Fab Photos Friday: Elephants

May 28, 2015 By Tam Warner 13 Comments

Donald Trump Jr holding the the tail of an elephant he killed this past week (yes, I know holding the tail is an African sign of respect) caused quite a ruckus online. For this Fab Photo Friday I thought I would share elephant photos from my safaris and from my volunteer experience in Thailand. Elephants are charismatic animals…touchingly close and maternal, majestic and often friendly. I still think it is an oxymoron to say that in order to save a species, hunters need to pay to kill a member of that species, but that’s just me. Even when the herds are too big, I can’t say I am enthusiastic about hunting. Since humans seem to have screwed up nature’s balance, I suppose hunters are needed…but I could never kill an animal myself. Yes, I feel badly enough about chickens and turkeys and pigs and cows…factory farming not only harms our environment but is cruel and unnecessary. Anyway…here are some of my favorite elephant photographs. The Asian elephant numbers are down to about 2,000 in the wild in Thailand…their extinction is almost a sure thing. Notice how elephants ears take the shape of the continent they are from?

You can see the coloration of the mouth...an albino elephant in Sabi Sabi, Kruger, South Africa. — You can see the coloration of the mouth…an albino elephant in Sabi Sabi, Kruger, South Africa.

elephants use tools! — Asian elephants using tools in Thailand

The African elephant in Chobe, Botswana. Photo credit Randy Minton.

Mama and her baby — Elephant moms and their babies are inseparable, and it takes many years for mother to teach her baby all it needs to know. Taking a baby from its mother is cruelty for such highly evolved, intelligent and emotional creatures.

tan 12 sg eleph — Only bulls come into the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania.

tan 12 lm elep rubbing — Enjoying a rub down in Lake Manyara, Tanzania.

A parade of elephants! — A parade of elephants in Tanzania

tan 12 lm eleph baby nursing — Nothing like a mother’s love, Tanzania.

tan 12 lm ele long tusks (2) — This elephant is musking (*producing scent) and look at those tusks! Lake Manyara, Tanzania.

tan 12 sg elephants on hill — Elephants on the hillside….Serengeti, Tanzania.

chobe 09 elephant herd water — In the waterhole, Chobe, Botswana.

ally chobe 09 elephant fam — After a nice drink and soak. Chobe, Botswana.

sabi 09 pat and elephant — Our tracker, Pat, did a great job finding elephants! This guy is among the largest we saw. Sabi, Kruger, South Africa.

ran sabi 2nd day 09 elephant crossing — Big guy.

ran 4th day sabi sabi 075 — An adorable baby…so curious! Sabi.

ran sabi 2nd day 09 elephant eye — Close up.

chobe 09 elephants young bulls 4 — Two young bulls testing their strength in Chobe.

chobe 09 elephants drinking family — A drink in the marshes, Chobe.

ew 14 ally feeding nelly — My daughter and I volunteered at Elephant World in Thailand in 2014. This elephant was blind.

Randy and Wes taking photos in Chobe, Botswana.

John with a 78 year old female! — Affection after a mud bath! Thailand.

With Lam Duan, a 57 year old blind elephant

Swim! — Swimming in the river with elephants, Thailand.

Nicely submerged for a nice cool off to end the day’s activities.

Fab Photos Friday: Beach Birds of a Feather

May 8, 2015 By Tam Warner 5 Comments

I love the ocean, and I also LOVE ocean birds. Birds are beautiful creatures, predator or prey. Here are some of my favorites. Birds of a feather!

Our little friend was quite comfortable with us.

Guest Adventurer Suzanne Stavert and her Amazing Ceviche post!

May 6, 2015 By Tam Warner 2 Comments

GUEST BLOG BY SUZANNE STAVERT OF Adventures of Empty Nesters! Check out her blog!

During our amazing vacation at the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort of Costa Rica, we were taught how to make ceviche ~ Costa Rica Style! Craig and I were treated to a private cooking lesson with Chef Hanier from the resort’s fine dining seafood restaurant, Ostra. We learned how to combine fresh fish with local ingredients to create the most delectable ceviche ever!

What is ceviche?

Ceviche (pronounced “seh-VEE-chay”) is a Latin American recipe for raw fish and seafood marinated in citrus juice, usually lime and lemon juice. The acid in the citrus juice breaks down the proteins in the fish, effectively cooking the fish. Because the protein is cooked by the acid, ceviche isn’t heated and can be served cold or at room temperature.

Isn’t enjoying the local food and culture the best part about travel?

Chef Hanier made it very easy for us. All of the ingredients were already assembled, sliced and diced. The freshly caught fish and shellfish was cut into small, bite size pieces and the vast array of diced peppers, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, corn and garlic was resting in stainless steel bowls on ice and ready to go.

Both Craig and I could choose any combination of these types of fish: Red Snapper, Grouper, Tuna, Octopus, Sea Bass or Prawns. Then we added fresh lemon and lime juice, salt and pepper, cilantro and any of the other colorful ingredients. We mixed it all together and added several tablespoons of the chef’s homemade sauces. I don’t know how to make the sauces, but I could try based upon the ingredients list. Our Costa Rican recipe for ceviche was unbelievably delicious and so fresh!

Special Sauce Combinations

Mango ~ fried plantain, avocado, rocoto

Spicy ~ jalapeño, panameño, rocoto cream

Classic ~ leche de tigre, red onion, cilantro, cancha corn

Yellow Pepper ~ jumbo corn, lemon, red onion

Caribeño ~ coconut milk, tomato, ginger

We had so much fun and honestly I did not realize how easy it was to make! After talking with some of the local people, we learned that ceviche is a very common dish to prepare in every Costa Rican household. Typically, they would mix fresh fish, lots of fresh lime juice, cilantro and maybe chopped onion and/or jalapeño. The family recipe is simple and once it was mixed together, they would put it in the refrigerator for about four hours. When the ceviche was ready to eat, they serve it in large bowls, family-style, with tortillas, chips and spoons to catch every drop!

We were served our own personal preparations in gorgeous glass serving bowls after the Chef had placed the perfect garnish on top. While drinking an icy cold Imperial, a Costa Rican Beer, we scooped up our divine ceviche with house made potato and sweet potato chips. Did I say it was delicious?!

Designed to emulate a personal residence, the exquisite Ostra, is the fine dining seafood restaurant at the resort. The service is impeccable and all of the elegant latin influenced dishes on the menu were out of this world. We enjoyed several romantic dinners there and it felt like we had engaged our own personal chef to create our perfect meal. I am still dreaming of our delicious experience!

How to make ceviche — The view of a private table with the bay in the distance.

DiningatOnda — The lovely outdoor side of the restaurant. That is a carved wooden bench facing the chairs. Beautiful!

CevicheLessonFinishedProject — Our finished project – Perfection!

Have you ever made Ceviche?

You can read more about our trip===> Here and Here and Here!

Fab Photos Friday: Beaches!

April 30, 2015 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

I have been on many beaches…all over the world. Here are a few of my favorites (of course, I love everything to do with oceans!). It certainly makes me ready to go back…to all of them! Now that I am going through them, I’m having a very tough time stopping!

My brother and I on Ft Lauderdale's beach. — My brother and I on Ft Lauderdale’s beach.

Big Sur's elephant seals! — Big Sur’s elephant seals!

chs 12 isle of palms — Isle of Palms, Charleston, SC

1524955_200228290182120_1685414675_n — In the Exumas with the pigs! Pig Beach?

So, so beautiful. The Black Sand Beach in Shelter Cove, CA

The cliffs at Minack in Cornwall, England.

Challenge yourself! James Island Beach, Phang Nga, Thailand.

ex 14 more ig eating — Iguana Beach in the Exumas, Bahamas.

The Grand Isle Resort and Spa, Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas

Randy and I at Boulders Beach, South Africa

After ocean safari — Tofo Beach, Mozambique

Siesta Key, Florida

Wes, ready to dive! — Wes, ready to snorkel Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman

Wait for me! — Boulders Beach, South Africa

Clearwater Beach is beautiful. — Clearwater Beach, Florida

Fab Photos Friday: Extinction is looming

April 15, 2015 By Tam Warner 11 Comments

There are only 6 Northern White Rhinos left on our planet. One is a male. They are all being guarded by rangers, and the horns have been removed so there is no point for poachers to kill them. I do not understand why our species is so cruel to every other species! There is evidence now that the Black Rhino is “officially” extinct in the wild. Humans seem to think we are special, somehow “above” the other life on our planet. If things continue the way they are going, in the next 50 years we will have no reefs, no apex predators in the ocean so very few fish, no rhinos, no sharks, and water rising everywhere. At that point will we wise up? I hope we wise up much sooner than that. Conservation means saving our own species…once we ruin all of the ecosystems that support life on this planet, we won’t last long, either. Today’s photographs are of animals headed toward extinction. Let’s not let it happen. Everyone….listen to Jane Goodall:

“If all of us would go through our lives thinking about the little choices we make each day as to what we buy, what we eat, what we wear – and how those choices might impact the environment, might impact child slave labor in other countries, might impact cruelty towards animals, we start making small changes… Billions of small changes around the world can lead to the kind of change we need if we care about future generations.” – Jane Goodall (http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/jane-goodall/photos/jane-goodall-birthday/)

Please. Start small, but start!

13-640x456 — A beautiful Manta Ray in Socorro, Mexico. Endangered.

chobe 09 Red Lechwe — A tiny Red Lechwe in Botswana…endangered.

3850104428_ac20cab293_b — The Red Lechwe is so pretty!

chobe 09 sable antelope2 — A majestic Giant Sable Antelope male….critically endangered. Chobe, Botswana.

Rhino Mother. Randy Minton — The White Rhino (not the northern). Endangered. Sabi Sands, Kruger, South Africa.

ew 14 taking a breath — Asian elephants love to bathe!

tan 12 sg lion on tree — Lion populations are down 80% in most parts of Africa. Serengeti.

A gorgeous, endangered Hawksbill Turtle, a fairly common sight on Cozumel. — A gorgeous, endangered Hawksbill Turtle. All sea turtles are critically endangered…Hawksbills were hit hard by the BP spill.

Whale Watching in Monterey Bay — Whales are on the endangered list. Monterey Bay

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Watching an endangered manta.

Sea Turtles are so awesome, dude! And so endangered. This is a green sea turtle. Ecuador.

A lucky Green Sea Turtle, rescued from a fishing net. A sad end for many sea animals.

A dead baby hammerhead, entangled in fishing net, WITHIN the Machallila National Park. Photo by Larry. Endangered species.

You can clearly see the net. — You can clearly see the net that this humpback adult is fighting…our group could not save this endangered animal.

This manta was extremely friendly and checked me out for quite a while. Ahhh!!! Look at the eye!!!!!!!!

gws 10 zapata again — Ah, the famous Zapata of Guadalupe Island, Mexico. See the two tags on his dorsal fin? Great Whites are endangered.

The fabulous Scalloped Hammerhead! Endangered.

can 11 ws ran tam shark2 — Randy and I with a magnificent Whale Shark off of the Yucatan. Endangered…their fins bring a fortune in Asia.

A Whale "blow" and a fluke! — A Whale “blow” and a fluke!

We need to wake up to the danger we are in by putting these animals at risk, by stressing the planet and causing it to warm, to plastic trash everywhere….to cutting down rainforests, etc etc. Or we are lost.

Fab Photo Friday Featuring EELS!

April 9, 2015 By Tam Warner 4 Comments

26ff33db50853b9b8904ca3b9250adf9 — Blue Eyed Beauty in Cozumel, Mexico. 2014.

Eels, especially Moray Eels, are among some of the most fascinating creatures in the ocean. They are fish….fish without pectoral or pelvic fins. The anal and dorsal fin are connected and form a ribbon on top of their bodies. They can be quite small, just a few ounces, and they can grow to be 10 ft and 50 pounds! I love photographing them. Their mouths are always opening and closing, and not because they are thinking about biting you, but because they need to breathe. They do not attack humans, unless there is some stupid human who wants to grab at them or, even dumber, try to feed them. If you want to feed something in the ocean, settle for feeding bread to the fish. They are wild animals, after all. I often get 12 inches from them, or less, to take photos, abut I have never had any problem with aggression at all. The Moray is likely to just stare at you….breathing. Notice the flaps at the back of the mouth, those are the gills.

moz 12 ma honeyc eel closeup — Beautiful Honeycomb Eel in Tofo, Mozambique. 2012

moz 12 giant yellowmouth eel small file — A Yellowmouth Eel on Giant Reef, Mozambique 2012

moz 12 outback 2 yellow morays best — Two large Yellowmouth Moray Eels on Outback Reef, Mozambique 2012. There were so many I lost count!

coz paradise 09 chestnut moray — A Chestnut Moray in Cozumel.

A Huge Honeycomb Eel on Giant Reef, Mozambique, 2012

A Green Pacific Moray eel is spotted! — A Green Pacific Moray eel is spotted with iridescence on Roca Partida, Mexico 2012

cw 14 greenie out and about — A large Green Moray swimming in the open on Cedral Wall, Cozumel. 2014 See the breathing flap and the ribbon fin?

The very coolest thing about Morays (of which there are more than 200 species!)? Their jaw. Jaws, I should say. They have two. You might be scared of the first one, but their prey should be more frightened of the second one, the Pharyngeal jaw which is farther down in their throat. That jaw is the one that delivers the death blow to its prey!

coz 08 jun tam's place spotted moray — Down in the mouth! A spotted Moray at my secret reef in Cozumel!

coz 11 sr green moray smile small — Awesome Green Moray swimming on Santa Rosa Reef, Cozumel. 2011. Great smile!

resized eel — A pretty smile from a baby Spotted Moray. Isn’t the inside of her mouth incredible? Such patterning!

A beautiful little Goldentail Eel in Cozumel.

Awesome pic, taken by my dive master! — A Fimbriated Moray Eel in Myanmar. Awesome pic, taken by my dive master, Jurgen.

Small Honeycomb eel on Boonsung Wreck, Thailand. 2014

wr 14 caves undulate moray — An Undulate Moray in Myanmar 2014.

This Fimbriated Moray is surrounded by RedBanded Shrimp and Dancing Durban Shrimps on top! Time for a cleaning in Thailand.

bs 14 honeycomb bright — A little Honeycomb Eel in Thailand among Thorny Oysters. So cute!

bs 14 honeycomber — I LOVE the markings on this one.

Beautiful Jewel Moray in Thailand. It glitters like gold!

Green Morays EVERYWHERE! Socorro Islands, 2012. Doesn’t he look funny?

coz 09 snorkel purplemouth moray eel2 — A Purplemouth Moray Eel in Cozumel 2009.

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE — Close up of the Purple Mouth Moray. They are quite small.

coz 10 jan para night spotted moray3 - Copy (1) — A gorgeous Spotted Moray Eel on Paradise Reef, Cozumel.

coz 08 chain moray 2 — A Chain Moray in Cozumel, Mexico.

coz vb 12 green moray and shrimp — A Green Moray Eel at night with a Red Banded Coral Shrimp on Villa Blanca, Night Dive, Cozumel 2012. The colors are just amazing at night.

redone — An old photo…2006, taken in Key Largo of a very large Green Moray. I love this guy! He looked ancient.

coz 11 parnite sharptail hunting — This may look like a snake, but it is a Sharptail Snake Eel, hunting at night.

nn 14 13sep golden spotted moray — A Golden Spotted Moray hunting in Ecuador, 2014

Oh, now I am just dying to get in the water! I have so many more eels to photograph out there in all of our oceans! So far, I have Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, and the Revillagadoes Islands planned for dives this year. I wonder if I can squeeze any more dive trips in? You know I will try!

Photo Friday

What is ceviche?

Isn’t enjoying the local food and culture the best part about travel?

Special Sauce Combinations

Have you ever made Ceviche?

You can read more about our trip===> Here and Here and Here!

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