Alex Cavanaugh - Best-selling Author

Check out Alex Cavanaugh (here)  -  'my interests range from books and movies to
music and games". Alex is the co-host of the A to Z Challenge from 2011-2015. Alex is also the author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm. His latest book, Dragon of the Stars launched on April 07 2015 (here) has already won accolades and perhaps well on the way to being another best seller too.

Alex featured Hank on June 08, 2015 on the incredible journeys of Yusuf Hashim at the Blog from A to Z Challenge (here) It is reproduced below:

Monday, June 8, 2015

Themes That Rocked – Traveling the Globe with Photographer and Explorer, Yusuf Hashim

Hank Kaykuala is a poet and an author. Hank's books can be found (here) and (here)

During the Challenge, he highlighted some of his amazing poetry. But part of his theme included highlighting the travels and explorations of his friend, Yusuf Hashim (here) It was fascinating! 

                                                                                    Attribution: Yusuf Hashim

The Modern Day Explorer - The Man Himself, Yusuf Hashim

Part of your theme for the Challenge is the 'Modern Day Explorer' – why did you choose to highlight Yusuf Hashim? 

Yusuf is unique for two reasons: 

Firstly, Yusuf Hashim is a Gypsetter, and an accomplished photographer. His photos are not only technically and visually fantastic, but the stuff that he shoots are mainly from locations that many of us usually only dream about. Often-times, Yusuf accesses these locations usually by directly driving his 4x4 go-anywhere Toyota Land Cruiser. Yusuf drives his vehicle across continents for photography as regularly as we fly from continent to continent. He’s driven overland from London to Malaysia not once but several times. He’s driven from Malaysia through China and over the Himalayas to India. He’s driven from Cape Town to Cairo, and from Cairo across the Sahara Desert to Casablanca. He’s driven right around South America from Buenos Aires going north to Uruguay, Brazil,Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru , Chile, Argentina round to Ushuaia in Terra del Fuego and finished by reentering Buenos Aires from the South. His idea of fun is to sail in a schooner in the Scoresby Sound of Greenland. And when he wants a photo of an active Volcano, for example, Mt Erta Ale’ which is Africa’s most active volcano, he actually climbed it and camped overnight on its crater rim above the boiling lava below. He jumped the bungee over Victoria Falls on his 65th Birthday. And last week, (May 18, 2015) he’s just celebrated his 70th birthday in the Todra Gorge of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. 

And secondly, not many people are aware that Yusuf retired 15 years ago, as Retail Marketing Director of Shell in Malaysia. After a sterling Jet-setting Corporate career in one of the world’s largest Oil Company, he metamorphosed into a Gyp-setting accomplished Photographer after retirement. 

What is the Vacation of a Lifetime

Yusuf’s idea of a vacation is ….getting hot by climbing 4 active Volcanoes in two weeks - 2 in Java in the first week (Mt Ijen and Mt Bromo) and another 2 in Africa (Mt Erta Ale’ and Mt Dalol in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia) in the second week. The night time temperatures in the Danakil Depression is a searing 48°C. And to wind down and cool down in the third week …. flying to Iceland to shoot the Aurora Borealis in the -15°C Lake Myvatn Volcanic Region in Central Iceland. And perhaps sailing in the Scoresby Sound of Greenland after that. 

Have you gone exploring with Yusuf in the past?  

No, perhaps one day.

You posted some of Yusuf’s incredible photos. Which ones were your favorite? 

All of them are great as they were snapped not only with the heart but ably accomplished with his technical skills. Hank will choose those which are rarely possible and difficult to come by (like the boy with the AK47, the passenger peering out the train window) and opportunistic ones (like the family going for the shared community bath where the elder girl had a toothbrush in her hands) A few are included here including the boy with the AK47. These are of a high resolution format. 

Yusuf has taken people all over the world on photo safaris. What countries seem to be his favorite? 

The flavor of 2014 was AFRICA – specifically Ethiopia. Last year Yusuf did 3 photo safaris covering the entire length and breadth of Ethiopia, which Yusuf says is the unpolished jewel of Africa. After decades of civil strife and political instability following the removal of Emperor Haile Selassie, Ethiopia has recently become safe to visit . Ethiopia has more than 50 Ethnic tribes who are living much like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago.. Yusuf’s photos chronicling the little known tribes of Africa, are like pages out of a National Geographic Magazine. 

                                                                            Attribution: Yusuf Hashim
Yusuf Hashim says: 

This is a Mursi boy, who couldn't be more than 12 years old, with an AK47 Kalashnikov on his shoulder. He demanded money when I shot this photo of him. I didn't want to argue with that globally acclaimed widow-maker, so I gave him 20 Birrs for this photo. That's equivalent to about 50 cents. 

The flavor for this year seems to be Cuba, Iceland and Greenland. Yusuf took three groups of people to Cuba earlier this year. He says you must visit Cuba before Cuba warms up to the American tourists, and everything is spoiled by modernization. Cuba is like a state frozen in time, with delightful Spanish period buildings around every corner. Cubans are still very warm to tourists.The foreseen influx of American tourists in the near future, will probably transform Cuba into the usual tourist traps like in Egypt China and Morocco. Then he took two groups to the freezing permanent Icecaps, glaciers and waterfalls of South Iceland, followed by North and Central Volcanic Region of the Island. In September this year (2015) he’s returning to Iceland which will be the appetizer for a Sailing Expedition in Greenland. 

                                                                                          Attribution: Yusuf Hashim
Yusuf Hashim says: 

The streets in Cuba are still full of beautifully preserved huge gas-guzzling 5 liter, 50 year old American Automobiles

Tell us about the loneliest road Yusuf has ever traveled. 

Yusuf told me the loneliest road in the world has to be the Routa 40. It is about 3000 kilometers from Patagonia to Ushuaia alongside the foothills of the Andes, across the Glacial Wilderness of the Glacial parks of Southern Chile and Argentina, with the Tres Torres and Mt Fitzroy on one side and Mt Aconcagua on the other, and leading to Ushuaia, the southern-most point of South America. When he drove around South America along this route, for days he saw only 5 or 10 vehicles apart from his convoy of 15 vehicles. Yusuf says, Patagonia is one of the places you must go to before you go to meet your maker. Here’s a sample of the photo opportunities in Patagonia…

                                                                                          Attribution: Yusuf Hashim
Yusuf Hashim says: 

Ruta 40, or Route 40 in Argentina, reputedly the loneliest road in the world. For nearly 2000 km, I counted less than 50 other vehicles on this god-forsaken track running alongside the Andes from la Puna until reaching the Glaciers of Patagonia

Where can we find out more about Yusuf? 

Yusuf is presently rebuilding a new personal web page, so for more current information, check out his Facebook page (here) his Photo Safari Website (here) and his books (here)

Thanks, Hank! And I hope you get to join Yusuf on an adventure soon.

Thanks Alex, hope so, yes!

For Marian's hosting at the 
Tuesday Platform, Real Toads