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Travel snapshots from Toonsarah

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  • About me
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    • My love of travel
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    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • England
      • London
      • Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Estonia
      • France
        • Paris
      • Germany
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • Jersey
      • Latvia
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
        • Seville
      • Switzerland
      • Ukraine
    • Beyond
      • Africa
        • Botswana
        • Cape Verde
        • Gambia
        • Kenya
        • Madagascar
        • Morocco
        • Namibia
        • Senegal
        • Tanzania
        • Zimbabwe
      • Americas
        • Belize
        • Canada
        • Chile
          • Rapa Nui
        • Colombia
        • Costa Rica
        • Ecuador
          • Galapagos Islands
        • Guatemala
        • Jamaica
        • USA
          • Chicago
          • New Mexico
          • New York City
          • Washington State
      • Asia
        • DPRK
        • India
          • Kerala
          • Rajasthan
        • Indochina
          • Cambodia
          • Laos
          • Vietnam
        • Japan
        • Nepal
        • Oman
        • Syria
        • United Arab Emirates
        • Uzbekistan
  • Themes
    • Architecture
    • Art
      • Crafts
      • Street art
    • Colour
    • Dark tourism
    • Eco-tourism
    • Food & drink
    • Gardens
    • History
      • Ruins
      • War
    • Landscape
      • Coast & seascapes
      • Deserts
      • Mountains
      • Rivers
    • Nature and wildlife
      • Animals
      • Birds
      • Plants
        • Flowers
        • Trees, forests and woodland
    • People
      • Culture & tradition
      • Street photography
    • Travel in general
  • Photo galleries
    • Themed galleries
    • Travel galleries
  • Postcards from the road
  • Challenges
    • Photography challenges
      • Lens-Artists
      • Monochrome Madness
      • Nature Photo Challenge
      • One Word Sunday
      • Photographing Public Art
      • Pick a Word
      • Squares
      • Sunday Stills
      • The Changing Seasons
      • Cee’s challenges
        • CBWC
        • CFFC
        • CMMC
    • General challenges
      • Happy Place Happy Space
      • Monday walks
      • Words of Wisdom
      • Writers’ Quotes Wednesday
    • Challenges archive
      • Bird Weekly
      • Friendly Friday
        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
      • Friday’s Foods of the World
      • Just One Person
      • Life in Colour
      • Mid-week Monochrome
      • One-to-Three
      • Ten photos
      • Thursday Trios
      • Thursday Doors
  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive

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Topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white bulgaria cambodia chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks naturephotochallenge nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills thechangingseasons usa views village wildlife
  • Flowers,  London,  The Changing Seasons,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: a June selection (2023)

    June 30, 2023 / 57 Comments
    Several large heads of purple hydrangeas

    For me this past June has been one of more than usually changeable weather. I started the month inside the Arctic Circle where in the first few days of meteorological summer the temperature didn’t rise above six or seven degrees Celsius and was often colder than that. I then returned to a London going into its first heatwave of the summer, hitting thirty degrees on a couple of days. Towards the end of the month the temperature dropped to the more usual, and comfortable, low to mid-twenties.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Pink and white flowers against a deep blue sky

    Gallery: the magnificent magnolias of March

    March 23, 2022
    Narrow path between flower beds

    Gallery: some favourite English flowers

    October 17, 2022
    Two white bell towers

    A stroll around Tavira

    April 29, 2022
  • Flowers,  London,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  The Changing Seasons,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: a May selection (2023)

    May 30, 2023 / 18 Comments
    Pale tulip against a dark background

    May is an especially lovely month in England. At the start of the month spring is at its height, while by the end there are hints of the summer to come. With spring being late this year, the early part of May felt more like April, with chilly winds and frequent showers. But the trees were green at last after the winter bareness, and there were flowers everywhere!

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    Or what about ...?

    Red, yellow and purple tulips

    Gallery: tulips from London, not Amsterdam

    April 6, 2023
    Large red poppy

    Gallery: is it wild if we plant it?

    July 2, 2021
    Bee on a bright pink flower

    Gallery: a selection of summer bugs

    August 3, 2021
  • London,  Nature Photo Challenge,  Plants,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: finding peace in the park

    May 26, 2023 / 51 Comments
    Bee on yellow flowers

    Like many Londoners (and indeed town dwellers worldwide) I discovered the pleasures of our local park during the pandemic lockdowns. Whether on our permitted visits to the shops or on the also permitted daily walks close to home, Walpole Park was our refuge and our delight.

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    Purple flower against a bright green backdrop

    Gallery: a November (and October) selection

    December 1, 2022
    Squirrel with a conker in his mouth

    A neighbourhood walk

    October 31, 2020
    View of a city with winding river and skyscrapers

    Gallery: London from the top of the Shard

    May 28, 2023
  • Flowers,  London,  Nature Photo Challenge,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: tulips from London, not Amsterdam

    April 6, 2023 / 56 Comments
    Red, yellow and purple tulips

    While many people head to Holland to see the tulips, we have London’s Holland Park. There the Dutch Gardens are planted with formal beds edged with low hedges and overflowing with tulips every spring.

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    Or what about ...?

    Two white bell towers

    A stroll around Tavira

    April 29, 2022
    Cluster of pink flowers

    Gallery: inspired by spring blossoms

    March 26, 2022
    Dark pink flower head

    Gallery: in the garden, Costa Rican style

    March 12, 2022
  • Animals,  Colombia,  Postcards from the road

    A postcard from Colombia: a three-toed sloth in a city park

    February 17, 2023 / 48 Comments
    Face of a sloth among large leaves

    Last February we travelled to Costa Rica, hoping (among other things) to see sloths. And we did. But it never occurred to me to hope to see them in one of Colombia's biggest cities.

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    Or what about ...?

    Hazy view of bamboo clump

    Periyar’s monkeys, elephants, bison and more

    October 4, 2021

    A postcard from Madagascar: a tenrec

    October 28, 2023
    Cheetah head and shoulders

    With the beautiful Africat cheetahs in Namibia

    May 16, 2021
  • England,  Flowers,  Lens-Artists,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: some favourite English flowers

    October 17, 2022 / 35 Comments
    Narrow path between flower beds

    In the last few years, with the batterings the world has taken – Covid, war in Ukraine, prices spiralling – flowers have been among the constants that have kept many people’s spirits up. The pandemic in particular reminded many of us to value the little pleasures of life, and what gives more pleasure for its size than a flower?

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    Or what about ...?

    Green hillocks and winding paths

    Is it art or is it nature? Northumberlandia

    June 30, 2021
    Black and white photo of a river with bridges and city buildings

    Following the River Tyne to Ouseburn

    April 20, 2021
    Landscape with old wall on hillside

    Outpost of the Roman Empire, Housesteads

    December 5, 2020
  • Monday walks,  Paris,  Street art,  Street photography

    A sunny Sunday walk in Belleville

    September 28, 2021 / 31 Comments
    Panoramic cityscape

    What do Parisians do on a sunny Sunday? They do much as people do in any city. They meet friends in a favourite café or restaurant. They exercise in the local park or take the children there to play and for a picnic. They walk the dog, do a bit of food shopping perhaps, or browse a lively market. Certainly the people of Belleville do all those things.

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    Rough wooden sign on the edge of a beach

    A short (hot) walk around Guiones

    March 31, 2022
    Large building with turrets and ornamental details

    More Cambridge colleges and other sights

    August 1, 2022
    River with trees along the banks and blue sky reflected

    A stroll around Naperville

    October 5, 2023
  • Bird Weekly,  Birds,  London

    Gallery: the birds of St James’s Park

    July 13, 2021 / 26 Comments
    Two pelicans swimming with daisies beyond

    London is blessed with many parks and green spaces and every Londoner has a favourite. Mine is St James’s Park. I love it for its views, its sense of history, its beautiful lake, and for its birdlife. The park was originally created by King James I who had the marshland here drained to create a park for his palace at Whitehall, where he kept a collection of exotic animals including camels, crocodiles and even an elephant

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    Young Herring Gull with roof tops in background

    Gallery: meet Steven the Seagull and some friends

    May 27, 2021
    Yellow and green birds on a branch, black and white background

    Gallery: playing with a selective colour technique

    June 1, 2021
    Fierce-looking owl

    Gallery: owl portraits, striped and speckled

    June 12, 2021
  • Art,  London,  Photographing Public Art,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: encountering elephants in London parks

    July 6, 2021 / 40 Comments

    ‘If you go down to the woods today …’ We all know that the ‘big surprise’ in the woods of that childhood ditty is a teddy-bears picnic. But what about a surprise in a park – what could that be? On a recent visit to London’s Green Park, the ‘big surprise’ for me was a herd of seventy elephants!

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    Sculpture of a large bald head from the rear, with a bald man standing next to it

    The unique vision of Fernando Botero

    March 10, 2023
    Sculpture of a soldier in uniform waving

    Gallery: a wartime farewell in Tavira

    April 23, 2022
    Grand building with fountain in front

    An ‘arty’ stroll in Paris

    October 9, 2023
  • Bird Weekly,  Birds,  England,  Galapagos Islands,  Themed galleries,  Washington State

    Gallery: a Grey Heron at Osterley Park (and friends)

    July 4, 2021 / 10 Comments
    Lake with heron in foreground and large house beyond

    The elegant Georgian house at Osterley Park was once home to the wealthy banking family, the Childs. Queen Elizabeth I visited the manor house that once stood on this site, and the present house, designed by Robert Adam, has seen many other wealthy and important visitors over the years. The view of the house from the far side of the large lake is particularly pretty, even on the November day when we last visited.

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    Or what about ...?

    Two birds with turquoise feet

    Blue feet, red feet, any coloured feet …

    May 18, 2021
    Two flamingos feeding

    Gallery: reflecting on birds

    March 27, 2021
    Bald Eagle on a wooden jetty

    Gallery: Bald Eagles, American Robins and more

    May 12, 2021
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Read my featured blogger interview

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By Marsha of 'Always Write'

And my answers to Bren’s ‘five at five’ questions

Lady in a hat and red top sitting on rocks

Some favourite photos

Man in a turban with fishing nets
Fisherman in Fort Kochi, Kerala
Two elephants in long grass
Okavango elephants
Blue glacier edge
Glacier Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile
Elderly woman in black hat and sunglasses
In Santiago, Chile
Very large statues of North Korean Leaders
Statues of the Great Leaders on Mansudae Hill, Pyongyang
Water reflecting the sky with clouds and low sun
Approaching sunset in the Okavango Delta
Feet of huge metal sculpture, with man standing beside
The feet of the Angel
Large moai with row of more behind
The ‘travelling moai’ and Ahu Tongariki
Man in knitted hat by water, black and white photo
Waiting for the ferry, Banjul
Mountain reflected in a lake
On the road to Dyrholaey
Sunset at Wahiba Sands, Oman
Squirrel with a conker in his mouth
In Walpole Park, Ealing
Silhouette of a man in a gateway
Looking out from Bundi Palace
Blue and pink bird on a dead tree
Lilac-breasted Roller, Chobe NP, Botswana
Buddhist monk in orange robes with mobile phone
Monk at Wat Nong Sikhounmuang, Luang Prabang
Man sleeping in a tuk tuk by a carved stone wall
Tuk tuk driver by the Terrace of the Leper King
Close up of flamingo with head tucked under
Flamingo (Jersey Zoo)
Lady with baskets of fruit sitting by a canal
In Hoi An, Vietnam
Small fishing boat with a man in it, on a large lake
Lake Atitlan
Wet street and two people with bright pink umbrella
Street in Lucca, rainy day – edited

Some topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white bulgaria cambodia chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks naturephotochallenge nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills thechangingseasons usa views village wildlife

Archive

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You may have missed

  • Gallery: pick a word (November 2023)
  • Gallery: an October & November selection (2023)
  • A last walk in V.O.I.M.M.A. reserve
  • Gallery: empty spaces
  • A day out in Tana

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All images and texts copyright Sarah Wilkie - 2023 ©
 

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