24th consecutive weekend hike!
The forecast was for cloudy weather in London, so for this weekend’s hike I decided to explore the Capital Ring Walk. This 15-segment loop encircles London, covering 78 miles of terrain including forests, parks, and historic areas. Today I began at the beginning: Section 1: Woolwich Foot Tunnel to Falconwood. It was a fascinating mix of engineering, nature, and history.
A gallery of photos from my wanderings.
As regular readers know, I like to wander. Even when I have a destination in mind, I often ignore the map and “follow my nose” by aiming in the right general direction and hoping some combination of left and right turns will lead me to my destination and new discoveries along the way. Today, I’m sharing a gallery of photos taken in London, in January or February. It’s quite a random collection – just things I found beautiful or interesting. None appear in my other blog-posted galleries. Enjoy!
A lovely stroll through a massive park on the outskirts of London, with surprising wildlife.
Earlier this fall, as we settled into life in London, I had the opportunity to take several hikes outside London. Thus started a sequence of ten consecutive weekend hikes… so I was determined to get out hiking again today! I chose a walk along the Thames River and through the extensive meadows and woodlands of Richmond Park, just outside London. Little did I know how much wildlife I would find in this extensive parkland, so heavily traveled by so many joggers, dog-walkers, and equestrians.
A safari in the heart of India.
Ranthambore National Park [location], named for the 1,050-year-old Ranthambore fort within, is a sprawling 400-square-kilometer reserve for wildlife. It is most famous for its population of Royal Bengal Tigers, which currently number 36. We were lucky to see one up close, but there are many other beautiful animals and birds, including jungle cat, spotted deer, sambar deer, antelope, wild boar, langur (right), crocodile, turtle, egret, heron, stork, peafowl, treepie, kingfisher, parakeet, lapwing, and ducks. Not to mention many, many homo touristicus, crammed into 20-seat topless buses and wielding cameras. Read on – we saw a tiger! and See lots more photos.
David Kotz 