> Images of Landscape

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The Tunisian Sahara

Uploaded 11th June 2004

This is a selection of animals and plants that I've seen so far. Some of them are pretty alien. Particularly interesting are the cute little green / yellow grasshoppers. There were carpets of them stretching for metres and metres, sometimes 2 or 3 deep in the desert. I thought it was beautiful.

When I mentioned it to an old Bedouin at Bir Soltane he said they were larval locusts that had hatched out of the ground. About a week after they emerge, their wings develop and they will ravage the crops. Carpets of them are the first sign of a very difficult year to come for farmers and nomadic herders alike.

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The Isle of Wight

Uploaded 17th March 2004

This is the countryside around my family home. It is mostly chalk, so the hills are smooth and the soil is very thin. There is lots of farm access by 4x4, hence the ruts. Some of the land is owned by the National Trust, so that is pristine. There are plans to remove 2-wheeled access to some of these places, because kids on Moto-X bikes tear up the trails and alarm walkers. A shame.

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