Yellowstone

We have been to quite a few national parks. One of our favorite areas (will visit this summer) is Jackson Hole, with its’ pair of parks in Grand Teton and of course Yellowstone. Our last visit was in 2018 to fish with friends, and I thought I would post a few images of Yellowstone NP.

Impressions of Havana – Cars

Last but not least – old cars. All over. many used as taxis. Interesting sidebar is the creation of literally dozens of cottage businesses that make parts for this fleet of 50-70 year old automobiles.

Impression of Cuba – Heroes

So who did we here about most while in Cuba? The Castro’s?? Absolutely not. The talk, visions, advertising and so on all focused on Che Guevera and Ernest Hemingway! Interesting.

Che

Papa

Impressions of Cuba

And here are some images that are more “impressionistic”.

Impressions of Cuba – Scenes

The streets and buildings were interesting, some in good repair, some not. Here are a few images from our journey.

Impressions of Cuba – People

Eleven years ago, Karen and I visited Cuba for a week with about 15 people on a “charitable mission”. This was the only way to get there at that time. So we packed school supplies and medicines, and visited both a school and a hospital while in Havana. The rest of the time we were just tourists.

The visit was quite fascinating. Cuba is a lovely country scenically. We visited Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara by mini-bus with a wonderful guide Osmos and an equally wonderful and hilarious driver Fernando (who was a smaller Bruce Willis and knew it!).

Our initial lasting impressions were of the Cuban people, who were friendly, warm, and seemingly reasonably happy. At the same time there were elements of sadness – unable to travel, relatively poor, limited futures, economic struggles and so on. Many were working, some relaxing, others in costume. Music is very popular as well. Here are a series of images from the trip.

Birds at Elephant Havens

While I am normally taking pics of our dear little elephants, sometimes on hot afternoons I sit on the deck and watch for birds. Here are a few taken on the last visit.

First, a Golden-tailed Woodpecker.

And an African Golden Weaver:

Then a Kurrichane Thrush:

Next an African Hoopoe:

An African red-eyed Bulbul:

A Burchell’s Starling

And lastly, a Forktail Drongo

Some Elephant Havens Babies

We visited in August when the headcount was nine, all under about five years old. Here are a few images.

LaLomita Photography Ranch

Three of us spent a day photographing birds at the LaLomita Photography Ranch, located just west of Uvalde, TX. The ranch is 20 acres in size, fairly heavily treed, with four shooting blinds. Each blind is surrounded with vegetation and has a small pond, several stump-like wood structures, some with a drip line. The bird population is generally quite good, and the birds fairly close to the blind. Thus sharp images with suitable backgrounds are normally achieved. Here are some recent images.

Northern Mockingbird

Green Jay

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Orange-crowned Warbler

Lesser Goldfinches

Orange-crowned Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Black-crested Titmouse

House Finches

Green Jays

Bewick’s Wren

Verdin

Verdin

Long-billed Thrasher

Barn Swallow

House Swallow

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinches

Pyrrhuloxia

Cardinal

House Sparrows

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Reykjavik

At the end of our Ring Road tour, we spent two full days in Reykjavik. We stayed at the Konsulate Hotel, located right in the center of the city’s main areas. Visitors to Iceland can read about all the best hotels and restaurants – there are many – and I am not going to get into details of the ones we visited. But I will tell you here where we ate and what we did.

Restaurants

Old Iceland – small intimate cafe located a few blocks away from our hotel. I would highly recommend this place as the food was excellent. We particularly liked the arctic char.

Kol – located near the main church. Good food, nice menu. We ate lunch there (and Hahn’s went back for dinner). Nice soups especially the carrot, and a really flavorful cod.

Hofnin – nice homey two story restaurant at the harbor. Owner always there (we ate two dinners). The langoustine with risotto was wonderful.

Baejarns Beztu Pysurg – hot dog joint beside our hotel. There since 1937 and very popular. Hot dogs with dried onions, mustard, ketsup and remoulade. Not bad.

Sights

Perlan Museum – Planetarium/museum featuring the wonders of Iceland, with great videos of the most recent volcano eruption, extensive historical and animal exhibits and a 100 m long ice cave.

Hallgrimskirkja Church – Largest in Iceland and 244′ tall, this church towers over the city and offers nice views. Inspired by the basalt columns at Svartifoss waterfall. Built 1986.