Echoes in the Mist

India under Muslim occupation was a tributary of the Islamic empire. Incalculable amounts of wealth and numberless slaves were sent annually to the countries that India’s Muslim rulers owed allegiance to. – Rakesh Krishnan Simha

The drain of wealth out of India by the British is a well-known fact that has been meticulously recorded by historians and economists. However, the drain of wealth originally started with the Islamic invaders who carted off prodigious quantities of wealth to their Arab, Persian, Turkic and Central Asian homelands for a longer period than the British in India. Muslim invaders also carried away millions of Hindus as slaves and Muslim rulers exported Hindu slaves. India was the world’s leading economy from 1 CE to 1000 CE but in the second millennium it lost the top spot to China after the Islamic invaders razed India’s universities, disrupted the economic systems and caused havoc in religious and social life.

Not many realise that from the year 712 CE (when Sindh became the first Indian…

This video is about a killdeer plover calling in Canada.

This 8 February 2020 video from South Africa says about itself:

Elephant herd and adorable calf at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge

Earth Lodge, being unfenced, allows for some spectacular game viewing. Here, Marelize captured a herd of elephants enjoying some water at the water feature in front of the gym at Earth Lodge. Look out for the adorable calf…

This 13 February 2020 video says about itself:

Stupendemys geographicus – the largest freshwater turtle

Researchers discovered new Stupendemys geographicus specimens in the Urumaco Formation, Venezuela, and La Tatacoa Desert in Colombia. The new specimens revealed that the shell of male Stupendemys had horns. Researchers estimate that the CIAAP-2002-01 specimen had a body mass between 871 kg and 1145 kg. According to palaeontologist Marcelo Sánchez: “The carapace of some Stupendemys individuals reached almost three meters, making it one of the largest, if not the largest turtle that ever existed”.

From the University of Zurich in Switzerland:

Extinct giant turtle had horned shell of up to three meters

February 12, 2020

Summary: Paleobiologists have discovered exceptional specimens in Venezuela and Colombia of an extinct giant freshwater turtle called Stupendemys. The carapace of this turtle, which is the largest ever known, measured between 2.4 to almost 3 meters. Moreover, the shell of…

by Trinity College Dublin

This 8 February 2020 video from the USA is called Bernie Explains Profoundly Transformative Plan to Stop Climate Change.

I spent the day with this guy as my constant companion. Wherever I went, there he was!

There could be no better welcoming committee in the world.

He even laughed!

I basically fell head over heels.

Kookaburras are carnivorous birds, so he wasn’t looking for food.

He was just curious and friendly.

You have to admit, he is one of the cutest birds you have ever seen.

Oz really is for the birds,

which means, Oz is for me too!

Cheers to you from the laughing Kookaburra~

(Note: Heading to Tasmania, so excuse me when I am absent. I will check in when I can. Until then, be well!)

This video is about a woodcock, a barn swallow, and a mute swan in Sweden.

Our ship at Wayag, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, nestled between forested karst islets that are the poster image for the region

At Wayag, visitors experience some of the most iconic scenery Raja Ampat has to offer.  This labyrinth of karst islets is the poster image for the entire region.  Given that Wayag is a microcosm of Raja Ampat as a whole, we had a very full day of exploration in and around the forested limestone peaks that bejewel a turquoise lagoon – with Zodiac cruising to explore the terrain and then SCUBA diving and snorkeling in the protected lagoons (sorry, your blogger doesn’t have an underwater camera, so no underwater photographs).

Wayag, Raja Ampat, Indonesia #2; our Zodiac cruising took us through the labyrinth of karst islets

Wayag, Raja Ampat, Indonesia #3

Wayag, Raja Ampat, Indonesia #4; a few of the islands had enough erosion through the eons to have white…

Diego, the Tortoise Whose High Sex Drive Helped Save His Species, Retires

With the future secured, he’s finally going home. Good job, Diego.

By Aimee Ortiz
Jan. 12, 2020

A member of the giant tortoise species indigenous to Española Island in the Galápagos in Ecuador, Diego was one of 15 tortoises in a captive breeding program at the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center on the island of Santa Cruz.

Among the males, Diego displayed an exceptional sex drive, so much so, he’s credited with helping save his species from extinction. Approximately 40 percent of the 2,000 tortoises repatriated to Española Island are estimated to be Diego’s descendants, officials said.

Now, more than 100 years old, he is retiring, since the Galápagos National Park announced the end of the breeding program, saying an evaluation showed it had met its conservation goals. (Maybe he doesn’t want to quit now!!)

Begun in 1965, the…