Epic red dunes to canyon floor foot drags in remote Namibia. Pretty sure no human had ever set foot in these spots. The bottom of that canyon had vibes similar to the narrows in Zion National Park but with zero people. Namibia is so vast and largely unexplored. What a beautiful country.
San Marino castle from a very unique vantage point. What a gorgeous place full of history.
The oldest republic on earth. One of the few countries landlocked by a single other country (Italy).
The got their independence FROM the ROMAN EMPIRE (ok, maybe not quite)
From you dot com:
San Marino's history as an independent entity likely began much later, during the Middle Ages, when it managed to maintain autonomy amidst the fragmentation of Italy into city-states and feudal territories. By the time of the Holy Roman Empire and later European powers, San Marino's independence was recognized and preserved due to its small size, strategic neutrality, and lack of significant resources.
In conclusion, while the 301 AD independence story is a cherished part of San Marino's identity, it is more of a founding legend than a historical fact tied to the Roman Empire.
Day and Flight 3 in Namibia.
We called these mountains the Dragonbacks. Though they have no official name. North of the Erongo region. West of the famous Brandberg. No human traces. Some of these geological rock lines looked man-made, walls, roads, paths though we flew for almost 2 hours and could not see a single actual trace of humans. Pretty incredible.
When I first got to fly over the ~3500 year old temple in Luxor, I could not believe it. It was just so incredible to experience this magnificent feat of architecture and engineering and history from such a unique vantage point. Still can't believe that happened sometimes when I look at these old photos.
The Pyramids of Giza with Cairo in the background and from an uncommon angle and with paramotors of course.
Best way to explore new angles of epic landmarks.
Temple of Karnak.
Egypt is so old that Romans studied ancient Egyptian history with the same time difference that we are studying Romans from!
The Egyptians developed massive stone columns as a key architectural feature which we still use now in neo-classical architecture in San Francisco and DC.
These columns were used extensively in temples such as the Temple of Karnak here, which features the famous Hypostyle Hall with its forest of massive columns.
Egyptian columns were often inspired by natural forms, such as papyrus, lotus, and palm plants, and were sometimes carved from single monolithic blocks.
Egyptian architecture, particularly its use of columns, influenced later civilizations, including the Greeks and Romans. For instance, the proto-Doric columns found in Egyptian rock-cut tombs are considered precursors to the Doric order of Greek architecture.
Day 2 Namibia - the flight started out unpleasant, bumpy air, grey sky, flat light. then we found the first holes and eventually the edge of the clouds and the sky opened up and we had a gorgeous flight along little ephemeral puffers with epic red desert below us.
As so often in life. Delayed rewards come to the hard working and prepared.
