Caught Special - 63

A Green Barbet stopped by the silver oak avenue trees close to our balcony. Though it was not sitting at a perfect angle, I could make a few clicks really quick. I had to use the long zoom lens and it came out, decent. 

What: A Green Barbet
Where: At home 

When: 30th October 2016

How: Canon EOS 700D, 55-250mm lens

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This is a series of Caught Special pictures that I captured at different places.
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To see all postings in this Caught Special series, click here.

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Caught Special - 62

You may have read my recent post about our Kumarakom Trip with a few pictures, here. 

Here are some of the caught special pictures clicked during that trip. Catch pictures of birds, a dragonfly, a snake, night vision images, and a few scenery. You can also see a 12-snap combo picture of that snake crossing in the river clicked from a moving boat in a span of about 38s. 

What: A Duck on a stroll
Where: Waterscapes, Kumarakom 

When: 11th October 2016

How: Canon EOS 700D, 18-55mm lens

What: A waiting Kingfisher
Where: Waterscapes, Kumarakom 

When: 11th October 2016

How: Canon EOS 700D, 55-250mm lens

Kumarakom Trip

We did this 2 days and 2 nights trip to Kumarakom recently between 11th Oct and 13th Oct. A mix of good, and messed up bad experience, Kerala's infamous, brand identity, an unexpected hartaal!

 
Highlights

• Waterscapes, a Kerala Tourism Development Corporation place.
• Unique canal-themed backwater resort with stilted wooden hut cottage rooms.
• On the shores of Vembanad lake, and nested inside the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary.
• Cottage on a micro island with tiny canals all around, you reach through maze of mini bridges.
• A long walk inside the Bird Sanctuary, footpath, dense tree-cover (but no birds, as it was off season).
• But saw some nice birds in the resort, like Kingfishers, Cormorants, Pond Herons, etc.
• Trees and mangrove vegetation, ducks, turtles, dragon flies, squirrels, in the resort.
• A wink and miss sighting of monitor lizard that came by.
• Front lobby building - a brick structure built on stilts on the canal waters; as if floating.
• Pearlspot Restaurant - a wooden structure built on stilts in the lake backwaters; as if floating.
• Night walks from inside the resort to the main road amidst dark dense trees.
• The long walk to the nearby boat jetty on Meenachil river.
• A calm short boat-cruise on Meenachil river.

Lowlights

• Food
• Exorbitant cost of buffet lunch and dinner (each Rs 750 per head) at the restaurant.
• Walking on the highway in the night to a restaurant farby(!) was not too safe.
• Bird sanctuary
• October is not a good time to see any birds in the sanctuary. 
• Even after a long walk for 2 KM inside we did not spot even one bird there.
• But we saw some of them within our resort itself where we stayed.
• Tatkaal ticket
• We had to look for tatkaal ticket online on the next day of stay there.
• The internet was scratchy and their wifi was flaky too. 
• Ran around from the lake shore to the cottage to the front desk; 3-4 hours messed up.
• Hartaal
• A big issue in Kerala. Never know when there will be a complete flash strike!
• We were to vacate the next morning at 11 am, but at 11 pm previous night we heard this!
• Our train to Bangalore was at 3:30 PM from Kottayam Railway Station.
• We were 18 KM from Kottayam Railway Station and no vehicles from 6 AM next!!
• We vacated 4:30 am, got to a hotel 2.5 KM far from Kottayam Railway Station.
• Town was completely empty, with no shops or restaurants open; no vehicles on road.
• The day was messed up; came out and saw nothing; stayed indoors for that ~8 hours.
• Their restaurant was closed too, with just minimal room service, so we were lucky.
• Had to start the 2.5 KM walk from hotel to Railway Station, carrying all our baggage.
• Luckily we got an auto after we walked >1 KM.

Photos
Here are some pictures from our trip, and an Itinerary Outline and a few Trip Tips at the end...

Caught Grinning - 67

Try Cycle, Walkers, kid Cycle, Helmate, Two Wheele, Tyre & Tube.

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This is a series posting such pictures I captured at different places. Click on the picture(s) to see bigger version. Click here to view all 'Caught Grinning' postings under this series.

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Caught Grinning - 66

Six simple Caught Grinning pictures from our recent Europe trip.

1) Paris: Ooh this building looks so unstable - Like a stack of boxes!

2) Paris: This building is under renovation - See the nice fake facade cover?

3) Paris: Flight over.

4) Belgium: A container standing on its corner!

5) Amsterdam: A trolley full of kids!

6) Amsterdam: What a place to relax and read a book!

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This is a series posting such pictures I captured at different places. Click on the picture(s) to see bigger version. Click here to view all 'Caught Grinning' postings under this series.

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* * * You can write your COMMENTS about this Post BY CLICKING HERE * * * 
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Caught Grinning - 65

enriching skills tktough technology!

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This is a series posting such pictures I captured at different places. Click on the picture(s) to see bigger version. Click here to view all 'Caught Grinning' postings under this series.

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* * * You can write your COMMENTS about this Post BY CLICKING HERE * * * 
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Caught Grinning - 64

A bus that was going on road.

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This is a series posting such pictures I captured at different places. Click on the picture(s) to see bigger version. Click here to view all 'Caught Grinning' postings under this series.

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* * * You can write your COMMENTS about this Post BY CLICKING HERE * * * 
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