404 - 23rd - Beyond the fence

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd Jan'09

It is really amazing how we often cease to think "beyond" and just stick your sight on things right in front. It happens often in life that we regret being short-sighted and not looking far enough.

Well, it is almost the same case with this image. At first instance it just looks like a simple wooden fence. But if you try and look "beyond", you will see a couple of women grazing some sheep in an open stretch of land.

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399 - 18th - Down the road

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 18th Jan'09

We were on our way to Ocosingo from Tuxtla when we passed by some green meadows. As it was only a two-lane highway, it was difficult to stop at our will & so I told my friend to pull up down the road whenever it was possible. At one point when a small lane branched out of the highway, we found a place to park the car. I got out and took some shots.

As I was heading back towards the car, I had a glance on that weathered road. I saw an apparently old looking woman walking down the path carrying some stuff in her hand. I had just a couple of moments to get down at the right level and take some photos of her before she would take the turn and vanish.

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398 - 17th - Copy shop

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 17th Jan'09

As you might have already observed, the most striking feature of the copy shop in the image is the stark contrast in colors. I was walking through the downtown of San Cristobal when I came across this shop. The bright colors painted on the walls were giving a much brighter contrast due to the early morning sun.

I had to wait at the place for more than fifteen minutes to get a frame free of any people or traffic running through the street.

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396 - 15th - Bugging the Bug

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 15th Jan'09

We were standing at one of the viewpoints for the Canyon del Sumidero and enjoying the beautiful scenary when something struck my head. Thinking of it as a dry leaf fallen from the tree above my head, I casually brushed it off with my hand. When it fell in front of me, I realized it was a red little bug. As I had my camera in hand, I thought it would be a nice close up shot of the insect.

Though I was patient enough to wait for it to face towards the camera to give a nice shot, I think it was not the same for the insect. I could have shot just two photos, when it suddenly spread it's tiny wings and flew away back from where it came :)

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394 - 13th - The colored reptile

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 13th Jan'09

I have posted another image of this reptile some time back on my blog. It was having some shades of black and blue in that one. This time it has returned to the blog in a more colorful way. If you see carefully, you can find at least four distinct colors.

It is amazing how nature has put so many colors into it's creations in many different forms. Though humans were given only some limited shades of white, black and brown, other animals seem to enjoy the colored extravagance.

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392 - 11th - The striped tortugas

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 11th Jan'09

I have seen turtles at many places but everywhere they are either Grey colored or have some shade of Brown. Yellow turtles with stripes of blue on top were really a pleasant surprise. This image is from the ecological reserve "Zoomat" from Tuxtla, Chiapas.

I am not sure if it was the abundance of these animals in southern Mexico, but the Zoo was full of them. At every second pool you could find them swimming deep in the water or just lazing around on rocks to catch some sunshine.

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391 - 10th - Zipping away

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 10th Jan'09

Another one from the canyon :). The trip back to the base after the tour of the canyon is a fast and quick one. One the way up, the boats are slow and the guide explains you about everything on the way. But once done, he just zips the boat through the canyon back to the shores. At any given time you can see around three to four boats in some fifty square meters of area, running in either direction.

This particular image is of a boat which was in front of mine and was at much higher speed than ours. The waves which the other boats generate used to create some really anxious moments for us, as our boat used to start dancing on the high waves. It was really tough to get a good shot among that turbulence. Somehow I managed to get this one.

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390 - 9th - The big beaked bird

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 9th Jan'09

As we traversed through the waters of the canyon, we reached a hydroelectric plant which marked the end of the sailing area. The boundaries were demarcated by a series of drums floating in the water tied together with thick ropes. We could see a lot of birds perched on the drums and the ropes from a distance. When we approached the place, most of them flew away and landed in the water beyond. Only a few still dared the strangers and stuck to their place.

This bird was just about to fly away when I took this picture. The size of it's beak was something that really amazed me.

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389 - 8th - Canyon del Sumidero

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 8th Nov'09

Sumidero Canyon (Spanish: Cañón del Sumidero) is a canyon located about 40 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Its cliffs are 900 meters above sea level and overlook the Grijalva River, which extends across the states of Chiapas and Tabasco and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. In its southern entrance, the canyon begins near the city of Chiapa de Corzo, and flows into the reservoir of the hydroelectric dam–Manuel Moreno Torres, best known as Chicoasén.

This was one of the most amazing places I have seen in Mexico.The walls just tower upon you and make you feel so insignificant. It is a two hour trip by a motor boat which zips you through the river and leaves you spellbound. The past two or three posts on this blog are from the same place.

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388 - 7th - The dry leaf

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 7th Jan'09

I was walking towards a viewpoint for the canyon when on the way I saw this almost dry leaf lying on the one of the rocks on the way. The partial sunlight which was falling on it made it look all the more beautiful.

I stopped and took some photos, some in black and white mode too. But the one with colors was looking much better.

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387 - 6th - The white bird

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 6th Jan'09

I simply love the way these birds hunt for fishes. They wait on the branch till they see a fish, then they fly up in the air and suddenly shoot downwards like a missile, dive right into the water and come out with a fish in their beak. This is one of the most unusual way of fishing I have ever seen.

I was thinking of making a video of the entire thing but since the boat was sailing away, I didnt get enough time :)

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386 - 5th - The Christmas tree

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 5th Jan'09

This particular formation at Canyon del Sumidero is known as "Arbol de Navidad" or "The Christmas tree". The formation is made of moss which usually forms in the rainy season. The water dripping over the rocks makes the moss grow and over many years it has taken this form. This formation which resembles a Christmas tree is a really popular landmark at the canyon and you can see its picture on all the tourist guides printed for the place.

The boats at the conyon take you right underneath the tree from where you can see the formation right up close. One more amazing display of nature's treasure.

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385 - 4th - The angry croco

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 4th Jan'09

We were cruising through the canyon at Tuxtla, when our boat driver suddenly halted and started heading towards the mountain wall. All of us knew that there is something he would like us to see. As we headed towards the place, none of us could figure out what it was. Only when he stopped and pointed in one direction, I could figure out that there is a crocodile lying on the rocks.

I took this picture from some two feet away from the animal. He was lying down as a stone and enjoying it's sun bath. Our guide told us that the waters at the canyon are infested with hundreds of them.

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384 - 3rd - Once in a blue moon

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 3rd Jan'09

Once in a blue moon do you get a clear sky with a white crescent right in the middle of the day. Once in a blue moon you have your camera at that perfect time. Once in a blue moon you are able to keep you hands stable enough to get a blur-free image when you are shooting at maximum zoom.

Once in a blue moon you are able to get such a nice photo of a blue moon.

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383 - 2nd - Restaurante Mexicano

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 2nd Jan'09

"Mi Viejo Pueblito" (My little old town) is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. It is present in almost all the major cities of Mexico and offers delicious food at reasonable prices. The best thing about this place is that it has more vegetarian options than any other Mexican restaurant I have known & to get nice vegetarian food in this land of meat eaters is really something to cherish.

This image is from the restaurant just besides our hotel in Tuxtla. Restaurants here in Mexico usually have tall pillars besides them so that people can see them from a distance and easily spot the place.

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382 - 1st - City of Tuxtla

Originally clicked and uplaoded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 1st Jan'09

After around a hour of roaming around, we finally found our hotel on the other side of the highway. As we climbed down the slope to reach the parking lot, we observed that the main city was actually situated in a depression or a valley type of setting while the hotel was on the side of a mountain.

We reached the parking lot, parked the car and then stood near the edge of the place to have a clear view of the city. You could actually see the whole city in one single eyespan. Small buildings, hotels and the "libremiento norte (northern freeway)" on the other side of the city were providing a perfect view along with the bright blue sky.

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381 - 31st - The Yellow pattern

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 31st Dec'08

I don't know if you really recognized the first time you saw the picture, but to most of the people whom I showed this image, it was really unclear that what it really was. Before reading the next paragraph, just observe the image and try to figure out what it is. Ten points if you can do it correctly.

This image is from the airport of Tuxtla. We had rented a car and after finishing the documentation we were heading towards the car parking to pick up our vehicle. This pattern which you can see was actually the parking lot with individual slots demarcated by the yellow line.

Now, leave a comment if you got it right.

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