Day One Hundred and Seventy Five - Wedding

The wedding of the year - and here are the happy couple! Sunday was a busy day taking wedding pictures, but at least I didn't have to stand in the baking heat, with the setting sun on my face, lifting my new wife, while someone took photos of me!

For those who like wedding photos, there's a folder on Picasa!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Four - Girl and Feathered Hair

We went back to the 'Deep South Games' for the final day - which included all the local traditional Amerindian activities, such as tree climbing, basket weaving, cotton spinning, speed drinking, arrow making, archery, vegetable speed grating, and fire making. Hard to choose between that selection, so here is a spectator relaxing! For photos of the activities have a look at the album on Picasa.

Day One Hundred and Seventy Three - Cow Ride

Everyone seems to be travelling at the moment. It's the season for people to be away at their farms. The villages are virtually deserted. The farms are small areas within the forests which are cleared to plant food. The farms move around to let the forest recover, and to move onto fresh land. Whenever I ask anyone where their farm is, I get a vague wave in a general direction. 'Out there.' is as specific as it gets!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Two - Last Cart Home

I hadn't realised that one of the main benefits of an ox cart, and the fact it travels at walking speed, is that you don't have to wait for your passengers to be ready in order to set off! You just go, and if they want a lift, they will catch up and jump on...

Day One Hundred and Seventy One - Moth Wing

A close-up photo of the colour and texture on the wing of a moth.

Day One Hundred and Seventy - The Old Church

Day One Hundred and Sixty Nine - Face Painting

A good combination of traditional and new provides materials for face painting. The paint is ground seeds, the 'brush' is a plastic lollipop stick! Tough choice between a few options today - the opening performance, and some action pictures of the first day of cricket and volleyball.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Eight - Travelling to the Games

The Deep South Games are the Wapishana version of the Olympics. People will walk, cycle, travel by horse or cow, or get a ride in the village tractor to attend. A difficult choice between some alternatives today. See here for the horse and cow option!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Seven - Firework Flower

These small blue wildflowers look like an explosion in slow motion. They are one of the few things to regularly catch the little morning dew that there is here.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Six - Firefly

I've been planning to go out chasing fireflies for a while. The only problem is that they come out at the same time as the mosquitos. So when one flew into our house it was a perfect opportunity to get a photo of the day, without going out!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Five - Beef

Three villagers take a break during the slaughter of a cow. They will soon carry the four quarters to a nearby tree where they can be hung, weighed, and sold. The head is already reserved. The intestines and tripe are collected by local women, and the hide is stretched out to dry in the sun. The vultures, waiting nearby, hopefully, are left with nothing but blood stains in the sandy soil.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Four - Kiskadee

Day One Hundred and Sixty Three - Dadanawa River Crossing

When the river is too high to drive through, jeeps are driven onto a wooden pontoon, with oil drum floats, to be swum over the river. When the flow is strong, a motorboat joins in to help push. An runner up for today shows the motorboat on an alternative mission.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Two - Hummingbird Nest

A tiny nest, made from cotton, containing two equally tiny eggs. The parents are taking turns to sit and guard the nest.

Day One Hundred and Sixty One - Craft Workshop

This small workshop in the village, with no tools or equipment, is the source of many handicrafts, jewelry, instruments, bows and arrows.

One Hundred and Sixty - Cycling Shower

Another impossible choice - between two this time. This one is Sarah's choice; I think the alternative might just have the edge. But this one requires no explanation (apart from to say that the wood structure centre shot is a public toilet), whereas the other one, perhaps, doesn't make immediate sense.

(The alternative picture is a view from the back of the sports ground spectator seating. Some volleyball and football players are sheltering from the sudden heavy shower.)

Day One Hundred and Fifty Nine - Laughter

A really difficult choice between three photos today. I've changed my mind a few times, and could be persuaded to change it again! This is the one that makes me smile though! The other two are here and here.

Day One Hundred and Fifty Eight - Boy at Church

The old Aishalton Catholic Church - a traditional ite leaf roof building.

Day One Hundred and Fifty Seven - Rainforest Moonrise

A great moonrise - after an afternoon with a little rain, the early evening sky cleared so I cycled out to the hill overlooking the forest (see Day 132) to wait for the sun to drop and the full moon to rise. There was a little mist over the forest, spreading the last of the sunshine a little, and the moon shot up into a dark sky. Without the midges brought out by the damp it would have been a perfect evening!

Day One Hundred and Fifty Six - Children and Tree

Back to the same tree again - a little earlier in the afternoon. I felt that I'd missed the sun on the tree the previous day, and I wanted to get a bit of human perspective in there. On reflection I probably should have put up the moon and clouds shot for yesterday, rather than repeat the tree two days. There's an alternative in the Runner Up folder on Picasa, but I much prefer this one.

Day One Hundred and Fifty Five - Autumn Tree Cloud

About a week ago all the leaves suddenly fell from this tree and I wondered if it had died, perhaps choked by bindweed or the creeper that has invaded it (see previous photo of the day). A couple of days ago the tree's short winter was over. Small bright green leaves are bursting out at a rate I can hardly believe.

I really struggled on today's choice - Sarah much prefered the picture I've put in the runner up folder. But there's something about the tree I like! The alternative is (as usual) here.

Day One Hundred and Fifty Four - Dragonfly

Day One Hundred and Fifty Three - Travelling Puppy

At the start of a long, crowded tractor ride - the only available transport to much of the public - a small puppy is crammed in with the passengers. The ride hasn't even started yet and it is hot in the mid-morning sun. A big bottle of creek water, occasionally poured over the puppy, is the only respite from the heat! Every one else resorts to putting towels over their heads - reminding me of Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent! All travellers round here know where their towel is.

One Hundred and Fifty Two - Old Lady Hair

The hair is old, dry, bindweed hanging from a tree at Old Lady Pond. After looking at the picture on computer, I decided that it was a bit too flat, and would be massively improved by putting a big flower in the 'hair'. I went back, but suddenly found myself very popular with the killer (well - large at least!) bees which seem to hang about there waiting for my arrival. You'll just have to imagine the flower!

I might be avoiding the pond for a while.

Day One Hundred and Fifty One - Cattle Ranching

One Hundred and Fifty - Tree in Savannah

Just a normal tree, in a normal bit of savannah, but for some reason I liked the look of it, and the evening light on it.

One Hundred and Forty Nine - Old Lady Pond

A first for us in Aishalton - a foggy morning! I headed out to a local pond (with a great name!) to try and catch some atmosphere.

One Hundred and Forty Eight - Rocky Creek

Got out late today, expecting a fine sunset to give a good skyscape for this local scene. It was almost there, but a distant storm passed through the sunset, giving me rather flat plain light. Not a great image, but a place to return to and try again.

One Hundred and Forty Seven - Sinking Sun

A quick return to sunsets! This one was unusual for the lack of any cloud in the sky. It seems to be a rare event that we get the sun sinking down from a flat sky.

One Hundred and Forty Six - Waterpump Girls

A nice relaxing village scene today! I was a warm day, with a lot of sunshine. The sun just went behind a cloud for this picture, which might have saved it from excessive contrast and burnt out highlights, but I think it has also robbed it of a little warmth...

I also had another trip out to retake the Savannah Tracks photo - but I don't think it's much of an improvement!

One Hundred and Forty Five - Old Archer

A competitor in the selection event for the 'Deep South Games'. The Olympics of the Rupununi! There are a few more archers in the runner's up folder - and a couple of pictures of the tree climbing competition.