Outdoor Activities

[NEPAL 27086] ‘Path to enlightment.’ Like confetti the Rhododendron flower petals cover the mountain ridge path leading east from Ghorepani to Deurali in the Annapurna Conservation Area. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.LOIRE 10865] ’Evening sky above Saumur.’ Admiring a wonderful evening sky above Saumur, a kayaker embarks on a late trip on the Loire. Photo Paul Smit.

Kayaking across Burano.

[ITALY.VENEZIA 5849] 'Kayaking across Burano.' The kayak offers a wonderful way to explore the Venetian Lagoon (Laguna Veneta/Laguna di Venezia). A kayaker follows the Rio Teranova, a canal in Burano, the most colourful island of the lagoon. The colours of the brightly painted houses follow an old tradition; if someone wishes to paint his house, he must send a request to the local authority, which will specify the colours permitted for that lot. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30019] ’Small canal in Irleau.’

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30019] ’Small canal in Irleau.’ Most of the villages in the Marais Poitevin were once dependent on transport by water. This small canal (named “Bief d’Irleau) serviced the village of Irleau. The houses are on the left hand bank and gardens on the other bank can be reached via footbridges. This lush environment, which is justly described as “Venise Vert” (Green Venice), is a paradise for kayakers. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30012] ’Portage at La Roussille.’

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30012] ’Portage at La Roussille.’ Paddling on the Sèvre Niortaise, kayakers encounter the lock of La Roussille a few kilometers downstream of Niort and a portage is necessary. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.LOIRE 10861] ’Tree hut in Weeping Willow.’ At Candes-Saint-Martin a kayaker checks out a Weeping Willow on the Loire bank which shelters a hidden tree hut among its branches. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30059] ’Fishing cabin near Marsilly.’

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30059] ’Fishing cabin near Marsilly.’ A fishing huts straddles the Atlantic coast near the village of Marsilly, north of La Rochelle. These huts are named 'carrelets' in French and are quite popular along the coast of the Charente-Maritime. During high tide a rectangular net is lowered vertically into the sea from the stilted hut. After remaining a few minutes submerged the net is quickly lifted by means of a winch thus trapping the fish between it and the surface. During a sea kayaking trip along the coast they form an interesting attraction. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.ALPSNORTH 10996] 'Hiking in the Vanoise national park.’ One of the best ways to enjoy a hike high up in the Vanoise national park, without a long climb to begin with, is by first taking the car from Termignon, in the Haute Maurienne, to the Bellecombe parking. From there it is an easy walk to the Refuge du Plan du Lac, a mountain hut in splendid surroundings, overlooking the glaciers of the Vanoise, where this photo is taken. Many people start a dayhike here. Photo Paul Smit.

Kayaker on the Canal Grande.

[ITALY.VENEZIA 5936] 'Kayaker on the Canal Grande.' The kayak is a great way to explore the Venetian Lagoon, as seen here on the Canal Grande in Venice, with the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto bridge) in the background. But only venture into the Canal Grande after you have won enough of "Venice-experience", because this is the main highway, a merry circus, and the kayaker, being the tiniest, has to give right of way to everybody else. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.LOIRE 10840] ’Amboise seen from secondary branch of Loire.’ A kayaker navigates a secondary branch of the Loire, just downstream of Amboise. Photo Paul Smit.

Lake near Rifugio Cunéy.

[ITALY.VALLEDAOSTA 28446] Hiker overlooking a small lake near Rifugio Cunéy between Valle di Saint-Barthélemy and the Valpelline valley in the Pennine Alps. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.LOIRE 10810] ’Paddling in a wavy maze of flowers.’ When you paddle down the Loire, soon after Orléans you will be in for a surprise. What looked like banks of white gravel in the distance, happen to be tapestries of flowering River Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans; NL: Vlottende waterranonkel), seen here at Beaugency. Rooted in the riverbed, the plants produce strands of up to 6 meters in length, stretched out in the current and waving. Let the flow enter you into these floating gardens, flowering from june till august. Watch the bees come and go to the white flowers with their yellow hearts. But mind you, you can get stuck! Photo Mick Palarczyk & Paul Smit.

[NEPAL. 27626] Confluence Confluence of Trisuli (right) and Seti (left) between Narayanghat and Mugling. Photo Paul Smit & Mick Palarczyk.

[NEPAL. 27590] 'Terai village in Rapti valley.' Terai village in the valley of the Rapti east of Nepalganj. Photo Paul Smit.

Kayaker in Murano.

[ITALY.VENEZIA 5916] 'Kayaker in Murano.' The kayak is a great way to explore the Venetian Lagoon, like here in a canal (Rio dei Vetrai) in Murano. The small town of 5000 inhabitants, spread over a series of islands and connected by bridges, is a provincial and more melancholical edition of Venice, that lies 1,5 km to the southwest. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28072] 'Dinner table.’ Hiking and camping in the Paria Canyon can have its unexpected pleasures, such as this dinner table which has been eroded out of finely layered sandstone that was deposited in a vast desert 200 million years ago. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 28012] ’Coyote Buttes nature reserve.’ The strange landscape of Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. It is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow colours. The light dome-like structures in the foreground are locally called "Brains Rocks". Photo Paul Smit & Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 27986] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

Kayaker on the Canal Grande.

[ITALY.VENEZIA 5928] 'Kayaker on the Canal Grande.' The kayak is a great way to explore the Venetian Lagoon, as seen here in the warm spring evening light on the Canal Grande in Venice. The Santa Maria della Salute basilica in the background was built between 1631 and 1681 on 1 000 000 wooden piles. After a devastating outbreak of the plague in 1630, in which one third of the population died, the Republic of Venice vowed to build a church as a votive offering for the city's deliverance from the pestilence. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Health (or of Deliverance, Italian: Salute). The baroque church was designed by Baldassare Longhena and soon became an icon of Venice. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30056] ’Fishing cabin near Marsilly.’

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30056] ’Fishing cabin near Marsilly.’ A fishing cabin or “carrelet” is accessed from the low Atlantic cliff coast near Marsilly by a stilted walkway. The fishing cabin operates with big dip nets that are lowered into the sea by means of a winch during high tide. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30035] ’Angler in Damvix.’

[FRANCE. ATLANTIC 30035] ’Angler in Damvix.’ “It was that big”, boasts an angler in Damvix, who likes to cast her line into the Sèvre Niortaise, just in front of her house. Photo Paul Smit.

Lagoon of Venice.

[ITALY.VENEZIA 5803] The kayak offers a wonderful way to explore the Venetian Lagoon (Laguna Veneta or Laguna di Venezia). At left a fisherman's island, situated between Isola la Cura and Isola Santa Cristina. In the background you can see the church towers of Burano, at left, and Torcello, at right. Photo Paul Smit.

[NEPAL 27161] ‘Ghandrung with Annapurna South.’ The white peak of Annapurna South towers above the village of Ghandrung in the Annapurna Conservation Area. Photo Paul Smit.

[FRANCE.LOIRE 10805] ’Kayaker surrounded by River Water-crowfoot.’ When you paddle down the Loire, soon after Orléans you will be in for a surprise. What looked like banks of white gravel in the distance, happen to be tapestries of flowering River Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans; NL: Vlottende waterranonkel), seen here at Beaugency. Rooted in the riverbed, the plants produce strands of up to 6 meters in length, stretched out in the current and waving. Let the flow enter you into these floating gardens, flowering from june till august. Watch the bees come and go to the white flowers with their yellow hearts. But mind you, you can get stuck! Photo Paul Smit.