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Ray 👣

@barry_socks

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Living a simple life on the open road, telling stories with pictures.
@cederberg_backyard_ultra
@runwestsa

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Service 1.

6 weeks after deployment it was time to head back into the Overberg.

The first servicing phase meant returning to the camera traps. Servicing consists of checking equipment, changing batteries and memory cards and downloading the data collected since May.

With a survey like this the careful handling of the data is as important as collecting it in the first place. Every camera setup, file and record needs to be accounted for before the equipment is reset.

@capeleopardtrust @nuwejaarswetlands_sma

#capeleopardtrust #cameratrapsurvey #wildlifeconservation #overberg #southafrica by @barry_socks

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11 days ago

A lot has happened since these images were taken all the way back in May.

Two field teams, six days spent in the Overberg in a landscape left full of camera traps that would spend the coming months quietly recording whatever passed in front of them.

Since then we’ve been back out for Service 1 and Service 2, checking cameras, we changed batteries and downloaded data, slowly building a picture of what’s moving through these landscapes.

What started as a deployment and two servicing phases ended up stretching a little further. A third service was added to collect more data which is almost wrapped up. At the end of October we head back out for the final takedown.

The whole process has been incredibly educational and given me a much deeper respect for the time. Patience. The care that goes into conservation work like this. Huge respect to @matthewbrandonarendse and the team for what they do. Seeing it first hand has been inspirational. Working with people who are genuinely passionate about their jobs and the work they do.

Before we get there I thought it was time to go back to the beginning and share a little of what the fieldwork has looked like along the way.

First up: Deployment.

Six days in May and the start of a project that’s still unfolding.

@capeleopardtrust @fynbos.co.za @nuwejaarswetlands_sma
#wildlifeconservation
#cameratrapsurvey
#overberg
#southafrica by @barry_socks

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16 days ago

Mountains they have always had me. Flowers are quickly making a very convincing case for themselves. Turns out, put the two together and I’m pretty much smitten…

#wildflowers
#drakensberg
#southafrica by @barry_socks

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17 days ago

“Life After Fire”

I had the opportunity to visit Life After Fire while volunteering with the @capeleopardtrust during their Overberg camera survey service 3. Life After Fire was a recent wildflower exhibition in Stanford celebrating the incredible landscapes that emerge after fire.

Between days spent out in the field servicing cameras I also had the chance to photograph some of these wildflowers in their natural habitat. It was beautiful to see the same story of recovery from a different perspective. Both through the exhibition and while moving through the landscape ourselves.

Fire can be devastating but spending time in the Overberg at this time of the year after recent fires was a reminder of just how remarkable the fynbos is, and how quickly life begins to return.

Some of these flowers have an incredibly short window to put on a show. A week or two and they’re gone. It makes coming across them feel pretty special. You really do have to be in the right place at the right time and this time around myself and @adam_begglett were.

#fynbos
#southafrica
#fyp by @barry_socks

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19 days ago

“If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today”
African proverb.

Dwarfed by the sheer scale of Ukhahlamba.
Movement through the mountains ⛰️

#southafrica
#drakensberg
#kwazulunatal by @barry_socks

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a month ago

Sometimes I don’t know where this dirty road is taking me 🎶

#cederberg
#southafrica by @barry_socks

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a month ago

The Basotho. Forever watching over their livestock.

There was always an eerie feeling that we were being watched while traversing the landscape. But when we came within close quarters we shared an inquisitive exchange. Moments of curiosity up on the Lesotho highlands 🇱🇸

#lesotho
#basotho by @barry_socks

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a month ago

You won’t see me, but you’ll hear the shutter before you catch a glimpse 😉📸

#capetown
#southafrica by @barry_socks

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a month ago

Love me a big old mountain adventure and living the life of a wayfaring wanderer ⛰️

A vignette from the Giants Cup trail during time spent out in the Drakensberg in March.

#drakensberg
#giantscuptrail
#kwazulunatal
#southafrica by @barry_socks

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a month ago

Run West 2026. @runwestsa

Five years in, 3 editions, and I still find myself as incredibly excited for what this weekend represents as I was the very first time.

I’ve had the privilege of being part of the Run West journey from the early days, watching Dom’s vision grow into something so much bigger than a race.

Along the way something else has grown too. A little family behind the scenes. The people who have poured countless hours, ideas, energy and most importantly heart into building this thing together. It’s a pretty special group to be a part of.

What has been built is a movement. A celebration of the West Coast. Its people. Its wild spaces. The responsibility we share to protect them.

I’m incredibly proud to have played a small part in that journey and even prouder of what Run West has come to represent.

Here’s to another year of running, giving back and standing together for this beautiful place that is the Weskus.

See you on the coast!

Yewww 🤘

📸 @fahwaaz_c by @barry_socks

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a month ago

After a bit of a walkabout, some time lost in contemplation and a few bites of honest chocolate… this old horse has decided to see if he still has the legs for this old ultra running thing we love so dearly.

Time to get training 🧱

2027, we coming at ya 🐎🏃‍♂️

#fyp by @barry_socks

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2 months ago

Good luck to all runners taking on @puffer_ultra this weekend 🫡 by @barry_socks

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2 months ago