Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 19: Puerto Natales, Chile. Hostage Day 3.
The southern Chile protesters drove around in vehicles with black flags or southern Chile flags. This was our third day where we were not allowed to leave Puerto Natales. Basically, we were being held hostage until the central government and President restored the gas subsidy to the region.
Some Cat’s (and a John Deere) parked in the mud on a misty winter day. There used to be trees here, soon to become a housing tract. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and a new 12-24 mm f/4 DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec).
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 18: Puerto Natales, Chile. Hostage Day 2.
Tangled web of power, phone, and cable lines shot from my hotel window. This was the 2nd day we were held and not allowed to leave Puerto Natales. We were the luck ones that found a hotel where we could stay. There were nearly 1000 others that were staying in an elementary school that was converted into a Red Cross shelter, or just living rough in the open. In addition there were several thousand more stranded in Torres del Paine National Park (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine). At this point, I needed to see a doctor for a bad cough that turned into walking pneumonia, but there wasn’t a doctor or pharmacy available. Also, the US State Department didn’t really believe that we were being held against our will — all having to do with issues of fuel subsidies provided by the central government to the residents of southern Chile. The new President canceled the subsidies, and southern Chile went on strike and wouldn’t let the tourists (one of their main sources of income) leave… Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec).
Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 8: Honolulu and O’ahu Hawaii.
The first port on our Spring 2016 Semester at Sea voyage was Hilo in Hawaii. The real reason for the stop was to bunker to take on additional fuel before continuing the voyage the rest of the way across the Pacific Ocean to Japan. The MV World Odyssey was only going to be in Hawaii for 14 hours so we were not allowed off the ship unless with a Semester at Sea organized Field Trip. I originally signed up for the Pearl Harbor Memorial tour, but that trip was canceled. (The last time I was in Honolulu to give a talk at the Pacific Chemistry meeting, the US Government was shut down and the Pearl Harbor Memorial was closed). I switched to the North Shore bus tour. In the 14 hours we had I managed to take over 3000 pictures. First stop was at the Byodo-In Temple. Then stops at some regional parks and beaches. Lunch was at a roadside shrimp shack. The final stop was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
Gone to See America. January 2013 Florida Road Trip. Day 4: St. Petersburg.
Foggy morning in St. Petersburg from a balcony at the Vinoy Hotel. Then a Lonely chair on the balcony in the Early Morning Fog. You couldn’t even see across the Vinoy basin.