A fire aftermath and a heron.

Amazing to see how certain sections escaped the flames.

The colors in the picture above entranced me, with the scorched mountains at the front and that blue mountain peak at the back, with the greenery down below.

I have 4 shots to show how a fire ran across the mountains, and in the 5th shot I saw something else. A nice surprise that lifted the dark mood that the burnt mountains left me in. Never a great sight to see the damages, but one knows that it will all grow back, as nature is very resilient. This was when we took a 2-day break at a small town, and there was so much to see. We realise that the period was too short, as one would have to spend 2 or 3 weeks to really explore the town as well as all of the other small towns in a 60–100-kilometer radius.

I wonder how many people have used that footpath over time? I know that the old settlers looked for animal hoof prints when they wanted to cross a mountain, as they simply followed the prints.

And I also found a Black-headed Heron in the wild. See if you can spot it in this picture below.

Okay, let's climb on the zoom. Yay! It was a Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala).

A bit of a clearer shot.

Just look at that! Open mouthed in the summer heat of 36C.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get him taking off as he departed.

Just to see that heron, lifted my mood as the animals can adapt to anything. I don't know what it was doing there, as I know that there is a dried-up riverbed behind it, but maybe the heron was searching for rodents. On our way to the mountains, we also encountered the usual cattle and horses on the roads, and I cannot tell you how we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the place. Not even to talk about the fresh air coming off the mountains, as it cleared our chests.

Silence is a healer, and in our rushed and noisy lives one forgets about the benefits of silence. Like I said, we were only there for two days and at night we could just hear the distant call of an owl. It takes time to get used to the silence, and to switch our brains off, but we managed the second night to have a great and peaceful sleep. Just a pity that we could not stay longer, but duty calls.
Such is life.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

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