Coming back from a tropical island into the drab and dreary climate of Canada at the end of winter is quite a shock. Even if you left that drab climate a mere week ago. How one gets used to the good stuff quickly!
For a very long time, I kind of resisted the urge to go on a vacation somewhere else.
Honestly, there was always something getting in the way. If it was not a move to a different place, it would be a lack of money or a family emergency. And if that was not even the case, going “somewhere” without going to see the family was heresy. Not seeing the family and going to a place nearby or even far away simply didn’t compute in my mind.
Red Ginger
As a result, no real vacation was ever on the horizon. Until this year. Now, I have already blogged about it here, here and here, but there is one last chapter to add to this series.
Turkey Vulture
It’s a chapter about wildlife and greenery. I like to see myself as a nature and wildlife photographer first, although I will shoot anything interesting that comes my way. The above Turkey Vulture was a nice surprise. All the way up on the mountain, I was waiting for the cable car’s arrival to take me back down to the city and then these guys flew over. That was too much to pass up. Shot through glass, the image is not too clear, but still good enough for a positive ID.
Puerto Plata
Grand vistas are also a fav of mine. I don’t have a big wide-angle lens anymore, shooting a panorama is the next best option. And a lot cheaper too. The above shot is the view over Puerto Plata with the harbour and docks just right off-centre.
Northern Mockingbird
Some of the birds are the same as we get in Canada, and I didn’t see many other birds. This Northern Mockingbird was kind enough to sit still for a few seconds so I could take its portrait.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker
And then there was this Hispaniolan Woodpecker, definitely not one we can see here in Canada. It looks like its meal is hiding in palm trees, so its food would most certainly not be available in Canada.
Hibiscus
The second picture of this post shows Red Ginger, a plant that grows in the wild here. The pink Hibiscus shown here also grows in the wild. It’s always a “surprise” to see those flowers in the wild, sometimes cut back with hedge trimmers with no regard for the wellbeing of the bush. Whereas here in Canada we pay good money to even have a single one blooming in our houses…
Mangrove
One type of wood that I didn’t expect in the Dominican Republic was the Mangrove. Trees grow in a watery area, with their roots often above the ground or in water. They hold a lot of sand in place when the water comes in, so diminishing the risks of floods. I was not there in flood season, so a walk among those trees was easy and dry.
I could go on and on, writing about this place, but I’m guessing everyone would get tired of that pretty quickly. So for now this will be my last post about the Dominican Republic.
Until next time…