#7SuperShots [a photo journey]

Our friend Cailin O’Neil from Travel Yourself and Taste of Travel tagged us in her Hostelbookers 7 Super Shots photo journal.  We’re going to try to pull out all the stops (and hard drives) for this one.  We’ve taken thousands of photos throughout all of our travels and are excited to show you which ones made the cut.  Excuse the quality on some of these.  I downloaded a few of them from my facebook to save me from having to spend hours searching for the right hard drive.

A photo that takes my breath away:

I might have been a little delirious from altitude sickness when I shot this, but it’s one of my only pictures from the top of Kilimanjaro.  I was able to snap a few photos as our group descended from the summit.  I didn’t realize just how high up we were until I looked at this photo once we reached the base.  To be that far above the clouds, and to have gotten there on my own two feet, takes my breath away every time.

A photos that makes me laugh or smile:

This photo makes me smile because it represents one of our biggest dreams coming true.  We made it to Post Office Bay in the Galapagos islands and took out 22 letters addressed to all corners of the world.  Letters that we’ll be hand delivering to the recipients in the near future.  This photo represents the start of the Maverick Expedition and that hard work and perseverance pays off.  You can clearly see our excitement as we stand in front of the bost “barrel”.

This photo makes me laugh because Chris’s dad constantly brings up the fact that the way his belt is hanging makes it look like it is actually his… ahem… first mate (read: penis).  Now I’m going to have to ask you to stop looking at it.

No, seriously.  Stop it.

A photo that makes me dream:

The photo hails from Stone town on the intoxicating island of  Zanzibar.  On our first evening I was able to capture this photo of young boys playing in the water right before sunset.  It was refreshing to watch them frolic and laugh in the waves as the cool evening breeze started to roll in.

Looking at this picture has us dreaming to go back and experience more of Africa.  We feel drawn to the continent and continue to fall more in love with every trip.

A photo that makes me think:

Literal?  Yes.  Mind-boggling?  Yes.   An easy math problem?  Not really.

We found this headstone while searching for witches and healers on the mystical island of Siquijor in the Philippines.  Not only did it take us a few minutes to mentally do the math, but it also made us think about what exactly Luisa did right to live a very long life.

The answer by the way is 116.

A photo that makes my mouth water:

Technically it’s 3 photos, but it all of the same food… so I think it’s okay.  Here’s the thing:  We are obsessed with Thai food.  We love the spiciness (Chris actually ordered a “10 star” the other day) and the intricate flavors.  We’ve tried different kinds of Thai food here and there but we always resort to our favorites: tom kha gai and pad thai gai.  The last time we went to Thailand these were the only two things that we’d order.  I’m not kidding.  We lived off of these meals and weren’t even that sad about it.  Don’t worry, we’d throw in some other Thai snacks, but these were the only two meals that we ate.  SO.GOOD.

A photo that tells a story:

Something that I will never forget is experiencing Ashura firsthand.  The day of Ashura is marked by Muslims as a whole, but for Shia Muslims it is a major religious ritual which commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.  We were in Bahrain during one of the important days of Ashura.  With a local guide we were able to learn more about Ashura and what it represents.  We wandered the streets witnessing various passion plays and mourning rituals.

One of the most noted rituals is blood letting.  Some Shia men seek to emulate the suffering of Hussein by flagellating themselves with chains or cutting their foreheads until blood streams from their bodies.

A photo that I’m most proud of (aka my worthy of National Geographic shot):

This photo might be one of my all-time favorites.  We were lucky enough to have connections with the royal family’s veterinarian.  He arranged a special training session on royal property where were able to watch falcon’s being trained to hunt.  In this photo, the falcon trainer is rewarding the young falcon for his hard work with a pigeon leg.  The pigeon was actually tied to a large kite that was then sent up in the air.  The falcon had to fly up to the kite and retrieve the pigeon for his reward.  I wasn’t particularly ecstatic with the way the pigeons were treated, but it is a tradition that has gone on for many years and one that we were lucky enough to get to watch.

 

And there you have it.  Our 7 Super Shots.  Now we have to tag 5 of our friends!  We’re going to choose…

1. Megan from Bohemian Trails.

2. Amy & Kieron from Don’t Ever Look Back.

3. Brock from Backpack With Brock.

4. Jeremy & Shirlene from Idelish.

5. Raul from I Live to Travel.

 

Join the Game

1. Choose 7 of your own photos, one for each of the following categories:

• A photo that…takes my breath away
• A photo that…makes me laugh or smile
• A photo that…makes me dream
• A photo that…makes me think
• A photo that…makes my mouth water
• A photo that…tells a story
• A photo that…I am most proud of (aka my worthy of National Geographic shot)

2. Write a short description for each image.
3. Write somewhere in your blog post: ‘I am taking part in HostelBookers 7 Super Shots‘.
4. Tell us you have participated and tweet the hashtag #7SuperShots
5. Nominate 5 other bloggers by including a link to their blog in your post.
We will be retweeting and sharing the best posts from participating bloggers.

Head on over and see the 7 Super Shots guidelines post which features a number of fantastic photos.