Heather Jansch Open Studio

Once a year, the artists of Devon welcome the public to view their work in the space it was created as part of Devon Open Studios. Alex and I went with his family to visit the studio of Heather Jansch, who creates incredible sculptures mostly out of driftwood. Her work was displayed throughout a gorgeous garden, which all were free to wander through. If you're in the area I would definitely recommend going to see her work! 

City Break

Spain

I haven't had much time to blog lately, but I had to take a quick break from writing essays to share a few pictures. This Easter Alex and I were lucky enough to tag along to his family's trip to Spain. It was the perfect break from the city and from end of term stress.

Chumbe Island Coral Park

My access to pictures from my time in Tanzania is limited right now but I couldn't wait to start sharing my experiences, so I'm going to start with out last day.

Just off Zanzibar, the Chumbe Island is a nature reserve with a protected coral reef sanctuary. The sand is soft and white, the sun bright (I have a lobster red back to prove it), and the water all shades of blue and teal.

Upon arriving we were greeted with fresh juice and shown to the bungalow which would be our's for the day. However there wasn't much time to settle in before heading back to the water for scuba diving. 

The coral and many different fish and sea creatures took my breath away. Much of the time I was practically swimming amidst a school of fish. I didn't have a waterproof camera, so sadly I can't share any pictures, but I can very highly recommend going scuba diving if you get the chance! 

After reluctantly leaving the water, we headed to lunch, where a wonderful table with all seats facing the ocean was waiting for us. It was the perfect way to sit back and really take in our beautiful surroundings. 

Once our bellies were full there was just enough time for a quick nap on the beach before our nature walk.

We learned a lot about the island, from the old coral which makes up a lot of the land to the coconut crab which briefly poked out of it's little rock cave to greet us.

But my favorite part was the view from the top of the light house. Getting to the top required going up a pretty extreme number of stairs, but it was definitely worth the climb.

A few hours later, I was sitting in the airport with fresh sunburn and a few lingering grains of sand still between my toes. We all wish we could have stayed longer, but Chumbe Island was a pretty perfect way to end the trip.

Flashbacks: Hailstorm in India

Lately there haven't been many things happening that I've felt inspired to blog about. So today I've decided to share the story behind this photo, which is one of my very favorites.

It was taken towards the beginning of a 30-day backpacking trip in India (I've posted about this trip before here and here). This is the view that followed an intense rain and hail storm.

The storm took us by surprise. The sky had given us minimal warning of what it was to come. Luckily the last of the group had just joined everyone on lower ground near where we planned to set up camp for the night, but the weather did not hold out long enough to put up our tents, or any other sort of shelter.

The rain cam down hard, quickly joined by large pieces of hail. We huddled together under the minimal protection provided by the trees. We had to take turns helping to protect our packs long enough to get out more layers to avoid hypothermia. Many of us were shivering. The ground was muddy and slippery. As someone who has never been very good at dealing with the cold, I was feeling fairly panicked.

When the rain finally showed the first signs of letting up, we jumped at the chance to get our tents set up. We could only do one at a time, with some of us holding the rain flies above others setting up the tent so they would stay dry. As the rain continued to slow, we focused on warming up, some huddled inside sleeping bags, others running laps around the camp.

And when the rain finally stopped, this is the view that greeted us.

The experience which had started of as scary and very stressful became one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

..

I mentally prepared myself not to see Philly for a full year. Now that plans have changed I'm caught off guard. Not sure if I'm ready to go back home.

Roses