Cor Lokker

Melasti is a Hindu Balinese cleansing ceremony and ritual, which is held four days prior to Nyepi Day (Silent Day) according to the Balinese calendar. It is celebrated by Hindus in Indonesia, especially in Bali. The Melasti ceremony is held on the edge of the beach with the aim of clearing yourself from all bad things and leaving the past behind in the ocean. According to Hindu belief, the water source is considered to be the source of life (Tirta Amrita). In addition to praying, all the sacred objects that belong to a temple are cleaned and purified during the Melasti ceremony.

In the 1960s the landscapes of the desert of Tabernas developed into a sought after movie location, well known productions such as King of Kings (1960), Cleopatra (1963), and the winner of seven Oscars, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), all used the desert as a backdrop during filming, attracting big budget Hollywood directors such as Steven Spielberg who chose Almeria for scenes in his blockbuster movie Indian Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) starring Harrison Ford. Sergio Leone, the director of the famous Spaghetti Westerns, starring Clint Eastwood, also capitalised on these unique landscapes, scenes from A Fist Full of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good The Bad and The Ugly (1966), and A Fistful of Dynamite (1972), were filmed in the western village movie sets as well as the surrounding desert and other well suited spots throughout the remarkable terrains of the province.

Traditional villages Gurusina and Bena on the island of Flores in Indonesia

Samphire in bloom on the Mudflats of Flakkee in the Netherlands.

Shots are made in the nature area `De Kwade Hoek` on the Island Goeree Overflakkee in the Netherlands.

We visited in Namibia during our ride, around Palmwag and Opuwo a Himba village. By coincidence we saw later during our trip, close to the Kunene River, a small settlement where we were invited by a family.

September is a great month for the mudflats south of Goeree Overflakkee. This month discolered the samphire in a beautiful red color. Before the sun rises, I'm already there with my camera ready, waiting for the first rays over the mudflats.

Pictures were taken by Fons Kern. A member of our photoclub. He asked me to make a slideshow of his trip to Iceland. After viewing the photos, I was fascinated of the iceblocks on the beach.

Every morning feed José the vultures in his backyard. Far from the area they come to fill their stomachs and fly back from where they came. Every time a magnificent spectacle.

Photo's made of the mudflats of Flakkee at the Grevelingenmeer, south of Goeree Overflakkee in the Netherlands.