A Vincent Mounier Photography Blog
La Descente de Manhattan or Running Too Far, Too Long
A few nights ago, as I routinely fought the pre-sleep chaos in my mind and attempted - once again - to figure out where the water in high pressure fire hydrants comes from, I also decided I wanted to run a marathon. It was a fuzzy idea and soon, darkness got a hold of me and I fell asleep and oblivious. But in the morning, surprisingly, the thought was still there.
Now, I have said before that I would never run a marathon, frown and disdain. I don't like crowds and certai...
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Walker Bay Nature Reserve
February 27, 2011
A few kilometers down from the Stanford house, on a very narrow sandy track through dry vegetation, we found an isolated section of the Walker Bay Nature Reserve. The beach was endless and clean, framed by high sand dunes and cold, turquoise ocean. A solitary Cape fur seal came surfing down the breaking waves and soon was gone. On our way in, we had turned left and bypassed a small gate; we realized on our way back that we should have paid a small entry fee. The guard just...
Birdwatching in Stanford, South Africa
February 24, 2011
The generous invite from Chris and Tracy had actually been received half a world away on a freezing New York night, as the four of us sat tucked away from the cold in a Lower East Side joint eating pizza. "You must go to the farm," they'd said enthusiastically, "you guys will love it there. There are birds everywhere, you can kayak in the lagoon, go sand-surfing down the dunes, you can use all the toys, Land Rover, quad bikes, it's quiet and remote. Simba will show you in,...
Back from Africa
February 19, 2011
Coming back to North America after having spent time in Africa is always a shock to the system. But with New York being the landing place, it becomes no less than an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) jolt. The message is clear; time to wake up, to speed up, to come back to life, to stress, even, to jump back in the saddle, to join a frantic rush to nowhere. Granted, Cape Town is probably one of the most civilized cities on the African continent. It intimately rem...
Cape Town's Cape Malay Quarter
February 15, 2011
As Marie and I are flying back from South Africa to New York via Dubai, here's a symphony of Cape Malay colors from a very unique part of Cape Town (Bo Kaap). More South Africa posts will follow, as soon as we have landed in the U.S., recovered from our flights, gotten re-acquainted with a black cat with an attitude and whipped up our broadband internet connection into action to make up for Constantia's 386 kbps intermittent ADSL.
Cape Town's Cape Malay Quarters
Silvermine, a Hike Over Muizenberg
February 13, 2011
The southeaster was howling, clouds loomed low, the sea was streaked with a strange blue-green front and birds accompanied us all the way. We superficially visited the Muizenberg cave and held our picnic by the path after failing to find protection from the gale.Bergies* were asleep on a ledge, wrapped in colorful blankets. Ironically, rock climbers were tackling a nearby wall, clashing contrast of chic leisure vs absolute poverty.
False Bay seen from Silvermine
(* Bergi...
Abalimi Bezekhaya - Township Urban Micro-Farming
February 12, 2011
This year's visit to the townships of Khayelitsha and Nyanga was radically different from the last one. A year ago, we had been on the purely touristic track at the very knowledgable hands of our friend Thabang.
A micro-farm in Nyanga
This time, guided by an insider of a different background - Rob Small, activist at heart and micro-agriculturist - we visited various outposts of Harvest of Hope and the Abalimi Bezekhaya organization, which describes itself as follows:"......
Superheroes Don't Necessarily Wear a Cape
February 11, 2011
Yesterday in cold Quebec, my nephew Yannick, age 13, saved his grandmother's life.She was choking on a piece of meat, airway obstructed and waved at him asking for the Heimlich maneuver, which by an extraordinary miracle - or absolute rational thinking - she had demonstrated in the past.He kept at it until, after what she estimates to have been one to two minutes, in other words an eternity, the obstruction cleared and she was breathing again.A few facts brought back ...
Interview with the Astronaut
This goes back to December of 2010. It was all a bit surreal. I was absentmindedly moving food around my plate while listening to a man talk. Casually, he explained that the main station console could give them three possible level of alerts. With an emergency alert, all of them would immediately drop what they were doing and fix it. If it was a warning, one of them would immediately drop what he was doing and fix it. Then if they got a caution, someone, at some point duri...
Table Mountain's India Venster Trail: Do Not Try This At Home...
February 5, 2011
Last Saturday, I hired the best guide in town and went up India Venster to Table Mountain's upper Cableway station. The guide was no other than my father-in-law and personal hero Henri, age 78, with whom I pedaled the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour last year.
India Venster is no ordinary hike. While technically not a climb, it ascends straight up from the lower station and soon turns into sheer, vertical rocky terrain, progressing right and left underneath the ...
So I could not Afford Everest. I Climbed Table Mountain Instead. Part 2
January 31, 2011
[Note: This is Part 2 of, yes, Part 1.]
Reaching my first escape route, Nursery Ravine - a long, vertical set of stairs into the top of Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden - I did a quick mental recap; lots of liquid remained, maybe too much. The legs were in good shape, knees defiantly steady. Spirit was strong. Time was good. I pushed on.
The rugged trail climbed over another ridge and then descended into a deep chasm. Second escape route, Skeleton Gorge. This one was e...