RPS Travel Group eNewsletter #39

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER Travel Image of the Month is: “Off to Work We Go” by Sam Segar

©SamSegar

A lovely gentle image – well done Sam!

Contents Springboard 2019 – Bookable online!

Message from John Riley – Travel Log Editor Meet The Committee “The Joys of Cruising the Nile” by Colleen Rust Bits & Bobs www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society

#39 October 2018

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

Springboard2019 The Event is now bookable online – very simple process that even I was able to manage without too much difficulty!

Here’s a little bit about the great man, LS Lowry, himself and you can Book Online by clicking here: Springboard 2019

www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

Message from John Riley, Travel Log Editor The next issue of Travel Log will be dedicated to 'Women in Travel Photography' in recognition of The RPS 100 Heroines Campaign.

I am looking for a range of submissions from full articles to single images with a line of text. I wish to do more than produce a series of Travel Reports by asking for stories of individual experiences and emotions that photography can provoke.

All single images in portrait format will be considered for the cover. They will need to be slightly larger than A4 to be suitable.

All photos need to be 300dpi and at least A5 size but the bigger the better. Text length is personal choice but less than 1000 words is preferable.

It would be really helpful if you could let me have your work as soon as possible. The Magazine will be mailed out at the end of November so the deadline is end of October 2018.

John Riley Travel Log Editor editortravel@rps.org

Meet The Committee They’re a shy, retiring bunch your TG Committee, so I have decided to expose them to the full glare of publicity by, from time to time, putting a few details in the Newsletter!

Seriously though, I have been surprised that members (particularly on the Facebook page) aren’t always sure of who to contact if they have a query or suggestion. They all have different roles and input but they have in common a love of travel & photography, a wealth of knowledge & experience, and they are all VOLUNTEERS. Drop them a line, just to say “thanks”!

First up is the Chair, Liz Rhodes MBE

www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

The Joys of Cruising The Nile by Collen Rust Just before you dive into Colleen’s words & images I would like to say that she is a new member of both the RPS & TG who has decided to further her knowledge & photographic skills by enrolling for the RPS Open University Online course.

The Beauty of Aswan

Having based ourselves on the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh for a number of holidays and long term residences over the last few years, we became friends with a retired Nile boat captain and to our delight, his boat The Alysia was sailing the Nile for a weeks return cruise between Luxor to Aswan.

We booked directly with the owners within a week and arranged internal flights starting from Sharm El Sheikh Airport and then a 5 hour taxi ride from Hurgadha to Luxor and we then arrived at the boat, moored on the Nile at Luxor. The boat had many nationalities on board which was wonderful, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Egyptian school children, all with a tour guide.

Not once in all our trips and stays in Egypt (over 19 years) have we ever felt unsafe. We have travelled through Europe and beyond and without a doubt, the Egyptian people we have met are the friendliest of all nationalities and the least hostile to foreign residents and they never forget you even after 10 years, they can still recall your name and history-fascinating.

www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup Š 2018 Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

I did not have a professional camera on this cruise, just tablet and smartphone cameras but I thought at least I will have the memories if the photos fail me.

How wrong I was!

We had previously cruised the Nile on organised tours, departing from the UK, three times before and felt this time we would not hire a guide and do the same temple tours but just enjoy the beauty of the river and tour by foot the towns and villages wherever we moored including Edfu and Esna.

Sailing By …

We would not rush through the sights and sounds that was for certain. We walked on foot around both towns and found local Egyptians to be delighted that we were off the boat, away from the traditional temple tours and interested in their lives and stories and as tradition often goes, sweet tea was served to us as we chatted using a little Egyptian Arabic and English. We could have stayed there for days.

To our surprise we spent most of our other days on another type of boat, this time a small privately hired motorboat cruising the smaller areas and islands around Aswan.

Riverbank at Esna

Aswan is a southern Egyptian city with long summers and clear blue skies and from where you can view the spectacular Tomb of The Nobles, just north of Kitchener’s Island, tombs cut into the rock and where the governors, the Keepers of the Gate of the South, and other dignitaries of the ancient Elephantine Island where buried. We could not possibly fit a tour of the Tombs on this trip as time is always too short but it is now top of the list on a return trip planned for February 2019. We plan to cruise on the Alysia boat again and arrange our own tours of the tombs and also the 7th-century Monastery of St Simeon, where the monks travelled into Nubia, in the hope of converting the Nubians to Christianity and of course will return to visit the families we met in Edfu in particular.

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TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

Stillness

It is impossible to convey the beauty of the Nile, it is still untouched in most parts and the villages are still there that have been there for years past, villagers grazing their cattle and living off the Nile. Quite often I wonder how many ancient tombs lay undiscovered and the history that they hold. The Nile River itself always reminds me though that time and time again, nature’s simplicity and beauty is the wonder to behold.

Words & Images © Colleen Rust Motor Boat Time

www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#39 October 2018

Bits & Bobs I’d like to introduce you to our latest volunteer, my wife Katharina Wand who will help me with the digital communications. Kath is a keen traveler & photographer and a member of the RPS and the Travel Group. She is pictured here with the other press photographers, trackside at an ISTAF indoor athletics meet, photographing Olympic hopefuls in the discus.

Two brothers, Christoph & Robert Harting, (Robert is an Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion) were competing in this event. Chris was winning, until the very last throw when Robert took it!

Robert was quite pleased, Chris less so ….

Don’t forget – articles, travel & technique tips and suggestions are always welcome!

©GSoden

Cranes, starting their long journey …

See you next issue!

Grahame www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society