Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Friday, 25 November 2016

A lake the colour of a strawberry milkshake ! Lake Hillier in Australia

What colour is a lake, usually?

When you picture a lake in your mind, what colour is that lake?

Blue, right?  

When told to imagine a lake -- any lake -- most people would think of a blue lake.

Well now, try to imagine a pink lake.  

Yes, pink like strawberry ice cream.

Or like a strawberry milkshake.




It's difficult, quite difficult, to make the mind conjure up a picture of a pink lake. 

Well, no need to try too hard.

Because here are some photos of the real thing -- an incredible, magically beautiful pink lake -- Lake Hillier in Western Australia.






Please visit   http://hillierlake.com/
to see the above and more photos, and to get some more information about marvellous Lake Hillier in Australia.

I would love to visit the lake.

Somehow, it made me think of the "Lake Isle of Innisfree", by W. B. Yeats:

"I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core."

And from the rose-hued Lake Hillier, it would be interesting to travel, at least in the mind, to Homer's "wine-dark sea".

This world of ours -- what a beautiful place it is.

"...for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings."



Sunday, 6 November 2016

Purry nice! Kishi train station in Japan has a cat stationmaster, Nitama


Oh my catness!

Kawaii  

Kishi train station in Wakayama, Japan,
has a cat stationmaster called Nitama.

A purry nice job for a purry nice cat.



NB.    The photo is not mine:  it's a screenshot of a photo from an article by Hugh Morris.

To see the complete photos, and to read the article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/japan/articles/New-cat-stationmaster-appointed-at-Japanese-train-station/

Monday, 25 January 2016

The Lion by Joseph Kessel -- book , movie , Pamela Franklin , and a marvellous bookshop in West Hollywood

I'd like to recommend a novel called  The Lion
(the French title is Le Lion)  by Joseph Kessel.

Peter Green translated the novel into English,
and, in 1962, it was made into a movie
with William Holden, Trevor Howard,
and Capucine.

The young girl (the main human character)
is named Patricia, in the book.
In the film, however, she is called Tina,
and her role is played by Pamela Franklin.

The novel is set in East Africa, in Kenya.

Patricia is a young girl living in the African wilderness,
and she has a special friendship with King,
a magnificent lion she regards as all her own, since
she raised King from the time he was a cub.

Sort of like Peter Pan, Patricia is living in her own
faraway-from-everything Paradise.
She doesn't want to grow up.
(And who would want to grow up,
if they were living Patricia's
Heidi-in-Africa blissful life?.......)

But, the world -- reality -- some would call it fate --
intrudes, as it always does, and what follows
is heart-rending, unforgettable.
It will make you weep, and it will haunt you.

And, somehow, it made me think of that poem
by W B Yeats, "The Stolen Child":

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping

 than you can understand. 










As mentioned earlier, the role of the young girl 
in the movie (she's in the photo above with the lion)
was given to Pamela Franklin.

At the end of this post, I'll give a link
for the full movie on youtube.
Don't worry about the Portuguese title
because the movie is in English.


Pamela Franklin later married fellow actor Harvey Jason.
Together with Louis, one of their sons, her husband
co-owns a very interesting and wonderful bookshop called
♥ Mystery Pier Books, Inc.
in West Hollywood,
California, USA.

♥ The link to their bookstore can be found
at the end of this blog post, and it contains
the address and telephone number.
So, do visit whenever
you're in that part of the US.

Meanwhile, try to get a copy of  "The Lion"
by Joseph Kessel, and read it as soon as you can,
and you can also watch the movie on youtube
(see the links below).

Plus, here is a novel which is also set in Kenya,
and is connected to lions.
It is a poignant, shimmering story of
mystery, suspense, murder, reincarnation,
and the eternal power of love...



♥ Link to the above e-book on Amazon Kindle:


  Further, to read a sample for free --

i.e.    8  chapters


of the novel


"I met you in that past life A"


you can click on the link below:
 


http://serene-journey-to-happiness.blogspot.sg/2013/06/read-them-here-for-free-first-8.html

Enjoy!    

Links  re.  "The Lion"  by Joseph Kessel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_(novel)  (contains spoilers!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Franklin

♥ http://www.mysterypierbooks.com/  (the bookstore is co-owned by Pamela Franklin's family)

http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v99711  (for the poster & photos of the movie)

♥ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLKxk18RID0

(The above link is for the "The Lion" 1962 movie.

Name of the youtube movie:

O LEÃO ( 1962) Willian Holden, Capucine e Trevor Howard espetaculares

(Even though the above title is in Portuguese,
the movie is in English)


Name of the youtube channel:
ArlindoDuplo










Saturday, 9 January 2016

Jim Corbett -- Man-eaters of Kumaon -- from hunter to wildlife conservationist -- from India to Kenya

James Edward  "Jim"  Corbett  (25 July 1875 - 19 April 1955) 
was a hunter who later became wildlife conservationist.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jim_Corbett.jpg

Having hunted man-eating tigers and leopards in India, he later authored
“Man-eaters of Kumaon” 
and other books in which he wrote about his hunts and experiences.  

Incidentally, it may be possible to read  “Man-eaters of Kumaon”  for free online.  
Try searching for it on the internet.

Eventually, Jim Corbett the hunter became Jim Corbett the conservationist 
of wildlife and forests.

He was influential in establishing a national park in India to protect 
the endangered Bengal tiger, and the park was later renamed in his honour.  

Located in beautiful Nainital district of Uttarakhand, India, 
Jim Corbett National Park is also a part of Project Tiger.


Tigress walking on the gypsy track in Bijrani zone.

Photo by Soumyajit Nandy.

Photo link:



Other links:




Speaking of the above area, Corbett was born in the town of Nainital in India on the 25th of July 1875.  (Zodiac sign: Leo).


The side view of Gurney House where Jim Corbett used to stay (Nainital, India)

Photo by Schwiki

Photo link:




In 1947, however, he moved to Kenya in East Africa.

He went to live in the Kenyan town of Nyeri, which is near Mount Kenya 
and near Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park.

Treetops became famous around the world 
when Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, 
stayed there at the time of the death of her father,  
King George VI, which occurred on the night
 of 5/6 February 1952, while she was at Treetops.

Jim Corbett, her bodyguard at the time, 
wrote the now famous lines in the visitors' log book:

For the first time in the history of the world, 
a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess
and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience
she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen God bless her.



Jim Corbett continued to live in Kenya, in Nyeri, 
and it is in that town that he passed away 
on the 19th of April 1955, at the age of 79.   
His last resting place is Nyeri.

Incidentally,  Nyeri is also connected to Lord Baden-Powell 
(1857-1941), founder of the Scout Movement. 

"In 1939, Baden-Powell and Olave moved to a cottage he had commissioned in Nyeri, Kenya, near Mount Kenya,... 
The Paxtu cottage is integrated into the Outspan Hotel buildings and serves as a small Scouting museum.
Baden-Powell died on 8 January 1941 and is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery in Nyeri." 



As mentioned earlier in this post, Jim Corbett moved to Nyeri, Kenya, in 1947 -- a few years after Baden-Powell had passed away.

And, as per a Wikipedia article on Nyeri, 
(see the last paragraph of the “Tourism” “In Town” part), 
Jim Corbett  "also spent his final years in Paxtu, the B-P's cottage."



Further,

"In 1994 and 2002, the long-neglected graves of Corbett and his sister (both in Kenya) were repaired and restored by Jerry A. Jaleel, founder and director of the Jim Corbett Foundation."


In addition, during his time in Kenya, I wonder whether Jim Corbett, 
author of “Man-eaters of Kumaon”, went to visit a certain area of Tsavo
 -- that particular part of the Kenyan wilderness 
which became well-known in 1898... 
because of two man-eating lions
 -- the man-eaters of Tsavo... 

Thursday, 7 January 2016

Kenya -- a great travel destination

Kenya has a special place in my heart,
and I would definitely recommend it
to anyone who wants to have
a truly memorable holiday.

I've travelled to many locations in Kenya,
including Lake Turkana in the far north,
and since the country is so incredibly,
amazingly beautiful, here are just a few
Kenyan places to consider visiting for
that unforgettable vacation:

Treetops, Mount Kenya (it has glaciers),
the Aberdares, Samburu (one of my favourites,
especially the Ewaso Ng'iro river),
Lake Turkana, Lake Nakuru with its flamingos,
Maasai Mara, Tsavo, Amboseli, and the
lovely Kenyan coast -- Mombasa,
Malindi, Lamu.......

Plus, Kenya is famous for its wildlife
and national parks, and it's a great place for a
safari.

Try to go there during the annual wildlife
migration.

Also try the luxury tented camps,
a camel safari or a balloon safari.

Do your homework carefully --
research diligently, and remember
to consider high season and
low season.

You may be able to get some
last-minute travel bargains.

But, generally speaking,
I'd advise you to start saving up
and start planning for your trip
to Kenya many, many months
in advance.

Take your time, don't rush,
and enjoy your holiday in Kenya!

Kenya Tourism Board: http://www.magicalkenya.com/

Location of Kenya in Africa (East Africa)

Link to image: Map of Kenya by Alvaro 1984 18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Location_Kenya_AU_Africa.svg



A lone giraffe in Nairobi National Park

Photo by Mkimemia

Photo link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giraffe_-_Skyline_-_Nairobi_-_Park.jpg



Lioness (Panthera leo) at Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

Photo by Julian Mason

Photo link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lioness_Samburu.jpg#file