Photo of the Week: Elephant Seal Pup II

Subject: northern elephant seal pup
Date taken: January 20, 2013
Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°39'9.74" N, 121°14'27.07"W)
Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Photo of the Week: Elephant Seal Pup

Subject: northern elephant seal pup
Date taken: January 19, 2013
Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°39'9.74" N, 121°14'27.07"W)
Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Photo of the Week: Male Elephant Seal

Subject: male northern elephant seal
Date taken: January 18, 2013
Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°39'9.74"N, 121°14'27.07"W)
Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Peru Featured Photo: Neotropic Cormorant

Subject: neotropic cormorant

Date taken: May 14, 2012

Location: Cocha Salvador, Manu National Park, Peru

Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Peru Featured Photo: Wire-crested Thorntail

Subject: wire-crested thorntail (hummingbird)

Date taken: May 12, 2012

Location: San Pedro Lodge, Peru

Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Otterly Amazing

Date of events depicted: 14-15 May 2012

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 5 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Peru…

Eden is doing a happy dance on the deck of the catamaran.  After one last spin and a celebratory fist pump, she high-fives a grinning Yumiko.

Though not quite sure why seeing a pair of scarlet macaws flying overhead generates this reaction, Miko and Eden’s traveling companions – with the exception of the guide, non-birders all – are clearly amused by her antics.

Having no desire to fall into the caiman-infested waters, Eden sits down carefully before explaining that scarlet macaw had been a “target bird,” one that our intrepid heroines had tried – unsuccessfully – to get last year in Costa Rica.

The last of the sun’s rays fall on a small troop of spider monkeys high in the trees as the boat heads to the dock, ending the adventurers’ third and final excursion on Cocha Salvador. And though the sandflies are once again out in force, Miko and Eden are sorry to be leaving this remarkable lake where, just this morning at dawn, they had watched the resident family of endangered giant river otters frolic, fish, and feed and saddleback and emperor tamarins leap through the branches.

Move on they must, however, and so the next morning the hardy travelers vacate their little palm-thatched huts, board the boat, and once again take to the Manu River. On a stop to hike to Cocha Otorongo, they spot dusky titi monkeys, disturb hundreds of bats roosting under an observation deck, and climb the stairs to a platform 20 meters high from which they take in the view of the pristine rainforest.

Once back on the river, all eyes avidly scan the banks in hopes of seeing a jaguar. This is the last real chance of seeing the elusive cat.  But as the hours wear on and the temperature rises, their hopes wane.

By the time they reach Boca Manu, everyone is hot and tired. The gluten-tolerant among them take enormous pleasure in sipping ice-cold beer purchased from the tiny village’s store – until the sky darkens ominously and the humid air becomes heavier and cooler.

What ensues is a torrential downpour unlike anything our fearless females have ever experienced.  The adventurers huddle under tarps in a futile attempt to stay somewhat dry as the wind-driven rain comes down so hard that the Madre de Dios River looks like it is being pushed back.

It’s rather exciting – for the first 15 minutes or so.

The deluge lasts for more than an hour, easing up briefly when the boat disgorges its damp, cold, bedraggled passengers at Tambo Blanquillo.

José eyes the sky doubtfully. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow morning. Otherwise the macaws will not come to the clay lick.”

It’s too depressing a possibility to contemplate.

© Eden Feuer

Related links: BBC video of river otters of Manu, fellow adventurer John Millspaugh's video of traveling on the rivers of the rainforest

Creature Comforts

Date of events depicted: 13 May 2012

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 4 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Peru…

“Spikes!” José shines his flashlight on a species of palm that looks like it has mated with an angry porcupine.

“Spikes!” Eden repeats the guide’s warning for the benefit of the hiker behind her, who in turn passes it on to those behind him.

The adventurers on this night hike through the rainforest are careful to point out to one another the myriad potential hazards on the trail: fire ants, mud, army ants, low hanging branches and vines, spider webs with and without spiders, thorns, cobra ants…

But the jungle at night is more than a place of danger; it is a place of discovery. José’s light reveals tiny frogs, delicate mushrooms, strange insects, and tarantulas.

Miko and Eden usually don’t mind tarantulas. Unless, as had happened the previous evening at Yine Lodge, one suddenly appears in the folds of the shower curtain in a dimly lit stall just as Miko finishes her shower and the lodge’s generator powers down, leaving the bathroom building in darkness.

Our intrepid heroines and company are returning to Camp Sachavaca from Cocha Salvador, an oxbow lake upon which they had spent several hours observing wildlife from the relative comfort of the “catamaran,” a somewhat dubious-looking pair of weathered wooden dugout canoes connected by an equally dubious-looking weathered wooden platform.

Emerging briefly from beneath the forest canopy at the Manu River’s edge, the group is treated to a breathtaking view of the Milky Way. Before continuing on their way, Miko and Eden pick out the Southern Cross amid a host of constellations unfamiliar to those who dwell north of the equator.

Dinner is followed by cold showers by candlelight that temporarily alleviate the itch of the sandfly and mosquito bites our fearless females have sustained.  Miko’s bruised and scraped arm, they are relieved to note, is healing well.

It has been a good day, our fearless females agree as they enter their hut and tiredly crawl under the mosquito netting. As the boat had navigated the Manu River, they had been lucky enough to spot a capybara and had passed a clay lick where dozens of blue-headed parrots and several chestnut-fronted macaws had congregated noisily. On Cocha Salvador, they had caught glimpses of giant river otters, added “punk chicken” (hoatzin) to their rapidly expanding bird list, and, after sunset, used their flashlights to illuminate the eyes of black caimans floating silently on the lake while José told “jungle ghost stories,” tales of researchers and tourists who mysteriously disappeared in Manu, their remains either never located or found in the jaws of a jaguar or caiman. And, though Camp Sachavaca is even more rustic than Yine Lodge, Miko and Eden have not seen a single cockroach.

© Eden Feuer

Creature Discomforts

Date of events depicted: 12 May 2012

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 3 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Peru…

“Get your camera, go out there, and photograph the rainbow,” Miko orders.

“But…”

It has not been a good morning thus far. Our intrepid heroines, fellow adventurer John, and their guide had woken especially early and hiked in the dark in order to witness the elaborate courtship display for which Peru’s national bird is famous. But as soon as they arrived at the lek, it began to rain, dashing their hopes of seeing vibrantly-plumaged male Andean cocks-of-the-rock (the name makes Eden snigger) bowing, jumping, and wing-flapping in an attempt to attract the drab females.

As the four trudged back to the lodge, it occurred to Eden that she had not seen her sunglasses since last night and had no clue where she put them. Freaking out, she spared only a passing glance at the magnificent double rainbow that appeared with the dawn before she started searching the room frantically.

“Go! I’ll find your sunglasses.”

Eden does as she is told. And Miko makes good on her promise, locating Eden’s wayward eyewear – in the pocket of Eden’s rain jacket (where Eden had placed them the night before for safekeeping and which she had been wearing most of the morning).

So Eden is feeling like a bit of a birdbrain as they climb into the SUV for the bumpy ride down the narrow, winding, rutted mountain road to Atalaya.

It is late morning by the time they arrive at the small village on the banks of the Alto Madre de Dios River and board the motorized canoe that will carry them into a place of stunning biodiversity so remote, so difficult to access, that fewer than 3,000 tourists visit per year: Manu National Park.

On the long journey to the mouth of the Manu River, the travelers get a taste of that biodiversity. White caimans bask in the sun. Snowy egrets fish in the shallows. White-throated toucans call from the trees. Neotropic cormorants hold their wings out to dry. King and black vultures circle overhead. Roadside hawks and bat falcons scan for prey from their high perches.

The light is fading fast as the boat pulls up to the riverbank. Its passengers disembark, grab their gear, and make their way from the beach to Yine Lodge.

The sweep of a flashlight beam sends cockroaches skittering from the small thatched-roof bungalow that is our intrepid heroines’ room for the night.

Swallowing hard against her revulsion, Eden sets down the backpacks while Miko lights the single candle the lodge has provided for illumination.

It hadn’t occurred to them that Manu’s great biological diversity would include roaches – though on reflection it really doesn’t come as a surprise. That doesn’t make the idea of sharing quarters with the nasty creatures any less disgusting.

Our fearless females square their shoulders. In Panama, it was ticks. In Costa Rica, it was bees. So here, it is roaches. Miko and Eden know that a few loathsome insects are a small price to pay for adventure.

© Eden Feuer

Legends of the Fall

Date of events depicted: 11 May 2012

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 2 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Peru…   

“It could have been a lot worse,” Eden says as she dabs Neosporin on Miko’s badly scraped and bruised right arm. “You could have broken a bone. Or landed on your face – like you did in Maui.”

Miko winces, both from the contact and from the memory. That fall had occurred two miles into a hike in Haleakala National Park. Fortunately, she had not sustained an injury that immobilized her or required immediate medical attention. Unfortunately, her injuries had been serious enough to ruin the rest of that vacation.

Eden carefully tapes down a gauze bandage procured from the first aid kit. “If you had been seriously hurt tonight…” She trails off, recalling the way Miko had gone tumbling into the mud when the slippery path had crumbled beneath her feet. 

Our intrepid heroines are in a primitive lodge in the cloud forest on the eastern side of the Andes. Getting to this point, only part of the way to Manu National Park, had required spending the day crammed into a Mitsubishi SUV packed with the food, supplies, and personnel (guide, cook, and driver) necessary for a multiday excursion into a remote portion of the Peruvian Amazon. 

Neither of them wants to contemplate how far they are from decent medical care – and how close they came to not being able to continue on to Manu.

Though satisfied that Miko’s wounds have been tended to adequately for the moment, Miko and Eden know that tomorrow they will be headed to the lowland rainforest, where, in combination with the humidity, the higher temperatures and even more rustic conditions increase the risk of infection.

With that not-especially-comforting thought, our fearless females crawl under the mosquito netting and attempt to sleep. 

© Eden Feuer

Related link: video diary of the day compiled by fellow traveler John Millspaugh

The Lost City of the Incas

Date of events depicted: 10 May 2012

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 1 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Peru…   

In the predawn darkness, Miko, Eden, and 500 other hardy, sleep-deprived souls determined to see the sunrise at Machu Picchu board the buses that ferry tourists from the town of Aguas Calientes up a steep, winding dirt road to the Lost City of the Incas.

Our intrepid heroines, bleary-eyed and breathing heavily in the thin air, pass through the entrance gate and hike to the Caretaker’s Hut. They watch, entranced, as the first rays of the sun touch the surrounding mountains and caress the polished stone walls and neatly groomed terraces of the citadel. It is a spectacular, almost surreal sight, though the landscape crew – three llamas – seems unimpressed, just as jaded as they were the previous evening when our dynamic duo took in the sunset from the same vantage point.

By late morning, the mist that had risen from the Urubamba River far below has burned away and the ruins are teeming with thousands of people. Miko and Eden sweep their admiring gazes over the exquisite stonework of the temples, plazas, and houses one last time before returning to Aguas Calientes to await their train to Cusco.

Though only 80 kilometers (50 miles) separate Machu Picchu from the bustling city of Cusco, the rail journey takes more than three and a half hours. It’s an awfully long time for two exhausted adventurers to be trapped with a group of happily hammered Dutch day trippers, so it is with a great deal of relief that they disembark, catch a cab to Plaza de Armas, and make the walk to their hotel.

Still, they know that there will be little rest for them. Though it is late, they must re-pack their gear in preparation for their upcoming adventure: a 7-day excursion into the Peruvian Amazon that will begin the next morning – well before dawn.

© Eden Feuer 

Photo of the Week: Portrait of an Elephant Seal

                                                    

Subject: Female elephant seal

Date taken: April 9, 2012

Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°38'49.20" N, 121°12'42.29"W)

Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Behind the Scenes: Close Encounter with an Elephant Seal

Photos courtesy of Q. Makeeta

Date taken: April 9, 2012

Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°38'49.20" N, 121°12'42.29"W)

Photo of the Week: Elephant Seal

                                                                    

Subject: Female elephant seal

Date taken: April 9, 2012

Location: northwest of San Simeon, California (35°38'49.20" N, 121°12'42.29"W)

Camera: Canon 20D with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Photo of the Week: Owl

                                             

Subject: Owl

Date taken: August  2001

Location: Seward, Alaska

Camera: Canon EOS Elan IIE with 100-400mm telephoto zoom 

Photo of the Week: Caribou

                                                                                                                

Subject: Caribou

Date taken: August 2, 2001

Location: Denali National Park, Alaska

Camera: Canon EOS Elan IIE with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Photo of the Week: Snow Monkey

                                                                                                                                 

Subject: Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata)

Date taken: January 3, 2001

Location: Jigokudani Yaen-Koen, Nagano, Japan

Camera: Canon EOS Elan IIE with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Film: Ektachrome 100

Photo of the Week: The Twelve Apostles

Date taken: April 11, 2003
Location: Port Campbell National Park, Australia

Canon EOS Elan IIE with 28-135mm telephoto zoom

Film: Ektachrome 100SW @ ISO 200

Photo of the Week: Polar Bear

                      

Date taken: November 12, 2003

Location: Churchill, Canada

Canon EOS Elan IIE with 100-400mm telephoto zoom

Film: Ektachrome 100SW @ ISO 200

Glacier National Park: The Slide Show

                                                                

Rocky Mountain High

Date of events depicted: 14 August 2011

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWild PhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 2 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Glacier National Park…  

“Is there some sort of medication you need to bring with you on the raft?” Ross eyes Eden closely as she attempts to buckle her life vest with shaking hands.

“Nope,” Eden assures the guide. “Just had a bit too much caffeine.” She bounces on her toes. “Yup, yup. A bit too much caffeine.”

Ross looks doubtful. “You’re sure you don’t need medication?” he asks, tightening the vest. “You’re as jumpy as I’ve ever seen anyone.”

“Okaaay, I’ve had waaaay too much caffeine. But no worries.  No worries. It should wear off soon.”

It has been hours since our intrepid heroines, up since before dawn in search of owls, stopped at a small, crowded café near Glacier National Park’s east entrance for a much-needed cup of coffee and breakfast.

But Eden did not limit herself to one cup – in a disturbing demonstration of lack of common sense, she imbibed three – and for someone of her temperament and constitution that has serious and long-lasting consequences. Among them, apparently, is giving strangers the impression that she has some sort of grave medical condition.

As Yumiko, Eden, and their fellow adventurers negotiate the rapids of the wild and scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River, the icy water washes away the lingering effects of Eden’s excess consumption.

On the stretches of flat water, conversation flows easily among the rafters, who swap advice and suggestions regarding what to see and do in the area.

Yumiko and Eden enthusiastically endorse hiking the Hidden Overlook Trail. Still partially snow-covered even this late in the season, it boasts stunning views of the glacier-carved landscape and opportunities for close encounters with wildlife. Just the day before, our fearless females came within feet of mountain goats, marmots, and ground squirrels while bighorn sheep grazed in the valley below.

Ross guides the raft to the pull out and points to a short blue bus. “Hop on.”

The ride back is not a long one, but there is time enough for the group to serenade Eden with a rousing round of “Happy Birthday” and for a one-question trivia contest, which Eden wins. Food allergies, unfortunately, mean she can only watch enviously as Yumiko collects and eats the prize: a double scoop of delicious locally-made huckleberry ice cream in a waffle cone.

In the golden light of afternoon, our dynamic duo drives the rough roads of the remote and uncrowded North Fork Valley to the tiny community of Polebridge, where, according to Ross, they will find some of the best food around at the town’s only bar.

The Northern Lights Saloon, with its five tables and six barstools and frontier feel, doesn’t disappoint. The food is outstanding and, Eden discovers, the drinks strong. Yumiko, on antibiotics, can only watch enviously as Eden downs a celebratory Jack & Coke.

“Yup, yup,” Eden says, finishing her elk burger (no bun) and handing over the car keys. “I’ve had bit too much to drink. But no worries. It should wear off soon.”

The memories of her 40^th birthday weekend, however, will stay with her for a very long time.

© Eden Feuer