tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102735452011-04-21T20:34:07.557-07:00Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.comBlogger441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-30048854632355312642007-01-14T09:56:00.001-08:002007-01-14T09:58:53.351-08:00

IMG_2301.5.jpg Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. re-adjusting to civilian life. I've unpacked most of my stuff, done the world's largest load of laundry, started organizing photos and videos, caught up on my sleep and ventured a few times into the "real world," for groceries, a haircut and dinner at Scott and Joe's. I have tomorrow off, but go back to work on Tuesday. Uuuugh

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-79452930888544621672007-01-14T09:36:00.001-08:002007-01-14T09:36:01.963-08:00

IMG_2379.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. On our trip, we joked a lot about how michievious, naughty, wicked, goofy, funny, human-like the baboons were. But it sends a bit of a chill down your spine when you see one actually trying to break into a car using two inch long canine teeth. We read in the paper, while in Cape Town, a story about a five year old girl attacked

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-35580649549600238312007-01-14T09:27:00.001-08:002007-01-14T09:27:55.872-08:00

IMG_1729.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. In Chobe National Park in Botswana, the last wildlife stop on our safari, we encountered a giant heard of elephants (fifty? sixty?) playing in the mud. This shot shows a youngster getting cool in the ol' mud hole. We watched them for about thirty minutes, shooting pics and video, as some weren't just rolling around but a few

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-22602841514847778452007-01-13T17:12:00.001-08:002007-01-13T17:12:59.911-08:00

IMG_2541.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Scott says that four of the top ten tallest buildings in the world are in Hong Kong. He has to be right. It was surreal walking around at night. Not only were they externally lit to the top in creative multicolor fashion, but they were also still very much occupied late into the night. Floors were bright with lights with people

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-77514808237186516462007-01-13T17:04:00.001-08:002007-01-13T17:04:43.921-08:00

IMG_0060.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. The moody, evocative lighting, the sensory-stimulating, tactical design to the furniture, and view-from-every seat layout of this multi-tiered restaurant Aqua (thanks for the lead on this place, Mister Castanon!) was spectacular. It was perched on top floor of a towering shkyscraper with floor to ceiling windows at least three

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-78092706322728352502007-01-13T16:56:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:56:09.416-08:00

IMG_0063.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. From our table at the restaurant Aqua, we had a spectacular view. This is looking back across the harbour at Hong Kong from the restaurant which was in Kowloon. (Scott took me out for a fabulous dinner for my 37th birthday...)

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-39070701967287499752007-01-13T16:52:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:52:20.451-08:00

IMG_2597.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. This is the view from the funicular as we climbed the hillside to the peak. Rising higher and higher above the Hong Kong island's towering skyscrapers, we could see Kowloon on the otherside of the harbour. Our hotel, the Hotel Nikko is on the point opposite, a little over midway up the photo, and about halfway across the photo

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-66282331992267363522007-01-13T16:48:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:48:12.400-08:00

IMG_2588.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Taking the funicular to the top of the Peak on Hong Kong was a trippy experience. A rail car, pulled up a steep STEEP hill by cable, afforded a spectacular view. (When I say steep, imagine if the NYC subway, or BART for that matter climbed from station to station at a 45 degree incline. The whole way!) As we rose above the

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-36575063578058629572007-01-13T16:40:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:40:38.554-08:00

IMG_2550.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Not far from this little outdoor bar near our hotel, (which served fantastic noodles and fried rice, by the way,) late in the evening, I was approached by an attractive, well dressed older women leading a gang of comely young lasses who stealthily locked her arm into mine, and walked with me as I crossed the plaza. She kindly

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-19739424410212900482007-01-13T16:29:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:29:36.720-08:00

IMG_0084.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Isn't this just what you expect to be hanging in a window in Hong Kong? But it's a lot cleaner than I expected. I'd actually eat here. (You know my issues: Food. Cleanliness. Coming together as one...) Everywhere we looked, there were a million places to eat. Do these people ever cook at home? I guess not. Like NYC, no one has

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-43906311682217436832007-01-13T16:20:00.001-08:002007-01-13T16:20:00.674-08:00

IMG_0004.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. The busting streets of Kowloon (the part of Hong Kong attached to the mainland, where were staying,) typefied the Hong Kong experience we imagined from the movies. Streets teeming with millions of Chinese, packed with cars, taxis mostly (they're all the same, red with grey tops, Toyotas,) illuminated at night by an overwhelming

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-10219060668165691302007-01-13T15:57:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:57:42.177-08:00

IMG_2578 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-86062902795371466452007-01-13T15:56:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:56:27.546-08:00

IMG_2489 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. We spent our last morning in Cape Town touring Table Mountain, the massive flat topped rock looming above the city of Cape Town. (There are, in addition, two other mountains, Signal Hill and Lion's Head as well as a series of smaller mountains, The Twelve Apostles, that make up the rocky landscape of the Cape.) They've been running

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-11676262025426070542007-01-13T15:43:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:43:42.622-08:00

IMG_0754 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-37537586976888843802007-01-13T15:42:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:42:18.270-08:00

IMG_0826 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Clifton, a beautiful seaside neighborhood in Cape Town with million dollar homes and million dollar views, boast four great beaches. The first one is the largest one with vollyball courts, etc. The second one is supposedly where the wealthy model types hangout, the fourth one is massive, where families go and play paddle ball, thow

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-43761922616222950972007-01-13T15:32:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:32:10.466-08:00

IMG_2291.5 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-38181132401214583752007-01-13T15:31:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:31:16.191-08:00

IMG_2304 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. We shot this from the deck of a catamaran in Table Bay as we headed out on our sunset cruise. Drinking champagne and snapping photos, our tour took us past Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years) and out to the chilly waters of the Atlantic. Looking back on the city of Cape Town, with its glittering city

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-50795710564066548762007-01-13T15:22:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:22:03.384-08:00

IMG_1899 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Victoria Falls was pretty spectacular. (The only thing of note in Zimbabwe...unless you include the astronomical and soaring inflation.) Here, the Zambezi river, after meandering through Zambia, spills over these falls into an enormous gorge that's split across the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. This natural wonder (one of the 7 of

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-16809877067652542702007-01-13T15:12:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:12:15.906-08:00

IMG_2184 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-33637634781121358992007-01-13T15:10:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:10:51.709-08:00

IMG_2219 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-59834126685928794772007-01-13T15:08:00.001-08:002007-01-13T15:08:13.365-08:00

IMG_2267 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. On our township tour, we met a lot of people with smiles on their face---pretty surprising as they lived in squalor. Most are unemployed. And stuck in horrific and cruel conditions. Set up by the ruling white minority government many decades ago. South Africa's post-apatheid challenge is massive: 35% unemployement, a 20% HIV

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-14189238824448456042007-01-13T13:57:00.001-08:002007-01-13T13:57:41.024-08:00

IMG_2015 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. When we were in Kwa Zulu Natal, over the New Year's weekend, we took a drive from St. Lucia where we were staying at the fab Amazulu Lodge, up to Cape Vidal, a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean, we passed, along the way, these Zebra. They were part of a much larger herd but these two, a mom and baby I am guessing, were grazing not

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168723835860677862007-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:002007-01-13T13:30:35.953-08:00

IMG_2498.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Here's Jon. A really sweet Brit who toured me around Cape Town. I met Jon on Scott's and my first night in Cape Town. After a driving tour past Signal Hill, Table Mountain, Camp's Bay and Clifton, Scott and I did a tour of Cape Town's "gay village" starting at Manhattan's, a popular restaurant/patio bar hangout. Unfortunately,

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168718857889399202007-01-13T12:06:00.000-08:002007-01-13T12:07:37.943-08:00

IMG_1491.JPG Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. We spotted this leopard (one of the big five) midway through our safari. On our morning game drive, our guide had gotten a tip from some other guides that a leopard was in the vicinity so off we were on a chase. (That's how a lot of our unique sightings worked. A tip passed on from someone else.) tearing down a pot-hole strewn

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168315796338844022007-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:002007-01-08T20:09:56.343-08:00

IMG_2416 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168315732444726932007-01-08T20:07:00.001-08:002007-01-08T20:08:52.446-08:00

IMG_2423 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168315690238471172007-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:002007-01-08T20:08:10.240-08:00

IMG_2420 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168315636069003622007-01-08T20:06:00.000-08:002007-01-08T20:07:16.076-08:00

IMG_2429 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168315555974835412007-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:002007-01-08T20:05:56.013-08:00

IMG_2450 Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. I'm in the Singapore Airlines biz class lounge in Singapore, killing six hours till my flight to Hong Kong. So I thought I'd check email and upload a few photos to flickr. Don't have a lot of time to write captions so I'm gonna thow up a few shots and circle back tonight when I get to my hotel in HK. I am exhausted. It's five in the

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168012724652724442007-01-05T07:57:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:58:44.656-08:00

"Brothers" of the Savanna Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. These two lions were chilling on the side of the road, at about 6:30am, and were the first game we saw that morning. We were surprised how many of the big game used the roads to get around. We had one elephant walking ahead of us, preventing us from passing him, for like ten minutes. Finally the guide gunned it, (I

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168011741512971342007-01-05T07:41:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:42:21.513-08:00

Turtle. Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. We thought it was cool looking when we first saw it on the side of the road. The guide made a big deal. (I think we were having a slow game day...) Turns out they're eveywhere in Africa! (Similarly, when we first arrived, we shot a billion photos of antelopes. Only to discover antelopes are the rats/pigeons of the savanna. They're

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168011590194174652007-01-05T07:39:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:39:50.203-08:00

Getting a drink of water at the pond can be deadly Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. This elephant found out the hard way. The preceding night, before we shot this particular photo, we stumbled, in the dark, on the way back to camp after the evenign game drive, on two lionesses lounging nearby this kill while two adorable cubs frolicked (really, I mean the word frolic with

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168011480585687772007-01-05T07:37:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:38:00.593-08:00

Baby raptor? Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. The closer we got, the less expected any of the animals were. you started to notice details in them that made them seem even more foreign, exotic, dangerous. And less the creatures of nursery ryhmes and biology books. This "baby" bird (said to be a few months old, by our guide,) was over two feet tall with a deadly beak. Looked

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168010825580371142007-01-05T07:26:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:27:05.586-08:00

Herds are lead by the old women Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. All the elephant herds are managed by wise old women elephants. Packs of sisters raise the young, lookout for predators, and gudie their movement across the savanna. The bulls (males) are accepted on a limited basis during mating time and then they are banished to bachelor herds.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168010768186059722007-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:26:08.193-08:00

More people are killed by hippos than any other African game. Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. These things are HUGE. But they can run fifty miles an hour. Do NOT get between one and it's baby or the water. tehse guys were leaving the marsh, headed out for their evening foraging but then they causght site of us and dashed back to their pond. One actually stopped and

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168010631221441962007-01-05T07:23:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:23:51.220-08:00

Counting eyelashes Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. This guy walked right up to the truck like he was gonna write us a parking ticket. I was so close, I could see the whiskers on his trunk and the lashes on his eyes. I think the biggest revelation about this safari was how close we were able to get to the animals. I think a few times we got a little too close. Our guide was

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1168010338205306122007-01-05T07:18:00.000-08:002007-01-05T07:18:58.210-08:00

Curious Gerry Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. This giraffe, spotted on the first full day of our camping safari, was in a herd of about six that came up to the car. He was a shy one, hiding behind some bushes. But ee snapped him checking us out. If I had to estimate, I'd say he was between twelve and fifteen feet tall. Ginormous. Notice the sky. We had about an hour of rain

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167766629438552022007-01-02T11:36:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:37:09.436-08:00

Baboon Smoking a cigarette Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Okay. He's not really smoking. But it looks like he is. These baboons were everywhere on our safari. They were like stray dogs. Wandering in packs. Stirring up trouble. Looking so damn human at whatever they were doing. Going through trash cans at the Zimbabwe border. Tugging on car door handles in the camp grounds.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167766148226963272007-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:29:08.230-08:00

Delta Frog Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. A two hour late afternoon canoe ride reveals amazing marsh wildlife including, birds, crocodiles and these phenomenally loud (and beautiful) frogs. The canoe ride ends with drinks at sunset on a sand bar where a (practically) full bar has been set up by a waiting lodge attendant. Everywhere we turned at this camp, some thoughtful

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167765828866064892007-01-02T11:23:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:23:48.870-08:00

Our Guide Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. On our first morning game walk (five thirty am!!!!) our guide talks to us about the Cape Buffalo. He was amazing. (The guide, not the buffalo. Well, maybe he was amazing too, but he's dead now...) Our guide knew everything about everything. We walked single file across the savanna the lay bewtween the channels in the delta and the

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167765392233771202007-01-02T11:15:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:16:32.243-08:00

Arrriving at Camp Okavango Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. This trail leads from the tiny airstrip to our luxury tented lodge. After two days of flying business class, with a stopover in Singapore and a night at the Ritz-Carlton, we were living plenty large. Once we completed our stay at this luxury lodge, we would move into the bush on a camping safari sleeping in tiny

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167764903713095982007-01-02T11:07:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:08:23.716-08:00

Plane to Camp Okavango Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. My globe-hopping safari companion Scott Willoughby leans against the little Cessna that is going to fly us from Maun, Botswana to a tiny air strip in the Okavango Delta where we will begin our safari. This is after two straight days of sitting in business class on massive wide body 747s and 777s jumbo jets. I sat in the

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1167764337896535852007-01-02T10:58:00.000-08:002007-01-02T10:58:57.923-08:00

In St. Lucia Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. Scot and I chill in the later afternoon sun on the porch of our hotel room at the Amazulu Lodge in St. Lucia on the Indian Ocean Coast of South Africa. I'm sporting two weeks of growth. I think it looks good on me.

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10273545.post-1165984494912212872006-12-12T20:34:00.000-08:002006-12-12T21:42:29.246-08:00

Alex-at-Sunset II copy Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman. WHERE TO BEGIN Uuugh. For me, posting the first words and photo to my blog is akin to typing the first sentence of a great big novel. Or drawing down the first stroke on a bare canvas. Where do I start? What could possibly do justice to the beginning of Above A Chinese Restaurant? Hmmm... This photo of me from Bermuda

Alex Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10477893855212885996noreply@blogger.com4