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Marty’s photo of the day #4933: On the day after the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good, posting a colorful nature photo doesn’t feel right. So instead, I am posting a willie wagtail, the least colorful bird I saw last year in New Guinea.
Here come the bottlenose dolphins! Deb and I swam with bottlenose dolphins last month. Getting up early, we took the dinghy from The Katharina to an area where the dolphins were known to hang out. For most of the time the dolphins were shy. They sank into the murky water and only surfaced when necessary […]
I was standing on a dock in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea when this beautiful blue parrotfish swam close. With only my Canon land camera in hand, I decided to see what would happen if I shot from above. I think it turned out kind of cool. Artsy even.
Marty’s photo of the day #4907: It’s a fish photobomb! While snorkeling the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea last month, I tried hard to get a good horned bannerfish (lower) photo, but they would always turn at the last moment and never seemed to be in crisp focus. Late in the trip, I thought […]
If you’ve read my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, you know my history of not getting along with water. It goes back to a cigar-smoking childhood swimming teacher I had when I was about ten. His methods included holding the heads of his students under the water. To […]
What would a tropical adventure be without a snake story and photo? One of the reasons Deb and I chose to spend our final five days in Indonesian New Guinea at the tiny Raja Ampat Eco Lodge was because the website promised good herping (searching for reptiles and amphibians). When we spoke with the owner, […]
When Deb and I stayed at the tiny two-cabin Raja Ampat Eco Lodge on the island of Waisai (Indonesian New Guinea), one of the recommended hikes was a precipitous and slippery climb through the rainforest to a panorama. Much of the hike had ropes for us to grab, keeping us from bloodying our shins if […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4899: In addition to the amazing underwater life in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesian New Guinea, the above water life is pretty cool too. This is an orchid swallowtail butterfly on a peacock flower.
This is the story of Deb’s and my six-million-dollar speedboat ride and one-and-a -half-million-dollar tip. When we booked our trip to the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea ten months in advance, we were warned to be flexible. That was good advice. Between January and October, our international airline tickets got canceled, forcing me to […]
The people of Indonesian New Guinea were among the most friendly I’ve met anywhere in the world. At the beginning of our trip, Deb and I walked the main road in Kaimana (a remote island town of about 17,000) as people on scooters whizzed by. As the only visible white people in town, we were […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4893: After 3 days of traveling, including 5 airplane flights and a 2-hour speedboat ride across open ocean, Deb and I are back home from the Raja Ampat region of Indonesian New Guinea. Having traveled all 7 continents and written 3 nature-oriented travel books, I can say with confidence that […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4892: Deb and I are on our way back from sailing in the Raja Ampat region of Indonesian New Guinea. Our first day was an outstanding indicator of what was to come. We snorkeled near a mobile fishing platform, hoping to see the whale sharks that visit, looking for scraps. […]
Greetings from Indonesia! Deb and I have spent the past three weeks in the Raja Ampat (the Coral Triangle) region of Indonesian New Guinea. Much of it sailing on The Katharina (pictured), which is a traditional pinisi ship, built by the Bugis people. We snorkeled with whale sharks, enjoyed the most diverse and most beautiful […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4752: Having traveled all seven continents and written two books on world travel, I can say that—so far—the most beautiful place I’ve ever been is the reef surrounding the Great Blue Hole, 40 miles off the coast of Belize. That said, Deb’s and my sailing trip in the Coral Triangle […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4741: This is an elegant mariposa lily, photographed last Sunday at Deb’s and my “secret spot” in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. Photographer’s notes: I often carry two cameras with me: a Canon EOS R50 with a 100-400mm zoom lens attached, and a high-quality pocket camera for close-up and casual […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4698: Last week, while talking with a pharmacist about my upcoming trip to New Guinea and the long list of vaccinations the CDC recommends for travel there, we discussed a pre-exposure rabies shot. He said, “That’s only necessary if you’re going to be in a cave full of bats.” I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2628: It’s “Animals A thru Z Month.” Each day in August, I will post an animal I’ve photographed—somewhere in the world—in alphabetical order. Q is for Quail. This California quail lives near my house. Of all the birds that live near me, these are the most exotic-looking. I’d expect to […]
