Author Archives: fwbinder

Long international flights leave ample time for ruminations and contemplations and my Nairobi to Istanbul flight last year accorded me seven hours to think about how I was going to soak in and appreciate 2500 years of history in a … Continue reading →

Posted on April 27, 2017 by fwbinder | 4 Comments

Ethiopia is such a remarkable country….a land of astonishing physical beauty, the only place on Earth with the spectacular Gelada baboon, a country where our earliest ancestors roamed, a place with ties to King Solomon and events in the Old … Continue reading →

Posted on January 18, 2017 by fwbinder | 2 Comments

During my recent photographic journey to Ethiopia (with intrepid African Photographer Piper McKay), our small band of photographers climbed into Simien National Park which contains Ethiopia’s highest peak, Ras Dejen at 15,000 ft. Over millions of years the area’s plateaus … Continue reading →

Posted on June 20, 2016 by fwbinder | 4 Comments

  “Baby, you know I ain’t no Queen of Sheba” (Thing called Love; Bonnie Raitt). I didn’t go to Ethiopia to discover Sheba but rather to photograph ancient religious ceremonies, unique Gelada baboons and native indigenous tribes. But after engaging … Continue reading →

Posted on April 12, 2016 by fwbinder | 4 Comments

To quote Ken Burns…..National Parks are the country’s best idea. The breadth of the country’s national park experience varies from the flat swampy bird filled Everglades NP to the ice fields of Glacier NP to the spectacular cliffs and spires of … Continue reading →

Posted on February 2, 2016 by fwbinder | 1 Comment

Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor (26 November 1878 – 21 June 1932) was an American cyclist who won the world 1 mile (1.6 km) track cycling championship in 1899 after setting numerous world records and overcoming racial discrimination. Taylor was the first African-American cyclist to achieve … Continue reading →

Posted on September 23, 2015 by fwbinder | 1 Comment

During my recent January visit to Death Valley I observed to a local that very few visitors were in the park and that I found this surprising given the moderate winter temperatures (daytime in the 60’s and 70’s). I ventured … Continue reading →

Posted on June 16, 2015 by fwbinder | 2 Comments

Here’s a little quiz for you geography geeks….where is the highest and lowest point in the continental United States? Well amazingly, they’re within 100 miles of each other in eastern California. Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the lower … Continue reading →

Posted on April 14, 2015 by fwbinder | 11 Comments

As the capital city of Tuscany, Florence was the center of medieval European trade and finance and is generally considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. Many of the world’s towering artistic giants walked Florentine streets and the city remains a magnet for … Continue reading →

Posted on March 9, 2015 by fwbinder | 5 Comments

Africa – The Big Cats

Posted on January 13, 2015 by fwbinder

If we play a word association game and I say…..Africa!…. many of you will say…… Lions! And I would say Bingo!  The King of the Jungle resides on the plains of Africa and I can tell you it’s a thrill the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Cheetahs, Leopards, Lions | 3 Comments