Exploring Namibia

It is time to see the rest of Namibia for myself! starting with a couple nights in Windhoek, It definitely was a different vibe from the farm! Other then breaking my phone and getting lost while I was trying to find a store to fix it it was great! some relaxation and TV before I left again on another adventure.

My next stop was Sossusvlei, The sand dunes. This was the top thing on list of things to see and for good reason. It was about a 4 hour drive and I arrived just as the park was opening. It was amazing, I have never seen anything so incredible. Living near the mountains is my favourite and I am surprised to say how shocking it still was to see these massive “mountains” of sand. Photos don’t do it justice although I tried my very best! I even climbed Sand dune number 45, once I got up there it literally took my breath away, I have rarely had the “i’m dreaming” sensation, but I could not get over this place. See for yourself!

My stop after that was of course Etosha National Park, I needed a safari and one last chance to get some really awesome wildlife photos. I got to see everything! But there was three moments I will always remember. I had been told there was a Leopard in the area recently and to keep an eye out. I made it my mission to try and capture just one single photo of her. I was looking through the trees and bushes when I was starting to loose hope I looked down and there she was, Right below the car sitting 3 feet away napping under some trees. She was amazing so close and she sat very still, One of my all time favourite photos. Another moment I got to capture was a group of elephants shading themselves under some trees. I have seen elephants before but not in this way, so wild and big, they moved together in one big family and the details in their skin was amazing. It is one of my favourite animals so I had been looking forward to this all day. The last moment that made my trip wasn’t captured on film. For the first time in a really long time I decided to leave my camera in my tent. I was night and I had heard a mama rhino and her baby were at this watering hole. I went out in my pyjamas and got to see the two taking a drink, the baby ran around a bit being playful then they laid down near the edge to have a nap. It was THE most amazing thing I have ever seen. To live in the moment and experience such a rare sight. I sat there for hours I got to see an amazing,endagered, animal just being wild right in front of my eyes. It breaks my heart to know that they animals are in danger of being poached. They are being killed for their horns, it’s pathetic what people deem as important for us humans. Lots of people in Africa are trying to find alternatives, the horns are actually a lot like fingernails and will grow back when they are cut, unfortunately people find the cheapest way to get what they want, which is to poach the animal. Lots of animals can’t fight for their right, we need to do it for them.

Overall this trip has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have fallen in love with Africa, it has been my dream since I was 13 and its even more amazing then I ever thought. I left my heart in Africa and I can’t wait to go back.

Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary

One of the most amazing places in the world, spending October here was a dream I got to work with the animals hands on, it wasn’t easy work but it was so gratifying. Everyday our work was a little different, we prepared and fed the animals, cleaned their areas and went through the camera traps. I also learnt a lot, we learnt all about the animals and their habits, their foot prints their behaviour everything. It is something I have always been fascinated with and I wish I could do this everyday. Not all the jobs were too pleasant…. The babboons eat crazy things including left overs, which means we had to go through the compost bins and sort what they could and couldn’t eat….. After sitting in the African sun all day the food can get a bit ripe to say the least. It was all worth it though when we got to take the animals for “walks”. The baboons and cheetahs get walked once a day, not like a dog on a leash ahah. The babboons would just follow us to a more open space with a couple of big trees to climb and hang from jumping from person to person along the way. It was amazing to sit and watch them play and interact with everything. To be clear we didn’t take the adults out (they are very aggressive) we only took out the very young baboons. They are considered pests here in Namibia and all of the young baboons at Nannkuse were orphaned so this is their last chance at a semi wild life. They create their own beautiful families. The cheetahs on the other hand would go into a trailed behind one of the cars and we would drive about 10 minutes away to let them roam freely. It was amazing to see their natural instincts take place, they still had the instinct to hunt and watch their prey although being in captivity most of their life. Cheetahs on the other hand can’t always be re released they become very humanized quite quickly and it can be very dangerous for them if they were to be left on their own.

Naankuse does their best to release all the animals that come into their care. Giving animals a second chance is what they are all about. Its such an amazing thing that they do for these animals, injured, sick, anything these animals will get the care they need and they are constantly researching how to make their lives better. Enrichment was something we did daily as well we created paper mâché sculptures with meat hidden inside so the animals had to use their claws and teeth, much like they would in the wild, to get their food. A once in a lifetime experience….. maybe aha I think I will be back very soon.

Welcome to Africa!

Only took 36 hours but I have arrived, I am in Namibia Africa. I spent 12 hours in Frankfurt, most of it spent touring downtown seeing the classic German buildings all in incredible colours. I mean I did spend two hours getting lost on the train…..got to see lots of neighbourhoods in the Frankfurt area…. Once I had taken 1000 photos, I realized how tired I was and how I hadn’t slept in 24 hours, So I made my way back to the airport bought a Big Mac and slept like a baby until we were ready to head to South Africa.

The airport in Johannesburg was very cool but sadly I had 30 minutes to make my next flight and I did not make it…. Good day so far! After my mini panic attack and a phone call home at 3 am (sorry mom), I rebooked my flight for free and within and hour was up in the air.

The first part of my trip is spent volunteering. This is my first trip this far from home by myself so I booked everything I have ever wanted to see in Africa. I am volunteering with Naankuse wildlife sanctuary. They kindly picked me up from the airport and helped me solve the problem of the lost luggage….. which will hopefully arrive in three days. I was sooooo tired but this has been my dream trip since I was 12 and saw my first Nat Geo magazine! I was practically bouncing out of my seat I was so excited. We arrived at the Sanctuary and did a quick tour of the grounds before I was shown to my tent for the next few weeks. The tent was awesome I had my own space and it was a three step walk to the Cheetah enclosure.

The sanctuary has several animals in their care Cheetahs, Warthogs, Lions, Baboons, Mongoose, Oryx oh my! basically any and every animal that needs help that is sick, injured, threatened Naankuse is there to help. They do their best to keep the animals as wild as possible and release them when they can. But sadly some animals can’t be released so the sanctuary becomes their new home with lots of care and room to roam.

The Cheetahs across from my room are named Ebony and Ivory and seeing those big yellow eyes so close is a little daunting I have never been so close to a wild animal before. But I am excited to get started and get down to work so I head to the LAPA (Fire pit and dinner area) to meet some other volunteers before the work starts tomorrow. For anyone that knows me personally knows I am an extremely awkward person and the way I “befriend” someone is to stand to close to them and make awkward eye contact until they say hello.

Worked to my advantage because I already made a few new friends, PHEW! I knew the night was going to end pretty early so I looked around a little watched the baby baboons, saw the horses and took in all that Africa has to offer me! I can’t believe I am actually here!!!!!!!

Wildrose Classic 2018 Info

Hello synchro lovers!

I am so happy to be back this year taking photos! Congrats to all the amazing swimmers this weekend. I have uploaded two example photos of the editing that goes along with the purchase of the single photographs.

I am doing something a little different this year, and am offering a buy one get one 50% off for two DVD's. If you are interested in this offer please email me at meganbjornsonphotography@outlook.com with the event and number of the two routines you would like to purchase. 

Thanks so much!

Megan

I Can Speak Whale

The final days spent in Maui were probably my favourite of the trip. I got to see and attempt (attempt is the key word) to take whale photographs. I have always loved taking photos of wildlife and jump on any opportunity I get. Therefore I went out on three different boats, despite my severe motion sickness since early childhood. The first boat was called Ocean Guardian and I got to be on the maiden voyage! The first time she has ever went out with people. It was very cool and I sang my heart will go on several times, didn't sound the same as when Celine Dion did it. It was pouring rain all morning and of course I didn't have the proper gear so I had to invest my 5 dollars in a poncho and a couple cents in a garbage bag to wrap around my camera. I was a fashion icon to say the least. After yelling ICE BERG AHEAD, and not getting any laughs from my peers it was time to stop my titanic fantasy and get down to work. 

The boat tour I chose to go with is called Pacific Whale Foundation. They are an amazing non profit company that respects and uses their money to give back to the animals and their research. All of the captains and naturalist are very knowledgeable and very tan. But in all seriousness I love what this company is doing for our oceans and how serious they are about protecting our wildlife.

After a two hour boat ride I didn't see  single whale. I was feeling very discouraged, of course I had built it up in my head thinking I was just gonna waltz onto this boat take a couple photos of a whale breaching, doing it's thing, and become a professional whale photographer. Much Much harder then it looks. But by the second boat I had already decided that perfect breaching photo might not be that attainable an all I wanted was to SEE a whale. My wish was granted!! I got to see a mom and her calf. So incredible. The baby tried to copy everything the mum did including diving. When a whale dives down the tale goes up creating a "fluke" one that the baby can't quite master. (Look at me speaking whale lingo). The underside of all the whales tales look different, no two whales look the same. 

WHALE FACT: did you know the males are the ones who sing. They can sing in so many different tones that human ears can't pick up all the sounds. 

By the third boat I was clearly a pro! I got onto that little sail boat with my 200 mm lens popped in a gravol and was ready to get my breach photo. The third trip was amazing!!!! There were so many whales out in the water, all the moms and their babies out and about. It is always important to stay far from any wild animal but they make it very difficult when they come up right beside the boat. I had so much fun photographing I spent three hours straight with the camera in front of my face and I still didn't want it to end. Photographing animals gives me such an energy and strength like no other. 

I didn't get my dream whale photo but I believe I came close, the first step to my ongoing photo adventure. I got a ton of Fluke photos, a couple fins slapping the water, a face or two popping out, I even got (the worst picture in the world) a photo of a whale break VERY VERY far in the distance! ill show you..... you have to look very close to the little specs in the distance. Whales are such a beautiful mystery, we as humans can keep guessing that the breach of whale is a way of mating, or communication but we will never know. And I love that!

So this is what Steven Spielberg meant

A few days have passed since my last adventure and the rest of the week has been going fairly well. I had a day of just relaxing because my red ass couldn't handle the heat. But my breakfast was very colourful, I was hesitant to try the Acai Bowls at Down the Hatch, just because I am a very picky eater and who wants to eat that much green stuffy for breakfast..... okay most adults do but i was seriously missing my lucky charms! Until I tried it. I got a smoothie bowl with kiwi,banana, berries, honey and coconut and it was delicious!!! Was very nice and sweet, you couldn't taste the organic everything at all. It was also very pretty I can see why so many people get obsessed with taking photos of their food.

Besides that my favourite adventure of the week so far was going to Paia. Its a small town just East of the Kahului and its the one place on Maui I could see myself living for a significant amount of time. Theres not a ton a ton to it but it has a strip of shops down the center that are all self owned and Very cool! Its filled with all artsy little shops (some would say hipster) that you won't be able to find anywhere else! Especially Calgary. Also the food and restaurants look like they came right out of a movie set and were extremely delicious! All homegrown and pure home made food. I ate at Cafe Mambo if anyone was wondering.

Paia is also home of the legendary waves of JAWS beach. Jaws (aka Peʻahi) was named after the movie due to the fact that the waves can become so dangerous and unpredictable at any moment. I got to witness this first hand. I got my camera out to take some surf photos, same old same old, within the hour the 5 foot waves turned to 12 foot waves maybe more. I couldn't believe the amount of surfers on these monstrous waves. The waves at Jaws beach can get up to 70 feet in the high winter season!! 70 FEET! I can't even fathom what that would look like, but I intend to one day find out. The surfing was amazing I spent hours holding up my 200 mm lens and sitting along some rocks taking photos. I couldn't step away, I didn't want to step away. Here are just a few of the photos I took of the surf. Another thing I quickly noticed was how many surfers stopped bent down near some rocks around the corner, did the sign of the cross and then jumped in. I went over to investigate and found 12-14 wooden crosses set up just along the rocky shore of Jaws beach, all beautifully decorated in different ways. I then understand the honest to god reality of this sport. So many sports are dangerous and people get injured all the time but we always forget just how dangerous it can be. Especially when it's all up to mother nature.

On a different note, I also got to see some turtles up on the beach. It took me so long to figure out what I was looking at! I honest to god thought they were rocks!! They look like rocks!! Apparently they sun themselves on this beach quite often. Jaws beach is a MUST see if your on the island of maui! So much to do and see, the one place everyone has to experience.

Anyways I am off to grab a pizza on Prison Street...... thats a strange sentence but I promise its the best pizza in Lahaina! See you next time.

How to be a Canadian in Maui

Day one!! what a day it was. After waiting in line for a rental car for 3 hours I got settled and decided to treat myself to a lovely dinner at Bubba Gumps. I don't know what it is about this place, no wait yes I do, there is a giant tree growing out of the middle of the restaurant, its right one the ocean (literally) and they serve the best Mahi Mahi on the island! (personal opinion, I love the spicy Mahi) This place is definitely in my top must visit food places if your in the area. Just be prepared they will test you on forrest gump movie trivia and if you haven't seen the movie, Like me, the answer to who plays Forrest is not to yell WILSON as loud as you can......

The room is very nice and cozy with my own kitchen and everything! not that I can cook but I need some place to keep my cookies. They have two different pools if your into that sort of thing and a hot tub...... which no one uses....... because its Hawaii and hot as hell! My favourite part of the hotel you may ask .....why yes it is the cats running freely! How did you Know! I am using the, I am on Calgary time as an excuse to go to bed at 8:30 but the truth is I am an old lady in the body of a 23 year old.

Throughout this week I have gotten up at 6:30 almost everyday to take photos or swim. In fact I did another surf lesson. I have been doing the surf lessons since I was around 16 years old and my favourite place is the Maui Wave Riders. They are super laid back and always ready to have a good time. They do lessons with beginners as well as intermediate surfers (as I always, say there is always room to improve) and will even rent out several boards, soft top long boards to hard top short boards. You name it they have it. Its a great experience for everyone in the family and hard hard work! I woke up the next day with sore muscles I didn't even know I had. The lessons take place right next to the Lahaina Harbour its the best place to catch the waves.

My favourite part about the harbour is watching all the locals surf. I set up my 200mm Lens and will sit there all day. Surfing photography is definitely a new thing for me but has quickly become my passion. Its a good thing I live in Calgary where there is soooooo much ocean and surfing RIGHT!? Darn Landlocked city. These surfers on their boards make it look so graceful and easy. So easy that I take my board out and will try to do the same and realize very quickly how Canadian I truly am.

Speaking of being Canadian ALWAYS wear sunscreen and look at the fine print on your "sunscreen bottles" to make sure its SPF and not lotion (even when it lies and says SPF). You will burn like a lobster and look very foolish and feel very betrayed by the lady who sold it to you. I am Canadian! We don't see the hot sun, there is a reason why were so pale.

After a whole bottle of Aloe later, I went to visit my all time favourite burger place. Cool Cats, don't be fooled by the fancy name my friends this place has the BEST burger i've ever had. I am being completely serious, why do you think I can to Maui spur of the moment. It wasn't for the surf of the whales, it was because I was craving a really good Duke Burger. I will probably eat here 3-4 more times before I leave and spend the rest of my year in Canada dreaming of the BBQ burger with pineapples,onion rings, and bacon.

Lahaina also has a beautiful bird shop! yes they can be exported! no I am not allowed to buy one my dogs would eat the poor thing. They are so incredible and very talkative, Especially LaLanie the grey one she is quite the little flirt. That is all for todays post I will see you all next time.

Maui 2018

My first trip of 2018! It was a spur of the moment trip for me and not as long as I usually travel for but a perfect get away, and chance to get some awesome photos. This week I am staying in Lahaina, one of my favourite areas in Maui. Over the past couple years Lahaina has turned into quite the tourist area but there are still some fun things to see and do. I am staying at the Aina Nalu which is a 5 minute walk from the town center and the Banyan tree. Its my first time at this resort and its great! I love being where the action is. (Whale watching, Boating, Surfing) I was delayed one day and had to spend a night in Portland, Sadly no photos of Portland due to the fact that I flew in around 9 pm. But once the 24 hours of traveling finally came to end I was in Maui. One of the only knocks I have against my travels is the fact that spring break is just around the corner (Didn't take that into consideration) so its not as peaceful as it usually is in August. 

Lahaina is a great place with shopping, a nightlife and restaurants, as well as one of my top places for surfing photos. I spent hours this week at the harbour taking surf photos when I wasn't in the water myself. The waves in the winter months are a lot bigger and overhead most of the time, a surfers dream, the weather is also cloudy and there is more rain but still incredibly warm ...... a Canadians dream!

And so the adventure begins! Follow along my blog and my instagram for some daily hawaii photos first few days will be up and ready to view tomorrow. And I will see you guys in my next post! 

The Final Day- All Things Kuta

For the Last portion of my trip I decided to take a couple days to stay in Kuta. Kuta is a completly different enviroment than Ubud and Nusa Penida, thats for sure. Our hotel was just around the corner from a pretty big mall and restaurants all along the street. It felt like I flew to another country, but it was awesome being able to eat a big cheeseburger and relax on a beach. Or so I thought! Turns out in my head, I thought the flight was the day after so we had to put everything we wanted to do into one day! First stop was Kuta beach. Our plan was to surf a little before we left just like last week but as it turns out the beach was red flagged. Which means the water is incredibly dangerous and there shouldn't be swimming. Although I'm a strong swimmer, I am not a strong surfer and I decided not to risk it. But I did get some awesome photos of the locals surfing. The waves were huge and it was crazy watching these locals, they were amazing! There were some spills, the waves getting bigger but none of the locals seemed fazed. This is something that I honestly enjoyed doing, I had never thought I would get so into photographing surfing. I have always been the one in the water, I absolutely love the water, but this was something new and something I could spend hours on! Ill definitely have to try again.

The next thing on my list was to talk and get more photos of the locals. My favourite was an older women who owned a market just off the beach. What caught our attention was her beautiful eyes. I have never seen such ice light blue eyes on someone with such dark features. She didn't speak much english but you don't always have to exchange words to form a connection to someone. And I think that has been one of my favourite parts of taking my camera on this trip, is documenting and making all the connections I have on this trip.

The last thing I HAD to do was go to Garuda Wisnu Kencana national park. I had seen a few photos online and although most of the park was under construction when I went, it was amazing!!! These statues were the most intricate, large pieces of art I have seen. There was so much detail and dedication put into every part of the statues. Of course I took as many photos as possibly trying to get each detail. But what was even more fun to be honest was the green space around the statues!! It looked like a maze, the walls were tall and covered in so much green. As embarrassing as it is this place made me think of a disney movie (el dorado to be exact). I got to watch the sun set on all the statues creating a golden light and aura around everything, I couldnt have spent this day any differently.

Uluwatu Temple

This temple, by far was my favourite from my trip. It stood high on the tops of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Of course my photographer anxiety kicked in and I had to take photos from every angle possible. The ocean looked like it could on forever, like the water was falling off the edge of the earth. It was incredibly green and lush surrounding the temple, it was an incredible feeling standing right on the border of bali. The day that we traveled there we got lucky and were able to experience a true sacred, religious, ceremony. Everyone was dressed up in the traditional clothing, sarongs and all, then they proceeded to enter the scared part of the temple all together. They all prayed in union and made their offerings together, the balinese have a true sense of community. 

Releasing Turtles

Today was the day, the day I had been waiting for all week! We took two of our rehabilitated turtles and released them into this cove. It was around a 20 minute drive to the location so we Packed up the turtles in their bins and placed wet towels around them. The surprise at the end of the drive was a hike down a steep trail to the beach, it was tiring and I definitely didn't bring enough water for the occasion. But once we got down there the beach itself took my breath away. The sand was beautiful!!!! I have never seen dark sand before let alone black sparkly sand. The cove was very closed off from everything which was perfect for the releasing and the coral underneath looked incredibly. As soon as the turtles were placed on the sand, they were ready to go and they automatically wanted to move toward to water. It was a perfect moment for me. Every since I saw my first sea turtle in Maui this is what Ive always wanted to see and capture on film. I had goosebumps all over my arms and legs because I was so happy! They moved quickly down the beach and when they came close to the water they would stop, let the water wash over their shells and eventually let the tide take them out into the water. This day was the day I have been waiting for ever since I booked my trip to Bali.

My Week on Nusa Penida

My week on the island of Nusa Penida has been one of the most memorable of the trip for a few reasons. One, working with the Sea Turtles and locals have been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and second, everyone got super sick and or injured this week. I had been taking malaria tablets but quickly stopped when I realized they were making me so unbelievably sick that doing any of the activities was incredibly hard. We also had a ton of motorbike accidents. On the Island there is no public transport so if we wanted to adventure around we had to rent ourselves a bike....... which we all did of course. But despite all the injuries it was a super cheap and easy way to get around for the week. The housing was very similar to Mama's except it was communal bathrooms. This got annoying pretty quickly but everything else made up for it. 

The Volunteering consisted of several different things, Feeding and cleaning the turtles in the sanctuary, Beach Cleanup (Garbage), Seaweed and crab hunting, and teaching the local kids english. It is quite the variety. The Beach Cleanup was hard work, I don't think I have ever seen so much garbage in my life. And this wasn't like wrappers and food items there was clothing. To be specific I picked up three t shirts, 4 pairs of shorts a bra and 2 pairs of boxers. There had been a storm earlier that week and it blew so much garbage our way, but by the end of our visit it looked almost like new.

The feeding and cleaning of the turtles was definitely my favourite, we went everyday and pulled all the turtles out into seperate bins so we could feed them their share without any fighting. Feeding them was simple you just placed the food in their bin and they would bob their heads down to crab it. After a while the smell of fish blood and organs kinda makes you feel sick but once we left we were pros! There were some turtles that were picky and would only eat in their tank or only eat in the red bins, just have to figure out which ones are which. There were around 500 baby turtles and they were the cutest little things I have ever seen!!! Cleaning them was the best you just brushed their shells top and bottom with a soft toothbrush and off they went! Cleaning the tanks was hard work and had to be don everyday especially with the sick turtles. These turtles were separated from the rest in smaller bins. We couldnt touch them and had to be very careful while feeding them, watching them just sitting still with a missing fin or some other illness was heartbreaking and I couldn't have felt more helpless.

Twice a week the local kids came to volunteer house and we got the opportunity to teach them some basic english. That week we worked on creatures of the sea and fruit! The kids were amazing and I can see how easy it is to get attached to being here. These kids were incredibly smart, during the breaks we got I would always work in my sketchbook, by the end of the break I had given away all my sketches to young ladies watching me. Creativity is the universal language.

During my free time on the island I got to go snorkelling at Crystal Bay, which although the weather was a little stormy it had some beautiful coral. Every time we traveled as a group the volunteers would all pile into this open back truck, very convenient but nauseating! We also had some puppies living near our housing, which we would let stay inside the compound for the nights even though it wasn't allowed. These puppies are too cute to resist and it took everything I had not to take them all home. 

I cant believe the week is over! Im gonna miss everything about Nusa Penida.

Seminyak and Tannah Lot

For a couple days we went to Seminyak about an hour from Mama's in Ubud. We rented a place about 30 each with a few of the volunteers and this place was incredibly! The ultimate Bali Party house. There was up to 13 beds I think in the whole house and the living room/kitchen was very open concept...... (It was outside). We even had our own pool. These days were mostly relaxing and spent to get to know the volunteers a little better and I can honestly say I have met some pretty amazing people. We spent one of the mornings surfing on the 62 beach which was a 5 minute walk from our house. But once the waves got a little too rough we walked around the art market and saw some more traditional dancing and we did a common spa treatment where little fish eat the skin off your feet. It was a strange concept and I wasn't too keen on my feet getting tickled but it was worth it! But the main part of the day was to see another temple. This time we saw Tannah Lot. I had heard from several locals that Tannah Lot had an unbelievable sunset, this proved to be true. The temple itself is floating out in the water so  the sun created the best silhouette of the temple. It didnt take very long for it to set and the temple itself was crawling with people. I climbed as high as I could up the rocks and got the best photos I could. We couldn't physically enter the temple gates as tourists but we got "blessed" and rice placed on our foreheads, flowers behind our ears and we drank from the holy water. I love being apart of the balinese culture, there is so much to learn. Once the sun set the temple cleared out and we drove all the way back to Ubud to get ready for our morning departure to Nusa Penida!

Pura Tirta Empul and Rafting

The last day that the Green Lion had planned for the volunteers was a visit to Pura Tirta Empul, the water temple. Before entering the temple we had a set of rules to follow, things like wearing a sarong, hair tied back etc. The temple was beautiful, everything was made from bright stone and gold. So basically locals, and travellers come to this temple to pray and bath themselves in the holy water. They would pray in front of each fountain after placing their offerings, then splash water above their heads and drink from the water. They continued down the line of fountains until they reached the end. The ritual was very interesting and everyone young and old got involved and were passionate about it. This made for some great once in a lifetime photos and experience. The next day we spent doing something I never planned. As we were walking down the street we saw some volunteers leaving for river rafting and decided within 5 minute that it would be worth it to go. The rafting was crazy we got stuck several times and although I didn't personally fall out of the bed, there were several people who did. It was honestly so beautiful though, we were right in the jungle there was so much to look at and see. I did try and get a couple photos with my really small waterproof camera but it was difficult to say the least. 

Rice Fields

Today was a pretty big day, Yanik, our green lion coordinator, took us to do a walk around the rice fields. The walk was long but not incredibly hard or anything, what was hard, was walking i the direct sunlight when it was 100 degrees outside! I suggest ALOT of water. We spent the whole evening walking around which made for some great photos. The golden light and bright green of the fields gave the photos such a beautiful and natural contrast. While I was choosing the photos to post the colours were so vibrant that it was hard, even for me, to believe that these were the raw files. It was awesome we got to see some of the locals in action collecting the grass and tending to the rice. We also got to learn about all the different types of rice and what they use it for. My favourite photos from today are definitely the ones of the local farmers. We walked all the way to this small art village where many locals made their living. There were carvings, paintings, egg paintings and sewing for tapestries and sarongs. The crafts and all of the balinese's handmade work is beautiful and will completely blow your mind. So much talent and patience. The sun set and walking home and the stars look incredible here but the amount of giant and scary bugs suddenly became very real. Before tonight I had never really thought about what was lurking in the long grass. They have spiders the size of birds, the biggest ants I've ever seen (and they bite), scorpios oh and apparently deadly snakes that hang of the trees like vines. But we made it home with no bug/creature problems and we got the opportunity to see the most beautiful part of Bali.

Living Like a Local

These past few days have been pretty eventful, the Green Lion has created a week so that we can learn and live like a Balinese Local. Each morning starts with a Balinese Language and Culture Class. We learnt that most balinese families will stay living in the same compound all together with one bathroom but several different rooms. The compound we are living in, the rooms are all separated with a large garden and mini temple in the middle. We also learnt the basics of Bahasa which is one of the balinese languages. The ones we used often were : Good morning = Selamat Pagi, Goodbye= Dha Dha, Thanks= Makasih, Whats up= Apa Kabor, and in my case Kura-Kura= Turtle. Bahasa is an incredibly interesting language and honestly I wish I could of learnt and had the time to practice it more. But we learnt a ton and I am so excited to bring back what I learnt home. This whole week we got the opportunity to do so many traditional things including Balinese cooking, Painting, A Fire Dance, and a Flower Offering. The dancing was an unforgettable experience. There was so many small (but important) gestures in the fingers and head, it would take so much skill and practice to perfect it like they do. We also had the opportunity to learn about the flower offerings, not only how they are made but the meaning behind the colours. Purple flowers meant north and water, this represented the god Wisnu. White flowers symbolized wind and the east, this represented the god Iswara. Red flowers symbolized fire and south, this represented the god Brahma. Yellow flowers symbolized earth and the west, this represented the god Mahadewa. Finally in the centre was the colour green, this meant balance for the god Siwa. Because it has been so crazy busy I didn't have the opportunity to carry around my equipment but I took a few photos and videos of my days with my handy phone and will post them below!

Touring With Volunteers

Finally have some consistent internet so I will be posting a ton!! Today was a great opportunity to meet some of the people we will be spending a few weeks with. We got split up into several groups with around 20 volunteers in each group. I think we are going to meet some pretty incredible people. We spent the day doing things we have technically already seen, at first I was a little bummed because I want to see everything I possibly can but it gave me a chance to "see things". Most people won't understand what I mean when I say that but I am so used to Walking around constantly with a camera in front of my face and deciding what the best angle and photo I need to take that I forget to just sit and look. Today gave me that opportunity, I still took some photos of course but it was definitely a relaxed day. We started by walking to the Monkey Forest and ended with walking through the markets and coming across a guitar store down the street. I am completly in love with these monkeys and could probably come back and see them everyday. I hve never seen such personality in such tiny bodies before. It was definitely an early night to bed we did a ton of walking.

Off to Green Lion

So the reason why I chose to travel to Bali this summer, opposed to just taking photos in the most beautiful place in the world was to volunteer at a turtle sanctuary. The program I am doing is with IVHQ and the Green Lion in Bali. The first week here we will spend doing orientation which will include some pretty interesting activities. Today was our pick up day so beforehand we made a small trip to the Goa Gajah which is an elephant cave and Temple. The rules of the temple are very important and include, men and women are required to wear a sarong, Women are not allowed to enter a sacred place if they are menstruating..... Yes this one is  strange rule and I don't honestly know how they would know if you are or aren't but supposedly they know and will have to re-cleanse the whole temple. During our walkings around we came across a entrance to a Budda temple, it was quite the hike to get there and I'm not even 100% sure if we found it! But the walk was beautiful and made for some great photos! I could have sat there all day next to the cool river if it wasn't for the spiders the size of my hand. On the way to find a taxi we found a little market (not a hard thing to do Bali is covered with markets) that sold genuine leather bags for crazy inexpensive prices. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the green lion volunteer house which is placed at Mama's Warung. The only downside to this was there was absolutely no air conditioning and it is Extremely Hot!!!! But the owner,Mama, has amazing food and all the locals in the village are incredibly kind. But I can tell this week will be great. Below I am also gonna post some photos of our hotel room at the Taman Bebek in Ubud.

Hiking a Volcano!

  Mt. Batur was honestly the most unique things I had a chance of doing so far this week. We got picked up at around 2:00 am bali time, which is around 12:00 pm in Calgary so to be perfectly honest I wasn't very tired at all. They driver took us to a spot just below the volcano where the locals made us a breakfast of chocolate and banana crepes just before our trek up. At first I thought this hike would be pretty hard work but I try to hike as much as I can in Canada, so I honestly thought it would be somewhat similar. Boy was I wrong. Hiking for 4K in the pitch black, with only one flashlight per two people, up a 90 degree volcano with loose rocks and several other tripping hazards, was hard to say the least. But once I got to the top, all sweaty and exhausted, it was worth it. The sunrise on top of the volcano was amazing. At that moment I wish I had trekked my camera equipment with me, but that thought quickly changed as we tried to descend the Volcano. I did take some photos with my phone but it was incredibly hard to capture the true colours that surfaced behind the mountains.  The woman that brought us up the volcano was doing this trek in flip-flops believe it or not, she has also been doing this trek everyday for four years. I couldn't imagine. They call the top of the volcano Monkey Mountain because Surprise!!! There are monkeys all over the place up there!!! I was so excited I love these monkeys and I made some friends with one that clearly wanted to come home with me. The hike down was a little rough and supper slippery but we got back down and to our hotel around 10 am so we still had a full day ahead of us! Too exhausted to do anything else I had a nap and pool day. 

Monkey Forest

This activity is probably one of the most talked about in Bali. Even before we came to Bali, the monkey forest was something highly recommended for a tourist to see and now I can see why. The day started with a 2 hour walk from the Taman Bebek Hotel, to the monkeys in Ubud. Not the best idea I've had especially carrying my camera equipment, it got a little heavy to say the least, but it made for some interesting Ubud photos and we got to meet some more of the locals. The monkey forest was a great chance to take some photos, close ups, of monkeys in what is their natural habitat. The monkeys are definitely used to tourists and don't have a problem with stealing jewelry and water bottles. The Locals even sold us bananas so we could take photos with the monkeys on our shoulders..... although you didn't need to the bananas for the monkeys to crawl all over your head. I think these are going to be some of my favourite photos from the trip, I found a new love for monkeys, I am OBSESSED! The monkey forest also has a bridge/rainforest and jungle area which was bauetiful. It felt like we were walking through the jungle bugs and all.