The photographer behind the image, Ami Vitale, is a well-known documentarian who photographs have appeared in countless international publications, but most notably, National Geographic. For the Nikon Ambassador, her interest in photography started as a passport to meet new people and experience cultures all over the world. But, as her travels increased, Vitale’s lens became a tool to educate and raise awareness for the causes that she found herself gravitating too. 10 years ago, that passion found a main focus. African wildlife and the critically endangered rhino.

Over the years, Vitale has told both uplifting and heartbreaking stories about the rhinos plight. And now, Vitale wants to include us in the story. In partnership with the online fundraising platform, Omaze, Vitale is bringing two lucky people to join her in Kenya to visit the last two living female northern white rhinos at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. And best of all? Even if you do not win the sweepstake style contest, your donation goes to helping protect the rhinos and other endangered wildlife at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. For more information on the prize details and how to enter, head on over to the dedicated site on Omaze.

After I gladly bought myself 1,000 entries, I was lucky enough to sit down with Ami Vitale to talk about her passion for rhino conservation, how her relationship with Sudan started, how his passing affected her, and whether we can win the battle to conserve these endangered creatures.

Unfortunately, far too many animals are on the endangered list. With limited time and resources, what was it about Africa’s endangered species, specifically the rhinos, that drew you in?

I had the privilege of meeting Sudan nine years ago, and he changed the trajectory of my work.  I heard about a plan to airlift four of the world’s last northern white rhinos from the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic to Kenya. It was a desperate, last-ditch effort to save a species. At the time, there were only eight of these rhinos left, all living in captivity. He looked ancient, part of a species that has lived on this planet for millions of years, yet could not survive mankind. The moment I saw these magnificent creatures, I quickly understood how important it was to share this story with the world. We are witnessing extinction on our watch and poaching is not slowing down. It’s entirely possible, even likely, that if the killing continues, these rhinos—along with elephants and a host of lesser known plains animals—will be functionally extinct in our lifetime. The plight of wildlife and the conflict between poachers and increasingly militarized rangers has received much-needed attention. But very little has been said about the indigenous communities on the front lines of the poaching wars, and the incredible work being done to strengthen them. We often forget that the best protectors of these landscapes are the local communities. Their efforts are ultimately the best immunization against forces that threaten both their wildlife and way of life.

You have taken many incredible images in your career, but maybe none has resonated as much with the public as the emotional moment you captured Joseph Wachira comforting Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino, as he passed away. Even though you had been working with Sudan and endangered rhinos for almost a decade, how did this moment change you?

To watch the last of something die is something I hope never to  experience again. Sudan’s death could mean the extinction of his species, but if there is meaning in his passing, it’s that all hope is not lost. This can be our wake-up call. In a world of more than 7 billion people, we must see ourselves as part of the landscape. Our fate is linked to the fate of animals. My hope is that Sudan’s legacy serves as a catalyst to awaken humanity. There is a universal truth and we are in this intricate web together.  There is so much that connects us all to one another,  whether we understand it or not and the loss of any species has a ripple effect on other animals and on all of humanity too. The future of nature is the future of us.

When you first met Sudan, you described him as being surrounded by smokestacks and humanity as he lived in the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. As a photographer who has devoted most of her career to conservation efforts, how do you keep a positive outlook when you see the harm that mankind has brought to these ancient animals?

There are incredible stories where people, who often have no political power or resources are creating impact and change in their own communities. I am constantly reminded in the power of individuals to create the world we want to live in and I think sharing these stories and images of hope are what motivate action. What is happening without fanfare in some of these places I have the privilege of working in is nothing less than a miracle. It is the beginning of a transformation in the way  communities relate to the wild animals they have long feared, with potential implications for communities and wildlife across Africa.

This opportunity for two lucky winners to join you for five days at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya really seems like a dream trip. Above all, what are the feelings and experiences that you wish for the winners to leave with?

I expect people will leave with a sense of wonder and hope. Because Love IS going to be what saves us all. The first step in caring about our natural world is by falling in love. Once you are in love, you have the courage and desire to make miracles happen.

In your article for TIME, you describe the love that surrounded Sudan in his final moments. For all of the outpouring of love for Sudan, there is a fair amount of people who do not share the same love for conservation efforts. How do you see this seemingly never-ending battle looking like in 10 years? 50 years? 100 years? Is there any hope?

Planet Earth is the only home we have and we have poked some big holes in our shared little life raft. Personally, what saddens me the most is that our children may not get to experience and benefit from the variety of life we have today. There is a good chance that like the northern white rhinos, a whole host of species will eclipse into myth, like unicorns. We are about to condemn all future generations to eternal poverty.  So what must we do? What happens next is in all of our hands.

Everyone here has the capacity to make an impact by making your voice heard. The truth of the matter is very, very few people are actually engaged in the fate of our planet.  And a friend said this to me. Its so important. The messenger matters as much as the message. It’s important that EVERY one of us be that messenger. This project with Omaze is about collaborating and shining a light on those who are caring for the environment in all its forms – from glaciers to deserts, to elephants to the tiniest of ants that inhabit the earth.  Our future depends on all of them. It’s also about taking this message to a variety of different audiences… If more people are involved, then, absolutely, we’ll come up with solutions. Get involved. There is a role for each and every one of us.

Follow Ami Vitale on her website, Instagram, and Facebook

The post A Conversation with Ami Vitale About Rhino Conservation and How You Can Win a Trip to Kenya appeared first on Resource Travel.

As I do for any trip, usually international, I spend months learning about the location:  climate, people, popular sites to become familiar with, customs, food, and the travelers “dos and don’ts.”  Although in the US, I had not been to Wyoming for at least three decades, so I dedicated time to conduct quite a bit of research, particularly since the area I would be visiting was described to me as a “photographer feeding frenzy.”  I wanted to ensure I had the appropriate equipment, mentality and imagined experience to maximize my trip.  To minimize travel time, I chose to stay at The Hatchet Inn, just 7 miles from the park entrance, and was sure to reserve a Jeep Wrangler (it’s Wyoming, I had to!).

Now that I knew where I’d stay and how I would get around, I turned my preparation to learning all I could about the grizzly bear population in the park, including sites, schedules and best locations for sightings.  I learned that the grizzlies are designated by numbers and #399, #610, #793 were a few that seem to return with their cubs each spring after hibernation.  After more research, I found a few have be given names:  #793, aka Blondie, and #610, aka Felicia.  As my friend and I spoke more, we laughed a bit at our “secret agent-like” conversations that referenced these bears by number.  The more I researched, the more excited I became and then remembered, I have at least five more months!  The excitement grew as the date neared.    

While my family made holiday weekend plans to officially kick off summer at our nearby lake, I packed my light winter clothes, all-weather jacket, hooded sweatshirts and beanie and headed off to Jackson Hole, WY from my homet in Dallas.  My outbound flight was overbooked and we were not going anywhere until nine passengers, either voluntarily or involuntarily, made alternate plans.  To incentivize the deal, bidding started at $800, which quickly escalated to $1200.  Despite my excitement to get to start my grizzly adventure, I thought this is an opportunity I should answer and threw my name in the ring to get bumped.  After eight others reluctantly came to the same decision, we each walked away from the gate with $2800 in future flights and a seat on the same flight the following day.  My hotel was kind to adjust my reservation without penalty, and I flew out the next morning, but not until I ate my $31 in food voucher by starting the day with steak and eggs!

Arriving a day later than anticipated only increased my excitement to get my baggage (of course I carry-on my equipment), grab the Jeep and hit the wet road from a full day of rain.  Wyoming is breathtaking and far more beautiful than I recall from my childhood summer vacations.  Meeting up with my friend, who had been on the ground for a few days already, was a little delayed because I could not hold back from pulling over and capturing the beauty around every passing curve. Little did I know that this was a good idea because the rain kept the bears tucked in for the day.

Day two far exceeded my expectations. Not only did I capture #793 and her 2 cubs, within yards was #399 and her nursing cubs.  What started off as a few observing passerby’s turned into miles-long of onlookers, photographers and some very sweet park rangers.  The day was filled with #399 leading the way for #793, mimicking the motherly teachings of what I imagine my wife doing for our young children as they become parents.  I spent the next couple of days capturing the sweetest moments between the pair of sows and cubs, never growing tired of patiently waiting for the playful bursts of the cubs chasing birds in the tall prairie grass or chewing on the orange parking cones.  My trip could have ended here and I would go home a happy man, more importantly a happy photographer. How could this get any better?

My morning routine was pretty well set by now, so early the next day, I grabbed my coffee and drove through the park, looking for the next opportunistic shot of other beautiful creatures of the park: moose, elk, and the occasional black or cinnamon black bear.  As I settled on an area, I caught a familiar face mixing about the crowd – Tom Mangelsen – arguably one of the most celebrated wildlife photographers today, who happens to in the Tetons in search of the same stunning moments I was in search of.  Stepping in the front of the camera for a moment, I grabbed a photo of Tom and me, as well as a pop-up interview regarding the proposed reversal of national park hunting practices.  His lovingly admiration for #399 and others was so personal, and I look forward to sharing his thoughts in a future article.

Photography trips are more than just capturing images of the local community, human and bears, alike.  Photographing wildlife brings hours of idle time to meet other professionals, share stories of past or future adventures or other on-site photographic material or subjects.  This proved very helpful for my next morning as I set out to get a sunrise shot of one of my favorite birds that had been nesting nearby, the osprey or aka sea hawk (for those Seattle NFL fans out there).

As I waited patiently for one of the nesting pair to take flight, one of the other photographers I had befriended joined up with me and we received a tip that a great grey owl was nearby.  Rumor has it other wildlife photographers have spent years, 10+, to photograph this evasive creature and here I am on day 5 of my trip. Thank you to Wendy and Jeff!

My bucket list and soul are fulfilled.  My inbound flight ended up being overbooked, too, so guess what I did!  After receiving a $2000 voucher, I went back to rent the same Jeep, and set out to gather more shots. Blondie (#793 and I are on first-name basis by now) was the first bear I spotted from the main road passed Colter Bay and after she retired into the woods after about 4.5 hours, I found myself alone with a wolf for about 6-minutes before two park rangers arrived.  When I shared my good luck, they confirmed stating that neither of them have seen a wolf in years.  My days were catching up to me so I slowly made my way to Snow King resort, compliments of American Airlines, had dinner and packed yet once again before calling it a night.   

The final day was short, but I made the most of it and caught the great grey owl hunting for breakfast along the bank of the water at Moose Overlook.  Only photographers quietly trace the path of a hungry owl, hoping she looks our way or into the sunlight.  My journey ended here.  I was ready to go home, but a part of me would welcome a financially-incentivized reason to delay my flight, but opportunity did not knock and in a way I was okay with that because I’m already planning my next trip.  Thank you, Wyoming.   

The post In Search of Grizzly Bears in Grand Teton National Park appeared first on Resource Travel.

Philippine Tarsier

Photo by Leocadio Sebastian via Flickr, CC Attribution

This tiny, bug-eyed monkey – the mammal deemed to have the biggest eyes in proportion to its body size – is odd at first sight. Adorable, but odd. The infant tarsier is born with hair and its eyes wide open; that, and females have multiple sets of breasts, with only one functional pair. They are able to hang from trees shortly after birth, and can leap from tree to tree soon after. Populations of the tarsier are found sparingly throughout the Philippines, and better yet – they share one of their homes with Bohol Island’s Chocolate Hills. These, rolling hills that turn into a rich brown color in the tropical rain, seem like a fitting residence for these cute oddities.

The sanctuary near the town of Corella, on the Philippine island of Bohol is having some success restoring tarsier populations. Photo by
Peter Hellberg via Flickr, CC Attribution

Photo by
Raymond Bosma via Flickr, CC Attribution

Photo by
Jan Hazevoet
via Flickr, CC Attribution

Dugong

While not endemic to the Philippines, it’s certainly an oddity amongst the elephants and cows in the room. What exactly is it? Its closest relative is the sea cow, but it bears more resemblance to an English bulldog; it’s sort of like a manatee, but somehow seems friendlier. The reason why one might find difficulty in pinning down its exact resemblance is because we killed off almost the entire Dugongidae family in the 18th century for its meat and oil, with the Dugong surviving as its only living member. Perhaps it persevered with its gentle, herbivorous nature and its unassuming, oafish appearance. But the dugong itself is at risk of extinction by the hands of net-bearing fishermen and destroyers of their natural habitat. Lest we want another extinction on our conscience, the human race must rush to protect this strange, lovable animal.

Photo by
Julien Willem via Flickr, CC Attribution

Photo by
Alex Goodey via Flickr, CC Attribution

Philippine Flying Lemur, or “Colugo”

Strong bite, tight grip, small ears, big eyes. Monster. But eh, not really. The Philippine flying lemur, also known as the colugo, was mistaken in Philippine folklore for being a supernatural creature that feasted on blood and flesh; but in reality, the colugo is a tree-hugging folivore that feeds on fruits, flowers, and leaves. It is a nocturnal animal that is slow and clumsy on foot, and therefore prefers to glide from tree to tree. It has become vulnerable to deforestation but it would like to stay on this earth – just maybe not on the ground.

Photo by
yeowatzup via Flickr, CC Attribution

Photo by
Lip Kee Yap via Flickr, CC Attribution

Palawan Horned Frog

This little guy may look like a thug, but he really doesn’t have much fight in him. His hops don’t carry him far off the ground. His dull brown color gives him the camouflage he needs to outstay predators, since he probably wouldn’t be able to outrun them, anyway. He’s a softie that likes to breed in mountain streams instead of the cold, hard ground. He lives in what is arguably one of the most gorgeous, untapped ecological havens left in the world: Palawan, an island on the western shores of the Philippines. Nickelodeon has certainly caught wind of this and is attempting to erect an undersea theme park – bad news for the Palawan horned frog’s marine compatriots.

“Dulungan”, or the Walden Hornbill

Photo by
Callan Bentleyr, CC Attribution

This beauty is a bird of a thousand names: the dulungan (as natives call it), the Visayan horn bill (after the region it is endemic to), or the Walden horn bill (named after the Scottish ornithologist Viscount Walden). Unfortunately horn bills do not reproduce at the rapid pace necessary to equalize the impact of deforestation and hunting; the dulungan has been declared extinct in the Philippine island of Negros, and its numbers continue to dwindle. It is a free spirit that loves to make loud noises in small numbers. It lives amongst fruit-bearing trees in the lush, green rainforests of the tropics, greeting each member of its disappearing breed with a piece of fruit in its beak.

Photo by
Magalhães, CC Attribution

Comparatively speaking, too – travel is dirt cheap once you get to the Philippines. All you have to do is save up for that $700 ticket!

The post 5 Weirdest Animals You’ll Find in the Philippines appeared first on Resource Travel.

Growing up in Kenya, it was easy for wildlife to imprint the psyche of an impressionable mind. It was exotic yet accessible, and its seemingly infinite setting of rolling grasslands was like therapy to a wandering mind trapped in antiquated classrooms with boring teachers and disinterested fellow students. During the holidays, I spent many days on endless, lion harboring plains, invoking a giddy sense of freedom. Encounters with wild and free creatures in a home that stretched under tall skies made me feel very uplifted.

Shah tells Resource Travel that he eventually “just had to” start photographing wildlife, and he’s been doing that full time for 20 years now. Shah has visited many places in Asia and Africa, but finds himself returning again and again to Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve – a.k.a “The Mara.” Eventually, these visits resulted in a book about this compelling place, that took Shah three years and six trips of roughly two months each to make.

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

I think there is something about the open plains of The Mara, where visibility is great and animals plentiful and widely varied. I believe that there is a wonderful expression of life, and I tried to capture it in my book. I can connect with the landscape and the animals that live here. And I also just like driving around there all by myself and leading a simple life in a tent.

Shah was kind enough to share some of his photography with Resource Travel, in which his resolute choice of black and white immediately stands out. Doesn’t he think nature’s richness gets lost along with its colors?

Color has its place, of course. It is excellent for documentation, and when colors are rich and vivid, then that’s the medium to photograph in. But photography is also expression, and I think black and white works better for that.

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

When I am in the wild with the animals, they move me in an elemental way. I think black and white photography can communicate my feelings better. Black and white also has the potential to reveal the essence, to lift out the soul of wild animals. It seems to capture the truth that lies beneath the surface.

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

Black and white also opens up a world of tone, texture, lines, contrast, light and shadow… It’s a different world, within which I try to balance the personality of an animal. Black and white was a natural fit for the world I was imagining.

Your photography is also characterized by coming awfully close to certain animals… Isn’t that dangerous?

I am actually quite far away from the animals, but my camera is very near them. So I’ve personally never really been in a dangerous situation with animals. The welfare of the animals comes first, so I have to be extra careful. I want them to be relaxed, doing what comes naturally to them. If I should put myself in danger to get a special shot, and I would get injured, the animal would be shot by park authorities because of becoming “dangerous.” But that’s neither the truth, nor right or fair.

Do you have a favorite or maybe “most photogenic” animal?

Perhaps I can dodge this question by stating that I have found tigers to be the most charismatic, chimpanzees to be most fascinating, lions to be the most enigmatic, orangutans to be most photogenic, gorillas to be most arresting and elephants to be most captivating…

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

To create the shots for his book, Shah used three different cameras with three wide angle lenses of varying focal lengths in a protective housing. Other than that, the photographer carried around equipment to control the cameras remotely in his 4×4 Jeep, a pair of binoculars, classic fiction books such as “The Great Gatsby,” non-fiction books on everything except politics, and “a sense of humor too, I think.”

I usually got up before dawn and drove from my tent to one of my “outdoor studios” – places where animals return, where the light is good, and the background is pleasing. I then set up my camera and camouflage it, and then I remove myself to about 50 yards away. From inside my jeep, I can watch the scene in front of the camera on a screen and I can operate the camera remotely, altering the shutter speed, zoom in and out, and, when the moment comes, press the shutter.

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

There’s a lot of waiting involved in my photography. I can be there all day. Sometimes I read, sometimes I write. Other times, I just watch. The Mara is largely plains, so you can see for miles and miles. I can get caught up in all that, and time flies by.

Do you hope to achieve something with your book?

In the midst of our modern civilization and all its complexity, wild animals retain the simplicity of life and wilderness in their home. If my elemental animal photographs touch the viewer as pure photographs and as symbols of wild places, and if they make humanity yearn to reconnect with wilderness, then I will be a very happy human.

Shah feels as if he’s on an eternal mission to give voice to wild animals. At the moment, he’s working on a series of authentic and spontaneous chimpanzee portraits with his wife and Magnum photographer Fiona Rogers. The series has tentatively been called “Doubt,” since “it won’t be clear whether you’re looking at a chimpanzee, a human, or something in between.” Curious to see how that plays out? Keep an eye on the couple’s website! And maybe order a copy of “The Mara” while you wait.

Anup Shah in 2009.
© Anup Shah / Shah Rogers Photography

The post Giving Voice to Kenya’s Wildlife appeared first on Resource Travel.

While a recent decline in the lake’s jellyfish population has some scientists worried, others believe it is a natural fluctuation caused by El Nino and that the population may soon recover.   In either case, several tour companies have halted tours to the lake until adult jellyfish populations increase.  In the meantime, we’ll have to rely on the soothing otherworldly footage brought to us by this talented filmmaker.  More of Sarosh Jacob’s mesmerizing work can be found on his website, his facebook page, and his Vimeo channel.

The post What It’s Like to Swim with Jellyfish in Palau appeared first on Resource Travel.

The Chilean entrepreneur was in Botswana back in August with his friend Esteban Morales. Together, they drove along the country, visiting places like the Serowe Rhino reserve, the Moremi National Park, the Chobe River and its accompanying National Park, and, of course, the Okavango Delta.

It was a tough trip, but at the same time a great experience.

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

Although Olmos doesn’t consider his trip to Botswana to be his most memorable trip ever – “In June, I was amazed by a piece of land called Iceland” – it did leave him with some nice memories.

I shared a lot of time with locals. The contact I made with them, was what I liked the most about this trip.

Other than that, Botswana is a country for safaris, Olmos claims. If you want to see animals: this is the place. He spent 15 days there, but thinks that less would have been enough.

I had the oportunity to take different safaris, and they are all the same. Unfortunately, there’s not much else to keep you there longer.

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

Isn’t it dangerous to be amid all these wild animals?

Botswana is a very safe place, and although animals are wild, the are used to people. I mean, they grow watching people watch them! And guides know a lot about their behavior.

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

What are your future travel plans?

I have a lot of places on my list, but not enough time or money to visit them all. My next trip will be to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, because I owed that to my 11-year-old son. I hope to someday be able to explore Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Galápagos Islands. I like to travel and meet new people and cultures. In short, I love to mix my three passions: traveling, flying and capturing footage of it all.

© “Botswana” by Erwin Olmos

More video’s by Erwin Olmos can be found on his Vimeo-page.

The post Soothing Video Perfectly Depicts Why Botswana Is a Safari Paradise appeared first on Resource Travel.

To see more from Joshua Holko find him on Vimeo or at his website.

Check out these incredible screenshots below.

The post Live the Experience of Photographing a Polar Expedition appeared first on Resource Travel.

To share his love for Norway, Jeff teamed up with Greg Dennis. Supported by Sideways, they created the four-minute film “The Blue Time,” which depicts the pristine splendor of the region. Jeff talks about everything he finds fascinating – from kayaking with whales to how Husky’s can energize even the laziest of visitors. We don’t know about you, but Resource Travel has another destination on its bucket list!

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

“THE BLUE TIME“
© Jeff Allen, Greg Dennis & Sideways.

The post A Kayak Adventure With Whales In Northern Norway appeared first on Resource Travel.

Ansel Adams was a legendary photographer throughout most of the previous century, well known for his black-and-white prints of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park. During his lifetime, he received many awards, including the Conservation Service Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as receiving honorary doctorates from Harvard University and Yale University. He was also inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2007.

Adam’s rather uncommon “early works” exhibit, on display through September 18, focuses on his masterful small-scale prints from the 1920s into the 1950s. In this time period, the photographer’s technique evolved from the soft-focus, warm-toned, painterly “Parmelian prints” in the 1920s, to the f/64 school of sharp-focused photography that he co-founded with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham in the 1930s, and, after World War II, toward a cooler, higher-contrast printmaking approach.

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941.
Photograph by Ansel Adams. Vintage gelatin silver print.
Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
© 2015 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Monolith, the Face of Half-Dome, Yosemite National Park, California 1927.
Photograph by Ansel Adams. Vintage gelatin silver print.
Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
© 2015 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

The Sentinel, Yosemite Valley, ca. 1923.
Photograph by Ansel Adams. Vintage gelatin silver print.
Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
© 2015 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by The Morgan McReynolds Group at Morgan Stanley, NYCM Insurance and The Clark Foundation. The exhibition is organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions. Support was also provided by a Market NY grant through I LOVE NY/NewYork State’s Division of Tourism, as a part of the Regional Economic Development Council awards. Photographs belong to the collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg.

The post Celebrate 100 Years of National Parks with Ansel Adams’s “Early Works” appeared first on Resource Travel.

Often overlooked because of it’s close proximity to its famous big brother, Yellowstone National Park, More Than Just Parks shows us that Grand Teton National Park in northwest Wyoming is full of unbelievable landscapes and quiet beauty that will immediately inspire you to start packing up your camping gear.

We had an absolute blast making the film, and who wouldn’t in such an incredible place? It’s well known that the Grand Teton range is one of of the most magnificent mountain ranges in the entire world. In the course of our filming, we discovered the best time time of day to experience the majesty of the park and its namesake mountains is at sunrise – which meant waking up very early – sometimes 3:30am!). The first light touching the mountains gives a brilliant red hue to the peaks and the surrounding sky making for a truly awe-inspiring view.

More Than Just Parks is about sharing the wonders of our national parks with as many people as we can. Our national parks are national treasures and they deserve to be brought to the forefront so that people can see and experience their majesty. This is the best way we can ensure their continued survival and prosperity for future generations.

The post Exploring the Quiet Beauty of Grand Teton National Park appeared first on Resource Travel.

Princess Angeline (1896)
Photograph by Edward S. Curtis.

In the years that followed, Curtis became more and more involved in Native American documentary photography, eventually earning him a $75,000 sponsorship by J.P. Morgan in 1906 to produce a series on the Native American culture. He was assigned to make 20 volumes, containing 1,500 photographs in total.

Curtis embarked on a quest to document Native American traditional life, “before it would disappear.” In a time span of more than 20 years, Curtis eventually took over 40,000 photographic images from over 80 tribes, alongside 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music. 222 complete sets of pictures were eventually published in the 20 volume The North American Indian.

Complete Set of The North American Indian
By courtesy of EdwardCurtis.com

Meanwhile, things in Curtis’s personal life weren’t going well. In 1928, desperate for cash, he had to sell the rights to his project to J.P Morgan’s son. In 1935, the Morgan estate sold the rights and remaining unpublished material to the Charles E. Lauriat Company. Lauriat bound the remaining loose printed pages and sold them with the completed sets. The remaining material remained untouched in their Boston basement until they were rediscovered in 1972.

But the Library of Congress also acquired a lot of Curtis’s work. From about 1900 through 1930, they collected more than 2,400 silver-gelatin, first generation photographic prints made from Curtis’s original glass negatives. About two-thirds (1,608) of these images were not published in The North American Indian volumes, and therefore offer a different and unique glimpse into Curtis’s work with indigenous cultures.

Giving the medicine–Navaho.
A Navajo shaman giving medicine to participant sitting atop blanket used in sweatbath, as two others look on.

Pakit–Maricopa.
Head-and-shoulders portrait of a Maricopa woman, wrapped in a blanket.

The snake priests–Hopi.
Ten Hopi snake priests, standing, facing front, carrying sticks, some with bags.

Red Cloud.
Red Cloud, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left.

Hamatsa emerging from the woods–Koskimo.
Hamatsa shaman, three-quarter length portrait, seated on ground in front of tree, facing front, possessed by supernatural power after having spent several days in the woods as part of an initiation ritual.

Mis Se Pah & Big Head.
Left: head-and-shoulders portrait of a Mohave woman. Right: head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front.

Yurok canoe on Trinity River.

Cheyenne mother and child.

The end of day.
Hopi boy herding horses and sheep across sand dunes, New Mexico.

Village criers on horseback.
Bird On the Ground and Forked Iron, Crow Indians, Montana

Even though Curtis’s work was widely hailed for its extensiveness, being called “the most gigantic undertaking since the making of the King James edition of the Bible,” he was also subject of criticism for allegedly manipulating his images. Curtis actively removed traces of Western material culture in many of his pictures. By reinforcing their native identity as a tragic vanishing race, some believe Curtis detracted attention from the true plight of American natives.

King Island village.
Houses on stilts on a terraced cliff above body of water, small boulders and low growing vegetation in foreground.

Arikara medicine fraternity–The prayer.
Arikara shamans, without shirts, backs to camera, seated in a semi-circle around a sacred cedar tree, tipis in background.

At the ford–Apache.
Four Apache men on horseback at the edge of a stream.

An oasis in the Badlands.
Red Hawk, an Oglala warrior, sitting on a horse that is drinking from a small pond in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Watching the signal.
Three Crow Indians, one sitting, two standing, facing left.

The flight of arrows.
Shows an Atsina dance with Natives gathered in a circle around a central figure, posed as if shooting arrows toward the sky.

War party’s farewell.
Four Atsina Indians on horseback overlooking tepees in valley beyond.

Quinault berry picker.

A mat shelter.
Two Skokomish women by mat shelter and rowboat.

The vanishing race.
Navajos on horseback riding away from photographer.

All pictures form part of the Edward S. Curtis Collection of the Library of Congress. Some of them were published in Curtis’s The North American Indian.

The post A Historic Look at Native American Life in the Early 1900s appeared first on Resource Travel.

The first time I saw a giraffe in the wild was when Tessa Kit Zawadzki and I were producing the travel guide “Namibia and Beyond” for Resource Travel. Immediately, I was awe-struck at the calm elegance of this massive beast. They don’t seem to walk, but rather float gently over the ground in a calm and calculated manner. If startled, however, they can sprint up to 55km an hour to avoid predators. Watching them go about their daily routine, while a simple one, was enthralling. For an animal that seems to do so little, they were fascinating to observe, especially since they do not seem to mind the human presence around them.

These gentle giants don’t get the attention of other African animals whose survival is in jeopardy, but the steady decline of the giraffe population should be a wake-up call to all of us that all of the world’s wildlife is in danger, whether it’s visible or not.

All Photos by Tessa Kit Zawadzki and Michael Bonocore. 
Follow Tessa Kit Zawadzki on Instagram, Facebook, and her website. 
Follow Michael Bonocore on his Instagram, Facebook, and his website. 

The post 20 Photos That Celebrate World Giraffe Day appeared first on Resource Travel.

USA Today tells us six ways we can help contribute to the health of the world’s oceans, including buying beer with edible six pack rings (How is this not a federal law?)

To help celebrate World Oceans Day, we have collected some of our favorite photos showing why we need to do everything within our power to help save the oceans for our future generations.

A humpback whale breaches under the soft light of Napali Coast, Hawaii. Photo by Mark Gvazdinskas.

A fisherman in the early morning hours in Miami Beach, Florida. Photo by Edin Chavez.

A surfer tackles the waves during a late afternoon session at Keawa’ula Beach in Waianae, Hawaii. Photo by Tony Eckersley.

Swimming with sharks on the North Shore of Oahu. Photo by Matt Porteous of Ocean Culture Life diving with One Ocean Diving.

A rainbow over the frequented surfed breaks in Tahiti. Photo by Ben Thouard.

Under the Hawaiian Sea. Photo by CJ Kale.

The Hill Inlet at Whitsundays in Queensland, Australia is at it’s most photogenic from above. Photo by Paul Pitchugin.

Surfer Pat Millin gets air as Golden Hour descends on Unstad Beach in Norway. Photo by Michael Bonocore.

The sun sets over Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California. Photo by Joe Azure.

Surfers line the endless waves at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia. Photo by Sean Scott.

A shark patrolling the waters of the Australian coast. Photo by Warren Keelan.

Diving in Mallorca, Spain. Photo by Alexander Brown.

A rainbow appears over the lava filled coastline of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. Photo by CJ Kale.

A surfer looks over the icy waters before jumping in for a session in Arctic Norway. Photo by Michael Bonocore.

Manhattan Beach, Southern California by Ana Linda.

The moss covered rocks at Drake’s Beach in Northern California get overrun with ocean water at high tide. Photo by Toby Harriman.

A surfer rides a wave in Tahiti. Photo by Ben Thouard.

Waves break Ke’e Beach in Kauai, Hawaii. Photo by Lace Andersen.

This beautiful wave in South Coast, NSW Australia is one of a kind. Photo by Warren Keelan.

A sea turtle in swims in the crystal clear waters near Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort in Australia. Photo by Sean Scott.

Enjoying a lazy swim in the clear waters of Palawan, Philipines. Photo by Matt Porteous of Ocean Culture Life.

Late afternoon waves at Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay, California. Photo By Michael Bonocore.

A rainbow over the coastline of Tahiti. Photo by Ben Thouard.

Surfing La Pared Fuerteventura in the Caneray islands Spain. Photo by Edin Chavez.

The post 25 Photos That Show The Beauty of The World’s Oceans, And Why We Need to Protect Them appeared first on Resource Travel.

The Matador Network said it best when talking about this work of art:

Sometimes you stumble across a place that seems like it got far more than its fair share of natural beauty. Places with spectacular wildlife, gorgeous scenery, and an almost absurdly beautiful culture. Kenya is one of those places. “I haven’t scratched the surface yet,” says Jamie Gaymer, a game warden at the Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy, “and there is so much out there in these remote places that has not been explored. And I have the opportunity to spend the rest of my life doing that.”

You’ve undoubtedly seen Kenya on wildlife and nature programs on TV. But we decided to go to Kenya and shoot it in a different way. We took to the skies. From drones and from planes, we traveled to the remote and beautiful parts of one of the most stunning places in the world and captured its wildlife, its landscapes, and all of its natural beauty from above. The result is one of the most beautiful videos we’ve ever done.

See more of Matador Network’s amazing films on their YouTube Channel and website. 

Follow Matador Network on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

The post Spellbinding Film Shows The Beauty of Kenya From Above appeared first on Resource Travel.

Obviously, Hawaii is a very popular destination for tourists and surfers, thanks to its lush environment, tropical climate, beautiful beaches and, of course, waves. But its oceanic surroundings and active volcanoes, especially on the Big Island, also make is a dream for scientists – biologists and volcanologists in particular.

And, of course, it is nothing short of a photographer’s dream as well. So when I had the opportunity to spend a week exploring the Big Island of Hawaii with my friends Colby Brown, Varina and Jay Patel and a group of other photographers, I didn’t think twice before jumping on a plane. And I can say these seven days in Hawaii were well worth spending more than 30 hours in planes and airports from the heart of Europe to Kona and back home, as well as the 12 hours jet lag. And I would do it again tomorrow.

There aren’t a lot of white sand beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii. The island is built from five volcanoes that erupted one after another over the millennia. For this reason, the shore is mostly stones; this is the reason why you won’t see as many surfers as on the other islands of the archipelago there. Because of the volcanic ground, you’ll be able to see beautiful blowholes: sea caves that grow towards the land and expose themselves towards the surface into vertical shafts, from where water can blast when a wave comes in. When the wave goes back though, the water is sucked back in the blowhole and leaves an open hole in the shore’s surface.

The Big Island is famous for its luxurious wilderness, especially on the east side of the island. The hike to Akaka Falls, through a lush rainforest filled with bamboo groves and wild orchids, will give you a good overview of what the vegetation looks like. Akaka Falls is a 422-foot tall waterfall located about 11 miles north of Hilo. Its name comes from the Hawaiian language and means “split”. The water of the Kolekole Stream indeed plunges into a deep gorge surrounded by vertical cliffs.

Banyan trees are another good example of the Big Island’s vibrant vegetation. A banyan tree is a fig that starts life when its seeds germinate in a crack or a crevice of another tree. They have characteristic aerial prop roots that can spread out laterally and grow into thick woody trunks that cover a wide area. Old banyans can be huge and look like a whole forest with every trunk indirectly connected to the main trunk.

The green sea turtle is one of Hawaii’s fauna icons. This gentle vegetarian turtle, weighing up to 350 pounds and measuring up to four feet, can be found throughout the whole archipelago. One interesting behavior of the Hawaiian green sea turtle is its fondness for basking in the tropical. It is a protected animal; listed as threatened since its population has dramatically decreased over the past few decades.

Geckos will often spring out when you least expect it. You will find these friendly, big-eyed, green lizards pretty much everywhere! There are more than 1,500 different species of geckos worldwide. They are unique among lizards in their vocalizations; their name comes from the sound the animals make.

Mauna Kea is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. It is the world’s tallest mountain from base to summit, but most of it is under water. When measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 33,000 feet tall, but it actually stands 13,802 feet above sea level. It is a dormant volcano that last erupted about 4,500 years ago. The summit is one the most important land-based astronomy sited in the world, thanks to extremely favorable observing conditions.

Since Hawaii is basically a huge volcano, one just has to take a look down at the ground to see volcanic rock. Most volcanic rocks are very dark, but they can look very different, depending on the lava’s composition and type of flow on the ground. This type of lava is called pāhoehoe and typically advances as a series of small lobes and leaves a ropy surface when solidified.

Another famous waterfall on the Big island of Hawaii is Rainbow Falls. It is located in Hilo, on the east coast, and is 80 feet tall. The water flows over a natural lava cave which is, in the Hawaiian mythology, the home to Hina, an ancient very attractive goddess who flew to the moon because she was tired of being pursued by men.

Volcanoes National Park is definitely one of the highlights of the Big Island. It encompasses two active volcanoes: Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The park offers stunning volcanic landscapes and is a scientist’s heaven. There are places in the park where the underground is so hot that water keeps evaporating, which creates ethereal scenes like this one.

Kilauea, in Volcanoes National Park, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old. Its name, in the Hawaiian language, means “spewing”, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. Its current eruption dates back to 1983 and is one of the longest-duration eruptions in the world. In Hawaiian mythology, its crater, called Halema‘uma‘u, is the body and home of Pele, goddess of fire, lightning, wind and… volcanoes.

I learned a lot from my time on the Big Island of Hawaii. But probably the most valuable lesson I learned was that 7 days was not nearly long enough to discover all of incredible scenes that the island has to offer. I will be back, but this time, with a flecible ticket back to Belgium.

See more from Sébastien Beun on his website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Start planning your trip to the Big Island on the Go Hawaii website. 

The post 10 Photographs That Will Inspire You to Travel to the Big Island of Hawaii Right Now appeared first on Resource Travel.