~ Aqua Vitae ~
© 2015 Marie Danielsen -All Rights Reserved
Indonesia – Hoga Island (part 2)
Posted on October 2, 2014
A monitor lizard casually passing me on the path one morning, it was huge (140 cm)! They were usually basking in the sun, not moving much, but if you got too close or surprised them, they sure knew how to run and hide incredible fast!
I was so lucky to get to join the cultural group for a trip to a neighboring island a day when I had nothing else planned, were all the following pictures were taken:
This Island did not have fishing as their main income, as most other islands do, but seaweed farming! They would grow seaweed on long ropes floating in the warm waters, collect it, dry it and then ship it off to the bigger islands where they use it in food and medicine.
We also visited a huge cave on another small island where the locals would get rain water/drinking water. It was also home for a bunch of bats, don’t be fooled by the picture, that’s my flash, it was really pitch dark and kinda scary.
Part 3 coming up soon. Need to finish the Indonesia posts now, cause I have so many new photos from the rest of the summer + coming back to Edinburgh that I want to share!
Indonesia – Hoga Island (part 1)
Posted on September 24, 2014
On the “slave boat” on our way to Hoga Island. A 9 (+/-) hour long boat ride where we were sleeping on mattresses that covered the whole floor. Pretty much everyone got seasick, and all we had to eat and drink was a 1.5 L of water and some pastries with banana & chocolate filling.
Even though the boat ride was hell, it was definitely worth it when we finally arrived at Hoga! Just look at this place, it’s a PARADISE!
My home for the last two weeks, that I shared with another research assistant, Hannah. Our house was named Seahorse!
Arriving at Hoga was like another world compared to the jungle site, although the jungle was amazing, Hoga had that paradise feeling that really just gave me the greatest feeling I’ve ever had. It was so BEAUTIFUL! I took so many photos of the nature, not so many of people, since we were mostly in/under water the whole day!
There will be a part 2 & 3 from Hoga as well, hope you guys enjoy!
Indonesia- Buton Island- Labundo Bundo (part 3)
Posted on September 14, 2014
We got a quick lecture in Indonesian language between all the rice eating and jungle hiking. Terima kasih!
Also did a butterfly transect one day, where we walked a certain distance in the jungle, identifying and counting all the butterflies we saw. We would also stop at certain times and try to catch and identify as many butterflies as possible. Since a lot of the Indonesian islands have some incredible biodiversity, the chances of finding endemic species are really high, and there was several new species identified just in the two weeks I was there. Pretty neat!
Kat made some really awesome drawings of us!
I’m the one down in the left corner, haha.
One day was spent following a pack of macaques for the whole day, writing down all aggressive behavior, as well as the sex and age of the members. It was a lot harder for us down on the ground to move through the thick jungle vegetation than it was for the monkeys to jump from branch to branch up in the canopy, so this day was a true workout!
This was all the photos from my two weeks in the jungle! I’ll be posting the pictures from my two weeks at the marine site, Hoga, this (and next) week 🙂 Hope you guys like them!
Bye bye, Norway
Posted on June 12, 2014
I am leaving my safe, little home in Norway in only four days, travelling all the way to Indonesia for a month. I’ll be working as a volunteer research assistant, handling wild animals in both terrestrial and marine sites, diving in some of the worlds most species rich waters with the most amazing coral reefs and getting my diving certificate. It all seems a bit unreal still, there’s been so much to pack and prepare for this trip that I haven’t had much time to think of the actual trip itself yet! I’m bringing my Nikon D7000 + a GoPro 3+ Black camera so that I can get some cool underwater shoots, but there’s no internet where I’m going, so all the pictures and videos will be uploaded here after I get back. For the first time in years I finally feel like there’s nothing keeping me here in Norway, and that it’s time to do whatever I want without having to consider anyone else. The feeling of no strings attached is both extremely relieving and a bit scary, but right now it feels kinda nice not knowing what the future brings. This is going to be an adventure for life, and I can’t wait to get there!
Lily of the valley
Posted on June 6, 2014
Ever since I was a little girl, a spring time tradition has been to pick a huge bouquet of Lily of the Valley and give to my grandmother (and usually also one for mum!). After she passed away, the tradition was still kept alive, and every year me and my dad go out together and pick the biggest bouquet possible and put it in a vase on her grave. This flower means a lot to me, it is one of my favourites. When I was 18 I got a memorial tattoo for grandma of this flower, and whenever I see them or smell them, I think of all the nice memories I have of her.
Escaping the city – Pentland Hills (Blog post no. 100!)
Posted on March 5, 2014
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My flatmate, Ellie, asked if I wanted to join her, her friend and our other flatmate, Chelsey, for a hike in the Pentlands Saturday morning, which I said yes to, thinking it would most likely not happen (knowing my ability to get up early in the morning and the fact that Edinburgh weather rarely let a day pass without rain). But what do you know, we got up at 8 in the morning and left the house by 9! I am so happy we went, it was such a nice way to start the day. The weather was perfect (although a bit windy at the top), and I even brought my camera and got some nice pictures. Incredible what a little fresh air can do to you, it was such a nice break from stressful uni work.
Thank god we’re heading towards warmer, brighter days now. I loved this little trip, hopefully there will be more of them before exams are here!
This is also my blog post no. 100! I guess I would have hit 100 a long time ago if I managed to post something a bit more frequently, but hey, still feel proud that I’ve kept this blog alive for this long.
Hey, we’ve got the world to see, so let’s forget our anxieties and get on our way
Posted on February 25, 2014
Just some very improvised pictures I took the other day while tidying my room (everything is more fun than that, am I right?). The light in my room is perfect for some nice natural light-portraits, so in the lack of a better model, I went ahead and took a few “selfies” using my 35 mm lens and the timer.
Hurray for longer days, hurray for more and more sunlight, hurray for spring!
Here comes the spring?
Posted on February 5, 2014
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Went for a walk with my camera in the nice Edinburgh weather yesterday. Got pretty surprised when I saw that spring was already in full motion, in February! Not sure what to think about that, but at least there was a lot of nice things to take pictures of.
Was stretching my long, awkward body over a fence to get a decent picture of some pretty snow bells in someones garden, when the owner, a sweet old lady opened her door and was like “Sweetheart, just come into the garden and take all the photos you want!”. She was so adorable! After getting a couple of good photos she even invited me to “just sit in her garden whenever I want, if I need somewhere to relax and want to enjoy some pretty flowers”. Almost picked her up (she was pretty short, but then again, compared to me, everyone is) and hugged her flat as a pancake! Made. My. Day. Thinking of printing one of the pictures and framing it to her as a gift.
Just turned 23 (5th of feb).
Another year older, definitely not a year wiser.
~ Aqua Vitae ~ 