Summer

Marmots, waterfalls and hundreds of hiking trails…

  • Marmots live in harems of 1 male and 2 – 3 females
  • Mattmark reservoir is the biggest dam in Europe
  • In 1934 the yellow signs were designed and installed by the Swiss Hiking Association
  • The reservoir is used for generating electricity
  • Mountain hug
  • Saas Fee is a great place to unwind from stresses of everyday life
  • Marmots are active from June to September. The rest of the year they hibernate
  • Grazing season
  • Meet friendly local cheese makers and learn about life on the Alp
  • Marmots spend 80% of their life underground
  • Burrows consists of multiple entrances and tunnels that are used for hibernation, shelter and breeding
  • Marmots live up to 15 years
  • Saas Fee has the most restrictive building regulations in Switzerland . All houses must have a gabled roof and at least one third of the facade of a house must be built of wood
  • Burrows for hibernation are about 7 meters deep
  • Natural paradise
  • Traditional cheesemaking skills are handed down from generation to generation
  • Back in the days most Swiss families kept cows and grazed them on the mountain pastures each summer. The grazing season milk was used to make butter and cheese for the winter
  • Famous goat pasture in Hannigalp above Saas Fee

Falkland Islands – South Georgia – Antarctica

Earth’s beautiful south through my lens

  • Gentoo penguins
  • King penguin chick
  • Gentoo penguins are the fastest underwater swimmers of all penguins
  • Chinstrap penguin
  • Rockhopper penguin
  • Albatross admirable monogamy
  • One great wondering albatross passed by
  • Hectic seal breeding beaches
  • Humpback whales can be identified by their flukes
  • Icebergs as big as cathedrals
  • Playing and learning how to fight
  • Curious …
  • Falkland Islands with its largest number of wondering albatrosses in the world
  • King Penguins with their glowing orange bibs and ear patches
  • They are surely the epitome of loveliness
  • South Georgia is a home to millions of King Penguins
  • King Penguins travel considerable distances to find food for their chicks
  • All of the seals, birds, and penguins that inhabit in the seas around Antarctica need to come ashore to breed
  • The sounds and sights of tens of thousands of breeding King Penguins were overwhelming
  • Their diet include small fish, squid, krill and plankton which they find at depths of 100-300m
  • Winter lasts from May to September, while December to February are the summer months
  • Just chilling…
  • Powerful and predatory
  • Fighting for territories
  • Amazing swimmers
  • A humpback whale diving in shallow coastal waters
  • It’s a magical sight to watch flock of penguins leaping from the water at great speed and arching together through the air
  • 90% of ice on the planet
  • Gentoo penguins have the most prominent tail of all penguin species
  • An iceberg or ice mountain is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water
  • Females usually lay a single egg, pass it to the male to look after, then slide off to feed. They won’t be seen again until their eggs hatch
  • Soon after, the females return and take over feeding the young with regurgitated food while the males return to the sea to feed
  • Swimming is what penguins do best
  • Leopard seals can remain under water for 30 minutes, even sleeping under water and resurfacing for air without waking up
  • Often you see penguins waddling around
  • Adelie penguins dive for several minutes to catch krill and fish, and can go 175m if needed
  • The most curious and watchable are the Adelie penguins. They take a great interest in what you are doing on the ice
  • They are the most numerous of the Antarctic penguins species with around two million breeding pairs
  • Unlike other Antarctic species, leopard seals can breed on a floating pack ice
  • Stressed mama protects her egg from skuas
  • The male and female share incubation of the egg and bring food to the nestling
  • Orca or killer whales typically hunt in pairs or in pods of 50 individuals
  • Playful dusky dolphin
  • Elephant seals spend 90% of their lives at sea
  • South Georgia is home to the greatest concentration of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic wildlife on the planet
  • In summer, there are 2.2m million of seals crowding the shoreline; they are constantly active even on land, fighting or playing and surprisingly have their ability to run fast on articulated flippers.

Dec 2019 – Jan 2020 cruise

Winter

Saas Fee is considered to be a true pearl of the Swiss Alps. The resort is not only famous for its 100 km pistes, but also for its unique Ice Pavilion carved into the glacier.

  • Welcome to my fairytale!
  • This popular ski resort is located in the canton Wallis
  • Saas Valley is surrounded by 18 mountain tops that are over 4000 metres
  • Waking up with a view of the mountains
  • The village is totally car-free
  • Mail-ready postcard!
  • Fondue is enjoyed in winter. Losing the bread in a pot constitutes a bad form that comes with a penalty to finish the shot of Kirsch (distilled cherry spirit) or wash dishes
  • Saas Valley consists of the following ski areas: Saas-Fee, Saas-Grund, Saas-Almagell and Saas-Balen
  • Local spirits
  • Sweet life in Saas Fee
  • Raclette originated in the Swiss Alps
  • The word Raclette comes from a French word “racler” which means to scrape. Back in the days, Swiss shepherds and farmers needed to bring food to the mountains that would not go bad. After a busy day they would roast potatoes and put the big piece of cheese next to the fire. Once it started to melt, they would scrape it on their baked potatoes
  • Chamois is a goat-like animal occasionally spotted in forests around the village
  • Local hand-made decorations
  • Saas Fee has a population of circa 1600
  • Videoclip of the famous song “Last Christmas” by WHAM was taken in Saas Fee
  • Magic sky