Survival skills

Recently I heard someone say survival skills should include killing animals — the ones we usually raise for food. Tough subject, I know. Would you kill a rabbit to eat it? And if you raised it, would you enjoy eating it? Some would say yes without a fuss, others would shiver at the thought, and some would walk away, maybe because they’re vegan. As for me, I doubt I’d survive if I had to kill an animal. Birds, pigs, rabbits, goats… but funny enough, fishing doesn’t make me sad. I’ve never killed a fish, but I’ve caught and eaten one happily — someone else prepared it. Do you feel the same?

This is an okra blossom. 😁 Let’s switch topics.

I took these photos at Doctor’s lagoon in Playa Baracoa. The place is really polluted, but the plants and animals there fight hard to survive.

Many birds can be photographed there as well, but the time I went wasn’t great for that, and I didn’t have the time birdwatching really needs — we had to get back home. Still, I’m left wanting to go back and take my time birdwatching there.

We walked through mangroves and mud, tripping here and there, swatting away mosquitoes that stuck to us like needles through our clothes.

And there I was, thinking of Ansel Adams. 😂

One must always look to the masters. Learn from them… to create anything decent in photography, it’s essential to study and observe what others have done.

This, too, is a skill for survival. 😄

I’m not sure, maybe it’s true, but people say that some who planned to leave the country illegally built a raft out of a truck. I can’t confirm it, but it’s true that many departures have happened from Playa Baracoa and El Salado over the years. It’s a sad reality — the sea is dangerous, people chase a dream, and many don’t make it. Some have survival skills and reach the Florida Strait, but most don’t. Anything can happen out there. There are loads of stories online. There’s even a film about it on YouTube.

Someone told me these might be the bits left in the mangroves after they used whatever they could for the makeshift boat.

They’re lovely things to photograph, right?

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_{Original content by Hive account@nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2026. Every image I include in my posts is mine. When it’s not, I credit the source in a caption.}

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