A forester’s cottage, Ferntree Gully, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, Australia, ca. 1900, a glass lantern slide by Archibald James Campbell, via Museums Victoria Collections.
I like the two log pillars at the bottom of the steps, each topped by a potted plant.
During the 19th century, the forests of the Dandenong mountains were a major source of timber for Melbourne.
“Blue gums,” probably in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia, ca. 1900, by Charles Kerry & Co., via Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum Commons on flickr.
Despite the original label, the large trees are “probably river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis),” according to a note about the photo by the Museum.
Click on the photo for a larger view.
“Portrait of woman with infant,” ca. 1900, probably near Sydney, Australia, via Phillips Glass Plate Negative Collection, Powerhouse Museum Commons on flickr.
You don’t usually see such smiles in Victorian photos.
In the picture below, you can see a little more of the garden and admire the woman’s beautiful sleeves and collar.
The farm in yesterday’s post overlooks the Nyakabingo tungsten mine, located about 10 kms. north of Kigali.
The mine was the first stop on a two-day bus trip organized by the Foreign Ministry for diplomats. We felt a little like we were on a school field trip — only one with a police escort and a press van.
While we were at Nyakabingo, I turned down the invitation to see the mine from underground and instead photographed it from an upper road.
The afternoon itinerary included a stop at the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge.
The Lodge is one of two “swishy” (as Bradt’s Travel Guide puts it) places to stay in the vicinity of the Parc National des Volcans and the mountain gorillas. The other one — the Virunga Safari Lodge — we toured last month. Both cost around $500 to $600 per night per person.
Sabyinyo has the advantage of being only 10 minutes drive from the entrance to the park headquarters. Like Virunga, it offers accommodation in individual cottages.
Also like Virunga Safari Lodge, the landscaping is kept simple so as not to compete with the gorgeous views.
We ended our day in the village of Susa, largely made up of 96 homes built with the assistance of the Rwandan government. The people who live there include Genocide survivors, Batwa (pygmys), and Rwandans formerly living in exile in Tanzania.
As the light began to fade, we were greeted by dancers.
enclos*ure 