twikga stories about life, travels and other passions
What you love is what you cherish. We believe that opening your hart to the small wonders of life will make you appreciate what you have and passionate about preserving the world around you. Sadly, in times of climate change the urgency of wildlife conservation is brought right to our doorsteps. We realize how privileged we are to travel the world and hope that by sharing our pictures with a broader audience, through our websites, exhibitions and social media, that we may contribute to the protection of the places we were fortunate enough to visit over the years…
Iconic Kalahari Lions
Lions are at the top of the food chain and occur throughout Africa. The lions that inhabit the Kalahari practice exceptional life skills…
Green season in the Kalahari
A bountiful abundance of green grasses, Kalahari sunflowers and butterflies. Nature seems to be catching up…
Sentimental journey to the Greater Mara
Great to be back in the Mara. The sightings are still amazing. The abundance of predators makes it a very rewarding place for photographers…
Thank you for the flowers
Happy to see you again! It amazes me time and time again to witness how after a long grey, cold and dark winter nature comes back to life. Flowers miraculously reappear with a breathtaking abundance, bringing back colors and insects to our garden. The first sign of spring arriving are the snowdrops. While the garden is still barren the tiny white flowers appear. They are soon to be followed by...
Grutto, the king of the meadow birds
The call of the grutto in early spring is part of our childhood memory. This elegant meadow bird is part of our heritage and our national bird…
Winter time for our garden birds
Birds in survival modus We had some serious cold weather coming in from the east last week. In one night we had 20 cm of fresh snow and temperatures stayed well below zero for more than a week. All the garden birds went into survival modus and a lot of them stayed very close to our house for shelter and food. Apart from consuming more calories the birds have other tactics to survive the extreme...
Grey beach Hipstas
We love the beach along the North Sea. This is where we grew up, making it our definition of a beach. Even so the beach is never the same. Rain or shine, storm or fog, the colors and shapes of the sea, the sand and the clouds change all the time. Over the years I have made thousands of Hipstas of the beach of Bergen aan Zee. For this post I made a somewhat grey selection to reflect the crazy...
Autumn in corona times
Dealing with crazy times Like lots of people all over the globe we are trying to deal with these crazy times. A new lockdown and the second wave are about to hit us in the Netherlands. We are grateful that we made the move back home and into our new house only months before the pandemic started. A good time to go through the archives and work on the website. With all travel plans suspended we...
Tree silhouette Hipstas
Trees are living things and every one of them is unique in its form. They grow, straight or twisted, big or small, depending on the soil their roots stand in, the water level, the wind they are exposed to. I love to picture them as silhouettes, without leaves, when their bare shape is visible. Therfore my tree silhouette Hipstas are often spooky, most of them taken in the winter and in low...
Woodpecker breeding season
Busy times for our woodpeckers Regular visitors to our garden are the great spotted woodpeckers. A beautiful sight with their pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the head. Currently they are nesting in holes in big trees nearby. Their nests are mere holes excavated in living or dead trees, unlined apart from wood chips....
