MAY 2013 ISSUE 64 · Chairman Liz Rhodes New Cottage, High Street Drayton St Leonard Wallingford, Oxon OX10 7BA Telephone: 01865 890712 Secretary Keith Pointon LRPS Temple Cottage

MAY 2013 ISSUE 64

ChairmanLiz Rhodes

New Cottage, High StreetDrayton St Leonard

Wallingford, Oxon OX10 7BATelephone: 01865 890712

SecretaryKeith Pointon LRPSTemple CottageWhitcott Keysett

Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 8QETelephone: 01588 640592

TreasurerChris Hammond ARPS4 Launcelyn CloseNorth BaddesleySouthampton

Hampshire SO52 9NPTel: 02380 731373

Travel Log EditorColin Howard LRPS

11 Nightingale Way, Victoria BridgeHereford

Herefordshire HR1 [email protected]

Postal PortfolioHazel Frost

11 Wedale ViewStow Galashiels,Borders, TD1 2SJ

[email protected]

Committee MembersBrian Brooks ARPS

Great Hollanden FarmUnderriverSevenoaks

Kent TN15 [email protected]

John Cucksey ARPSPinewood, Saxlingham RoadBlakeney, Norfolk NR25 [email protected]

Aline [email protected]

Richard Lewis ARPSChase House, West Chase

MundonEssex CM9 6PD

[email protected]

John Speller42 Forest Glade

BasildonEssex SS16 6SX

[email protected]

2 Travel Log January 2013

© 2013 Copyright of all articles and images is strictly reserved worldwide on behalf of the authors.Bannerimage of the Earth courtesy of freewebphoto.com

Travel Log – Your Newsletter!

Do you have images languishing in yourcomputer, never to be seen by otherssave friends and family, or perhaps yourcamera club? Now is a good time tothink about putting together an articlefor Travel Log! There is nothing quite likethe sense of achievement of seeing yourwork in print, and knowing that othersin the Travel Group can also enjoy thefruits of your efforts.

All articles on travel photography, longor short, are welcome. Instructions forsubmissions are to be found below.

Travel Log is published by the TravelGroup of the Royal Photographic Societythree times a year: in January, May andSeptember.

Contributions are welcome on allaspects of travel and travel photogra-phy. Full articles typically contain five tosix images selected from those submit-ted, plus an accompanying text describ-ing aspects of the journey and any tech-nical issues encountered. It is worth not-ing that a mix of landscape and portraitimages is useful. The layout of the textand images in the publishing softwareoften means that it is necessary to croppictures in order to balance the layout soimages with a fair amount of open spacesurrounding the main subject work par-ticularly well. It is also worth bearing inmind that images with much detail looseimpact on the printed page as the finalprinted version is inevitably smallerthan a print.

Many members are not comfortable withwriting lengthy text: if this is the case,please contact the Editor who will beglad to assist. All text is copy edited andproof-read by another member of theTravel Group committee.

Shorter submissions are also welcome aswell as articles describing photographicexhibitions with a strong travel theme orreviews of techniques, etc. of particularvalue to fellow travel photographers.Both colour and monochrome imagesare acceptable.

There is always a need for strong imagesfor the front cover. It is not necessary tosubmit an article for an image to be con-sidered for the cover, although it shouldbe borne in mind that the cover imagemust have impact and be technically

perfect.

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Please send all material to the Editor,Colin R. Howard, 11 Nightingale Way,Hereford HR1 2NQ.

The deadlines are 1st April (May issue),1st July (September issue) and 1stNovember (January issue).

The small print ….

No payment is made for articles usedand whilst every care is taken the Editor,Production or the Travel Group do notaccept liability for any damage to photo-graphic material submitted. The viewsexpressed in articles are those of the con-tributor, and not of the Travel Group orEditor.

The Travel Group and the RoyalPhotographic Society do not recommendany tours or services nor accept any lia-bility whatsoever for members who maymake bookings with, or purchases from,any companies or individuals whoadvertise in Travel Log or are mentionedin published articles.

RPS Travel Group

Cover picture: Place Plumereau, Toursby Elizabeth Frost FRPS

Issue 64 Travel Log 3

In this issue:

4 Chairman’s Chatter - Liz Rhodes

5 Helsinki - Richard Lewis ARPS

8 The Gardens of Prague - Cindy Eccles

11 A Tour of Northern France - Elizabeth Frost FRPS

14 Peru, the Land of Alpacas - John Coates LRPS

17 Spring Weekend Report - Colin Howard and Aline Hopkins

20 Digital Portfolio Circle - the Result of Round 22

Note from the Editor

Members may note that the publication schedule for Travel Log’sthree issues a year has been changed slightly to January, May and September. The deadline for the September issue is 1st July.

Travel LogMay 2013

Issue number 64

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Charlie Waite discussing the finer details of aHenri Cartier-Bresson print with JohnCucksey ARPS at this year’s Spring Weekendin Lacock

Dates for Your Diary17th - 24th August 2013Visit to Helsinki, Finland (seepage 5)10th - 11th May 2014 Travel Group Spring Weekend,Ludlow, Shropshire

4 Travel Log May 2013

Chairman’s ChatterLiz Rhodes

By the time you read this my big hope is that therehas been a definite improvement in the weather!It is coming up to the end of April, the days have

been grey and cold but now there are ocassional signsthat Spring has sprung. Thoughts of warmer climesfill my mind but having been on the Costa Rica trip,which you will be able to read about in the Septemberissue of Travel Log, I will not be going anywhere for awhile, so my photographic thoughts are focussed onwhat can the Travel Group offer its members in thecoming months. This is an on-going issue: despitethe best efforts of the committee we seem unable toengage with the majority of the members of the group.Perhaps the majority do not like what we organise byway of events and trips: fair enough, but why thenjoin the group? Have you any ideas of what we mightoffer that would bring a fresh approach to events andso engage more people? I would love to know.

We have just come away from a highly successfulSpring Weekend in Lacock. This year the weather wasmuch kinder and on many accounts it was the best yet,with several new mattendees scommenting on howmuch they enjoyed the weekend. You can read a fullreport of the event on page 17, including some prelimi-nary results of the shortquestionnaire handedout to all attendees. Ifyou have as yet notbeen to a SpringWeeend, why not takethe plunge and join usnext year in Ludlow? Itpromises once again tobe an exciting opportu-nity to show and dis-cuss what we all have apassion for - travel pho-tography. To whet yourappetitie, an article willappear in the next issueof Travel Log showingLudlow in all its splen-dour.

One initiative has been to form a sub-group in theSouth West. Ian Wright, a member there, organised ameeting back in January which was well attended bymembers in the region. Another meeting is planned forAugust. Perhaps someone in another region might dosomething similar? So far as the RPS Headquarters inBath are concerned, the setting up of sub-groups is amatter for the Groups themselves with the sub-groupsworking alongside the Group’s committee and some-thing to be encouraged.

I know many of you enjoy the trips: we have agroup visit to Helsinki coming up in August and youcan find out more as to all this fascinating Nordic capi-tal has to offer on page 5 where Richard Lewis, theorganiser and a frequent visitor to Helsinki, shareswith us the delights to be experienced there. Furtherafield, our planned trip to Burma in 2014 is provinghighly popular. Other suggestions are always welcome:please contact Aline Hopkins who it is pleasure to wel-come to the Travel Group Committee and will be co-ordinating our travel schedule with other committeemembers and, of course, you, our members.

Happy Travelling!

One of the manyspendid panoramas tobe had in Costa Rica.Picture by Liz Rhodes


Helsinki - The Capital of FinlandRichard Lewis ARPS

Helsinki became the capital of Finland in 1812. Itis a comfortable city – big enough to have allthe trappings of a capital but small enough for

interesting places to be close at hand. Everythingseems to be within walking distance, yet is backed upby an excellent public transport system that's properlyintegrated – a network of buses, trams, trains and fer-ries, all of which can be used with one multi-day travelcard. And they work – its online transport plannergives connections that are realistic and convenient. Ifyou're stuck – nearly everybody speaks very goodEnglish.

Helsinki is a Nordic city, so is clean and has thedesigner feel about it – seamlessly blending the newwith the old.

It has distinct seasons – Snowy winters, yielding great snowscapes, frozenseascapes, families skating on impromptu ice rinks,and in December truly traditional Christmas markets(all Finnish artisan stalls) including an outdoor marketin Helsinki Cathedral's Senaatintori square.Warming springs, culminating with May Day when it

seems that all of Helsinki celebrates winter's end byspending the day outdoors. It's noticeable how peopleoccupying the pavement tables of the city cafés rotatetheir seats to always face the sun as it passes. On theeve of May Day, Finnish high school graduates of allages adorned in white student caps, gather around thestatue of Havis Amanda at the harbour end ofEsplanadi while university students are hoisted up bycrane to wash the statue and place a student cap on herhead. At that moment, a sea of white hats fills the airabove Esplanadi, corks pop, and May Day celebrationsbegin. Sunny summers, where so much seems to be centredaround the water (Helsinki has the largest archipelagoin the world), either on boats, at waterside cafés andrestaurants, waterside parks, or on the island ofSuomenlinna which is popular for family picnics andgames. There's even a Pub Tram for you to appreciatethe city whilst tasting the local brews.

Year round there is much to do, with museumsand public art in abundance, many cultural and sport-ing events, and several markets with excellent foodstalls.

Helsinki has a wide range of architecture fromstark modernism through classical romantic. There'sBelow: Fishing boat in dry dock, Suomenlinna Island


the surrounding countryside with public parks andcountry houses to enjoy. And of course, it's the gate-way to the rest of Finland (I can recommend the railservice through the lakes and forests to Rovaniemi onthe Arctic circle, then on by car through Lapland toNorway's Barent Sea coast – very unspoiled and photo-genic), and the other countries in the region.

All this adds up to an excellent base for photogra-phy whatever the time of year, and whatever yourinterest. Just be prepared for the season you visit – itcan get very cold in winter and rather warm – actuallyhot – in the summer. Also be prepared for seasons notto align with those you might be accustomed to.Schools go back in mid-August so summer activitiescan start winding down quickly from then on.

Being a Nordic country, accommodation inFinland can be pricey, but for those on a budget I cansuggest CheapSleep hostel (www.cheapsleep.fi) withbeds from around €20/night through to private doublerooms from around €49. For a full service hotel, theRadisson Blu Seaside hotel(www.radissonblu.com/seasidehotel-helsinki), lessthan 10 minutes out of the centre by tram) has alwaysserved us well - double rooms en-suite with breakfastfrom around €115. Obviously these rates will vary byseason and according to what's happening in the city,and there are many other hotels to suit individual pref-erences. Eating out can also be expensive but there is awide range of places to eat with prices to suit all pock-ets. We've had excellent experiences in Salve,Merimakasiini, Karl Johan, Eckberg's, Kappeli (onEsplanadi), to name but a few.

Summing up, here are some places to go for pho-tography:National Museum of Photography. Always has amajor exhibition and smaller ones featuring Finnish orwell known international photographers.Suomenlinna Island. An old naval fortress actuallyspread over several islands and now a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site. It's reached by a 15 minute ferry ridefrom the east harbour.Seurasaari Open Air Museum. On an island within thecity, you'll find old buildings in rural settings fromaround Finland, many staffed by interpreters in cos-tume.Esplanadi. This is a tree lined boulevard droppingdown from the city centre to the harbour and, with itspavement cafés and parks, is the place to people watch.Interesting Buildings. There are many – for examplethe Church in the Rock, Helsinki Market Hall, theNational Museum, Helsinki Cathedral, the RussianOrthodox Cathedral, the Parliament building, FinlandiaHall, the Fish Market. Add in the Neoclassical andArt-Nouveau quarters, and the city gives opportunitiesin abundance for street and architectural photography.Just outside Helsinki, in its own grounds overlooking alake, is Hvittrask, a country house formerly thehome/studio (now museum) of Finnish architectsGesellius, Lindberg & Saarinen.Söderskär. A two hour boat trip takes you to thisisland in Helsinki's outer archipelago, with its oldlighthouse, flora, and birds. So peaceful and so photo-

Below: Söderskär Island in the Helsinki Archipelago


genic, but only available in mid-summer.Further afield, Porvoo to the east and Hanku to

the west are photogenic old towns with traditionalwooden buildings. Saimaa, to the north east ofHelsinki, is the heart of Finland's lake district (andwhere Russian traditions remain strong). Rovaniemilies on the Arctic circle with Finnish (and Norwegian)Lapland beyond. Just across the Baltic, Tallinn in

Estonia is an easy day trip, with its largely unspoilt oldquarter. Less than four hours on a high speed trainwill take you to St. Petersburg (visa required unlessyou take the alternative boat trip). West, via theStockholm ferry, are the tranquil Åland islands. Or justgo out and enjoy Finland's lakes and forests.

For more information on Helsinki, the city has anexcellent website: www.visithelsinki.fi

Top left: Ferry bound for Sweden, South Harbour; Top Right: Old Finnish Farm, with interpreter, Open Air Museum

Bottom left: Statue of Alexander III of Russia in front of Helsinki Cathedral; Bottom Right: Picnic time, Seurasaari Island


The Gardens of Prague - the Softer Side ofPrague Cindy Eccles

Prague. Just the name conjures images of gothicromanticism, grand architecture, and bowlfuls ofgoulash. As an archaeologist and travel hound, I

was enthralled by the allure of stomping around such ahistorically and culturally rich landscape. But in July,this medieval city revealed a softer side with spectacu-lar gardens fit for royalty and lovers and those with achildhood dream to frolic in a secret garden.

As most visitors were queuing for access to CastlePrague’s sites, I sought refuge in the castle’s RoyalGardens. One of seven landscapes scattered through-out the castle grounds, the Royal Gardens were origi-nally designed by Italian architect Giovanni Spatia dur-ing the early Renaissance. Restoration work on thegardens after the Thirty Years’ War added a Baroquestyle, and its current English park-style state withgrassy lawns replaced ornamental flower beds in thelate 19th Century.

On the south side of the castle, the Garden ofParadise--with Roman-style pergolas--and theRamparts led to a pay-to-enter self-guided tour of thestepped gardens below the castle. The narrow path-way dropped off into sections of terraced and seeming-ly private gardens that were only accessible by steepand slick stone steps. There were very few shady spotsfrom the top to the bottom, but the July mid-day heatworked in my favor as I had the garden segments to

myself.

Built in 1348, the Franciscan Garden was tuckedaway behind the Church of Our Lady of the Snowsbetween Wenceslas and Jungmann Squares. It wasclosed to the public until 1950, when the Franciscanswere displaced. A small portion was given back to theFranciscans in 1989, and reconstruction of the gardenswas complete in 1992. A simple square design withintersecting pathways belied artful patches of flowersor hedge-guarded fruit trees, and works of art includedthe Wild Nymphs sculpture and the Fountain Boy withShell.

Established sometime between 1932 and 1934, theRosarium, or Rose Garden is perched atop Petrin Hilland is near the Stefanik Observatory. The entrancewas marked by stone-sculpted lovers locked in a pas-sionate embrace. The garden design includes over12,000 roses of varying species and color arranged in arosette- and fan-shaped sections. Some of the roseswere starting to show the effects of the hot summer,but there were plenty still in full bloom producing aheavenly scent.

The Wallenstein Gardens in Mala Strana (LittleQuarter) was an amazing mix of beauty and dark histo-ry. Built as part of the baroque palace complex in themid 17th Century, the gardens were a maze of tall

hedges, topiary decorations,peek-a-boo pockets of grass, andmyriad pools and fountains.There was also an impressivearray of replica bronze statutesflanking a walkway leading tothe Senate building. Perhapsmost strange was the grotto orartificial stalactites completewith twisted masks of variousspecies hidden within the struc-ture.

Of all the gardens in Prague,my favorite was the NebozizekGarden. It was early in themorning, and the sun was slow-ly finding its way to illuminat-ing this tiny corner of heaven. I

Left: The Royal Gardens, PragueCastle


Above: The Lower Terraced Gardens, Prague Castle

Above: Travel fish fountain, Wallenstein Gardens

Right: The “Freedom Tree”, Nebozizek Garden, Prague

Top: Royal Gardens, Prague

Above left: Coreopsis verticillata (MoonBeam flowers)

Above right: The Rosarium, Petrin Hill,Prague

stepped through the open side ofthe rusted and vine-coveredwrought-iron gate and emergedinto a fairy-tale world full of sun-kissed wild flowers and buzzinginsects. There was no formaldesign or structure to the garden,which only added to its naturalcharm. Nebozizek lacked grandfountains or regal sculptures, butinstead offered inviting weath-

ered benches and a pebbled path-way meandering through thesmall complex. I happened upona “freedom tree” with decades ofquips and quotes carved andpainted on the withered trunkreminding me that Prague’s gar-dens are not just about beauty,but also serve as a reminder ofthe nation’s struggle for freedomand peace.



A Tour of Northern FranceElizabeth Frost FRPS

When our son and his fiancée announced thatthey were to be married in France at her par-ents’ home in the Charente area, we saw it as

a golden opportunity to combine the wedding with atrip in our Mercedes Pagoda 280 SL. She had alreadyearned herself the nick-name “Bella Benza” on a previ-ous tour to Lake Como, so this is how I will refer to herin this article.

A few weeks before the due date, disaster struck:I arrived in London from Saudi Arabia on 28th Juneand the porter of our block of flats said: “You had bet-ter go and have a look at your car in the garage. Therewas a fire in one of the garages yesterday and a lot ofdamage in other garages.” As the garage door opened,a sorry sight greeted me: Bella Benza’s satiny off-whitebody had turned a deep shade of tobacco. Only theroof had been covered with a sheet, and where edgesof the sheet had covered bits of paintwork below thewindscreen, the paint was still white. Fortunately,most of the smoke damage could be polished off byprofessionals at the garage where she is serviced, andonly the boot had to be re-sprayed. They had her look-ing like new in good time for our departure.

I had made all our ferry bookings on LD Lines,and our hotel bookings on www.bookings.com. I high-ly recommend both. Bookings.com have a huge rangeof establishments and hotels with an equally huge pricerange. They have a good “Review” section from previ-ous customers. This especially helped when lookingfor places that had off-street and secure parking.

We left Twickenham with the rising sun at 5.30a.m., with my 11 year old nephew, visiting us fromCanada, waving goodbye. Our ferry left fromPortsmouth to Le Havre, and our first port of call forlunch was the lovely old harbour at Honfleur. It is eas-ily accessed via the impressive cable-stayed Pont deNormandie across the Seine – but we had a very oldmap, missed the bridge and had to go the long wayround! Honfleur is surrounded on three sides by ter-races of old and mainly grey town houses, each onedifferent to the other, with various heights and widths.They look like a series of dolls houses stuck together.At the base of all of them are cafés and restaurants

with brightly coloured umbrellas. After lunch, we headed south towards Le Mans.

I enjoy map reading, getting lost occasionally and, ifnecessary, asking people the way. It is astonishinghow many people will say: “Follow me! I will take youthere!” Our hotel in Le Mans was even better thanexpected: situated in the heart of old Le Mans (VieuxMans) in the square of the Cathédrale St-Julien duMans. The owners pointed us in the direction of a nar-row cobbled street leading off the square where thereare lots of restaurants and bars. In the summer the oldtown is transformed at night by numerous laser lightshows. The entire façade of the cathedral became astained glass window, changing designs every fewminutes. Patches of light would appear on the lanes asyou walked along, and other walls were used to show

Right:Chateau de Villandry


constantly changing pageants. Le Mans is justifiably famous

for the car race, but a visit to the St.Julien Cathedral, dating as far backas the 9th Century, is a must. Wespent over an hour there, marvel-ling at the architecture, sculptures,13th Century stained glass win-dows, and atmosphere.

With no time left to visit theracing museum, we continuedsouth down the “Le Mans Straight”towards Poitiers.

Soon after Tours, we got side-tracked in search of lunch and fol-lowed signs to Chateau de Brou. Itis in Noyant de Touraine, half waybetween Montbazon andChâtellerault, and a few miles offthe A10. The signs led us to somehuge and intimidating iron gates,where we rang a bell, the gateseventually opening. We drovealong a dirt road for several kilome-tres, through thick woods; it wasslightly spooky and felt as thoughwe were driving to the Castle ofViscount Dracula or about to bepart of the Rocky Horror Show.We later learned that this fairy-talechateau was built in 1475 andstands in the middle of a 100hectare forest. It could have cometo a tragic end, but in 1997 itbecame the property of the Giraultfamily who fully restored thechateau to its former glory.

We continued on towardsPoitiers and arrived at our destina-tion for the wedding, the hamlet ofGermeville, just outside Aigre. It isin the heart of sunflower growingcountry, with picturesque housesand barns made out of the locallight yellow stone, all a perfect set-ting for the occasion. Our daysleading up to the wedding werespent decorating the huge barn,buying white ribbon for BellaBenza, and enjoying the cafes and

Top: Le Mans Cathedral by day

Middle:... and by night during the sum-mer festival

Bottom: Annual pageant, Chateaud’Amboise


restaurants in Aigre and nearby towns. After all the fun of the wedding, we set off back

towards Tours. The area is steeped in the history of theHundred Years War (1337 – 1453) involving the Houseof Valois and the Plantagenets. It was during this timethat so many beautiful Chateaux were built as KingCharles VII, the Dauphin, moved his royal administra-tion to the Loire. Because there are so many chateaux,it is a good idea to research them before you leave andplan which ones you want to see, booking hotels near-by.

We arrived near Tours in brilliant sunshine, so westopped off at the Chateau de Villandry, renowned forits formal gardens. This moated chateau was complet-ed toward 1536 and was the last of the large chateauxbuilt in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. TheChateau has an on-going refurbishment programme,and all the gardens – including the organic vegetablegardens – are formally laid out and immaculately kept.Villandry village has several restaurants and barswhich close quite early (9.30 – just after dark!), or youcan go into Tours and eat at one of the many restau-rants in the old part of the City. It is a Universitytown, buzzing with life and atmosphere, and in thePlace Plumereau, nothing closes until well after mid-night.

Our next chateau was Chenonceau, known as the“Ladies’ Chateau”, partly because of its lovely appear-ance with arches striding across the River Cher, butmainly because there was a succession of five womenwho loved, administered and protected it. It was builtin 1513 and, as it says on the website, “The iron, butvery feminine, fist in the velvet glove has always pre-served Chenonceau during times of conflict and war in

order to make it forever a place of peace”. We spent that night in the Auberge du bon

Labourer in Chenonceau. After supper, we drove tothe Chateau d’Amboise to see the historical pageantthat takes place several days a week throughout thesummer. The show employs hundreds of adults andchildren from Amboise and is quite a spectacle.Chateau d’Amboise is one we would love to return tobecause there is so much to see there, and so muchgoing on – but we had chosen to spend our last dayvisiting the magnificent gothic Chateau de Chambord,the largest in the Loire Valley.

Chambord is set in 13,000 acres of parklands andwoods, with no formal gardens, and is popular forwalking and cycling as well as visiting the Chateau.There are lots of intricate spiral staircases taking you toall the different levels, the most impressive and fasci-nating being the double-helix, open-work staircase,supposedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Its uniquedesign allowed people – such as the King – to see peo-ple using the other staircase, but to be able to go upand down without meeting them. If (like me) you havewalking difficulties, it is still worth the effort to haulyourself up to the Gothic rooftop and enjoy the numer-ous asymetrical and elaborate towers and windows atclose quarters.

After our ten days in France, ending with ourintense immersion in the history of the Loire chateaux,we were ready to head for home. Nonetheless, withso much to see and learn in France we were definitelyinspired to come back another time for more!

Below:Annual pageant at Chateau d’Amboise


Why have I called it Peru, the Land of Alpacas?There were three couples involved in thisvisit to Peru, all with one thing in common:

we are alpaca farmers and breeders in the UK, twocouples from Cornwall, including my wife and I, andone couple from Yorkshire. Our plan was to visit thealpaca breeding and genetics centre at Mallkini, thelargest private alpaca ranch in Peru, to see how they doit and learn a little from them, but in my case being anenthusiastic photographer, I had the secondary interestto make a photographic record of the whole event.

Of course travelling all the way from the UK toPeru we were not going to miss out on the populartourist hot spots and indeed our itinerary took us first-ly to Cusco the mythical capital of the Inca Empire andour first introduction to altitude, but at 3,360 metres(11,023ft) above sea level it was not a patch on what wewere to experience later at the Mallkini Ranch.

After a few days taking in the historical monu-ments, myths and legends of Cusco, it was time tomove on to the citadel of Machu Picchu a fascinatingand awe inspiring place, then over the next week or soit was on to the Sacred Valley, followed by the ColcaCanyon which they say is bigger, longer and deeperthan the Grand Canyon in the USA.

Lake Titicaca and the floating islands of the UrosIndians was next on our agenda, then it was on toArequipa, a pleasantcolonial city the secondlargest in Peru. It isknown as the White Citybecause it is almost com-pletely built of sillar, awhite volcanic stone.Our tour ended in Limathe capitol and with theonly international air-port in Peru. All of thiswas a full itinerary initself but the highlightfor us alpaca breederswas our trip to theMallkini Alpaca Ranchhigh up in the AndesMountains.

Alpacas are the new world camels and are thesame biological family as the dromedaries of Asia,along with llamas, guanaco and vicuna also to befound in South America; they have been quietly graz-ing in these high altitudes for thousands of years. Longago the fine fleeces of the alpaca and vicuna wouldhave been reserved for Inca Royalty, whilst even up tothe present day the coarser haired and larger llama hasalways been a beast of burden.

The Mallkini Ranch is located in the heart ofalpaca country in the province of Azangaro, near Puno,high on the Altiplano about 40 miles from the borderwith Bolivia. The Ranch covers over 3,000 hectaresacross the Altiplano and is home to more than 2,000alpacas. The altitude at the Mallkini Ranch ranges from4,000 metres (13,123 ft) to 4,800 metres (15,400 ft) andgetting about at these altitudes we all found challeng-ing at times.

For the first part of our journey to the MallkiniRanch, we left Cusco by train bound for Puno; the jour-ney is considered one of the great train journeys of theworld and took about ten hours to complete. The com-fortable carriages of the Orient Express “AndeanExplorer” offered us first class restaurant service andour own carriage attendant providing beverages andlight snacks during the journey. The train also has anexcellent observation car at the rear offering clear andspectacular views as you traverse the “High Plateau”of this vast territory, they even provide bottled oxygen

Peru, the Land of AlpacasJohn Coates LRPS

Alpacas at Mallkini


for those suffering somewhat with the altitude, as somedid.

Upon arrival at Puno railway station, whichappeared to be straight down the main street, every-one’s luggage, all mixed up by now, was taken fromthe luggage car by the porters and unceremoniouslyplaced on the platform in several large heaps, it was aninteresting thirty minutes or so trying to find ours.Nevertheless, when we were ready our transport toMallkini was waiting for us. We then had a four hourride mostly over unmade roads through wild andremote countryside. During the ride our hosts provid-ed us with coca tea (mate de coca) from a flask, a com-mon drink in the Andes and said to help with the alti-tude, I felt it should work as it is from the same baseplant as cocaine!

The Mallkini Ranch started its operation in 1996thanks to the efforts of the Michell Group, a companystarted by Frank Michell (1897-1987) an Englishmanwho came to Peru in 1922 searching for chinchillas! It isnow the largest alpaca textile conglomerate in Peru.The mission of the Mallkini Ranch is to improve thefibre quality of alpacas, export alpacas and its productsworldwide, promote ecotourism, and also to train andraise the living standards of the indigenous QuechuaIndians.

The Quechua people are an abandoned race who

seem quite lost in our modern world: outside of thebig cities basic health and education for these peopledoes not seem to exist, except for that provided by for-eign-based charities. I found the Quecha to be veryspiritual and uninterested in politics. They are veryloyal to their families and did not appear greedy ormaterialistic, expressing themselves in shy smiles,rarely complaining. Certainly there was no begging astheir pride is very much intact despite the almost inhu-mane solitude of life on the Altiplano.

The Mallkini Hacienda was built with local mate-rials of volcanic stone, rocks and clay, electricity wasonly connected for about an hour in the morning, andafter an hour in the evening they would fire up an oldelectric generating set, it was in fact a British machinepowered by a good old Lister Diesel engine. Theevenings at Mallkini were spent around a large log firein the lounge discussing the day’s events with col-leagues and as the temperature outside dropped toabout minus five degrees our very thoughtful hostswould place hot water bottles in our beds.

Our days at Mallkini were spent undertaking aprogramme of alpaca clinics, lectures and field visitsand we found the preferred way of getting about onthe range was by horseback although they did have afour wheel drive vehicle. We discovered that even atthese altitudes there seemed to be abundant pasture forthe alpacas to graze on. They call this ‘ichu’, a very

Top left: ladies grading alpaca fleeces Top right: Observation car, Orient ExpressBottom left: Main street, Cuyocuyo Bottom right: Mallkini Ranch Hacienda


coarse grass, nothing like the green pastures we areused to in the UK. Some agriculture also takes placehere but all they can grow at these altitudes are maizeand potatoes and along with alpaca meat these consti-tutes their staple diet.

The little village of Cuyocuyo near by with it’sabandoned church provided my wife and I with a wel-come relief for a walk one free afternoon and also aphoto opportunity for me. I couldn’t help thinking aswe walked around the village that life here was justabout at existence level and that the people who wereemployed up at the Mallkini Ranch were indeed a littlebetter off than others in this area.

On our last day at Mallkini we continued to fol-low the programme of organised events and lecturesand in the evening we all attended a presentation din-

ner when we received our completion of course certifi-cates with time afterwards to relax and enjoy the party,before the next and final stage of our trip, a privatevisit to the Michell factory in Arequipa to see the trans-formation of raw alpaca fleece into beautiful knittedgarments.

I must say that after the rural aspect of Mallkiniand its surroundings I was completely taken aback bythe size and scale of the Michell Group’s modern man-ufacturing plants in Arequipa, three sites in all employ-ing over 2,500 people working 7 days a week, makingthe Michell Group the largest alpaca and wool manu-facturers in Peru and one of the largest textile groupsin Latin America.

We saw tons of raw alpaca fleeces being sorted. Amanual task performed by expert women, it is said to

be a skill inherited from their motherswho did the job before them. They doan amazing job classifying finenessand colours of the fleeces just by touchalone. Our tour continued through thescouring and combing plants of thefactory, then onto the spinning processand finally the dyeing plant. The yarnthen goes onto the knitting factorywhere fine alpaca garments are pro-duced.

Inevitably we ended our tour atthe Michell Factory Shop. My wifenow has pride of place in herwardrobe a very fine full length blackalpaca coat! A worthy souvenir of ourwonderful visit to Peru!

Above: Farming at high altitudeRight: Woman shepherd spinning whilst working!

Lady with llama, Cusco


Lacock was once again the venue for the TravelGroup Spring Weekend, held this year in theVillage Hall. Some 52 members assembled on a

fine Saturday morning to what turned out to be one ofthe most successful weekend meetings yet. A numberof members had already worked up a thirst for goodimages by visiting the National Trust property atStourhead the previous afternoon, and of courseLacock has much to offer all photographers.

Robert Canis got us off to a fine start, sharingwith us his evocative images of Dungeness and theremoter marshes of North Kent. From there he took usto the parts of Poland and the Tatras Mountains thatfew tourists ever visit. The mix of fine landscapes andnatural history had us all hushed as Robert put acrosshis passion for getting up early or to bed late in orderto capture the best light. There was much to assimilate,and a number of brave souls ventured out into the vil-lage to shoot to a brief of capturing unusual images forRobert to critique.

After lunch we were thrilled by Charlie Waite’sinimitable style of tackling both landscapes and urbanshots as he addressed why so often our photographsfall short of our expectations at the time of pressing theshutter. We were treated to a feast of images thatshowed how patience in composing a shot pays divi-dends, and how small details of perspective are vital toturn a good image into a great photograph. Charliealso shared with us his admiration of the legendaryphotographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, especially hiswork taken on the Greek island of Sifnos.

Many members enjoyed a well-earned drink anddinner at The George Inn in readiness for the next day’sactivities.

Sunday was very much members’ day. AlineHopkins had assembled an audio-visual presentationfrom the Group’s trip in January to Costa Rica,admirably displaying the abundant wildlife of this fas-cinating country of Central America - a nature photog-rapher’s paradise. This was followed by ChrisHammond’s audiovisual presentation of members’work taken on the Group trip along the Hooghly Riverin India. The vibrancy of life along the river banks to

Kolkata was almost palpable from the members’ pic-tures.

The ten minute “Soapbox” session has alwaysbeen popular and this year was no exception. Fivemembers gave presentations on topics as diverse as theHakka villages of Hong Kong (Brian Pearce), WrangellIsland off the coast of northern Siberia (AndrewGasson) and the Miao festivities in South West China(Neil Harris). Marget Hocking took us on a tour of theQueensland outback and Maggie Manson took us toSpitsbergen in serach of ice bears.

The final session was a talk by Patricia Jones,FRPS, who has produced exquisite landscapes taken onher many trips to the highlands of Scotland and theOuter Hebrides. Noticeable was the dramatic lightingthat she had captured by visiting during the autumnmonths. Getting the balance of the landscape elementscorrect was stressed and the quality of the prints out-standing. Patricia also shared with us how she had a‘Eureka moment’ whilst photographing the wide sandybays of Harris which led to her successful fellowshipsubmission.

Members have always had the chance to displayprints during the weekend, and this was no exception.This year we were delighted also to see a number ofsucessful associateship panels by Richard Lewis andSylvia Wilson as well as the successful fellowship sub-mission by James Frost with his images of Burma.

Spring Weekend, April 2013

Colin Howard and Aline Hopkins

Brian Pearce receiving the Joan Wakelin Trophy from theChairman, Liz Rhodes

Finally, the Spring Weeknd would not be com-plete without the annual competition and congratula-tions go to Brian Pearce for winning the Gold Medaland Joan Wakelin Trophy for his image of sulphurmining in Indonesia. Jonathan Ratnage won the SilverMedal with his picture of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport(see back page of January 2013 Travel Log!) and KeithPointon the Bronze Medal for a stunning picture of theAurora Borealis taken in Iceland. Thanks also to LeoPalmer FRPS for judging the competition.

The weekend would not be a success were it notfor the catering and the Group is grateful for the ster-ling efforts of Elizabeth Lewis and Hilary Hammondwho made sure the teas and coffee flowed and we wereall well fed at lunchtime.

The weekend enlivened and elevated the photo-graphic spirits of all who were there. The Committee isconscious, however, that there are many members ofthe Travel Group who have yet to come along to thisannual fest of travel photography. Why not make anote of next year’s meeting to be held in Ludlow, 10thand 11th May 2014. To whet the appetite, look out foran article on Ludlow in the Septemeber issue of TravelLog!


Top: Patricia Jones FRPS discussing her prints of ScotlandRight: Members’ prints on display

Below: Silver medal winner Keith Pointon’s evocativeimage of the Aurora Borealis in Iceland.


Gold medal and Joan Wakelin Trophy winner Brian Pearce’s photograph of sulphur miners in Indonesia.

A short questionnaire was given to membersattending the Spring Weekend, asking questions suchas:'What would you like to see the Travel Group do more

of?' and 'Which trips might you be interested in?'. This has produced some interesting results, in

terms of both events in the UK and overseas trips. It isclear that members would like to see more weekendworkshops in the UK, covering the licentiateships,technical issues, or just having a weekend away some-where.

In terms of what type of tour appeals to members,'far away' came top of the list, followed by 'wildlife'and 'city breaks'. When it came to the trips peoplewere interested in, Yellowstone was the clear winner inthe 'far away' category, with Botswana andChile/Easter Island in equal second place.

On the UK/Europe list, Northumberland and

Denmark shared first place, followed by a cruise to theNorwegian fjords. In equal fourth place were ScottishIslands and the Dutch bulb fields.In the 'Christmas Escape' category, Madagascar was in

first place by some way, with Cuba second andNamibia third.

There were various other suggestions for tours,all completely different! This has given the committee agreat deal to discuss, and should provide the basis forplans for the future.

If anyone has any comments on this, or wishes toregister an early interest in any of the potential tripslisted above, you can e-mail Aline [email protected] out for more details and anlaysis of this question-naire in the September issue of Travel Log.


Kolkata Street Scene, by Hazel FrostThis photograph was taken on our recent trip to Nagaland (North East India). We had a few hours in "transit" in Kolkatabefore our next flight and spent this walking the streets from sunrise. There were many people who lived their lives on thestreet. This lady slept under the awning to the left, with the tree demarcating her space. She was sewing and attaching deco-ration to the cloth by her feet.

Taken with a Canon EOS 1D with a 70-200 mm lens ISO 400, f 3.5, 1/320

Digital Portfolio Circle - Round 22 Result

The Travel Group Website? This is now locat-ed at http://www.rps.org/travel

Back copies of Travel Log can now be down-loaded in pdf format from the RPS website-and you will also find details of events andTravel Group activities. There is also theopportunity to display your own portfolio oftravel photographs.

Documents

MAY 2013 ISSUE 64 · Chairman Liz Rhodes New Cottage, High Street Drayton St Leonard Wallingford, Oxon OX10 7BA Telephone: 01865 890712 Secretary Keith Pointon LRPS Temple Cottage