Walvis bay – Mola Mola safari

On the way from Swakopmund to Sesriem we stopped at Walvis bay. The idea was to do the Mola Mola sea safari to watch the seals, pelicans, dolphins and other marine animals. The coast was misty and cold. Our skipper Eddie was a great guy with a great sense of humor. He was making jokes all the way and he was really knowledgeable. As soon as we left the harbour we got funny visitor – an adult seal named Saddam Husein (the photo above). He just sat at the back of the boat and waiting for  the fish.
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Namib-Naukluft National Park

Namib desert is probably number one attraction in Namibia. The red dunes are the subject on every tourist brochure photos and a visit is in every itinerary of Namibia that travel agencies offer. And I do not wonder why. I was admiring the photos myself and I hardly waited to get there. The Namib is the second largest desert in Africa and it is the part of Namib – Naukluft national park. Most popular place to visit in the park is Sesriem, which is a starting point to the Sossusvlei and Deadvlei areas.

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Stripes in Etosha

Etosha is one of the most interesting national parks I have visited so far. The name itself means “The great white pan” after huge mineral pan that dominates the park. Etosha NP is huge – it is even bigger than my home country Slovenia.  For a visit of the park I would recommend you t least three nights in the park to cover the most interesting areas. Even if you do self driving it is not difficult to navigate and spot animals. The best scenario would be driving from one waterhole to another and then another… Waterholes usually attract a lot of wildlife and even if at the moment you get there there is no animals it is worth to stop. If you stop the car engine and just enjoy the quietness and wait for a while, animals will come. Read more

Cape Cross seal colony

Himba – the beautiful people.

I’ve returned from two week tour to Namibia. It was a great trip, Namibia is definitely one of the top countries I’ve visited until now. Its wildlife, countryside, its people! I visited also the Himba village near Opuwo. I spent about two hours with them and i can only wish it would be longer. At least a day or two.
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The spring is finaly here!

Winter this year was not something I expected and wished for. If there was snow, cold and sunny weather, then I was travelling abroad. And vice versa.. I was quite irritated by this, because I didn’t get ONE decent winter show this year and when I said to myself – thanks God, the Spring is finally here… Read more

Following the steps of Moses

“In the third month,
when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt,
the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai…”
-Exodus, Chapter 19-

Sinai peninsula in Egypt is totally amazing place to visit! At a first glance it looks kind of dull – just rocks and sand – everywhere the same. But the longer you stay there the more it has to offer. Everybody finds something for himself – rich history, moon-like landscape with colourful canyons, religious experience, sun and sand holidays, local Bedouin culture experience, adrenaline sports or amazing underwater world. It pays to do a little bit of reading before you visit the peninsula. Even if you are not interested in history, it is not hard to imagine that this was the place where Pharaohs were passing when going to wars, where Moses was wandering with his nation and where he received the ten commandments. And recent history is turbulent as well – the building of Suez canal, the six-day war in 1967 and other more recent conflicts with Egypt’s strong neighbor. Read more

Buddhism in Kathmandu

Praying wheels at Swayambhunath stupa.
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…of the bears and tigers…

Last summer I was visiting Guilin, China. Since my flight was early in the morning I had some spare time and decided to visit Bear and Tiger Mountain Village (Guilin Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Villa). It is located on the way from the airport to the city. It is not difficult to find it because of its megalomaniac entrance. I was told that this is some kind of a conservation project where they rehabilitate tigers and Asiatic bears. The place is supposed to have more than 80 tigers, 200 bears, lions, snakes and other interesting animals as well. As a nature lover I was quite enthused to visit this place.

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The greatest monument to love

This photo doesn’t tell you much? Ha ha, read on…
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Koi fish soup?

Koi is Japanese word for Carp, a kind of freshwater fish. Koi fish are found in virtually every Chinese and Japanese garden where there is a pond. The gardens themselves are usually quite lifeless; paths, ponds, stones, stones, bridges, pavilions, stones… There are also some plants of course, but not as many as in Western gardens. You will find Bamboos, Magnolias, Gingkos, Lotuses, Pine trees,… To understand the philosophy of the gardens you must know the symbolism in almost every object placed within the garden. My personal opinion – very different, quite interesting, a bit dull. Fortunately there are throngs of Koi fish swimming around and they offer some great photo opportunities. Some of them grow very big, they look like lazy orange submarines. Read more

Sufi dancing in Cairo

Cairo, the capital city of Egypt is one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever been to. Chaos at its best; polluted air, traffic jams, rubbish everywhere, all the smells of the world, street touts – it all adds to the great atmosphere of the city. I really enjoyed Cairo this new year’s holidays and one of the things I liked the most was the Al Taura Troupe and their Sufi dance performance. Actually I’ve seen them couple of times before, but this time I had my camera with me, so I used the opportunity to make some shots.

Read on for more photos and information about the show.
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Photos from Southern Africa

Recently I returned from South Africa. I was leading a group of 22 Slovenian tourists and we visited Republic of South Africa, Swaziland and Victoria Falls from Zimbabwean side. We had a great time together and we were quite lucky with the weather. Since it was quite a long trip I took more than 1500 photos. Editing was hard, but rewarding. Here is just one photo, hope you like it. Some of the best are published in my personal galleries at Pbase. You can find them here: http://www.pbase.com/ratluk/rsa. I will appreciate any comments and if you find the photos beautiful, please share them with your friends. Thanks!

 

Pudong area, Shanghai

Shanghai is one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to. One of the things that fascinates me the most is definitely its modern architecture. Especially Pudong is futuristic and in the evening it is even more attractive. The Bund offers good opportunity for photography and there are always numerous photographers trying to capture these magnificent views. But usually the air is so humid and polluted, that it is impossible to see bright sky. This year I was there four times and only once I got lucky with weather conditions. It was a windy evening so it was difficult to get sharp photo, even with a tripod. Here is the photo from that night (it was in mid August): Read more

Istanbul – Charming city of the Orient

I visited Istanbul in the middle of October. It is a great time to experience this bustling city as it is the end of the peak tourist season. The weather is also pleasant with temperatures around 20-22 degrees Celsius. I thought five nights will be more than enough, but Istanbul has so much to offer, that a man could easily stay for two weeks.

Here are the photos and some useful tips what to do in Istanbul. Read more

Baboons, baboons, baboons!

Baboons are one of my favourites subjects to photograph whenever I go for a safari. Always funny, especially young ones, very intelligent and they let you to get close to them. It is quite interesting to observe their behaviour, very social creatures with strict hierarchy in the troop. The best time to watch them is in the morning, soon after they get up, when a day is still fresh. The little ones are playing with each other, adults are grooming or even mating…

Morning grooming. Read more

Short walk through Mostar

Mostar is a number one tourist attraction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Surprisingly it attracts more visitors than Sarajevo or any other destination in the country. One of the reasons is definitely its location – it lies less than an hour away from Adriatic coast and about two hours driving from Dubrovnik or Sarajevo. Summer is the top season and the old bridge is always packed with tourists impatiently waiting for THE moment – a jump from the bridge to cold Neretva river. The old bridge was demolished during the last war, but it was reconstructed in 2004.

Mostar and its most famous sight – the old bridge! Read more

Sarajevo – The tunnel museum

If you ever venture to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital Sarajevo, you should definitely visit the Tunnel museum. It is not a museum as a man would expect, it is just a house where the famous tunnel ended (or started) during the nineties Bosnia war. The tunnel was dug during the siege of the Sarajevo, because people were surrounded by hostile forces and were unable to get food, medicine and ammunition inside the city. The tunnel was the main (and only) way in or out for three years and also the late president of BIH Alija Izetbegovic used to pass through it several times.

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Why is a pbase.com a great place?

It is almost two years now, since I joined Pbase community. At first I only wanted a fast and reliable place to publish my photos. So I bought 500Mb of disk space and started to upload photos. The service back then was quite spartan but I didn’t need any assistance or special features anyways. In fact I was glad, that it was so simple to use, so I got familiar with the system very quickly.
The best thing about Pbase is, that my photos are being viewed regularly without any extra effort. I just upload them, enter proper keywords, mark what equipment they were taken with and that is more or less it. Of course I browse popular galleries, leave a comment or two, so people return a favour sometimes. Pbase also gets high ranks at Google search engine. Since I joined (less than 22 months ago) Pbase community, my pages were visited more than 391.000 times! Read more

African safari photo tips

One of my favourite travel destinations is definitely Africa. With the word Africa I do not mean the Mediterranean part of the continent, which reminds me more of a Middle East than real “black” Africa. It is hard to say what fascinates me more, the people, their music, unspoilt nature or unique wildlife? Probably the combination of all these things, but the biggest impression makes the savanna with its wilderness, beautiful and cruel at the same time.

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About

As the founder of Adriatic2Alps Photography Tours and the company’s leading tour guide, Luka has been a professional tour guide for many years, leading trips and expeditions in Slovenia and abroad. While working for several travel companies, he visited more than 40 different countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and this experience led to him partnering to establish Židana Marela in 2004. In 2008, he finally realized the creation of A2A Photography Tours.

A passion for photography seized Luka while he was travelling around the world. Travel photography is his main field of work, but as a nature lover, he is also a keen landscape and wildlife photographer. His photographs have been published in different travel-oriented magazines, books, and travel catalogues all over the world. As a regular conductor of field photography workshops, he will be able to provide you with useful photographic tips. As his knowledge about Slovenia is extensive, you will also gain in-depth knowledge of the country from him as well.

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