Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Republicans in disarray!

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

“But what about the lurkers?”

You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On the Road and In Your Backyard

On the Road and In Your Backyard

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Good Morning All,

On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!

Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

 

This is the first of a fantastic week of submissions. First we have two days of Africa, from very different perspectives and narratives. As a white guy born in Africa, I’ve always felt a certain spiritual bond with our Mother Continent, and I’m just thrilled with these submissions.

And then BillinGlendale on Wednesday, followed by a mega post Thursday on stuff out West.  Friday – who knows?! I suspect otmar will provide a wonderful closeout for the week, TBH.

 

==

 

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures. There is so much goodness this week – off we go!

 

Today, pictures from valued commenter Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes.

So we took a long layover in London yesterday on our way to the Zambezi…

Taken on 2018-10-11 00:00:00

Tower of London

Many people floated in via the Thames to meet their doom here.

Taken on 2018-10-11 00:00:00

Tower of London

This is where so many met their fate by placing their head on the block.

Taken on 2018-10-11 00:00:00

Big Ben and Parliament, from the Eye

Parliament and Big Ben, taken from the Eye (which was super fun – I’d never been to London before, and it is great to have a frame of reference.

Taken on 2018-10-11 00:00:00

London, currently the UK

This place was awesome. A combination of sprawling and small, a place of intrigue, treachery, bad judgment, sex, torture and murder.

Taken on 2018-10-11 00:00:00

Tower of London

This guy was great – warm, funny and engaging – he imparted a lot of information in a limited span of time.

It is just a little after 7 am on October 13, and I’m starting my first full day in Africa, having had my first night in three days in an actual bed (Chicago to London was overnight, we had that nicely active 10 hour layover in London, and then London to Johannesburg was overnight).

Arrived Livingstone mid-afternoon – tired yet excited.

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

Zambezi River, between Zambia and Zimbabwe

We took a water taxi to the first hotel. The boat captain spotted this guy sunning on the bank (and given the nature of the river and international borders, I’m not sure of whether it was in Zimbabwe or Zambia.

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

Zambezi River

These guys were all up and down the river.

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

Zambezi River

These guys were right in front of the hotel as we boated in – the mist behind them is Victoria Falls.

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

Royal Livingstone Hotel, Zambia

So I step out my door to go for sunset drinks and am surprised to see three zebras peacefully munching the landscaping. This guy let me get super close (unlike the baboons I’ve seen so far, which are pretty skittish).

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

Victoria Falls, Zambia

The steam cloud rising from the falls makes for a truly stunning sunset.

 

This place is stunning, and I see how Africa gets into people’s blood.

So we’ve done boat taxis, helo rides and a light game drive, and this is only our second full day. The falls drop about 300-350 feet, and are currently in dry season so volume is at about 15%

Taken on 2018-10-13 00:00:00

Our Room

These guys were everywhere!

Taken on 2018-10-13 00:00:00

Mosi ao Tunya

This is Victoria Falls from the air and a nice helo ride

Taken on 2018-10-13 00:00:00

Zimbabwe

Also from the air

Taken on 2018-10-13 00:00:00

Royal Livingston Hotel

Yeah, this place is awesome…

Taken on 2018-10-12 00:00:00

In Front of the Royal Livingstone

About 150-200 yards ahead of the falls, these guys were hanging out.

 

So late morning, we went to a game reserve which is mostly about rhinos – white rhinos, to be precise. There are 12,000 left in the world, and up until three weeks ago, there were 12 left in Zambia, in the place we visited.

Now there are 11 (as the bull got murdered by poachers for his horn); we saw 10 of them this morning.

Taken on 2018-10-14 00:00:00

Zambezi River, Zambia

I don’t know what this guy is, but they live in holes on the riverbank.

Taken on 2018-10-14 00:00:00

Zambezi River, Zimbabwe

This guy was a little apart from his herd on the Zim side of the river.

Taken on 2018-10-14 00:00:00

Zambezi River, Zimbabwe

There were about 30 in this group, and it was balls hot in the early afternoon. Super dry air, too.

Taken on 2018-10-14 00:00:00

Zambia

The white rhino is rooted in a mispronunciation; they have wide mouths, are gatherers and fairly docile (which has made them easy prey for poachers).

By way of contrast, the black rhino is aggressive with a narrow mouth, and forages for fodder – poachers prefer the white rhino to the black. In order to address the crisis of poaching, both Botswana and Zambia have empowered park cops to shoot to kill without resort to process.

Anyway, these are some of the beleaguered few.

Taken on 2018-10-14 00:00:00

Victoria Falls, Zambia

These guys like to herd around together for mutual protection

 

 

Thank you so much Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

Reader Interactions

24Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The bird appears to be a type of bee eater, my guess would be the White Fronted Bee Eater..

  5. 5.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)

    Thank you for sharing. Amazing photos. I lived four years in London, so that was a bit of a walk down memory lane. I have never been to Africa, though my mother was born and raised there. What an incredible place!

  7. 7.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I have a ton more – got back Saturday. I’ll start uploading them this afternoon.

  10. 10.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I think the total was about 4500 photos and videos. I’ve selected and edited maybe 10% that I deemed the best, but there are still a number that are good.

    Itinerary went like this:

    -Victoria Falls, Zambia (with some bits in Zimbabwe)

    -Caravan to ferry to Botswana border crossing and boat ride through Botswana and Namibia to Botswana dirt airstrip

    -Bush flight to Khwai River Lodge dirt strip, and stay on the river while glamping

    -Bush flight to dirt strip in the heart of the Okavango Delta, more glamping

    -Bush flight to Camp Kalahari, sort of glamping with gas lamps and no AC in the desert, 115 degrees F in the day, crispy cool nights

    -Bush flight to Maun, regular flight to Cape Town, a beautiful city

    -Fly Cape Town to Johannesburg, then bush flight to Madikwe Hills a few miles from Botswana border

    Of course, there were boat trips, game drives in the bush, two helo rides and caravanning.

    It took 37 hours to get home – all on schedule….

  11. 11.

    J R in WV

    Awesome.

    Honestly, Torn about wanting to see new wonderful sights, but traveling so far… I can’t sleep much on an airplane, have spent transatlantic flights only person awake besides (I assume) a pilot or two.

    Plus 115 even in a dry desert, sounds like work to me… even with cool drinks and nice evenings. But still, those critters!

  15. 15.

    Albatrossity

    @J R in WV: I don’t sleep on planes either, so I can commiserate on that aspect. But I can tell you that my trip to Tanzania (Wichita to Atlanta, Atlanta to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Arusha), which took about a day, was quickly forgotten once I got there. In fact, after the trip back (same cities in reverse), I was ready, right then, to get back on the plane and go back to Tanzania. I’d been wanting to do that trip since before I can remember, and it was even better than I anticipated.

    All of this is to say that if you get a chance to go to the Serengeti or to Zimbabwe or to South Africa, don’t let the long plane rides dissuade you. It is totally worth that temporary hassle!

  16. 16.

    J R in WV

    @Albatrossity:

    Thanks for the reassurance, much appreciated! True that I enjoyed Europe the two times we visited there, despite the long flights and airport hassles. We did travel a couple of days early the first time, to be mroe rested when the formal tour started, which was smart.

    And I omitted to say, your photos are great. I do not envy editing through 4K pictures, tho. I took about 1500 on the whale watching trip last March, which I recommend to anyone with any interest in wildlife at all.

  17. 17.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Jerry Pemberton:

    He was super chill – I was.

    Wait till you see the cat photos I’m gonna put up. I got better at settings and editing as the weeks went on.

  18. 18.

    arrieve

    Amazing pics! Even though I got sick in Africa this time around, I would go back in a heartbeat. There is really nothing else like it.

  22. 22.

    Mary G

    Wow. I am exhausted just reading the itinerary, but what amazing sights you saw! Looking forward to the next installment. Beautiful creatures and I am in favor of shooting the poachers.

  23. 23.

    J R in WV

    @Albatrossity:

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    And now I see that I have confused two of our more popular photographers… sorry guys.

    Edmund, could you post a link to the agency through which you booked your trip>? Sounds pretty well organized. Or even just the name, no linkage necessary. The glamping sounds good, long time since we were able to look forward to sleeping on the ground as in regular camping…

    Perhaps next winter ?

  24. 24.

    sempronia

    Deadest of dead threads, but nobody has mentioned it yet? In the first picture, that gate leading to the Tower of London through which the condemned entered is called the Water Gate. Our Beefeater guide especially wanted all of us Americans to know that.

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