Owen W. Knight – Speculative Fiction Author
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Maasai Mara – People
A highlight of my second visit to Kenya was the Maasai Mara, the traditional homeland of the Maasai people that spans the border between Kenya and Tanzania. Although traditionally a nomadic people, the governments of both countries have instituted programmes to encourage the Maasai to abandon their semi-nomadic lifestyle. although Oxfam has suggested that their…
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Vanuatu: Paradise on Earth
Light Bislama Vanuatu has 69 inhabited islands and, remarkably, at least 105 indigenous languages, of which over 90 are in daily use. This represents one language for every 1,600 people, the highest language density in the world. The official languages are French, English and Bislama, a pidgin language, widely spoken and seen on official signs…
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Kenya: Lake Nakuru National Park
I had always thought that a safari-style trip would be boring, that you would drive for days in discomfort, seeing nothing in the way of wildlife, aside from the occasional distant view of animals that would run away at the sight, sound or smell of a vehicle and its human occupants. How wrong this proved…
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Reading List: Source Material for The Invisible College
The following is a selection of sources of material for the trilogy. Religions of Rome: Volume II, A Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press 1998, by Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price The translation of the Aretalogy of Isis is reproduced by kind permission of Mary Beard and John North. How To Lie With Maps by…
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Djibouti City
In any country, a visit to a local market is essential, as part of the process of discovery and understanding a little more of how people live. The central market in Djibouti City is a thriving place, stretching down from this mosque (above left), which…
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Les Chats de Djibouti
Cats are everywhere in Djibouti . In the market they serve a useful purpose to keep down vermin, though to look at them it seems unlikely they are rewarded with food. But while I was photographing a selection of cats sleeping around or beneath the stalls, one owner called me into his shop, where he…
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Cloud
Early morning in October. Into a clear blue sky a pair of clouds formed and slowly drifted westwards before dissipating. All clouds are unique; these resemble a quill pen – a good omen. Proof that you should at all times carry a camera.
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Conceptual Christmas Trees in Bali and Timor Leste
They do Christmas trees seriously in Timor Leste. This monster was located on a roundabout in Dili. I was fortunate to capture it; the elf at the top right is not drunk, he is working out where to start in taking it down. The scale is a tribute to how the traditions of Christmas are…