News!!!!!

I just received confirmation that the submarine exploration of the Gulf of Aqaba is on! This will occur late April/early May and I will be posting pictures from it around the middle of May. I am so excited. It is a childhood dream-come-true to actually pilot a submarine on one of the most spectacular reefs on earth. This will be posted as a separate blog under the same web address. I look forward to sharing my adventures with you.

Tim

Tanzania

Our departure from Agra, India was delayed 3 hours due to severe smog. Therefore, we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport quite late. The Serengeti park rangers do not allow travel through the park after nightfall. So, we had to get special permission to travel at night or we would not have been able to catch our bush plane from the airport into the park. Fortunately, the National Geographic Society has some influence. After a one hour flight on the bush plane, we had a one hour drive through the park to our camp. Following are some pictures of the wildlife that we encountered. There will many more later, as well as some of our camp.

I checked my guidebook and believe this is a SUPERB STARLING

On the rocks (Kopje) above our camp lived a group of Hyrax. Their closest relative is the elephant. I believe they were running across the roof of our tent on one night. They are about the size of a large rat.

A family of mongoose on a termite mound. Snakes like to live in termite mounds and mongoose like to eat snakes. These guys were hoping to find dinner.

Wildebeest.

Egyptian Goose.

Impala

Lilac Breasted Roller

Blacksmith Plover

Cokes Hartebeest

Warthog

Cheetah.

Cheetah

More from Agra, India

This is our hotel. These are flowers.

These pictures do not do the hotel proper justice. I had limited time to photograph it. It was amazing. I would go back if just for the hotel.

Reality vs. fantasy?

Agra, India

Our entire stay in India was less than 24 hours. We flew into a military base and immediately embarked on our tour of the Taj Mahal. The beauty of the Taj is in stark contrast to the poverty of the surrounding area. Despite their relative poverty, the people of India dress in their finest clothes to visit the Taj. The air pollution is severe. My lungs were irritated at times. When it was time to leave, our plane (with us in it) had to sit on the tarmac for over 3 hours awaiting clearance for take-off due to the poor visibility.

Detail on the Taj Mahal.

Xi'an, China. The terra cotta warriors.

This is how they were found. They were intentionally destroyed during an uprising.