More than half a year has passed since I made it back from Antarctica with difficulties. Due to the lock down I was not able to travel since then. Now finally in October I had the opportunity to visit the northern Tarapacá Region of Chile to photograph ancient desert art. During 8 days we visited several sites with geoglyphs, petroglyphs and ancient ruins of settlements and prehispanic agricultural fields. One of the most impressive site is the Giant of Tarapacá, a more that 90 meter long anthropomorphic figure on a small hill in the middle of the Atacama. These figures date from 900 – 1400 AD and were landmarks and probably also ceremonial sites for the ancient lama caravans that crossed the desert between the Andes and the cost. The regional government of Tarapacá and the Chilean national park administration CONAF is now applying to UNESCO to declare some important sites (Cerros Pintados) a UNESCO World Heritage site.
You can see images of these amazing places and ancient desert art here and on Instagram @atacamaphoto
Last February I had the chance to participate in an incredible voyage to Antarctica, in particular to the Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound on MV Ortelius. Th trip started at the port of Bluff on the south island of New Zealand. We visited the sub-antarctic island of New Zealand (Auckland Island and Campbell Island), then stopped at Balleny Islands and finally explored McMurdo Sound including the emblematic Dry Valleys. Finally we navigated through thick ice in the Ross Sea towards the final destination of Ushuaia in Argentina – in theory. Then the Corona virus struck and we were not able to disembark in Argentina but instead had to continue for another 6 days to Montevideo, Uruguay, where we were escorted by police directly from the ship to the airport. It was like coming back from another planet back to a different earth. You can see images of this amazing trip here.
We had 3 helicopters on board the Ortelius. Due to unfavorable weather conditions we could only make very few flights in Antarctica. However one of them was so spectacular, that I decided to create a video. At Robertson Bay (near cape Adare) we flew partially very low over giant glaciers and incredible mountain scenery. I hope you enjoy the flight.
Last November I traveled for over 2 weeks to the tropical rainforest of Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Our group of 4 was guided by the very knowledgeable jungle and photography experts Chien C. Lee and Frank Pichardo. We visited many different locations from coastal mangrove forests at Bako National Park to higher elevation cooler rain forests at Kinabalu and finally to river wetlands at Kinabatang Wetland Reserve. We were very lucky and had many incredible wildlife sightings. Please have a look at the new Borneo photo gallery, where I will still add more photos in the next days.
On July 2nd there was a total solar eclipse in the Atacama Region of Chile. For me it was the first total eclipse to see and photograph. I did some thorough preparation and found a good spot near the small town of Condoriaco. The photos can be seen on the website and a short video on my Youtube Channel.
I am very happy about the publication of my photo of the Very Large Telescope with the 4 laser guide star beams in the March edition of the National Geographic magazine. The photo appears as part of the feature article about the search for extraterrestrial life “Who’s Out There”.
In July I visited Costa Rica for the first time. The trip included four National Parks: Tortuguero at the Caribbean coast, Braulio Carrillio National Park and Yatama private reserve, Savegre cloud forest and the wild Ossa Peninsula. To see and photograph tropical rain forests and its wildlife Costa Rica is one of the best places to go. Visit the new gallery, showing colorful frogs, snakes, monkeys, interesting insects, views of the dense rain forest and the emblematic resplendent Quetzal, one of the most beautiful birds.
April is the time to go far south to Patagonia. Autumn is arriving and the trees are starting to change their colors to yellow and red. The Lenga and Ñire trees are those that contribute most to the show. The new images from this recent trip to the Carretera Austral are now online. I had an encounter with the rare and endangered Andean Huemul, the Chucao, a small curious bird and other interesting wildlife. Click on the links to see photos in the Patagonia page and the Patagonia Wildlife page.
In the photo archive searching for NEW you will find more photos, and on Instagram there are reglular updates.
A partial black and white photo, showing beautiful red Lenga trees (Nothofagus pumilio) at Cerro Castillo National Park, Chile
The Cataratas de Iguazu are one of the most impressive waterfalls on earth and a prime tourist attraction in the triangle between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
This new photo collection from the Iguazu National Park give an impression of the power of the waterfalls and show some of the surrounding nature.
During the southern winter of 2017 significant rainfall hit the Atacama desert. Consequently during August the normally brown desert landscape started to turn green.
Millions of flowers began to cover the plains and hills with a yellow, blue, purple and white carpet of colors. In Chile this phenomenon is called “desierto florido”! It is almost unbelievable if one only knows the desert from normal dry years. Here you can see the difference of the same place in a dry and a rainy year.
Take a look at new photos from this year’s blooming Atacama desert and to some close up images of the flowers.
Colorful dense carpet of lilac and blue flowers, Atacama desierto florido 2017
After spending two weeks in the tropical rainforest of the Amazon basin in Peru, I just uploaded the first selection of new photos.
The Tambopata Reserve near the town of Puerto Maldonado in the south east of the country has an enormous biodiversity. Jaguar, Giant River Otter, hundreds of bird species including the emblematic Harpy Eagle can be encountered here. The area is also known for its clay licks, where dozens of macaws and hundreds of parrots gather in the morning to eat clay, which they need for their digestion.
Enjoy the new wildlife photo gallery of the Amazon basin in Peru. More photos will be added in the coming weeks.
Bamboo Poison Frog (Dendrobates biolat) on bamboo, Tambopata reserve, Peru
