Photographing the wild horses of North Carolina

What is is about the form of a horse that evokes so much emotion? Is it their gentle nature as they gaze in a pasture? Or maybe the power of their muscles visibly flexing as they gallop? We have all seen horses in competition, at the track, maybe have ridden a time or two, and many of us have had the pleasure of being up close and personal. But the wild ones…

With no halter and reins, and their harem and only the open land, wild horses are truly a sight to behold…and to photograph. This past October I spent four days with wild horses on two barrier islands near Beaufort, North Carolina. Each island had two characteristics in common: you could only get there by boat, and there are no people or homes there. The horses are in charge.

On Bird Shoal is the Rachel Carson Reserve, over 2000 acres with a group of horses that tends to stay together, about 30 in total. On Shackleford Banks, the horses prefer to stay in harems, groups of one stallion, perhaps one or two mares, and any recent foals as the family unit. There are about 120 horses on the nine-mile long island.

 Shackleford Banks is the long thin island and the Rachel Carson Reserve is just above the west end.

Shackleford Banks is the long thin island and the Rachel Carson Reserve is just above the west end.

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Cape Town and the south coast

On our extended two-month photography safari in South Africa we chose to start in the beautiful city of Cape Town and travel the south coast to visit eight national parks along the way. We chose Cape Town first because of its well-deserved reputation as a beautiful, safe, relaxing city that would give us a chance to recover from our jet lag and acclimate to the country.

Cape Town-07656Cape Town-07656

 

Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Cape Town – beautiful cities on splendid waterfronts and tourist destinations not to be missed. Our two-month visit to South Africa in the spring of 2017 started in Cape Town, moved east along the south coast, inland into the mountains, and back through wine country returning to Cape Town. Along this first month’s travel we visited eight of South Africa’s national parks. I will cover the parks in the next post but, in this episode, I will discuss some of the joys of the city on the Cape.

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