my travels in pixels

Harrison Mills, British Columbia Harrison Mills is a little town about an hour and a half east of Vancouver. There is nothing really there, so we booked four days in a hotel in Harrison Hot Springs. It's too expensive to take our trailer on and off the Island and apart from that many of the RV parks in the area close in November for the winter. Lindsay had checked the weather and it was supposed to be fine, but I'm not sure if he put planet earth because when we got there it was raining. Rain was forecast for the next day and then from Monday lunchtime onwards for the rest of the week, which gave us a day and a half of no rain. It was cold First stop before our hotel was the information centre to find out where the viewing spots for the bald eagles were. If the weather is bad they just sit in the trees she informed us :( Apparently it had been raining for weeks, which was causing the river to rise making it harder for the eagles to get the salmon. After spawning, th...

We have never been sure how long we have to leave the USA for, until this year. The first two years of travelling really didn't matter as we left for seven and five months each time. We had heard that Canadians had to be at home for six months for healthcare reasons but didn't think it was because they have to be out of the States for six months. Immigration say that you only have to leave the country every six months for a day. There are some people in Border Control that say the same but also say that is not what is being enforced. Ninety-nine percent of Border Control have their own made-up rule that states "you must be out of the country for longer that you have been in". In a nutshell, if you stay for six months, you must leave for at least six months, preferably longer. Coming back from Kenya we asked for a six month entry. We had been out for nearly a month, but had been there for five months prior to that. After a lot of page checking in our passports, i...

Osborne Bay RV Resort Charlotte Street, Crofton, BC V0R 1R0 (250) 246-4787 Why we chose here? We were recommended this place by a friend, we were going to house sit on Vancouver Island for the winter Location: Osborne Bay, about 30 minutes north of Duncan Sites: There were some nice sites high on the hill overlooking the bay, they are very close to each other. We had one on the lower side, right on the bay. The Ferry is a bit noisy but they stop before you go to sleep. We couldn't back into our site as the hook ups where on the other side, so after speaking to the owners, we just went in frontwards and jutted out! But this was a bonus as our main windows were looking out to sea. Facilities:  laundromat, washrooms, rec room - but didn't use any of them. Groceries: There is a small grocery store in town but probably best to shop before you come. Reservations: Yes Cell Coverage / WiFi: We had to go up to the office to download our email onto the iPad, there was no coverage a...

The Capilano River RV Park 295 Tomahawk Avenue, West Vancouver, BC V7P 1C5 (604) 987-4722 Why we chose here? It was closer to the city than any other RV park. We had stayed in Surrey on a previous occasion but it was too far out for a two week stay. Location: North West Vancouver, close to the Lions Gate Bridge and Park Royal Shopping Centre Sites: 205 - 15, 30 & 50 amp. The sites are very close to each other. It was fine when we had no-one next to us, but when there was we had to move our awning in a little. It is an older style park that was laid out before RV's had multiple slideouts. Nice, clean and well laid out. Facilities: pool which was empty when we were there and a good laundry. Groceries:  Asian supermarket across the road, Whole Foods is in another section of the shopping centre which takes a little longer to walk to. Walmart and Save-On foods are a 10 minute drive away. Nearest Costco is across the bridge in the City.  Reservations: Yes and...

What camera gear did we take? Canon 1D Mk4 - a cropped sensor - which has a fast frame rate, used with a f/4 600mm lens and a f/2.8 70-200mm. (Lindsay's photos) Canon 5D Mk3 - a full frame sensor, used with a 300mm f/4 prime lens (Jane's photos) Canon 5D Mk2 - a full frame sensor - the frame rate is too slow for animals, so it was used with a 70-200mm for taking close ups and landscape. We wouldn't take this camera again. A tripod that we didn't use. We either hand held or used bean bags (provided by the safari company) to rest our cameras on the car. Video of the Masai Mara a 9 minute video towards the end of our Masai Mara trip Photo Slideshows: Samburu Lake Nakuru Lake Naivasha Masai Mara

Masai Mara  Our last day was the most amazing day. It happens like that to make you want to come back! First up was a stunning sunrise, then the Rekero lion pride with the 9 cubs were playing out in the open.  Then we got word that the cheetah cubs were playing out of the restricted area. It was a long drive there and there was a possibility that we would miss all the action, but we were rewarded, and were able to spend quite some time with them. The cubs were playing with each other, over logs and with mum. It was fantastic. Later they moved into the restricted area and the Ranger made us all leave.  Word on the bush telegraph told of a pair of leopolds quite some way away. A long drive away but the male was still there when we arrived. The pair had conspired to bring down a Topi which is quite a large prey for one leopold, so it made sense that they tried with the two of them. They had been mating earlier on but we miss...

Masai Mara  There is a cheetah with five cubs in the park but park wardens have forbidden most people from going to the area where she is. Brian has a permit that allows him to go to this spot. He has been here for over 30 years and has built up relationships with the Park Rangers. People in the Mara affectionately call him Mzee which means old man in swahili. When he was in camp he would take a few people to see the cubs each morning. Today was our turn. We had to leave at 5:30am to travel to the other side of the park to find the cheetah cubs. The mother had got a kill the night before so she was eating when we arrived. Even the cubs who are about two months old were just starting to eat meat. They played in and around the shrubs which made it very difficult to get good shots - we were actually surprised at the photographs we got. Being there early it is difficult to get enough light into the camera to get the speed up. If the speed isn't fast enough, the photos are just b...

Masai Mara  The sunrises in the Mara are just beautiful. The Mara is a land of so many personalities with stunning landscapes and amazing wildlife. People think of Africa/Kenya as a land of the big 5 but the bird life here is stunning. We were lucky enough to see another crossing today, and the apprehension in the animals could be felt. Were the wildebeest saying to themselves "is this going to be my last crossing?" We all have seen the wildlife shows with the crocs taking animals as they cross and if a croc is there it just increases the panic in the herd. It's something that has to be seen. In reality, not many are taken by crocodiles, it is often the scrambling up the banks that breaks a leg. Superb Starling  Elephant calf Bee Eater The wildebeest went right down to the river and we really thou...

Masai Mara  First thing this morning we caught up with the Rekero Pride as they have six cubs. It was difficult to get any good shots as they were playing in the bushes.  So we went in search for a mating pair and found them with the Serena Pride. We photographed the mating pair twice. They mate for four days and this was their second. They do it in intervals of about half an hour to begin with but apparently the frequency dwindles as the days go by. Neither of them look like they are enjoying themselves and towards the end - she says "enough" and bites him. I don't know, it just doesn't look that enjoyable! the short cut out of the river, was straight up! We were so close to this elephant, I couldn't shoot it, Lindsay had to use the 70-200mm. Two wildebeest fighting - a rare sight We found a leopold in a tree and could see it briefly, but there were too many large rocks to go in and even if we had, we wouldn’t have been ab...

Masai Mara  We saw leopold out in open for the first time! Her name is Bahati, daughter of Olive who is very well known as she was on Big Cat diaries a BBC series, but unfortunately, no longer alive. Bahati was on one side of the ravine at first, then crossed over to the other side. We had to rush over to the other side going through the Rekero river crossing that Lindsay has nicknamed Toyota crossing. He doesn’t think Toyotas would make in the wet as it’s very steep and slippery. We, of course are in a Landrover which is the go anywhere car, we are only just slightly biased! This isn’t just his opinion though, all the guides agree that Toyotas get bogged here in the wet. It was quite exhilarating as we rushed over to get a good spot to be able to photograph her, sometimes you are in the right place, other times you aren't and of course, and even if you are - the animals move! Leopolds have the most amazing whiskas and have become my favourite cat. They are very elusive...