travel log december 2010 - the royal photographic …aloteasier.com/tra… · thinking and planning...

DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE 57

travel log

2 Travel Log December 2010

December 2010 Issue 57

3 ChairmanÕs ChatterReflections on what is travel photography.

4 Burmese DaysJane Murphy takes us into the land ofGeorge Orwell.

7 A Libyan ExperienceChristopher Wright explores the ancient cities of Libya.

9 A Visit to South GeorgiaBarbara Fleming has braved the South Atlantic to capture the remarkable isolation and beauty of this island.

11 The Last Dhow to ZanzibarHarry Hall adventures to East Africa to record a fast-declining mode of transport

14 Portfolio CircleThe winner of the latest round.

15. Travel PlansAline Hopkinsreveals the latest ideas for the Group’s upcoming travel plans.

Cover photograph: Dhow catching the early evening breeze, bt Harry Hall.

Website: www.travelgroup.rps.org

travel logRPS

© 2010 Copyright of all articles and images isstrictly reserved worldwide on behalf of theauthors

ChairmanÕs Chatter

Issue 57 Travel Log 3

ChairmanLiz Rhodes

New Cottage, High StreetDrayton St Leonard

Wallingford, Oxon OX10 7BATelephone: 01865 890712

SecretaryKeith Pointon LRPS

Temple CottageWhitcott Keysett

Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 8QETelephone: 01588 640592

TreasurerChris Hammond ARPS

4 Launcelyn CloseNorth Baddesley

SouthamptonHampshire SO52 9NP

Tel: 02380 731373

John Cucksey ARPSPinewood, Saxlingham RoadBlakeney, Norfolk NR25 7PB

John Speller42 Forest Glade

BasildonEssex SS16 6SX

Julian Comrie FRPSGreenway House

Greenway, North CurryTaunton, Somerset TA3 6NH

WebmasterJonathan Ratnage

The Old Smithy ViewTownhead, Eyam

Hope ValleyDerbyshire S32 5QW

E-mail: [email protected]

Travel Log EditorLiz Rhodes

New Cottage, High StreetDrayton St Leonard

Wallingford, Oxon OX10 7BA

Travel Log ProductionColin Howard

11 Nightingale Way, Victoria BridgeHereford

Herefordshire HR1 2NQEmail: [email protected]

Postal PortfolioHazel Frost

11 Wedale ViewStow Galashiels,Borders, TD1 2SJ

E-mail: [email protected]

Contact made to any committee memberor any general enquiry please email

[email protected]

As I write this the clockshave gone back and thenights are drawing in with

the result that my mind turns tothinking and planning my travelsfor next year, as no doubt are manyof you. This year, however, Ihave with the Committee also beenthinking about what travels weshould be organising for the TravelGroup and we have been busy plan-ning a range of things which wehope to run over the next couple ofyears. Thanks to the enthusiasm ofa relatively new member of theGroup, Aline Hopkins, a number oftrips are now in place and you willfind details of these in an article onpage 15 in this issue. Aline hastaken as her starting point the placesthat were listed by those memberswho responded to the Group ques-tionnaire earlier this year. The listwas long and varied and our plan isto try and cover as much as is prac-ticable.

The questionnaire results alsocame up with some ideas for otherevents that we might hold,focussing on such practical issues asworkshops on aspects of travel pho-tography, achieving distinctions,particularly in travel and whatmakes for a good panel. The lattermight focus on why a particularpanel did not make it rather thanwhy it did, because I sense that is

what people really want to know.Such events would be held with oneor other of the special interestgroups to maximise attendance.Details will be available in duecourse and put on the website.

One of the issues I am stillgrappling with is ‘What is TravelPhotography?’ Has anyone seen adefinition? For a recent competi-tion I noticed that one category washeaded ‘A Passion for Travel’ andthen went on to say they were look-ing for images that ‘capture thespirit of travel in all its variousguises’. That to me means thattravel photography can encompassanything and perhaps therein liesthe difficulty when trying to defineit. For now though, I shall returnto the pleasurable task of lookingthrough an atlas and deciding wheremy itchy feet should take me next!

Finally, for those of you thatwere at the Spring Weekend when acollection was made in memory ofAnne Minter FRPS, a total of £154was raised and at her husbandJohn’s suggestion this was donatedto the Disabled PhotographersSociety, whose admirable work shemuch admired.

With all good wishes for thefestive season.

Liz Rhodes

DATE FOR YOUR DIARYSPRING WEEKEND 2011

14-15th MAY 2011BUXTON


Friends and family were dividedwhen I announced that I hadbooked a trip to Myanmar

(Burma). Some were as excited as Iwas while others expressed horror thatI might be condoning the militaryregime that had curbed human rightssince 1962 and suppressed all attemptsat democratisation. However, a luxurycruise on the Irrawaddy River with theUltimate Travel Company promised tobe a perfect holiday which would bepacked with interesting new experi-ences and have loads of opportunitiesfor photography. A pre-trip reading listincluded the Lonely Planet Myanmarguide which opens with the challenge'Should you go?' I went and the triplived up to all my expectations.

Myanmar is only visited byabout 20,000 tourists per year. It ispopulated with wonderful, kind, honestpeople who received us with enthusi-

asm wherever we went. Everyone, inparticular the children appeared to bethrilled to be photographed and neveronce did anyone request payment.Whilst taking pictures of children theywould always be joined by numeroussiblings and friends grinning happilyand then clustering around our camerasanxious to see the resulting photos.

On our arrival in Yangon(Rangoon) we had a restful afternoonfollowed by a traditional puppet showin the evening. The next day we hadour first real taste of Yangon, previous-ly the capital city. A new capital NayPyi Taw (Royal Capital) has been builton an arid plain about 350 km to thenorth and from there the militaryregime has ruled since 2005.

We visited the Swedagon Paya,which all Burmese Buddhists are sup-posed to visit at least once in their

lives. In contrast to the surroundingcity the 14 acre site was spotlesslyclean with everything glistening in thepouring monsoon rain. We walkedclockwise around the most amazingglittering gilded stupa in the worldwith its surrounding lesser stupas,images of the Buddha, shrines,columns, temples and pavilions.Barefooted we took great care not toslip on the wet decorative tiled paving.The central stupa covered in pure goldand topped with immense gem stonesis believed to date back 2,500 years. Ithas been suggested that there is moregold at Swedagon than in the Bank ofEngland! The rest of the day includeda shopping trip to the Bogyoke (Scott)market and a visit to the Chauk HtatGyi Pagoda with its enormous reclin-ing Buddha.

Driving around in Yangon wepassed mainly buildings which had allseen far better days. Apartment blocksand old colonial mansions were black-ened by algae, windows were brokenand walls were cracked, weeds andvegetation growing in the crevices.Guarded by a few soldiers, disusedgovernment buildings are securedbehind barbed wire while the junglerapidly sprouts in the grounds.Although the majority of the residentsof Yangon live in extreme poverty Ialways felt safe and when at the end ofthe holiday I walked around the streetsnear the Bogyoke market and ate inlocal cafes I was never jostled nor feltthat I was likely to be the victim ofpick-pocketing. This applied to myexperiences throughout the country.

The following day we flew toMandalay to join our boat, Orient

BurmeseDays

Jane Murphy

Bath time

Temples of Bagan


Express's recently restored Road toMandalay which had been severelydamaged during Cyclone Nagis in May2008. First however there was anunscheduled visit to Sagaing Hill onthe opposite bank of the Irrawaddyfrom the city. As the first commercialcruise following refurbishment wewere accompanied initially by some ofthe repair team and later discoveredthat as we arrived at the airport theywere still applying the final coats ofpaint to some of the cabins, hence thestalling of our arrival on board!Visiting Sagaing was our gain as therewere numerous pagodas dotted overthe hillside and at the summit we weretreated to a beautiful stupa complex.From the terraces there were staggeringviews of the river and plains below andthe two huge bridges which span theIrrawaddy.

Later in the day we anchored offMingun to visit a huge brick builtplinth 140 metres high which shouldhave been the base of the largest pago-da in the world (a project halted by anearthquake in 1838), the world's largestun-cracked bell weighing 90 tonnesand a beautiful white washed pagodawhich shone in the late afternoon sun.Here there were local girls selling trin-kets including bamboo rulers and fold-

ing sun hats. After weleft Mingun we were offthe tourist route seeingvirtually no Europeansuntil we returned toMandalay 7 days later.

We cruised northstopping next at the pot-tery village of NweNyein where the popula-tion is dedicated to theproduction of huge terra-cotta urns and pots whichare sold throughoutBurma to hold water, oil,grain and anything elsethat can be usefullystored in them.Photographic opportuni-ties were abundant.

The monsoon caughtus when we stopped atKyan Hnyat and the paththrough the villageturned into a fast flowingriver of mud soaking

even those of us whothought we were ade-

quately clad. At the local school,which has around 1,700 students of allages from toddlers to teenagers, wewere greeted and shown around theclassrooms. Once the rain stoppedmost of the children lined up on thegrassy quadrangle for the daily assem-bly. This was a highly regimentedceremony with the head boy calling allto order, to sing the national anthemand to bow deeply to the Burmese flagbefore our ship's manager and doctor

presented the headmaster with bundlesof note-books, pencils, rulers and rub-bers, some of which had been broughtfrom the UK by the passengers. Asyet children in this part of Burma donot beg from tourists and personal giftsare strongly discouraged. Later in ourtravels we visited other schools wherewe all helped to hand out similar itemsindividually to the delighted childrenwho then sang Burmese songs andposed for yet more photographs.

Other highlights in this northernsection of the cruise included visitingKatha, onetime home to George Orwelland the setting for his first novel,'Burmese Days'. From there we took arail journey through the forest to thetown of Naba where what seemed to bethe entire population were waiting forus on the platform. Children galorelined up to wave at us and grin as wetook yet more pictures. Then on toBhamo, the most northerly point onour journey, from where we went bytruck to the foothills of the YunanMountains close to the Chinese border.We passed small village communities,paddy fields and witnessed rural agri-culture. Villagers waved happily aswe passed, often from wayside cafeswhere they were meeting to take tea.Eventually in a beautiful clearing anadvance party of the ship's cateringstaff had laid out a magnificent picnicfor us, a luxury totally out of keepingwith the impoverished environment.

A bus trip through a restrictedzone took us to an elephant camp inthe teak forest. Here elephants

On the way to the river

Nwe Nyein Pottery Village

demonstrated how they move the hugelogs which later float down river.Lashed together and manoeuvred bybarges they form a major feature ofriver life. Teak is one of Burma's mostvaluable resources, others being gemstones, rice, and oil. We were the firsttourists to visit the elephant camp for 2years and the locals were keen to sellthe only things they had available, afew genuine muddy elephant bellswhich have a delightfully melodicclonking sound, one of which is now inmy home in England.

Eventually we returned toMandalay, Burma's second city andone time capital, for some sight-seeingand to visit a number of craft factories.Some of the passengers purchased silkand traditional clothing, lacquer warewith gold leaf decoration, marble orna-ments and carved wooden items beforewe sailed south to our final destination,Bagan, the jewel of historical Burmeseculture. In the 13th century there wereas many as 13,000 grand buildingsincluding over 4,000 temples butKublai Khan's Mongol invasion in1287 destroyed the majority and theywere never rebuilt. Neverthelessdespite invasions, looting, weather andearthquakes the remains of over 2,000buildings are still to be found today.The surviving temples are seen arisingfrom fields where local farmers stillplough with oxen and scatter seedsfrom old tin cans. There are noremains of homes or the city statewhich was once here. Together with 3friends I set off at 5.45am for a cycleride to explore the ruins at dawn. Weclimbed various temples for fabulousviews and finally spent 6 hours ped-dling along mud tracks led by a coupleof enthusiastic teenagers who wereenjoying playing truant from school.At least they had practice speakingEnglish! We felt surprisingly free herealthough at one stage were aware of afurther cyclist who seemed to be fol-lowing us and might later be reportingon our activities to the authorities -such is life in Myanmar.

Entertainment on board includeda series of lectures from 3 guest lectur-ers and a lesson in how to wear longyis(the Burmese unisex sarong) to beworn at a party in the evening. Onenight we set off Shan balloons and onanother were treated to 2009 floatingcandles drifting past us down river,

which we were reassured wouldbe collected up the followingmorning. A puppet show and adisplay of tribal costumes tookplace on other evenings.However it was the river with itsever changing landscape, wideflat flood plains, narrow defiles(gorges), villages, rural agricul-ture, thousands of small pagodasdotted along the shore, littleboats, ferry boats, rafts of logsand the river life which were themost enduring 'entertainment'.

As for the military regime,of course we were aware of it butit caused no inconvenience to uspassengers. Visas were easily obtainedin London and the formalities atYangon airport were not nearly as rig-orous as the guidebooks predicted.The airport officials were more con-cerned about swine flu than anythingelse and all were optimistically protect-ing themselves with face masks. Therewas a cursory head count as we board-ed the busses to take us to the elephantcamp and we were accompanied on thetrain to Naba by a soldier in each car-riage. We were told they were 'veryfriendly and only there to sort outproblems should they arise' - they did-n't!

We noted that the villages wevisited were usually pristine cleanunlike some we spied from the boatwhere plastic bags and bottles cascadeddown the river banks in front of hous-es. Had they been cleaned up in antici-pation of our visit? Driving through

the countryside we occasionally passedthe entrances to military barracks butsaw no signs of activity. Although theshipping company must have had toobtain permits to take us to certainareas but we were blissfully unin-volved with this. It must be very dif-ferent for the citizens of Myanmawhose lives are dominated by theregime. Nevertheless they welcomevisitors and they yearn for contact withthe outside world. How often we weregreeted by grinning children practicingtheir English: 'Where are you from?'they asked. 'From England' wereplied. 'England, oh England,England - BBC!' and off they ran.

Sanctions and condemnation ofthe military regime have done nothingto improve the lives of these people.Cautious tourism giving due regard towhere one spends ones money, puttingas much as possible into the privatesector and supporting aid projects can

Vegetable market


Jug and urn


As a consequence of a wonderfulholiday in Libya in March 2009when we visited the coastalGreco-Romano cities of Leptis Magnaand Sabratha near Tripoli andApollonia and Cyrene near Benghazi,a small number of us made our ownprivate arrangements for a returnvisit in March 2010, but this time totravel inland to explore thetroglodyte Berber houses in themountains of the Jebel Narfusa aswell as to visit the World HeritageSites of the oasis town Ghadhamis onthe Algerian border and the pre-his-toric rock art deep in the scorchingSahara desert in the south of thecountry.The Jebel Nafusa rises starklyfrom the coastal plain some 80 kmsouth of Tripoli and on the way toour first overnight stop at Gharyanwe visited some of the houses of theBerber inhabitants had carved into

the limestone rock. A ramped tunnelleads underground to each housewhere several generations of thefamily would live in rooms leadingoff a rectangular pit, three storiesdeep and open to the sky. Manyhave been abandoned and fallen intodisrepair as most owners havemoved into modern houses withwater supply and sanitary conve-niences.Further west is an abandonedstone village on a rocky perch abovethe plain and nearby is the magnifi-

cent fortified granary store, one ofthe most spectacular examples ofBerber architecture. Built c.1150-1200 it is a circular building, threestories high with a basement. It has114 storage rooms, exactly the samenumber of verses, or chapters, in theKoran. Rooms below ground levelstored olive oil: the above-groundrooms, 5m deep, customarily storedbarley, wheat and dates. The roomson the intermediate storey werereached by wooden ladders, while asingle staircase led to a l metre widewalkway at the upper level. We vis-ited another one at Nalut before dri-ving 300 km to Ghadhamis for a two-night stay.The magical old walled city ofGhademis, a UNESCO World HeritageSite was founded about 800 yearsago and comprises covered alley-ways, relying entirely on natural lightthrough skylights to access some1250 houses and 21 mosques.Ghademis was an important trans-Saharan caravan town until the aboli-tion of the slave trade in neighbour-ing Algeria and Tunisia in 19th cen-tury. The revolutionary Libyan gov-ernment built a new town in the1980s to rehouse residents whichnow accommodates a population of17,000; the old city is deserted.A 400km drive east on astraight highway across the leveldesert plain, followed by another

A LibyanExperience

Christopher Wright, LRPS

Jamran Square and Omran Mosque, Ghadames

Ben Yaddar


similar drive for 450km southbrought us to Sabha, the largest set-tlement in the Libyan Sahara, havinga population of 130,000. From herewe were to make our way south-westinto the Fezzan to see remnants ofthe great fabled Garamantian civilisa-tion and to camp in the great sandseas of Murzaq and Ubari and to visitprehistoric rock art in the stunninglandscape of the Jebel Acacus.En route we stopped at Germa,a small town across the road fromthe ancient city of the Garamantes,which was founded 2,000 years ago.From their stone and mud built citythe Garamantians traded local hors-es, dates, barley and wheat as well asgold, ivory, slaves and wild animalsfrom sub-Saharan Africa with theRomans with whom they had anuneasy peace. There were once50,000 curious square-topped pyra-mid tombs around Germa. At nearbyAbramat al-Hattia the Garamanteshad their principal dynastic burialsite. Of the 100 or so tombs at al-Hattia some have been reconstructedto show their original form.Ghat, a principal Garamantianoasis on the caravan trade routefrom central Africa to theMediterranean via Ghadames wasour jumping-off point for the JebelAcacus an area of hauntingly beauti-ful black basalt monoliths and sand-stone cliffs and arches. The weirdand wonderful landscape of JebelAcacus with its prehistoric rock art is

Qasr al-Haj

Ubari Lakes, Gebraun

Hattia Pyramids, Germa

Pastoral period (top)Elephant drawing (bottom)


This windswept, mountainoussub-Antarctic island lies 800miles east of the Falkland

Islands, where it sits in almost total iso-lation. It was in 1775 that CaptainCook landed at Possession Bay anddeclared this wilderness a possession ofthe British crown in the name ofGeorge III. We were on a Voyage ofDiscovery nearing this magnificentisland and knew our arrival was immi-nent when we were asked to have allour boots, shoes and camera bags disin-fected to prevent any form of contami-nation being carried ashore.

Our ship, the ‘MV Discovery’,had anchored in the bay in the earlyhours of the morning off Grytviken, asmall village nestled on the shore at thebase of the mountains on the east coastof the island, which is also the capital.It was a beautiful day with clear, blueskies. This truly is a desolate place,but it is also a beautiful place wherebrilliant blue fiords cut deep inland,

snow melt feeds the rivers and water-falls tumble into lakes and where flow-ers, lichens and mosses abound.

Grytviken has only sixteen semi-permanent residents – mainly surveyorsand geologists – who share the islandwith a huge number of King Penguins,Fur Seals and Elephant Seals. It holdsmany memories of the days when itwas a thriving whaling and sealing sta-tion as evidence by the decayed metaldrums for storing the whole and seal oilfrom the rendered blubber. Beachedwrecks of whaling ships, with bow-mounted harpoons still in place, allrusting into oblivion, can be seen inthis now silent place, but it is not diffi-cult to imagine how busy and noisy itonce was.

Seals were hunted towards theend of the 18th century but by 1820this activity was considered to be nolonger worthwhile as they had beeneliminated almost to extinction. It was

at the start of the 20th century that thewhaling era really began, following theintroduction of faster, steam-poweredboats and explosive harpoons. Onceagain it was over-hunting of the variouswhale species by the mainly Norwegianwhalers that virtually resulted in theirextinction. Fortunately, since all thesecreatures have been left along theirspecies have become well-establishedonce more.

Our first port of call on land wasto a small museum full of truly fasci-nating artefacts relating to past explor-ers, various pieces of photographicequipment and small items of interestfound in the area during the last centu-ry, including a few relating to 1982when the Falklands War took place.We were astonished to find that thecurator was a young lady in her twen-ties. She had recently arrived on asix=month secondment from Scotlandbut told us that she had held a similarposition in a remote part of the Scottish

Seal mother and pup

Grytviken

A Visit toSouth Georgia

Barbara Fleming

King penguin

Islands, where the climatic conditionswere somewhat similar, so her newpost held no fears for her.

There was also a small shop con-taining a post office where it was pos-sible to purchase postcards, speciallyproduct South Georgia stamps to com-memorate the success of the 1982 skir-mish and other mementoes. Afterleaving the shop we took a short walkto visit the island’s tiny church, knownas ‘The Whalers’ Church’, dedicated tothose who had worked on the island aswell as to the various explorers whohad spent time there in preparation forcrossing the inhospitable Antarctic con-tinent, the most famous probably beingSir Ernest Shackleton.

Nearly everyone knows the storyof how Shackleton lost his ship,Endurance, here when it was crushedby ice in 1915. He set off from themore remote Elephant Island in 1916with five companions in a small openrowing boat to make for South Georgiasome 900 miles away to get help torescue the remainder of his team whichhad no option but to stay behind andwait. On revisiting the island somesix years later, Shackleton suffered aheart attack and died. He is buried inthe little cemetery where a small mon-ument marks his grave.

On walking along the shorelineat Grytviken it is essential to take greatcare to ensure the wildlife is not dis-turbed as all these creatures take prece-dence over humans. It is possible totake close-up photographs of the KingPenguins as they walk across your pathto or from the sea totally oblivious ofour presence despite being almostwithin touching distance.

As late afternoon arrived wesailed across the bay to view theNordenskjold Glacier, a wonderfulsight in the low sun with small strandsof white cloud stretched across the ice.We were now on our way towards thesouth of the island to visit Gold

Harbour. The next morning inflatableboats took us close in along theseashore to view at close quarters the

Continued on Page 13 ...

A Visit to South Georgia ...continued A

South Georgian landscape


Grytviken

South Georgian landscape


As the wind filled the great trian-gular sail, the bow lifted andthe sea began to gurgle alongthe planks of the great dhow as itbegan its vouage. Dhows have set sailfrom ports along the coasts of thePersian Gulf, East Africa and India forover 3,000 years. Their trade routebegins in the Persian Gulf when thedhows catch the southerly tradewind to carry them along the EastAfrican coast. Along the way, theyvisit the Sahel Ports trading spicesfor mangrove poles and cloves. ByMarch the southward wind hasblown out and is replaced by therainy season, by now the dhows willhave reached Zanzibar or evenMadagascar. In May a new trade wind blows thevessels to the west coast of Indiawhere they pick up timber and spicesbefore returning to the Persian Gulfin November. The advent of steamand later motor vessels has broughtabout the demise of the trading dhowby the turn of the millennium onlyaround 20 dhows still plied theroute, in 2008 this number haddropped to only 7. Having already photographedstories about the demise of tradition-al ways of life, this was a project Ihad to pursue. I chose to start atLamu Island which is the mostnortherly port in Kenya. My plan wasto talk my way onto a dhow from thePersian Gulf sailing down the Africancoast to Zanzibar in Tanzania. Days

went by but no dhows arrived. A portofficial confirmed a rumour, that theKenyan Navy had closed the seaboarder with Somalia in response tothe problems of pirates operatingfrom its coast. Any dhows sailingsouthward were now being turnedback. I reflected that as only 7 largeArabian Dhows had entered Kenyanwaters last year, the blockade wouldprobably be the death nail of theocean going dhows in Africa. A Plan B was needed Ð urgent-ly! As smaller inshore dhows areused between coastal town surely Icould still make the journey byhitching from port to port onthese smaller vessels until Ireached Zanzibar. So it was. Itravelled with 20 tons of rice, ashipment of fishing nets, man-grove poles, fish, chickens anda load of sand and cement. Itdid occur to me that this lattercargo could have been inter-esting to unload had it got wet! Dhows are characterisedby their large lateen rig whichconsists of a short mast rackedforwards, at the top of this isattached a wooden boom thatreaches into the sky at anangle of 45degrees, hung fromwhich is a large triangular sail.The sail harnesses the windefficiently making the dhowmove quickly; furthermore therig allows the vessel to sailinto the wind, something that

square rigged galleons and clipperswere unable to do. Unlike modernyachts the rig of a dhow moves in thewind independently of the hull, mak-ing the ride both smoother and amuch drier experience for those onboard. Sailing is refreshingly uncom-plicated; the only mechanical deviceon board is a pulley block used toraise the sail. This is set to the rightof the mast if the wind is blowingfrom the left, and vice versa if thewind blows from the right. Tworopes hold the mast in place while a

The LastDhow toZanzibar

Harry Hall, MA, FRPS

Dawn in Lamu Harbout

Dhow captain


third rope tightens the sail to drivethe vessel forward. A simple rud-der/tiller sets the direction of travel.One night while travelling acrossopen, I noticed that the captain hadno navigation instruments, not evena compass. I asked him how he knewwhere to steer the vessel. Pointing totwo stars in the sky and told me thathe was heading for one of them andthat when the second was level withit in the sky we would reach port.For the next six hours I monitoredout progress across the celestialchart, as the two stars aliened thelights of our destination came intoview as it had for hundreds of voy-ages before. A dhow has a working life ofabout 40 years, it is commissionedwhen a family who are dhow ownersfind a young capable sailor andappoint him as captain. The vessel isbuilt and the dhow and captainspend their working life together.Life on broad the open boat is hard;food is normally rice and fish cookedon a small fire at the bow, the crewsleep where they can find spacearound the cargo on the open deck.On arriving in port, the crew unloadthe cargo and carry out repairs fol-lowed by a rest day before reloadingthe dhow for its next voyage. I had heard reports of dhowscapsizing and found these hard tobelieve considering how well theycoped with heavy seasÕ, however the60 mile journey from the mainlandto Zanzibar changed my mind. Thevessel was heavily laden with ricebefore the 67 passengers joined thecrew of 6 onboard. The dhow sat solow in the water that it left only afoot or so of freeboard between thesea and the open deck, a large wavewould have swamped the dhowsending it down. This callous disre-gard for safety was perhaps a reflec-tion of how low the social status ofthe sailors has fallen, the days of theproud seafarer are now long gone,these men were making a meagreliving by carrying cargos that haveso little value that they are notworth transporting along the coastroad by truck. It seems that for thesecoastal peddlers, like the Arabianocean going dhows, the end is also insight.Dhows at sunset

Helmsman steers with his foot!

Dhow crashing through the waves


A Visit to South Georgia ... continuedfrom Page 10

abundance of wildlife, mainly manythousands of penguins and their chicks.The young, thought not quite theheight of the adult birds, still have notfully shed their original plumage whichgave the amusing appearance of scuffyand moth-eaten brown fur coats! Hereagain was an abundance of seals andwalrus lazing in the low sunshine.

As our ‘inflatable’ slowly mean-dered on a long course back to our shipwe were able to examine many differ-ent types and shapes of iceberg at veryclose quarters, marvelling at the almostunreal shades of green and blue setwithin them.

The next leg of our voyage tookus to the south west coast of SouthGeorgia to see some amazing glacierscreeping their way down through themountainous landscape to the shore.Our destination was one of the manyfiords on the west coast and as our spe-cialist Ice Pilot navigated the shipthrough more and larger icebergs athick fog suddenly appeared so he pru-dently informed the Captain that itwould be unwise to venture further.

These conditions reminded us ofthe early 1900s when a very famousline was caught in a similar situation inthe North Atlantic!! At least we hadour Ice Pilot and several radar installa-tions to keep us safe from the icebergsaround us.

So it was that our Ship’s Masterdecided we could no longer stay inthese waters under such challengingconditions. Instead heresumed our original planof heading towards theSouth Shetland Islands onthe rim of the AntarcticCircle before turningnorthwards towards CapeHorn, passingShackleton’s ElephantIsland on our way, thenacross Drake’s Passagewhich is notorious for itsusually rough seas. Inthe event we experienceonly a slight swell anddocked in Ushuia the mostsoutherly city in SouthAmerica two days later.

South Georgia issuch a special place. Wefeel so fortunate to have

been able to make our visit when wedid, especially as the number of shipsthat call at the island is strictly limited,as are the number of modern-day‘explorers’ permitted to land.

Our memories are undimmed andwill remain with use for many years tocome, supported by the many photo-graphic records.

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s headstone

Constantly travelling in openboats was going to be a challenge forcamera gear. I chose to use a NikonD300 and a D700, although their filesize is similar, the D700 is full framesensor, while the D300 has a DX chip.This meant I could maximise therange of my lenses to carry less ofthem. My 24-120 and 16-85 zoomlenses were my most useful lens aug-mented by my prime 20, 28 and85mm lenses. An SB600 flash gunwith diffuser proved invaluable whenphotographing around mid-day toprovide some illumination into theshadow areas. The cameras werewrapped in cling film with gaffertape to keep the sea spray out butenabling me to manipulate the con-trols. Along with 4 x 8Gb memorycards, and 4 spare batteries. The kitwas carried in a Lowpro flipsiderucksack. Is their a future for the dhow?Simba Ali Sheha the dynamic masterboat builder thinks there is. From hisboat yard in Nungwi on Zanzibar he

has travelled to Norway to look atthe way wooden pleasure craft aredesigned and constructed. He sees afuture in building traditional dhowsthat are fitted out as pleasure craft.These vessels would combine the tra-ditional characteristics of the

mahogany and teak built dhow, withthe fittings of a modern cruisingyacht. The secret of longevity for anyclassic design is its flexibility to adaptto future needs: SimbasÕ vision maybe the future of the dhow.

Replacing a damaged plank

Portfolio Circle

Young Bhuddhist Monk

On the Thai border, the yellow robesof the monks are present as well asthe more usual red robes of Burmesemonks. We were lucky in Burma to comeacross this monastery early in the morningwith the young monks cleaning main hall.We had a few minutes to grab these ladsbefore they dashed off to study. If only I had a faster telephoto lens!James Frost.

Icebergs by Barbrara Fleming



Little did I know, when Icalled Liz Rhodes to volun-teer to edit 'Travel Log', that

half an hour later I would beorganising tours for the TravelGroup. Not that I have any objec-tions, in fact, I'm looking forwardto the opportunity to go on tourswith like-minded people, hopefullyto some exciting and visuallyinspiring destinations.

The feedback from the ques-tionnaire circulated a few monthsago seemed a good place to start.The favourite destination for anoverseas trip was Iceland, and for aUK trip, the Lake District.

Iceland June 2011In conjunction with KE AdventureTravel, there will be a trip toIceland for Travel Group membersin June. Iceland offers a wealth ofphotographic opportunities. It is avolcanic hotspot, a land of extremecontrasts, where the combinationof volcanoes and glaciers can bevery disruptive, as many discov-ered earlier this year.

The tour will consist of twoone-week trips, which can be takentogether, or members can chooseto go on just one of the two. Thefirst week will see us exploring thesouth of the island and will includeThingvellir, Vik, SkaftafellNational Park at the Vatnajokullglacier, the impressive waterfallsof Seljalandfoss, Skogarfoss, andGullfoss, and the original Geysir.

There will be opportunities for birdwatching, as well as whale watch-ing from Reykjavik.

The second week will see usheading to the north west andnorth, where we may visit a sealcolony, explore the 'northern capi-tal' Akureyri, and go whale watch-ing from Husavik, where we maysee humpback and perhaps evenblue whales. We will also see geo-thermal activity around Myvatn,relax in the Myvatn nature bath,visit the waterfalls of Godafossand Dettifoss, and then we maycross the centre of the island to themulti-coloured mountains ofLandmannalaugar before headingback to Reykjavik.

This tour is being organisedspecially for us. I am to blame forthe schedule (!) as I have been toIceland before and have tried toput together a varied itinerarywhich includes time for pho-tographing different landscapesand wildlife, and some relaxation.

My recommendation is totake a few extra daysin Reykjavik either atthe beginning or endof the tour, as the cityis an interesting place.It's also a good basefor excursions, forexample to the BlueLagoon, or even toKulusuk in Greenlandfor the day.

Costs and theexact itinerary haveyet to be finalised, butplaces will be limitedand will be on a firstcome first servedbasis. Anyone whowishes to express aninterest in going on thetwo week tour or justone of the two weeks,should contact me at:

[email protected].

Please put 'RPS TG Iceland' in thetitle line of your e-mail.

Sri Lanka December 2011Not far behind Iceland in the rank-ings from the questionnaires wasSri Lanka. For members keen toescape the British winter, or thechaos which precedes Christmas, atrip to Sri Lanka is on offer inearly December. Once again this isa bespoke two week tour arrangedby KE Adventure Travel and tak-ing in such sights as the Lion Rockat Sigiriya, the caves at Dambulla,the Temple of the Tooth, World'sEnd, tea plantations, and stilt fish-ermen at work. We will go gameviewing in Udawalawe NationalPark, visit an elephant transithome, and there will be an oppor-tunity to whale watch from thesouth of the island.

Again, places will be limitedand will be on a first come firstserved basis. Anyone interested inthis tour should e-mail me with'RPS TG Sri Lanka' in the title line

TravelGroupPlans

Aline Hopkins

Hevigir, Iceland: Liz Rhodes


Publication datesTravel Log is published bythe Travel Group of the RoyalPhotographic Society three times a year:in March/April, August and December.

ContributionsArticles and letters are welcome on allaspects of travel and travelphotography.Copy for articles can be sent on CD orby email in Word, RTF or TXT format.

Illustrations can be sent as:slidesprints - NOT inkjeton CD or by email as scans orcamera files: files preferably at 300dpi resolution, JPEG or TIFF for-mat, maximum size 5mB.

Please enclose a separate list of leg-ends for submitted images.Contact Production for further details.

Note that in accordance with the require-ments for travel photography distinctionscomposite images areunacceptable and will not be used.

Unless specifically requestedmaterial will not be returned.

Please send to the Editor at the addresson page 3

Copy deadlinesMarch/April issue - 1 FebruaryAugust issue - 15 JuneDecember issue - 15 October

No payment is made for articles usedand whilst every care is taken the Editor,Production or the Travel Group do notaccept liability for any damage to photo-graphic material submitted..The views expressed in articles arethose of the contributor, and not of theTravel Group or Editor.

DistributionTravel Log is posted using labelssupplied by the RPS MembershipDepartment.

AdvertisementsTravel Log accepts advertisements.Advertisers should contact theEditor by email at the address onpage 3. However The Travel Groupand the Royal Photographic Societydoes not recommend any tours orservices nor accept liability formembers who may make bookingswith or purchases from anycompa-nies or individuals who advertise inTravel Log.

travel log of their e-mail. When I have theexact dates and costs I will contactpeople to see if they are still inter-ested.

Costa Rica January 2013In second equal place was CostaRica. I am pleased to be able toannounce that Keith and LindaOfford, of Wild Insights, haveagreed to run a tour for the TravelGroup in January/February 2013.Exact dates, cost and itinerary areyet to be finalised. If you havetravelled with Keith and Linda,you will know that their tours arevery popular and are generally fullup to eighteen months ahead. Ifyou would like to go on this tour,please register your interest assoon as possible as places will belimited. Please e-mail me with'RPS TG Costa Rica' in the titleline to place your name on the list.

Where to go in 2012?You may have noticed that Ihaven't mentioned any toursplanned for 2012. Well, there areseveral suggestions, includingLibya, Botswana, Japan, andBhutan among others. I would liketo hear from members - where doyou want to go?

Some companies are prepared

to run bespoke trips for relativelysmall groups, so if enough peopleexpress an interest in a particularplace, I am happy to look into thepossibility of organising a tripthere - especially if it's somewhereI want to go! Please e-mail mewith 'RPS TG 2012' in the title ofyour e-mail.

Finally, in BritainAs the Lake District was the high-est scoring destination in this coun-try, I propose to lead an informalweekend in Keswick from Friday1st to Sunday 3rd April 2011. I sug-gest members arrange their ownaccommodation, and depending onnumbers, I will book a restaurantwhere we can all meet for dinneron Friday evening, then meeting upon Saturday morning to take awalk, perhaps to Castlerigg StoneCircle, and Derwentwater. If peo-ple want to meet again for dinneron the Saturday evening I willarrange it. On Sunday morning wewill take another walk, finishingearly so that people can head homelate afternoon. If you are interestedin this weekend please let meknow, with 'RPS TG Keswick' inthe title line of your e-mail.

I hope that members willrespond favourably to the plannedtour programme, we are a travelgroup after all, so let's go!

Boiling Mud, Iceland by Liz Rhodes

Travel Group Plans ... contd.

travel log december 2010 - the royal photographic …aloteasier.com/tra… · thinking and planning...

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