Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sea-faring, scuba-diving, sight-seers



We've been a couple of lucky pups while away from the blogging scene....
  After finishing up our time in the fall colored Colorado Rockies last month, we headed to the Florida Keys, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico for some family, sun, and scuba.

 



These pictures are not National Geographic worthy, but are what we have come to expect given our budget for dive cameras and the ocean depth's filtering out much of the light and color spectrum.  

Communication under the water is slim for folks like us with little sign language knowledge.  But universal hand signals for underwater animals do exist and when followed up by an exaggerated index-finer point, the animal who otherwise may slipped away un-detected by your dive-partner is often spotted. The hand signal in the lower right picture means turtle.  A green sea turtle joined us for awhile munching away on the reef.....however, upon loading our pictures we learned that  2 of our 4 dive's shots were missing/deleted.  Bummer indeed - but tough to complain about after the experience.  (After- all, at least we got a few memory provoking pictures this dive trip....During our honeymoon to Curacao we dove every day and came back with squat.)


Zoo's are always a thought provoking attraction to visit....  While many super intelligent animals, sadly do not receive the enrichment they deserve in captivity... it is comforting to know the KC Zoo boasts a Chimpanzee enclosure called "one of the finest chimpanzee exhibits in North America" by the awe inspiring Jane Goodall.
The chimps above were raising their hands in hopes of attracting the attention of a care-taker dishing out fun treats.  Lemons, pine-cones filled with jam and honey, and other snacks were prizes whose left-overs were deemed worthy of smelling the ground for, as seen in the picture to the right.




Cheetahs and a Grey Crowned African Crane soaking up the late-afternoon rays...




18 comments:

Unknown said...

You guys had a great time.
Love all the pictures, they are truly beautiful. I especially like those chimpanzees pictures, they are intelligent creatures.

Anonymous said...

I missed you :-)
Glad to read you had such a great time and I'm enjoying the pix.
No lip reading through those underwater goggles I take it :-)
Happy Thanksgiving.

houndstooth said...

That looks like a phenomenal trip! I envy you, and I think the pictures are fabulous!

biobabbler said...

Nice! I agree re: zoos. Always a mixture of feelings. I just went to the San Diego Zoo Wednesday, and they have a bonobo exhibit that I think is new, as well as gorilla, plus elephant, etc. So many smart animals in such a small space but I expect they're better off there than many other zoos, or as someone's dinner/trophy.

Cathy Sweeney said...

You've taken such amazing trips and have such wonderful photos of what you've seen. I'm afraid I've never scuba dived, but can tell that I've missed out on something. Keep having fun in your adventures and sharing your stories and photos!

Spencer said...

I love Scuba Diving! Its such an amazing and serene experience. What you see under the water, the colours and the sea life is absolutely fantastic.

zablon said...

chimpanzees are one of my favorite animals. i find them very amusing and entertaining

Unknown said...

I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous, lol. :0) It sure looks like you're enjoying your free time! Awesome!

KaHolly said...

What a wonderful time you had!! I was a scuba diver in my younger days and envy you the opportunity! Glad you had so much fun. Thanks for sharing these gorgeous pictures from your trip. ~karen

Nancie said...

Hi Ben/Carrie..........Awesome photos! Love the chimps. I had the good fortune of attending a lecture by Jane Goodall a couple of months ago. It was awesome.

Thanks for adding this to TPThursday :)

sheila said...

Wow, you guys take incredible shots! Very interesting ones too! Love the chimps! And I love your new shop! I think it's a very smart idea to sell your work! Considering it's amazing. And all. :o)

eileeninmd said...

Wow, looks like you two hae had a wonderful vacation. I would love to go somewhere warm right now. I love your photos.

Lindy said...

Your sunset image over the ocean is simply stunning. Great captures of the animals at the zoo, but those cheetahs - fabulous! They look regal.

The Endless Terrain said...

The chimp photos are great. Especially the one with both of the chimps raising their hands ... it's like they are doing yoga! haha

Unknown said...

¡¡¡¡¡¡P R E C I O S O !!!

GRACIAS.
UN ABRAZO.

ropcorn said...

Wow, amazing photos! We are so lucky to have such a beautiful nature where we can play around and explore. I love it! :p

Siddhartha Joshi said...

The first one is amazing...you caught the sun at just the right moment :)

Glyn said...

Love the Chimpanzee photos! I feel the same about Great Apes receiving generally poor enrichment in captivity. Good to see that many zoo's are changing their husbandry methods to improve the lives of these intelligent fellows! Thank you for putting up these pictures for us to see!

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