Tourist Falls to Death into an Active Volcano in
DRC while Trying to Take PhotosCheck out this story - quick recap: Hong Kong tourist falls into an active volcano crater while trying to take a photo of the volcano's laval lake. She feel 100m+ and actually survived the fall but she couldn't be rescued in time. (
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=axSgCVGmDYfA&refer=asia)
Hmmm...this news story hits a little close to home. Not that anything like this has happened to anyone I know but the circumstances are very familiar....I know I've definately done things that weren't the 'smartest' in an effort to get a better photo. But I've never ignored caution signs, barriers, or warnings from others. I feel bad for this person's family - she was travelling on her own, as a part of a tour.
Can you see how rough the water is? This was on the Great Barrier Reef - we were supposed to snorkel in these conditions, a task that should be simple for most people. Unless you cannot swim very well...so why would someone who can't swim well go into the Pacific Ocean when it's rough to snorkel and swim to the sand bar? Because so she can take pictures of the fish.... and so when I made it onto the sand bar, I can take a silly picture like this?!?!
The direction of the sun is not great for taking pictures of the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, Japan (a nomineed for the new 7 wonders of the world, by the way) so I had to find a place where the angle would be better. So, I found a spot with a partially obstructed view and to get there, I had to bypass a fence, climb on a rock and lie on my stomach, while pushing aside a fe branches, so I could get this framed shot. Naturally occuring, this photo would not exist - there would've been a few tree branches in the way. Not necessarily dangerous...but a lot of hassle to get it.
You know how you should only hike on marked trails? I realized that my cell phone had no coverage so if lost or injured, there would be no one to help me and I'd be stuck. During the 4 hours that I hiked here, I did not see a single person, which is rare for a hiking trail on a weekend in Japan. But I saw a view of Mt. Fuji and I could see that if I went up, I could get much better views...so I went up. But it had been raining a lot and there was this one part that was on the edge of the mountain side and it was really muddy. It was steep so there was no traction so when I tried to go out, I kept slipping back down. And I would lose my footing, I had to grab onto weeds but obviously, they offered no resistance. So I was slipping down a muddle slope right next to the edge of the mountain....so when I failed the first, of course, cause I'm such a genius, I tried again. My hands and clothes got all muddy and after 2 tries, I had to abandon my hike to the top. Luckily, I sitll got great shots. This picture is not where I slipped but just gives you an idea of how steep the mountain was.
