angel to frame the right photo, he couldn’t understand it. He kept asking what was I looking for. I found that I can hardly answer that question so I finally said- Perfection. 2 days later he looked at all the sand photos on my computer and said he never saw it there, when it was unframed.

I have thousands of photos of sand dunes from my morning hunts in the Sahara, selecting those 6 wasn't easy. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

A weekend around and across the Sea of Galilee

2011-01-31T12:06:00.000-08:00

Sea of Galilee, Israel. January 2011

Every year we paddle around the Sea of Galilee and when the current in the Jordan River allows us, we go upstream. This year, during the night in between the 2 days of the trip, the famous eastern wind came for a visit, and never left. As it was too strong, we have decided to go across the lake rather than complete the way around, and so we did. We took a lift on the wind, all the way across.

The King's Pride

2011-01-31T01:03:00.000-08:00

Masai Mara, November 2001

I can only hope for any one of you, that you ever had the chance to hear a Lion roaring in nature a close distance. And if it happened at night time, you will surely remember it forever. If you are sitting in the right spot, downwind and quite close, you don't just hear the sound but you feel it in every part of your body.

I don't know why, but the average person who knows Lions from nature movies of various productions, will still believe that the MGM Lion is roaring. It is indeed an impressive movement but it is more yawning than roaring. Lion roaring, like the one in this photo, is taking all the air it can in the shortest time and so spends a lot of energy while doing so. All his muscles are there to assist. If he is strong, the advertisement will work every night, quite frequent and the other Lions will be able to hear the sound from a great distance. (Depends on the wind but in good conditions about 6 km')

Lion's roaring is the greatest sound that the savannah can offer you at night. Escorted by Hyenas that will often join, Jackals calling their partners or Zebras barking to each other, it is a perfect symphony.

Sounds travel better at night and so most of these sounds will be heard at night. But a cloudy day or an early morning tour can sometimes surprise you. The pride of the area of which I lived in Mara had 2 big beautiful dominant males. I had followed these Lions 5 years day and night and knew where they were most of the time. 2 years after I got to know their pride, at night, we were watching one male with 3 females when another big male appeared from the darkness. Everyone was excited, but it was a surprising excitement. One would expect the whole pride to chase this stranger away, but they welcomed him like a long lost family member. Maina, a good friend that use to join our tours as the armed policeman, said that when they have started, they were 3 males and that might be the 3^rd one who was always with a bit more nomadic character. The third Lion stayed around and we had to leave. The next morning we found him lying around with 2 females leaning on his back. But the big world called him to leave. He sat proud, roared his goodbye and walked away. I never saw him again.

Crossings

2011-01-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

September 2000. Masai Mara

It's like a flowing river and you never know when it starts or when it ends.

When living in Masai Mara, my camp was less than half an hour drive from one of the most used spots for crossing the Mara river by the big migration. During the "crossing season" I would spend most of my time by the river, waiting. It could happen when I expected it the least or after hours of anticipation, but it is always one of the most exciting phenomenon. A river of Wildbeasts and Zebras rushing down to the water. Clouds of dust, water spray from the river, and them calling each other. You can see and hear a crossing happening from a distance, and you can feel the excitement hanged above it.

This photo was taken in one of the most memorable crossing seasons, for me. During the 'big migration' , 2000. And that specific crossing was one of the bests I had ever seen and lasted for a long time.

Easterm winds. Flat Sea

2010-12-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Sdot Yam, Israel. December 2010

When I left Masai Mara after years of driving around the biggest Savana plains of Africa, I missed exactly that. The feeling of being in an open place where you can drive hours without meeting anyone, the feeling that the sky and the land below them are endless. One almost wishes to go and look for the end of the world.

Israel has its deserts and as small as they might be, they can give you this feeling, but I found that the sea replaces much of that need in my life and that Kayaking is almost like taking the jeep for a drive in the sea of grass. Israel does have a problem to stand in line with Masai Mara when it comes to wildlife, but it has its spots and its moments. Again, much of it I found in the sea.

Yesterday morning, I went with my Kayaking club mates for a safari. On the rocks, just where we entered the sea there were the most Cormorants I had ever seen together. Using the skills I learned from the Leopard in Serengeti J (4 posts ago), we stalked these birds. We gently came eastern to their rock and the wind did the rest. Within no time a huge cloud of birds was up in the air.

How did that woman say it? Happiness is when you are being nostalgic about the present…watching that cloud of birds was pure joy and a great moment of happiness. I am not sure that the fish farmers growing fish in pools along the coast felt the same about that massive cloud as it approached their pools...

A hot dry December in Israel

2010-12-29T15:19:00.000-08:00

Sdot Yam, Israel. December 2010

So... We did have the mother of storms just this month, and I had my first attempt of editing anything. And now I am playing again. That major storm was an empty promise. While Europe is in the Ice age, we have a strangely hot and dry winter. Flat sea with eastern winds every morning, and almost no waves for play.

Perfection

2010-12-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ayder, Turkey. September 2008

I got to Ayder with a lovely group, 6 guys that were celebrating their 40^th birthday. The tour, like most of our tours, spent 2 nights at the village. On the afternoon of the full day we had there, I 'deposit' my whole group for a treat at the hot springs of the village and went to meet with a friend. Ayder is a Swiss looking village on the slopes of Kachkar Mountains, facing north to the black sea. It has 300 rainy days a year and most of the summer it still keeps cool which makes it a very touristic place. In fact, during the years more and more people keep hotels and pensions rather than their own place. I met Ayder the first time at the end of the summer of 1993. It had a muddy path crossing the place and it was not very developed. All had changed there but the atmosphere stayed the same. It is a place to visit withut a spesific plan. Endless possibilities going up the mountains and any kind of accommodation one could ask for.

That was my second season guiding in Kachkar and I knew the routes we were using during our tours, but I felt like I know too little. Mehmet my friend promised to take me to a special place and he kept his promise very well. We went up to a Avuzor Yayla (a temporary village used only during the summer time) that I had never been to before. It was a beautiful afternoon and after guiding nonstop for several weeks I finally had some time alone. Climbing up the steep road there was this one single moment that I cherish. We stopped in a good view point looking at the thick forest and for one split of a second, the sun went out of the clouds sending one of its last rays for the day, touching the trees with soft light. Then it was gone. Collecting itself to light the other side of the world and I felt that I miss the moment a little before it was gone. Someone once told me that happiness is being nostalgic about the present. I was a happy person that afternoon, surrounded by all the beauty of the world.

The next morning I took the group up that road. Mehmet was suppose to join us but he said yesterday was just too perfect. The air was as clean as only high mountains air can be, visibility was amazing and we took great photographs. But it was just as he said it, yesterday was just too perfect.

Rising Before the Sun

2010-12-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Sahara, Morocco. October 2010

Early morning we got up to walk in the Sahara dunes. I normally tell the clients that I get up half an hour before the sun does and if they want they join me for a morning walk to see the sunrise and photograph the sand dunes. After the sun is up there is a very limited time in which the contrast of the dunes and the shade is great, then when the angle of the sun no longer gives that contrast there is nothing to look for with a camera. Sometimes the opening for great photography is over an hour; sometimes much less, all depends on how clear is the air.

That time it was going to be great but before the sun came up I had all the girls of the group walking on the face of the dune. The sand was cold and we were too early so we were walking and moving to try and get warmer. It reminded me of the days I would look for an angle to have a Giraffe standing between me and the sun to create a good silhouette, or a Lion for that matter. One of those typical photos that was always hard to get. Try and explain the Giraffe to stand still exactly when you need it to…

Well, the girls did very well. Already the morning hunt for a good photograph was successful.

Winter is here, at last

2010-12-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Sdot Yam, Israel. December 2010

Winter finally arrived with impressive winds and huge waves. Not so much rain though… I just returned from Tanzania and had time to play with my new underwater camera. These are the results.

Mother Leopard

2010-12-20T04:43:00.000-08:00

Serengeti, Tanzania. December 2010

She came down the rocks slowly, walked between the vehicles that were standing there and prepared herself for a kill. Up the rocks she just came down from were waiting her 2 cute cubs. We were on our way out of the Serengeti and surprisingly the group was quite disappointed. We saw much but the Lions were always far and everyone else seemed to be talking of a Leopard that we didn't find.

Well, this morning we did and after playing with her cubs she was going to get some food.

Predators are much liked by tourists and photographers. And while you can learn the movements of Lions or Hyenas within their territories, you can't really learn the Leopard. It doesn't have its own territory but moves much within a range. 1 Leopard can move above 20km a day or stay up the tree as it pleases.

She didn't need to run much and the Gazelle was already in her mouth. As much as people want to see a kill when they come to Africa, they very often lack the "stomach" to watch it. Maybe it was the fact that we had just seen her cubs up the rocks but this time my group was all for the Leopard. Kids, parents and grand moms. And of course, me and the drivers. I must say, even as I lived in Masai Mara as long as I did, I had never seen a Leopard kill before. I saw the moment after, or the moment before. I even saw one huge male Leopard, trying to hunt at night and failing repeatedly. But I had never seen an actual kill.

When it was all done and the Leopard was sitting comfortably on her rock again, while her kill was on the tree waiting, I heard the kids asking the drivers how rare it is to watch such a thing. 'Maybe once a year', said one of the drivers. I sneaked a look and said in Swahili for him only to understand that for me it was a first. Slowly the 3 of them had to admit that it was a first for them as well…

Yolldash

2010-12-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

Cappadokia, Turkey. May 2008

Yolldash was, or still is, a Turkish dog. He is a mixture with Kangal, a Turkish dog very much loved by the Turks. I met him on the streets of Kaimakly, a small town in Cappadokia, on the way to check a route we wanted to add to our 4 by 4 tours. He was very young and very much alone. We stopped by him and couldn’t resist taking him along. A dog with the Kangal's 6^th finger shouldn't miss a chance to find a home in Cappadokia, we thought. We took him to a vet in Urgup and checked that all was ok with him. He was just a little too thin, apart from that he was well.

I gave him the best Turkish dog's name that I knew of. Yoll-Dash, A partner for the road, and so he was. As the guides team in the middle of preparations for a very busy season, we couldn't find the time, or didn't want to, to find him a home nor did we have a place for him. So he came with us everywhere and at night, as we stayed at one of the big hotels in Cappadokia- Tourist Hotel, we left him in the car, in a box we fixed for him, with hot bottles under the towels to keep him warm. It was May in Goreme and the nights were really cold. Somewhere along the second week, the team of the hotel has noticed us rushing at night to the car. As they learned about Yolldash, he became everyone's favorite dog. The hotel team gave him an empty pool in the middle of the hotel grass to stay in, and we started to keep him there during the days while we all went guiding our groups.

Yolldash was growing fast in that small pool and slowly managed to have a pick at us above the pool's wall as we left him. He wasn't a happy dog when being left alone but he never stayed alone for too long. Soon he was famous among our groups and the kids would come to play with him.

Yolldash lived with us at Tourist Hotel from May to September. Then, when the days were getting too hot the whole of the company, guides and operation, moved to Kachkar. Umit, one of our Turkish guides, took him along and found him a home. I have never seen him again but knew he was doing well and was a big dog. The owner said we have spoiled him too much and he was demanding that much attention in his new home as well. It wasn't a compliment to the dog or to the way we took care of him, Kangals are known to be very tough dogs. Farmers keep them as shepherd dogs to protect the life stock from wolfs. They normally feed them very little, the dogs always find their own food, hunting and scavenging. When I returned to Cappadokia in the end of that season to guide one single group, no one was there. Same routesthat I had known for years, same hotels and friends along the way, but all along there was something missing. Only as I returned toward Goreme in the end of the trip, I have noticed my anticipation for a meeting that will not accrue, with Yolldash.

For me, Yolldash was a true partner for the journey I had that year. One of the most difficult things for me as a guide is the fact that you are alone. Alone with the group. Alone with your decisions about the tour and so, with the filatures or the successes. You are surrounded by people almost 24 hours a day, but you are on your own as strong as the operation behind you might be. Having a dog in such a situation is no option at all. You take very little things with you, mostly stuff you need for the tour, and you move from place to place with no real home anywhere you go. That year, having so many groups in one place, the company I worked for had all the operation team and a huge team of guides together in the center of Cappadokia. I would normally take the long tours that went out of that center and so escaped the big crowd. But in the end of every week I had a few days with friends and with Yolldash. He was a big part of the happiness I experienced that season.

Just the Right Click

2010-12-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

Masai Mara, Kenya. December 2001

Some moments would have passed me unnoticed unless captured well enough. Such was a split of a moment in this Lions honeymoon.

Living in Masai Mara, Kenya and guiding night safaris (using night vision equipment) meant that I was following 3 different prides of Lions in the area of the lodge, and tried to know where they are at least every afternoon. Lions tend to leave their group when they are ready to mate (that is…when she is…) and mainly do what they had left for, for several days. They say they need above 100 sessions before she can conceive and that they mate every 45 minutes. All of course depends on the Lion, the season, availability of food and so- their strength. One thing is sure, they don't move much during their Honeymoon unless really disturbed so, when there are honeymooners around, tourists and photographers tend to stick around.

In one grey morning, driving back into camp, there seemed to be a new couple up the road but the area was so wet that I had stayed on a distance. I put my camera on standby and gave it a shot. Latterly, that was all I did. I had very little light and not the right equipment and I don't think I had stayed there more than 15 minutes. It was pre digital cameras so watching the results meant; waiting for a drive to Nairobi- that use to happen about once in 2-3 month, sending them to the lab and then framing and sorting out quite a lot. I think I have managed to look at this slide about a month after it was taken and it caught me by surprise. It was a moment I didn’t even remember that was there, not as excited as it appeared in the slide anyway. A moment that remained with me only thanks to a lazy click at the right time.

??? Excuse Me. Do I Know You

2010-12-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

Biograd, Montenegro. September 2004

I had started to work in Montenegro about 6 years ago but it took me a long time to get to know it. In the first 3 years I had taken 3 tours a year at the most, normally in the end of the season. Hence, I didn't get too involved with the place the people or my work there as a guide. The point where it had all changed was a funny moment.

During my first tour in this photogenic country, we were driving up on Biograd's most beautiful road and came across an old lady. Her eyes looked as if she was smiling with them, her lips were stained by the Blueberries she had picked and eaten and she had no problem to have her photo taken. I loved this photo taken of the two of us and it had a place of honor on my fridge door at home.

Since then, I had driven this road every tour I had guided in Montenegro and saw the old women herding the sheep and picking Blueberries, walking easily at high altitude in serious slopes as if they were teenagers. About 4 years after my first tour, I was looking at one of the women and thought she was familiar. She had long white hair, loose, and something in her eyes made me remember.
When I greeted her one of my group members asked me whether I know her. Of course I do, I replied, this is the woman from my fridge…

Childhood Memories in Edirne

2010-11-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

Edirne, Turkey. November 2009

My dad was born in Edirne, Turkey. No one knows exactly the date or the year. At 1944, when he was about 12 years old, following his Zionist passion, he left his family in Edirne and came to Israel. His cousin did the same a few years before him. We learned very little about their lives in Edirne as kids, no matter how much we had tried to inquire. But one story we all remembered, saying goodbye at the train station to families they had never seen again.

When I came to Turkey the first time and found myself at the old train station in Istanbul, I had mistakenly thought that this is where he had seen his dad in the last time. I sat aside and cried like a baby. Only later did I find out that this was far from being the right location..

My dad and his cousin refused to go back to their home town for many years but we have finally managed to convinced them last year and joined. All their kids. 65 years have passed but within a very short time they started to speak Turkish which they thought they had forgotten. They run around the streets looking for shreds of their childhood and finally, in one fogy morning, we went to the train station. That always seemed to me as the most emotional spot of their lives. It was the place where they had realized the meaning of their decision for the first time, the place where they said their last goodbyes, to families they were not going to see again. One can hardly imagine such a moment.

When we got to the station, us the young generation, felt like we were stepping on stones of their painfull memories so we walked carefully. We couldn't bring ourselves to leave the place and took quite a lot of photos. But when we have finally managed to get over our excitement and look at my dad and his cousin, we saw that the excitement was entirely ours. They didn't seem like the place meant to them what we thought it did. Looking at them from the side I thought that this is where their childhood ended and their journey began.

Natural Born Model

2010-11-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

Zanzibar. November 2001

I had lived in Kenya 5 years before I finally crossed the border to Tanzania. 10 years before that, when backpacking through Africa- East to South, Tanzania was still closed for Israelis so it was always the unknown part of East Africa for me.

Living in a Masai territory was quite frustrating experience photography wise. The wildlife was fairly cooperative but the people…that was another matter altogether. Masai people don’t like to have their photos taken and one should respect that and forget about photography unless organized and prepaid for.

5 years in Masai territory have passed and there I was, walking through one of the small villages in Zanzibar's east coast. I had my camera on me but as a habit was not even thinking of using it, until I noticed that gorgeous kid trying to get my attention and posing for the camera. It was before we had the ability to show people their photos right away and she was not asking for anything. She just had a great time having her photograph taken, and so did I.

Like Tel Aviv in Summer Time

2010-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

Biograd, Montenegro. September 2008

Montenegro is an amazing place with beautiful landscape and great playground for tracks and 4 by 4 tours. Mountains are not high, but impressive. People have horrible reputation yet very welcoming and pleasant. Weather tends to be friendly, when you pick the right season. But whether or not you get good weather in autumn, well… that is entirely a matter of luck. All one can do, is get the right gear and hope for the best.

When people ask, I always recommend- trust no one and get prepared for the worst. That is, when they ask me.

The autumn of 2008 was quite rough in Europe and I was waiting for a group in Podgorica's air port. They came down from a warm Israeli weather, and knew nothing of the cold wave that was running through Europe. They said my boss told them that Montenegro is just like Tel Aviv in summer time. We drove up the mountains that week, on iced roads. Photographing frozen plants and snowy picks. We bought warm cloth everywhere we could, and every evening sent photographs of frozen people to my boss, under the title - Tel Aviv in summer time…

Memorable Trees

2010-11-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

Masai Mara, Kenya. April 2002

I had lived in the middle of one of the widest savannah of Africa for 6 years. A sea of grass wherever your eyes can see. Spectacular wildlife sheltered by endless sky. For me it was a great place to get lost in order to find myself, and so I did.

Finding your direction in such a place may be a tricky thing. You mark yourself rocks and trees that may help and learn the language of the bush- names that the local drivers and guides have used for years. Very close to leaving the reserve I had noticed that I base all my directions on trees that reminded me of people. As if I was driving in a book telling the story of my life there. One morning, going with a friend to one of the areas of the reserve that I knew less, we drove into a thick fog and that got worst very fast. We had 2 compasses; every one of those had another idea as for where north might be. So I drove until I found a tree that I knew well, and that pointed me to the right way back to camp.

Just before leaving the reserve at 2002, I set to photograph all those trees and wrote the stories of the people they reminded me of. I had a feeling then, that those people are treasured in their branches and will live there forever.

A Magical Morning @ the East Coast of Zanzibar

2010-11-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

Zanzibar, East coast. March 2009

It was my last morning Zanzibar. All was already done. Group's bills paid, gear packed away, goodbyes said. But I had another photograph to take- the women at the algae farms. The low tide enables interesting farming in the shallow water- growing algae- Gracilaria. Zanzibar women go to the shallow water in the low tide, singing their way to work, bending over the sticks to which they attach the algae.

The sky was perfect that morning and I walked into the water under an amazing cloud. It was a magical time to say goodbye to this peaceful island. I approached one of the workers and wanted to ask her to if I can photograph. In Africa, as in many places around the world, the answer is normally a price. And I had no small change with me. As she rose from her work to answer, I was surprised to find that this flexible woman was quite old. Shikamo, I greeted her in Swahili, the way you should greet an old person.
That caught her by surprise.
A muzungu tourist (Swahili nick name for white people) that speaks Swahili. She smiled a wide toothless smile. I have asked her whether I could photograph and she hesitated as she answered that it'll cost me money. She was more asking then saying but I went on asking for her price. 500 shilling she said, again more asking then saying. At that time this amount was less than half a dollar. I told her I don't have that much and her smile was still there. She asked how much do I have. There was something amazing in this woman's eyes. They were smiling.
Pole mama, mimi niko na 10.000 shilling too. Sorry, I said, I have only 10.000 shilling.
Sawa sawa hamna shida, she replied- it's ok, no problem.
To her absolute surprise, I handed her with the red note. She was laughing dancing and singing, calling all her friends to look at this crazy muzungu that has just paid her about 20 times what she had asked for.
I knew it was going to take quite a while till I will be in Zanzibar again and that I don't need that bill, I also knew that at no other point of the last week would I have hand that note, less than 10 usd to this woman.

That morning conversation and her reaction made me so happy that I wanted to dance with her. Instead, I thanked her dearly and started to work with my camera.

It's all a Matter of Timing

2010-11-19T16:19:00.000-08:00

Sahara, Morocco. March 2010

I have started to guide in Morocco early 2010. Guiding long days in this huge country, having to cover too many kilometers per day, made me work hard on the timings. Because sometimes it is all about timing. Sahara was one of these places were timing was crutal. You don’t want to get to camp too early because of the heat, and you don't want to miss the sunset. During the second trip I have guided we came to Naji's camp in Shegaga, the dunes section of the Sahara, right on time. We took our shoes off and climbed the highest dune above our camp just in time to see the sunset above the dunes and went down to camp. The evening was nice and cool, and I was sitting with my group chilling out when one of Naji's handsome relatives started to prepare the candle holders for night fall. He was dressed up with the traditional Galaba and shash, and the light of the candle was gently showing his beautiful face. I have managed to click about 3 clicks before the moment was gone.

Never mind, I thought to myself, I will be here at least once a month in the next few months, and every evening one of Naji's handsome relatives will have to light the candles, and I shpuld be coming in with my groups ata bout that time.

But the opportunity was never there again. I was there every month, climbing down from one dune or another, and Naji's relatives were lighting the candles ever evening. Still, in a funny way, it was never there again. It is all a matter of timing after all...

2010-11-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

A friend suggested to start blog my traveling. As much as I could relate to it I was under the frustration that when I do interesting stuff, I have no time, and when I have the time there is normally very little to write about.

I have been traveling, photographing and writing for many years now. I know that when I don't write the world can just pass by me, so I have decided to collect small moments that were photographed, and write the small stories behind them. Because writing, as steel photography, is saving those small moments that would have been gone unnoticed.

You are welcome to join.