Like many of you know, I have been traveling through New Zealand for 10 weeks this year and I can tell you that it has been an incredible experience. It’s a fantastic country with beautiful landscapes and even more amazing locals. While it is true that there are fantastic landscapes all around the world, what makes New Zealand so unique is the mix and the proximity of all these landmarks and sights. There are times we have been driving in our car and were able to see through our windscreen ocean, rainforest and glaciers at the same time. You can hike in the morning through snow covered mountain trails and just a couple of hours later you can be sunbathing at the beach. It is truly a photographers dream there, every corner you come around presents you with yet another postcard view.

There is only 4 million people living in New Zealand from which 1.2 million are living in Auckland. The further south one travels less people and traffic we encounter and it is nothing unusual to see no other cars, even on the main roads, for hours. Not to talk about if you go for a hike. You can spent days out there without meeting anybody at all. It is the ultimate country for nature lovers with so many possibilities for all kinds of sports and activities. Read the rest of this entry »

While this is not an easy question to answer as Lanzarote does have a lot of beautiful beaches as for example the "Playa de Papagayo" in the south of the island near Playa Blanca, "Playa Chica" in Puerto del Carmen, "Playa del Reducto" in the middle of Arrecife, "Playa las Cucharas" in Costa Teguise, "Caleton Blanco" just before you arrive in Orzola or the big beach in Famara with its spectacular backdrop, the truth is one of my favourite beaches on Lanzarote actually is on our little neighboring island La Graciosa and it is the "Playa de las Conchas". This magic beach is a 45 minutes walk from the little village Caleta de Cebo where the ferry from Lanzarote arrives.

La Graciosa is always a special place to go no matter how long one has been living here. Taking the ferry over to there always feels like taking of to a little holiday, a little adventure and once you arrive in the small harbour of La Graciosa it immediately feels like the ferry you have just been on not only transported you between the two islands, but as well back in time. Life in Caleta de Cebo is calm and without any rush. People waiting at the dock, watching the boat arrive, old men and women sitting on benches in the shadow with their typical Canarien hats on, chatting or just watching the time go past. Read the rest of this entry »

"All children have always liked exceptional events and surprises. Many have an adventurous soul who is often in the forefront of their personality. What usually happens is that as they mature, adult society diminishes this thirst for adventure, deleting it from the darkness of the heart of the child to make him believe it is dead. It’s a lie, because the child lives on, crouched behind the outer layer that society has forced him to mold. But the child is likely to appear again, in the minutes before death."

Javier Reverte, “The adventure to travel”

We need to smell, taste, touch and hear the things. Only then we can understand the world in all its depth. That is the deeper reason for traveling, and after only a week in Morocco’s Western Sahara I now Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, I’m just back from my New Zealand trip about which you can read at nz-trip.com and I’m off again, this time to Morocco. Actually it just a stone throw away from here, but still it feels like going to a different world. The last time I have been there in October 2005 on a surf trip with some good friends. A beautiful country with some incredible friendly and hospitable people. This time my trip will take me from Lanzarote over Gran Canaria to Dakhla in the Western Sahara. The spot here is well known in between Kite surfers, due to an amazing lagoon which provides the perfect location to kite to your hearts content. As I never have tried kite surfing I will take this chance and, apart from taking pictures, will try myself in this sport.
The surrounding of the area where I’m going to be should lend itself to take some amazing pictures  as well. Where the dessert meets the ocean, I can’t wait to get Read the rest of this entry »

Remember my travel photography workshop from the beginning of this year? One theme was “Aerial and Overhead Views” so I went towards the Tinguaton area here in Lanzarote as I thought I could get a nice view from one of the volcanos there overlooking La Geria and Timanfaya. I love this area with it’s almost unreal shapes and colours. Still, after all this years here on the island it impresses me to think that this landscape was formed only little more than 200 years ago by the famous eruptions that came over Lanzarote. I see the rivers of solidified lava and try to imagine them as a slow flowing, hot bubbling mass of liquified rock.

The volcano behind the little village of La Asomada offers the one who dares to climb it some beautiful 360º views towards Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Puerto Calera and even Fuerteventura on one side and Read the rest of this entry »