It is traditional to review the year that is about to slip below the horizon (as my friend Martin from The House of Fran_Mart has done so comprehensively here), and I was tempted to do so, but in practice I've been working most of the day (preparing the index for a forthcoming book on Australian bird names) so I'm going to settle for some symbolic sunset shots from a variety of places. I haven't been to all these places this year!
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| Blanquillo Lodge, Peruvian Amazonia. The highlight here is undoubtedly a fabulous parrot lick, but sunsets over the cocha are also a feature. |
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| Kata Tjuta, central Australia. You may know it as 'the Olgas', but we haven't called it that here for some time. |
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| Waza National Park, northern Cameroon. The Sahel is a harsh landscape, and under threat, but still beautiful. |
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| Blackburn Island, off Lord Howe Island. We had a delightful week on Lord Howe early this year - you've not heard the last of it! |
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| Volcan Chacabuco, over Puerto Montt, southern Chile. |
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| Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia; the Timor Sea hosts excellent sunsets! |
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| Sacha Lodge, eastern Ecuador. |
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| Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. Later that night there were lions around my suddenly flimsy-feeling fixed tent; they're not supposed to be there, but of course I was glad they were. In principle... |
May 2012 end happily, and 2013 dawn bright and hopeful for us all. I look forward to sharing some of it with you; my thanks for coming with me this far.
Back on Wednesday.