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Sunday 12 May 2013

US TRIP 2013: MONTEZUMA'S CASTLE

Another set of photos from my recent road trip through Arizona with Joanne. Montezuma's Castle National Monument was not originally on our tour plan, but we had some spare time during our three day stop-over in Flagstaff, and as it was only about 40 miles away, decided to add it to the tour. I'm glad we did, as it turned out to be one of the most interesting places, after the Grand Canyon, that we visited. 
Montezuma's Well 1
We started off at Montezuma's Well, which is about 11 miles from the main part of the National Monument. It looks like a small lake, but is actually a huge limestone sinkhole fed by two underground springs.
Cactus Flower 1
The water is highly carbonated and contains high levels of arsenic, but the surrounding area is home to many plants and animals. The Yavapai people believe they emerged into this world through the Well and as such it is considered a very sacred place.
Small Lizard 2

Montezuma's Castle itself is one of the most impressive and well-preserved of all Native American cliff-dwellings throughout the South-West.
Montezuma's Castle 5
They were built and occupied by the pre-Columbian Sinagua people, from whom several Hopi tribes can trace their ancestry.
Montezuma's Castle 7
When white settlers discovered it in the 1860's they named it for the Aztec emperor of Mexico Montezuma II, due to the mistaken belief he was connected to it's construction. The "castle" was abandoned by the Sinagua at least 100 years before Montezuma was born. 
Big Lizard 1

The rest of the photoset you can view as a Flickr slideshow. Flickr has been a bit glitchy lately, so if the slideshow won't work, click HERE to go to the photoset on my Flickr page.

20 comments:

  1. I have no time now to see all the photos with the eyes they deserve but I love all I have seen. I'm sure you were very happy taking photos of your favourite subjects... I saw very exquisite flowers, particularly one, which I'll comment later on Flickr. Some photos reminded me of Cappadocia... Does it make sense? Thanks for sharing this very interesting 'leg' of your trip.

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    1. Hi Belita. Thanks for looking and glad you found some you liked. I hope you find time to have a longer look at some later time.

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  2. I really enjoyed this Mitch-thank you

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  3. the flower and dessert creatures are so fascinating as is the castle, thanks for sharing these

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  4. Oh wow! Amazing photos! I really enjoyed looking at them.

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  5. Stunning pictures, especially of the cliff dwellings. I have seen them in Colorado and New Mexico. They are quite difficult to photograph, although you have done an excellent job. They seem so mysterious in their antiquity.

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    1. Thanks Benni :-)) Glad you enjoyed them. Many of the places Joanne and I visited while in Arizona featured various forms of cliff-dwelling.

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  6. What a wonderful experience, Mitch. Lovely history and fantastic photographs to go with it. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Marianne :-)) It was a wonderful place to visit.

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  7. Just spent some very pleasant time looking at your photos, while drinking my tea. They are wonderful, must be a photographer's dream. The insects are really something I have never seen, such beautiful vibrant colours in the flowers and the complete scenery is terrific. Just wonderful.

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    1. Thanks Pat :-)) We added this place to our route on the spur-of-the-moment, so I didn't have any great expectations of what it would be like. As it turned out, it was a wonderful surprise, the most interesting and photogenic place we visited after the Grand Canyon.

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  8. Just catching up now. Not sure it's for me, but if anyone is going to persuade me to try macro-photography, it'd be you. Mitch! Great shots of an interesting place.

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    1. Hi Neil !! Good to see you back. Thanks for the comment :-)) For me, macro photography is endlessly fascinating. I love to see the details quite often missed or just overlooked by the human eye. As you say, it's not for everyone. Joanne takes great macros shots, too, but she's not really all that interested in them, she prefers wider-scale shots.

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  9. Thanks for sharing. I'll visit your album another time when at home an don the computer and DSL.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by and having a look :-))

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  10. Stunning captures my friend what a wonderful trip you had;)

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    1. Thanks Baz :-)) It really was a great trip!!

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