After 3 nights in Yasuni National park this was the very first rain shower! It was perfectly timed, as it started pouring down just as we were switching from the open canoe to the roofed speedboat. There was thunder rumbling, and this was perhaps the beginning of a hefty thunderstorm. Not so. After a few [...]
There is no sound of engines after you disembark the motorized boat at the welcome center, where the Aanangu creek meets the Napo river. From there all goods and people must be transported by canoes up the creek to the Anangucocha lake. This is a wonderfully silent means of transport, and has an impact on [...]
A beautiful moonlit night with an almost cloudless sky above the Anangucocha lake. As this is the watery Amazon I should have been pestered by countless mosquitoes and other bloodsuckers, but not here. The Napo Wildlife Center is strangely not a mosquito infested place. I wore shorts and a T-shirt and got no bites during [...]
A starry night in the Amazon – I never expected a clear night like this! The moon will be full in 2 days – the 10th, which in fact is the date of the lunar eclipse. Not visible from South America, but being in such a strong moolight in this wonderful location with all the [...]
Anangucocha lake and cumulus clouds reflecting the light of setting sun.
A setting sun in the west and a rising moon in the east, reflected in the Anangucocha lake. If I only had time, I would have made a time-lapse movie of all the moods of the lake during any given day. As this is on the equator, there are no storm fronts or hurricanes. Only [...]
Perhaps one of the most peculiar formations on the Galapagos. From afar it looks just like a pinnacle rock, but closing in you’ll see strange formations created by sun, wind and water. This erosion is continous, and sometime in the future the pinnacle will be nothing more than a photographic memory.
An island in a sea of hardened lavaflow on an island in a sea of water! This is on the south east side of the island, close to the Pinnacle Rock.
What a sight this must have been, when the lava was flowing here a few years ago, and surrounded this outcrop! This is on the north west side of the island.
Out on sea the temperature is balmy, but on land it’s a different matter. Close to noon, it must have been close to 40 celsius here on the slopes down to the brine water of Darwin’s Lake – scorchingly hot, despite a partly cloudy sky. Without frequent rain, the water will quickly evaporate and thus [...]
Altitude 3083 metres. See Atmospheric Optics for more on halo and how it forms.
At this time of the year the nights are hardly noticable, as the sun is below the horizon for just a few hours – during which the sky never darkens enough for the stars to come out. During this eclipse the rising moon was below the horizon during much of the totality, and I don’t [...]
Despite a very cold winter, there has been no nacreous clouds this winter. This is the only display that’s coming close. Alas, it’s not nacreous. The sun is down, they shine brightly, they are stationary, but are simply a bleak indication of true nacreous clouds. Last time was in 2008 and the extent and variety [...]
Now the landscape widens, and so does the river, which is now the Carrao river. The table mountains are now fewer and far between, compared to an hour ago upstream. Very soon this fantastic trip will be over!
One might say that all the clouds is unfortunate, but if the air was dry and all the table mountains fully visible, I wouldn’t have seen the dramatic changes – minute by minute. Here only a few portions of the tepui visible, and it hints something incredible lurking beyond the veil of moisture. A clear [...]
Early morning (07:37) in a landscape seemingly inpenetrable and with no visible trace of human activity! The experience was magnified by the fact that I was sitting in the only boat, and 10s of kilometres away from any dirt road and no mobile network! Only later in the day would boats normally be coming up [...]
The trip downstream is much faster as you ride the flow, and this cuts travel time in half – just 2 hours opposed to 4 going up! The high speed of the boat leaves little time to catch the pristine beauty in the morning light, so I memorized the interesting locations I missed on my [...]
A sandstone outcrop is located a 40-50 minute walk from the boats, and provides awesome views of the falls. Under normal circumstances I would have shared this lookout point with people from all over the world. Today I could sit by myself. Fantastic! Much of the water “evaporates” on the way down as it’s carried [...]
When the clouds are low in the sky it’s hard to locate the falls, unless you know where to look. Even if you know where to look, it can be hard to see the falls from the jungle. From the right position alongside the the Kerep river (fed by Angel Falls), the river will provide [...]
On the right, the river Kerep flows into Churun river. This smaller river is the water that just a few minutes ago fell off the Auyantepui as Angel Falls – a near 1000 metres waterfall and the highest of any in the world! This was the camp site, and it was completely deserted. As this [...]
As we moved further up the Churun river, the river changed into a winding snake of rapids and turns. Some sections the river was calm, deep and narrow and the forest canopy almost covered the river. We only met one other canoe on our way upriver, and I wondered how many accidents occur, as it [...]
The journey to Angel Falls begins only metres from where the Carrao River plunges into the huge Hacha Falls, and takes about 4 hours to reach the base of the Ayantepui from which Angel Falls originates. The transportation is a mix of old and new – with Yamaha outboards attached to a dug-out tree trunk! [...]
One of the four spectacular water falls of the Carrao river by the Pemon village of Canaima. The deep rumbling sound of the water is heard from far away and the mist is carried high and far. If you are walking on the plain in the vincinity, you will not necessarily see the water falls [...]
The Carrao river is the only (easy) means of transportation to the Angel falls other than by air. These falls are located by the Pemon village of Canaima. It’s an awesome sight to begin the journey, at least when there is plenty of water, as was the case here. It should have been much less [...]
Over time the huge waterfalls have created this lagoon. In the wet season it’s a big lake and in the dry season just a pool with big sandy beaches which are starting to emerge as seen in this photo.
Close to the walls of Roraima the montane forest is dense, moist and very steep. Roraima is causing constant cloud formation and moisture is brushing against everything that lives here. On days with no rain, the fog can create fantastic dew formations of insects, plants and rock. Up here the water is no longer tropically [...]
Walking down from Roraima once out of the forest was very hot. I had a hard time managing my body temperature, and was longing for a rainshower that never seemed to come. The shower did come eventually, but alas, I was walking away from it. I sat down to rest on a rock in the [...]
About one our before sunset. Most prefer to be in constant movement to forget about the unanswered questions of existence and keep the mind fully occupied. Instead they could simply sit still and watch nature’s countless variations and manifestations. For just one moment the light of the sun was let through as if a giant’s [...]
There are countless waterfalls on and off Roraima, large and small. If the sun is out and the angle is right, a rainbow will flash as in this photo. One can walk to such a place, or sit by one and wait until the sun and angle makes it happen all on it’s own.
This crevice is huge in depth and length, and in one location a rumbling sound – like a remote jet plane – is heard. It’s the sound of a large waterfall far below – covered by layers of rock. Some time in the future this crevice may have grown to a divide that separate parts [...]
What a stunning place to wake up! Just outside my tent this is what I saw – the great wall of the neighbouring Kukenan tepui. Every minute the light, shadows and clouds changed – no human sounds – not even the sound of a plane. Silence…. Watching the sun rising and the shadows shrinking. This [...]
Finally arrived at the “hotel”, after a very wet hike up. Now the high clouds are dissolving, and the lower clouds manifest in the heat of the emerging sun. Both Roraima and Kukenan are cloudmakers, and if they are in the clear – just sit and wait, and the updrafts will soon manifest misty rivers [...]
This was the third day of the Roraima trek. The morning started with a light shower. Unfortunately it lasted for many hours, and we just had to make our way to the top of Roraima. It was a weeeeet walk! Strangely enough I preferred the wet, as that made it easier to climb and not [...]
Base camp turned out be quite a spectacle after dark, as the fireflies here were abundant and glowed – yellow! On the savanna the light was blue, and the fireflies mostly on the ground or in between the grass. Here they were quite busy on the ground, as well as in the air. Some only [...]
Closing in on base camp, Roraima seemed lik an insurmountable wall going on forever as it disappeared into the clouds. How to climb this monster?
On the way to base camp, the walls of Roraima and Kukenan slowly came closer, and the sheer scale of them became more apparent. During the day they were both covered in clouds, but that made it even more exiting, as it was never certain what would be revealed next. This was shot at 13:11, [...]
Just 6 minutes ago Kukenan was covered in clouds, and the light was soft and warm. Now the strong sunlight is coming through and and the harder light of day rules.
The light and clouds change continously, and I could take photos all day long. Here the tepui is almost covered in clouds, while the base is beautifully lit up by the rising sun. Although it’s 07:37 – more than an hour since sunrise, the light is still softened and dispersed by the mist and clouds.
The sun is rising to the right of the photo and Roraima is standing tall and dark against the brightening of the sky and clouds. To the left an early rain shower is moving into the picture.
Facing away from the awesome Kukenan an Roraima tepuis, the morning light is no less soft and warm, but the landscape is dramatically different and what dominates the plateau – grass and bush. Hardly any trees – the few that exist grow around rivers and streams. This is due to natural fires caused by lightning, [...]
This is the second day on the Roraima trek. It’s just 06:09 in the morning and the light is wonderfully soft, as the very first sunrays fall on the grassland on the base of the Kukenan tepui – Roraimas awesome neighbouring tepui. The waterfall is just a trickle compared to last evening when we had [...]
This is the first night on the trek up and down Roraima, and here the trekkers are settling down after dinner. Behind you can see the silhouette of Kukenan to the left of Roraima. The Kukenan and Roraima tepuis create their own weather, and thus there is no way to know the water level of [...]
Darkness is fast approaching and Kukenan (below) and Roraima is almost in the clear – seen from the Tok river camp. The visibility changes continously, and just seconds later both could be covered in clouds, just to reappear seconds later, or gone for a day….
The previous night was extraordinarily wet – it was almost impossible to look through the windshield. Driving was very slow, and fallen trees in the road didn’t make the journey any better. Richardo the driver did not seem worried, and pushed on Venezuela higway 10 towards the Kamoiran lodge on the plateau that is the [...]
My host had two dogs, and such harmonoius dogs! Being a total stranger I would suspect a greeting of loud barks and jumping to and fro. Not these dogs! Approaching them and simply giving attention and petting them was well received, with pure joy and friendliness in return. Most of the time they were just [...]
Some areas the shelldunes stretched far and wide, and it resembled a desert more than an atoll. The enormity of shells deposited is is a grand display of how rich the ocean is here. The strangest of all things here was the absence of human waste! There was nothing! Not even a tiny bit of [...]
In the lagoon there are huge deposits of shells in formations similar to what you see in the snowy and windswept mountains in winter. The different ages of shells are like the snow, where the fresh snow is the whitest on top, and here the newest shells are the whitest all the way down to [...]
This is one of many openings in the chain of dry land and during storm surges the ocean will flood through here and rearrange shores and islets and deposit shells, coral and other dead material in the lagoon. In 1983 Anaa was hit by a hurricane which destroyed the bridge over this channel. Only the [...]
Northern lights (Aurora borealis)
Napo Wildlife Center
Octauius Swordtail (Chorinea octauius)
Noctilucent clouds
Masked Flowerpiercer (Diglossopis cyanea)
Isbjørn (Ursus maritimus)
Napo Wildlife Center
First northern lights (Aurora borealis) of 2010 
Blåklokke (Campanula rotundifolia)
Pinnacle Rock - Bartolome Island
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus galapagensis)
Roraima in the morning
Roraima bush toad (Oreophrynella quelchii)
Skogsveve (Hieracium sylvatica)
Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus galapagoensis)
Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki)
2009 total solar eclipse - the longest eclipse of the century
Cobalt-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris cyanoptera)
Poecilandra retusa| Flags | Visits (%) | Pageviews (%) |
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Copyright © 2012 Morten Ross.