Beer at Barristers

Beeerrrrrrr.............. bottoms up... burppppp

Into the wild!

I've never really enjoyed shooting wildlife. Quite frankly i don't have the right equipment or the interest. I remember sitting in a jeep one chilly morning at 5 am in Nagarhole, holding on to the metal railing for dear life. Our driver was directing all his efforts to make sure his wheels hit each and every one of those pot holes, craters, and speed humps on the way. Its more fun that way no? NOT. Oh man it was painful. Really painful. 

Doing a safari in South Africa, was a better experience. We were in a land cruiser this time. Plush interiors, good ride quality and a sun roof made all the difference.

 

Sipping beer at the waterfront

Last day at Cape Town. 1 hour before we head for the airport. To get back to India. Home sweet home..NOT.. Drowning our sorrows in beer, at Quay Four. Sob sniff... we're leaving cape town...boohooooooooooooo

Wine Tasting at Spier

From Cape Town, we took a 2 hour drive to the vineyards. We had heard about Spier, a resort that offers anyone and everyone, the experience of wine tasting, for a small fortune in return. We went straight to the bar and selected 3 wines a piece. I asked for 2 white and 1 sweet. I hated them all. Got a headache soon after.  

I'm not saying that the wine was bad. But here's the deal. Unless you know a great deal about wine, there are chances that you will NOT enjoy it. It certainly wasn't worth the 2 hour drive in an SUV filled with people discussing the mundane work in Puma India.

Penguins

Penguins shot at Boulders Beach, Cape Town, south Africa. Cute little rascals.

Shooting a Skoda

For the first time, I tried my hand at shooting a car. A car enthusiast just bought a yellow Skoda Octavia RS and suped it up. We got into Palm Meadows in Whitefield to get a decent setting. 

I was aiming to get some decent golden hour lighting at 5pm. Unfortunately, we got there and the sun decided to hide itself behind the clouds.  AARRRGHHHH... 

All dramatic shots were out of the question. Anyway, I went right ahead and fired a few rounds... Anyway, 150 frames later, I managed to pull these two shots out of the hat.

Firnagi India - Durban

Durban apparently has a lot of Indians. All kinds. You also have Indian restaurants around. Well, its a pity that the chefs at the Indian restaurants dont make food as well as the chefs back home but its still edible none the less.

As a city, it aint that great but if you ever plan to visit Durban, make sure you stay at one of the beach resorts. Away from the city. Then, its probably worth it. But then again, why would you come to Durban for the beaches. Might as well go to the Maldives. Oh well, I also visited "ushaka" a sort of amusement park which boasts of dolphin shows, penguins, a lazy river, a turtle bay, artificial shark cage diving, and aquarium and the highest water slide in the country. Nothing great really, but if you have half a day and nothing to do, go there.

Taken from the 8th floor of the Southern Sun, Elangeni
Ushaka

Dolphins showing off

Penguins.

Cute little rascals.

A walk through the aquarium

The BIG Hole, Kimberley

Kimberley, The City that Sparkles. The city that sleeps at 10 pm, but sparkles none the less. More than a hundred and twenty years ago, De Beers started a mine in Kimberly now known as the Big Hole. It's the largest man made excavation in the world. It's believed that he managed to extract more than 2000 kilograms of diamonds till date. Thats like 1,00,00,000 carats. I was lucky enough to stay in a guest house known as The Victorian Guest Lodge. A small, charming place run by a local family. Fantastic hospitalty with luxurious rooms, located very close to the Big Hole. You should look it up if you plan to ever visit Kimberley. Kimberley is a small town, at most 10 kms in diametre. Quite and peaceful. A weekend getaway. Stay there more than 2 days and be prepared to get bored. Anyway the two places I happened to visit were The Big Hole and Kamfers Dam. I saw the excavation and was quite amused by its size. To be frank I thought it would be bigger than it is. Apparently, many slaves died when land caved in on them. Hundreds killed for the greed of one man. And yet we treat diamonds as a woman's best friend. Wake up guys. the're just stones at the end of the day. Kamfers dam was the second place I visited during my short stay in Kimberley. The only official breeding place for flimingoes in the world. Unfortunately for us and fortunately for the flamingoes, this is not a tourist spot. There is no access to the damn itself. If you wish to see these birds, you need to climb over a fence, cross a railway track and even then, the view aint good enough. Ah well. I did get to see them eventually. I desperately need a 600 mm lens.

Flamingoes at Kamfers Dam
A sea of birds

Kamfers Dam

The big hole ramp, leading to the viewing point.

Ramp again

The Big Hole