I didn’t have enough space a few days ago to show the remaining images from my last trip up Nob Nob Mountain. I’m usually the one assigned to haul visitors up there so that they can have a village experience and look down at the beautiful Madang coastline. Let me tell you, aside from the somewhat scary ride, it certainly beats slaving away in the office. It also never fails to feed my camera some tasty treats.

Here is a view to the west from Guntabag, where my old friend Tagtap lives with his family:

The brownish patches are gardens. Slash and burn agriculture is practiced heavily here because it’s the only way the people can feed themselves. Unfortunately, the population pressure will soon make this method unsustainable. Increased incidences of land slides and severe flooding are a direct result of the disturbance of the thin tropical topsoil by agricultural methods and timber cutting.

Here is a very nasty image of the Madang wharf taken with my Olympus SP-590UZ in the hazy afternoon at least five kilometres away at full (26x) optical zoom:

Unless you’re a spook looking for secrets, it’s useless as a photograph. Still, why waste pixels:

A few minutes with Photoshop gave me a pretty image.

Here is a scary spider:

The wavy background is a corrugated iron water tank, in case you’re wondering. I enjoy photographing spiders. There are so many different species here that I’ll never run out of new ones. Most of them are fairly large, so I can get very detailed images of them with my cheap cameras. I don’t have to spend a fortune on a DSLR and an expensive macro lens.

You would not think that this image would be difficult to get. That is, until you realise that these are African Tulip tree blossoms and they are growing about twenty to thirty metres up on top of the tree. So, how did I get the shot:

Well, it wasn’t by climbing up in the tree. I’m not averse to risk to get a shot, but I’m not suicidal. I was standing on top of the mountain shooting down at the top of the tree.

There are all sorts of crazy looking plants here. I don’t know what it is about the tropics that gives plants the idea that they don’t have to be green. Whatever it is, I like it:

What’s with those colours, eh? Personally, I take it that Someone  has quite a sense of humour.

Speaking of colours, have a look at this outrageous rooster:

If I were a rooster, I’d want to look like that!  This dude shows his lineage back to the Wild Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)  which is believed to be the direct ancestor of all domestic chickens.

I feel a long bush-walk coming on. I lost both of my big toenails as a result of bad-fitting shoes on the last one. This time I’m going barefoot!

Related posts:

1. A Visit to Nob Nob Mountain Nob Nob Mountain isn't much of a mountain by anybody's standards, except possibly the Welsh. But, it is close to Madang and is a great place for bush walking....
2. Strolling Through My Garden Stroll around MadDog's garden looking for for spiders, Coleus, lichens, a flame tree and a head-spinning panorama - Jan Messersmith, Madang, Papua New Guinea...
3. More Nob Nob Mountain Miscellanea Not enough room for all the images from Nob Nob Mountain the other day. Here are the rest of them....
4. Back to Nob Nob Mountain Let's take a trip back to Nob Nob Mountain in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Trippy pink fungi, massive Staghorn Ferns, and funky orchids....
5. More Life at Ukarumpa I’m writing this on Independence Day for release tomorrow, because I want to have a day off. It’s the time machine thing again. It’s only a small cheat. I still have to do the work. I just get to do it a day early. I’ll toss out a few more...
6. Spiders, a Hazardous Crab and a Pesky Butterfly Today's menu features a couple of tasty spiders, a half eaten beetle, an impudent butterfly and a very dangerous crab. Eat by the light of the sunrise. ...
7. Overworked and Manic I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The new Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers are finished and the workstations are coming on line. Hurrah!...

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 and is filed under Mixed Nuts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.