Diary 2022 (71) May 22nd/23rd At Mistress’ feet

09 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Diary Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, May 22nd, I had 90 minutes with Mistress in the earlier afternoon. Mistress too me to Heavy Bondage Club first where we caught up with our mutual news. I offered my leash to Mistress and she took it and consequently I spent the afternoon at her feet. I have had some issues with my cuffs. I got forced teleported when Mistress had locked them. During the afternoon Mistress and I sorted out this issue and found that really the cuffs were the reason. After a reset, they work properly again.
Mistress took me to club Domme a Domme and later to Carnal Intentions. Then we returned to our loft skybox and Mistress provided the next dose of ehr poison to me. I’m fully addicted to her and I long for more *sighs*. Thank you for my fix, Mistress.
Finally we returned to club Domme a Domme jsut for a few minutes. Then Mistress put my ringgag and blindfold on and pulled everything tight. She restricted my IM and took me to another place (I assume home, but I don’t know). There she left her Ehesklavin.

May 22nd: Mistress Jenny and Ehesklavin Diomita at Hheavy Bondage Club, at club Domme a Domme, at Carnal Intentions and at home

We had a quiet night. It started as usual with a skipee with Flo. Alessi joind us after the first round and we played a second round as teams. Afterwards we went to Carnal Intentions. Just when Flo was about to leave for bed, slave Holly came inworld and Mistress summoned her to us. We didn’t stay long though and returned home to chat amoung us freely at our sun terrace until it was time to call it a night.

May 22nd: Mistress Jenny and Diomita at Carnal Intentions and at home with Flo, slave Holly and slave Alessi

Monday, May 23rd, I went on a simploring tour and visted Serene Footman’s and Jad Koltai’s newest creation “Ojuela“, an old abandonned mine with a impressive suspension bridge (read here). I enjoyed this visit a lot.
I met with Mistress after lunch. Mistress Jenny had allowed me to dress how I feel, submissive or dominant. I thought a lot about it and as Mistress Jenny’s 14th collaring day is coming up together with a green light, I decided to dress dominant. Mistress was pleased :-).
After we had caught up with our news, I took Mistress to Ojuela and showed her this fantastic place.

May 23rd: Mistress Jenny and Diomita visiting Serene Footman’s and Jad Koltai’s “Ojuela” – Fetish meets an outstanding place

We went to club Domme a Domme where we met Dely (krsybia), but she was absent. We went on to Carnal Intentions and stayed there for about 20 minutes. slave Luci (Luci Glendale) joined us therefor a few minutes.
Mistres Jenny had an IM with Lucy (MissLucyWales). Lucy has found a family in Sl and moved into her own place. She invited Mistress and me over to her place and showed us around. Thank you for the tour Lucy.

May 23rd: Mistress Jenny and Diomita with Dely at club Domme a Domme, at Carnal Intentions with slave Luci and at Lucy’s new home

At night Mistress and I were alone first and we went to club Domme a Domme. Being well educated I offered my leash to Mistress Jenny … and she couldn’t resist. There was quite something going on at the club and it was comparably full. We had some main chat and banter. I got accused to have slapped someone else (I didn’t) and I asked Mistress to lock my cuffs so that it is clear that it wasn’t me … Mistress did add my cuffs and locked my arms and later even gagged me *sighs*.
We went on to Carnal Intentions. When slave Holly came inworld, Mistress Jenny summoned her to us. I had assumed that I would be released from kneeling but Mistress enjoyed having slave Holly and me at her feet. Well, she can! But we returned home soon after and Mistress released me then. slave Alessi was at home and Mistress desired a game of skipee as teams.

May 23rd: Mistress Jenny and Diomita at club Domme a Domme and at Carnal Intentions with slave Holly, slave Alessi, Dely and Sara

It was fun, a really close game, as it should be! After the game we had some time left over and we returned to Carnal Intentions and met Dely and her sub Sara (SarahJadie) there. I had fun teasing slave Holly and slave Alessi and forcing both to focus on me. We had a nice chat with Dely and time went by way to fast again!

Simploring 2022 (8) Ojuela

25 May 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , ,

Since Serene Footman is back and started to work with Jade Koltai again. Just recently we could visit Black Bayou Lake again (read here). Saturday, May 21st, Jade and Serene opened a brand new sim: “Ojuela“.

To no surprise Ojuela is an extraordinairy place, a place not many of us know about and will ever see in reality. But we can visit Ojuela in Second Life!
Serene Footman wrote a detailed blogpost about Ojuela. I strongly recommend to read this post before you visit Ojuela in Second Life. I will have to repeat some of what Serene already wrote.

Ojuela is in Mexico. It is a small mining settlement, now well known as a ghost town as a result of the ore being exhausted. Ojuela was established after the discovery of abandoned gold and silver mines in the area in 1598. The Ojuela Mine produced a large quantity of mineral during the last part of the 19th century. With the advent of the railroad, all the extracted ore were transported away from the mine by train and processed in the nearby town of Mapimí (source: wikipedia)

Ojuela in Mexcio – a few pictures (lower left is a historic pictures taken from Serene’s blogpot)

Today Ojuela is best known for the “Puente de Ojuela”, which consists of a long pedestrian walkway suspended by a spider’s web of steel cables over a gorge 100 metres below. Completed in 1898, the bridge has a main span of 271.5 metres and the distance between the pylons that support the cables is 315.5 metres (taken from Serene Footman’s blogpost). By the bridge the ore could be brought to be processed without traveling a long detour around the deep gorge next to it. The bridge was reopened in 1991 and is now a tourist magnet.

Impressions of Ojuela (1) – Around the landing point

Realising the gorge and the bridge that overspans in Second Life was for sure not easy, but Jade and Serene did a great job again. Surrounded by high mountains the gorge fits in well. The selected environment (use shared environment in your setting) provides a bit hazy light yet does feel warm. It is not that easy to see everything with the provided windlight, some areas are swallowed by the fog. But the bridge does look even more impressive when you see it more and more as you come closer. The landing is one end of the bridge close to the ruins of a few administration buildings.

The meager rock environment does offer qutie some wildlife. I started my visit by walking around the the whole gorge on the edge of the gorge. And I saw quite some animals, cactus and cactus trees.

Impressions of Ojuela (2) – Wildlife

“You’ll find a variety of wildlife on the sim which is typical of this area: jaguars, bobcats (aka lynx), a bear and her cub, wolves, lemurs, bighorn sheep, a couple of donkeys and a few rams. Many of these are hidden away, just as they would be in real life. So you’re more likely to hear the wolves than to see them at first, likewise the bears.
There is abundant birdlife, too. You’ll find eagles soaring above (the eagle sits at the centre of the Mexican flag), osprey, kestrels, cuckoos, owls, vultures, red cardinals, orioles, grackles (which is essentially an oversized blackbird), thick-billed parrots (which are endemic to Mexico) …” (taken from Serene Footman’s blogpost)

Impressions of Ojuela (3) – Wildlife

After surrounding the gorge I visited the ruins of the administration buildings. Nature has taken back most of the ruins and animals are the new inhabitants. Yet someone must live there as there’s a washing line with some towels. Ladders and wooden boards connect the roofs. There’s a lot to discover and the ruins make a great background for pictures.

Impressions of Ojuela (4) – The ruins

Of course there are several nice spots to sit and watch. Most of them offer a view on the gorge and the bridge. I tried out a few. It is just great to visit this outstanding place so easily in Second Life.

Impressions of Ojuela (5) – Diomita enjoying the views

last but not least I walked of the bridge. That is a particular experience even in a virtual world. At one end I posed between two jaguars, something you would never do in RL *winks*. I took quite some amazing shots around the bridge.

Impressions of Ojuela (6) – “Puente de Ojuela”

I enjoyed my visit a lot! Serene Footman and Jade Koltai created another amazing place. Their love for the detail and the selection of extraordinairy places is just admirable. I’m thankful that I could visit.
As usual the sim shall be available just a few weeks. Hence don’t wait too long with your visit ot Ojuela.

Landmark to Ojuela
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Overland%20Hills/110/106/98
Serene Footman’s blogpost about Ojuela
https://furillen.org/2022/05/21/ojuela/
Ojuela in Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojuela
flickr group for Ojuela
https://www.flickr.com/groups/ojuela/

Simploring 2022 (6) A return to Black Bayou Lake

28 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

When I was looking for a destination to explore on Wednesday, April 27th, I became aware that Serene Footman and Jade Koltai had made a second iteration of their “Black Bayou Lake“, a place that they built back in 2018 and that I remember very well. And of course I wrote a blogpost about it, you can read it here.

Back in 2018 Serene wrote a detailled post about Black Bayou Lake (read here). And he also wrote a shorter post now (read here):
“Jade Koltai and I have collaborated on a lot of sims … and when we discussed working together again recently, we wanted to start by returning to an old favourite, Black Bayou Lake. There’s something we always loved about the atmosphere and light of this sim, but we felt that we could squeeze a little more out of it“

Impressions of Black Bayou Lake 2022 (1)

“Black Bayou Lake (link to wikipedia) – the inspiration for our sim – is located in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. The lake is part of an 800 acre nature reserve – there is a factsheet about it here – which seethes with wildlife: there are many species of bird, insect, reptile and fish, along with a variety of trees such as cherrybark oak, cedar elm, ash, hickories, willow oak, shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, mockernut hickory and post oak. It’s a stunning place, which attracted us because we had not yet tried designing a sim that consists mainly of water…...”

Diomita and the alligator at Black Bayou Lake 2022

Black Bayou Lake in Second Life is a virtual interpretation of the nature reserve in the physcial world. The most outstanding feature both places have in common is a long wooden footpath that visitors can use to explore and to even walk out onto the lake. This walkway is also a key object of the sim in 2022.
The swamp with it’s unique flora and the bare trees is another feature they share. Even some of the huts that are scattered on the sim look similar to those found in the nature reserve.

For the iteration in 2022 Serene and Jade added a railway bridge – the Cross Bayou Railroad Bridge, aka the Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge. In reality this bridge is located around 100 miles from Black Bayou Lake and was built in 1926.

Black Bayou Lake 2022: The wooden walkway through the swamps and the Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge in RL and in SL

Impressions of Black Bayou Lake 2022 (2)

Black Bayou Lake is full of life. There are many different birds and there’re alligators. You should turn your sound on. I personally recommend to turn on music as well as the selected music fits perfectly.
For your visit also make sure that you “use shared environment”. The environment setting is a bit foggy and hazy but it is part of the experience.

Impressions of Black Bayou Lake 2022 (3)

My second visit to Black Bayou Lake was once again a great experience that I really enjoyed. It might not replace a visit to it in real life, but it felt familiar as I still remembered my first visit. Together with some pictures of the real place it felt as if I were there again. I assume just the smell and the damp heat is what I missed *winks*.

Black Bayou Lake 2022 – what a great atmosphere!

Thank you Serene Footman and Jade Koltai for bringing Black Bayou Lake back for all of us. I really appreciate your work. It is such a joy to visit and it made my day.
If you want to visit Black Bayou, you should do it soon, the sim won’t be open forever (usually only a few weeks).

Landmark to Black Bayou Lake 2022
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aride%20Isle/131/171/21
flickr group for Black Bayou Lake
https://www.flickr.com/groups/blackbayoulake/pool/
Post 2018 on Serene Footman’s website
https://furillen.org/black-bayou-lake/
Post 2022 on Seren Footman’s website
https://furillen.org/2022/04/22/return-to-bayou/
Simploring 2018 (89) Black Bayou Lake
https://themaurers.me/2018/10/23/simploring-2018-89-black-bayou-lake/
Black Bayou Lake on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bayou_Lake_National_Wildlife_Refuge
Description from a visit at Black Bayou Lake
https://flatfooting.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/black-bayou-lake-national-wildlife-refuge/
Black Bayou Lake Factsheet
https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/fact-sheet/black-bayou-lake-national-wildlife-refuge.pdf

Simploring 2022 (2) Dyrhólaey

27 Mar 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Serene Footman is back in Second Life. A few weeks ago he re-opened Furillen for a few weeks and I visited it again and enjoyed the many memories (read my post about Furillen here). Serene’s sims are always outstanding. He rebuilds RL places in Second Life, places many of us never heard about before, or weired places with a very particular history or background. I didn’t see all of them, but many. And visiting a place of Serene like Khodovarikha (read here and here) or Rummu (read here) or Ukivok (read here) ..or… or.. was always a highlight of my Second Life.
And now Serene opened Dyrhólaey, his interpretation of Iceland in Second Life. It was not Serene’s attitude to rebuild exactly a part of icleand, he wanted to provide the atmosphere and to highlight some specific features of this beautiful place. I’ve never been to Iceland, it is still on my list of places to visit some time (hopefully). But now I can visit at least visit the southernmost point of Iceland, the home to the ‘endless black beach’ in Second Life and inhale some of it’s atmosphere and get some unique impressions.

Birdeye view and orientation map of Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey

Serene wrote a very detailled blogpost about Dyrhólaey. He explained what you can see on the sim, which buildings he has picked for Dyrhólaey and where they are in reality. He described Icelands flora and fauna, the different birds, the sheep and horses. He gave background information about the wrecked plane and about the piano on the beach. To sum it up – I didn’t want to rewrite Serene’s post, I can’t do it any better! I strongly recommend to to read Serene’s post about Dyrhólaey before visiting the sim in Second Life.
Dyrhólaey is best viewed using shared environment with advanced lighting. The day/night cycle set to 24 hours. My first visit was late at night and I had the luck to see some aurora borealis in the skies, my second visit was during the day and the sim looks different at daytime.

First impressions of Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – aurora borealis in the skies

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – The cliff retreat by architect Alex Hogrefe / Diomita enjoying the view over Dyrhólaey

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – The café inspired by the Ion Hotel in Nesjavellir / the piano and horses on the beach

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – wreck of the DC3 US Navy airplane 1973 / puffins / Skarðsviti Lighthouse / buildings on the high plateau of Dyrhólaey

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – Svartifoss waterfall / columns of Reynisdrangar / places to enjoy and relax

As with previous sims Serene had some help from others builders. Harry Cover (aka impossibleisnotfrench) buildt the wreck of the DC3 US Navy airplane 1973 and Mara Telling made the bar in the cliff retreat by the architect Alex Hogrefe (which was never realised).

For your own visit, keep in mind that Serene’s sims usually are only available for a few weeks.
Thank you very much, Serene! I did enjoy my visit to the fullest.

Landmark to Dyrhólaey
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aride%20Isle/148/47/39
Serene Footman’s post about Dyrhólaey
https://furillen.org/2022/03/21/dyrholaey/
flickr group for Dyrhólaey
https://www.flickr.com/groups/dyrholaey/

Art in Second Life 2020 (27) Extempore Gallery and Lounge

18 May 2020 4 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After my blogpost about the April exhibition at La Maison d’Aneli (read here) I had contact with one of the artists who were featured in this exhibition – Etamae.
Etamae is from the UK and began taking photographs and then turning those photographs into digital art in 2018.
Her first passion was erotic art and I had come across Etamae in 2019 the first time when I visited her exhibtion “Dominance and Submission” at Elevate Femdom (see here).

And more of etamae’s erotic art can be seen at Eta’s Feed Your Fetish Gallery which is “a little edgy, somewhat sensual centered about the erotic and the BDSM lifestyle” and hence does fit to my personal passion. On Monday, April 27th, I visited Eta’s Feed Your Fetish Gallery (see my blogpost here).

Besides owning Eta’s Feed Your Fetish Gallery Etamae owns two other galleries and I visited one of them on Thursday April 30th: The Extempore Gallery and Lounge.

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of etamae’s own art

At the Extempore Gallery and Lounge Etamae showcases pictures taken in Second Life and manipulated in particular by recolouring and adding light effects to them as well as some animated permantently changing pictures. Etamae is not defined by just one style or area of art, she plays with different patterns and tries herself out in a broader spectrum of art.

At the Extempore Gallery and Lounge Etamae not only showcases her own art but provides the space also to other artists. At the time of my visit the gallery featured also the art from: CybeleMoon (hana.hoobinoo), Patrick Moya, Sophie Marie Sinclair (perpetua1010), Aneli Abeyante, Jipe Loon, Patrick Ireland (PatrickofIreland), Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench) and Safar Fiertze.

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of Patrick Moya’s art

I saw already some of Patrick Moya (moja janus)’s art. I came across him in 2017 when I visited his Moya Land (read Simploring 2017 (56) Moya).
Patrick Moya (born 1955 in Troyes, France), is a French artist. He is a part of the artistic movement “Ecole de Nice”. Moya has been at the forefront since the 1970s of straddling the latest forms of media and technology to benefit art rather than rendering it extinct.
(excerpt from wikipedia).
He is an early pioneer of video art and is active with his art in Second Life since 2007 in addition to his work in the physical world. The barriers between the two worlds do blur in his artistic work. Moya Patrick (moya janus) has also a website http://moyapatrick.com/ with tons of information about his work and about Moya in Second Life. Unfortunately it is in French only.
At the Extempore Gallery and Lounge we see examples and drafts of at Moya label in many different variations. I’m not sure, but somehow it felt familiar, I might have seen some ot the exhibits already before

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of CybeleMoon (hana.hoobinoo)’s art

I also came across CybeleMoon or Hana Hoobinoo already a few times, the last time when I visited “The Itakos Project and Art Gallery“ (read here). Cybele’s picture always have a fantasy background and often show portraits or people in a peaceful, mostly hazy fantasy world. Her pictures seem to tell a story, that you have to make up yourself.

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of Sophie Marie Sinclair (perpetua1010)’s art

“Sophie Marie Sinclair is a RL painter and book author. She mainly paints nude from models and abstract art. She loves to experiment with different kind of paint and lithography. She has made several book illustrations and was for many years political cartoonist for a well known satire magazine. She lived and worked in the Unites States, Australia, Rome and Monaco.
At Extempore Gallery and Lounge you can see some of her “Inpirations in Red”, powerful paintings in red with a fantastic 3D-effect.“

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of Aneli Abeyante and Jipe Loon’s art

Aneli Abeyante, who runs La Maison d’Aneli, creates objects in 2D and 3D, colourful, steadily moving, and with particular light effects. Aneli writes about herself:
“I love geometry and mathematics. So after much practice, I managed to clear structures and shapes. In reality I practice painting, I do not have precise style but I always seek harmonization.”
Some of the Aneli’s work exhibited at Extempore Gallery and Lounge was already shown at La Maison d’Aneli in January/February 2020 (see my blogpost here). You see geometrical shapes with one dominating colour. Most of the displays as constantly changing.

The 3D figures that are showcase in the area of the staircase were created by Jipe Loon, erotic figures, truely exaggerated yet intriguing. Jipe is in Second Life for more than 12 years and he sells his creations on the marketplace. I came across some of his figures already before in the frame of my simploring tours, but I never saw more than one, yet at Extempore Gallery and Lounge you see a few of them.

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of Patrick Ireland (PatrickofIreland)’s art

When I visited “The Itakos Project and Art Gallery“ (read here) I saw an exhibition of Partick Ireland’s art but I couldn’t find any information about him. Patrick’s art, surrealism pure, is shown also at Extempore Gallery and Lounge, but there was a notecard with a bit more information, including his SL name PatrickofIreland:
“Originally in SL in 2008 and recently back after a hiatus of many years, Patrick found his passion for SL photography a little more than a year ago. In this short time, he has become a prolific SL photographer known for his detailed sets and desire to share the joy of his many interests, including surreal subjects, Asian art and philosophy, civic issues and, of course, love.“

Extempore Gallery and Lounge – impressions of Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench) and Safar Fiertze’s art

Harry Cover, also known as Impossibleisnotfrench, is from France. He started his second life by playing with prims, then sculpties and finally mesh (Blender). He’s passionate about photos and  graphic designer in RL (among others). One of his objects – Statue vis ecrou all inone – can also be found at my home *winks*. Harry also works with Serene Footman, who creates sims after real places, you’d usually never come across exploring the world as a tourist. He creates landmark buildings for Serene and I mentioned him several times already when I wrote about Serene Footman’s weired outstanding places.

Safar Fiertze has two installations at Extempore Gallery and Lounge. She’s in SL for almost 12 years and writes about herself: “I love labyrinths and labyrinthian minds. I like the artistic and innovative juxtaposition of words. I’ve discovered the joys of juxtaposing prims”
Baletka is an interactive story experience at Extempore Gallery and Lounge loosely inspired by an R.D. Laing case study. You can walk through the story and see Safar’s 3D art.
There’s a second installation of Safar Fiertze “Mechanical Apparition of Emergent Dream” where you can interact with bouncing balls, which reproduce themselves – intriguing.

My spontaneous visit to Extempore Gallery and Lounge became longer than I thought. I had fun seeing it and I enjoyed the art from artists who I came across before again. Thank you etamae for providing and curating your Gallery. I had only one more gallery from etamae to visit “Etamae’s gallery at Absolute Bliss” and I tried Saturday, May 2nd .. but it is gone or the Landmark I had was invalid,

Landmark to Extempore Gallery and Lounge
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blarn%20Isle/13/210/1502
Eta’s Feed Your Fetish Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swanbridge/204/19/3216
Landmark to La Maison d’Aneli
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Holland/36/55/3501
Landmark to Moya Land
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moya%20Land/53/95/36
Patrick Moya’s website
http://moyapatrick.com/
Landmark to “The Itakos Project and Art Gallery“
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ATL/177/192/1011

Simploring 2020 (36) Hotel del Salto

11 May 2020 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

For my simploring tour Thursday, May 7th, I picked Hotel del Salto from scoop.it SL Destinations. Hotel del Salto in Second Life is owned by Jade Koltai who also designed this place on a moderate homestead.
Jade Koltai built many extraordinairy places together with Serene Footman, places you usually never get to, weired and outstanding places with history. They both now make their own designs (at least for the time being). Last year I visited Huntington Beach by Jade Koltai and I was excited about it (read here).

To say it right in the beginning. I am also excited about Hotel del Salto. Once again it is a place in Second Life that was built after a place in the physical world. It is “a hotel built in 1923 by a French architect with a view of a waterfall, being also the discharge of the sewers of Bogota in Colombia. Other legends haunt this place” (landmark description)

Hotel del Salto – overview / at the landing point

The Hotel Del Salto was previously built as a mansion in 1923. The architect who added the magnificence to the design of the Mansion was Carlos Arturo Tapias. The exterior was designed by using French architecture. In 1928 the Mansion was rebuilt as a luxurious Hotel Del Salto. The major reason to build this hotel was to attract the well-off travellers visiting the amazing Tequendama Falls. (source: worldfortravel) The Tequendama Falls (Spanish: Salto del Tequendama) is a 132 metres (433 ft) high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of Bogotá (source: wikipedia).

Hotel del Salto and Tequendama Falls, Columbia

The hotel was abandoned in the 1990ies most probably because of the smell of the Bogotá River, which was one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. But there were also stories that the hotel was  haunted maybe because the waterfalls also attracted people who committed suicide.
Nowadays the Hotel del Salto is a museum for biodiversity and it is again a tourist attraction.

WoW … the first impression when you land on the street that leads to the hotel is already overwhelming. You see this outstanding building on the edge of a deep canyon, the moutains in the background, the atmosphere is a bit hazy, the nature is flourishing.

Jade built the hotel not in its state of today but as the ruin that it was for many years. The nature has taken back the building, grass is growing through the cracks of the ground, windows are broken, ceilings broken. Nonetheless when you go inside you can still grasp how luxurious it once was.

Hotel del Salto – outside and inside

Hotel del Salto – inside

But that is by far not all. Exploring the waterfalls and the canyon is great fun and from what I saw on pictures of the real place, it is quite well how it looks in reality. But in Second life you can hike without any danger of falling. From the hotel stairs lead down into the canyon. On the half way down is the first lookout to the waterfalls and it is a really nice play to stay and take a break.

Hotel del Salto – Impressions of exploring the Canyon (1)

You can decide to continue your walk over the high bridge or further down to the canyon. I went down first and enjoyed the view looking up. And I went very close to the waterfall and literally got wet by the spray of the falls. In the canyon there’s another terrace which was well visited during my visit.

Hotel del Salto – Impressions of exploring the Canyon (2)

Walking over the high bridge takes you the the opposed side of the hotel and there’re again several outlooks. At one I stayed a bit longer and even had a short conversation amoung tourists with a guy who sat there enjoying the view. I couldn’t get enough of this canyon and the views!

Hotel del Salto – a break with view on the falls

I went back to the hotel and walked to the side opposed to the falls. And there I found another outlook, well hidden by dense bushes. That’s “my” place there *winks*.

Hotel del Salto – more impressions and my favourite spot

I recommend to read about the Tequendama Falls and about the hotel (a good first source is the text in worldfortravel or the website of thevintagenews that is mentioned in the landmark description) before you visit. It will add to your experience when you visit Hotel del Salto in Second Life.

Thank you Jade for another great place, that I might never see in reality. But now I feel as if I’ve been there already. What a great trip in these crazy times.

Landmark to Hotel del Salto
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Costa%20Verde/203/220/95
Flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/delsalto/
Hotel des Salto
https://www.worldfortravel.com/hotel-del-salto-tequendama-falls-columbia/
Hotel del Salto
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/06/colombias-haunted-hotel-del-salto-despite-beauty-papers-reported-several-cases-suicides/
Tequendama Falls
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tequendama_Falls

Diary 2020 (54) April 13th/14th Varied Days

26 Apr 2020 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Diary Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I had a quite varied day in Second Life on Monday, April 13th. I was inworld in the late morning and went to Heavy Bondage Club. slave Luci joined me there and I had fun watching people and reading profiles while tieing her up and restricting her.

April 13th: Diomita and slave Luci at Heavy Bondage Club / Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life

In the afternoon I went on a simploring tour as Mistress Jenny wasn’t inworld yet. I went to Kohlmannskuppe, “a ghost town and tourist destination in southern Namibia. Once a thriving diamond mine and one of the richest towns in Africa, the abandoned buildings are now being swallowed by the Namib desert.” It was built by Serene Footman and opened just a few days before. I spent quite some time there exploring and later had quite some pictures to sort and writing the simploring report took also time but was fun (read Simploring 2020 (29) Kohlmannskuppe if you haven’t read it yet). Yasminia, the sim where Kohlmannskuppe is built on, was once kind of my second home in Second Life about 10 years ago and it is already the second time that I visited it on my simploring tours with a totally different design. What a coincidence!

I met Mistress Jenny shortly while I was simploring. She had a busy day and came inworld just to say hello and to avoid making me wait, then she left again.

April 13th: Mistress Jenny and Diomita at home and at Mesmerize Dungeon with slave Flo and slave Gwendi / at club De Lust and at home in our skybox saying good night.

At night slave Flo and slave Gwendi were present and they had been trying the Easter hunt prize that slave Flo got the day before. After having a busy day Mistress was up for a game and we played a round of skipee as teams again. We sat differently this time to avoid that the chairs we use to sit on make the difference. It was a close game and hence we could enjoy it. We had some time left over and went to Mesmerize Dungeon until flotime. The slaves went to bed and Mistress and I chilled 15 minutes at club DeLust. It was very full, as a matter of fact Second Life is quite full lately due to all of our real lifes where everybody has to stay at home.
Mistress Jenny and I went home and to bed quite early.

Tuesday, April 14th, I wanted to meet Mistress in the afternoon, yet she didn’t show up due to her RL. I went a bit simhopping and ended at the House of Sensations. I was all alone there and looked for new equipment and found new equipment. Being naughty I tried another Shibari rope furniture and I made some pictures of naughty me *winks*

April 14th: Diomita in Shibari ropes at the House of Sensations

At night I ran late and Mistress Jenny, slave Gwendi, slave Flo and Ann were present. After saying hello, slave Gwendi went off to bed as she was very tired. We took slave Flo and Ann to Mesmerize Dungeon where we watched, chatted, read some profiles and where I caught up with Mistress Jenny about our mutual news RL and SL. slave slut cecy joined us at Mesmerize Dungeon as well. When Ann changed into her rubber doll outfit I couldn’t refrain from taking control and locked and leashed her. Time went by quickly and at flotime we returned home and tucked slave Flo in. We went to Psi’s realm and leashed slut cecy there and retreated to our loft skybox.

April 14th: Mistress Jenny and Diomita with Ann, slave Flo and slave cecy at Mesmerize Dungeon, at home and at Psi’s realm / Mistress Jenny and Diomita in our loft skybox

There Mistress allowed me to get my fix before we went off to bed. Thank you, Mistress Jenny.

Simploring 2020 (29) Kohlmannskuppe

13 Apr 2020 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Just in time for Easter Serene Footman opened his new sim “Kohlmannskuppe” taking us to “a ghost town and tourist destination in southern Namibia. Once a thriving diamond mine and one of the richest towns in Africa, the abandoned buildings are now being swallowed by the Namib desert.“

Kohlmannskuppe was given up in 1956. Serene has done a very detailed resarch about the history of Kohlmannskuppe, he studied pictures taken today and historic pictures. He researched the history of the place and it’s current state as the town is flooded with sand. He gives us some insight into the era when Kohlmannskuppe flourished as a diamond mine during the time of the colonial power of Germany in the early 20th century.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (1) – the entrance building / around the landing point

He rebuilt some of the most outstanding buildings that are still existent, first and foremost the Kasino with it’s theater room but also others like the ice factory that provided the community with ice for their fridges. He also rebuilt some residential houses and – with all artistic freedom – gave them the look and feeling of how they look today and back in the early 20th century.

I strongly recommend to read Serene’s own blogpost “Kolmannskuppe – The Ghost Town of Namib Desert” before visiting. It will enhance your experience. Another good source is the entry about Kohlmannskuppe in wikipedia here.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (2) – The Kasino with theatre room and cafe

 

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (3) – ice factory, bakery and a barrack

In his blogpost Serene also wrote about the buildings you see at Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life and who helped to create what we can now experience virtually: “Directly opposite the Kasino, you will find the teacher’s house, for which I have utilised the prefab brilliantly created by Milk Motion (Marie Lauridsen). This building has those richly coloured walls one finds in so many photographs of the real Kolmannskuppe.“

There are more very interesting details in Kohlmannskuppe like the tram that was used to transport water from one end of the town to the other. The tram that you can see was built “in a collaborative effort with Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench), who helped with the tram’s seats and brakes. Harry also helped out by meshing the quirky little diamond retrieval machine that sits next to the Kasino building.“

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (4) – account house / around the tram station

At the 2nd floor of the Kasino building you will find a small gift shop, with custom-made postcards, posters, and tee shirts for sale, as well as a museum area.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (5) – the bowling at the 2nd floor of the Kasino / behind the Kasino/ desert camp and wildlife

But there’s a lot more to explore and discover like original boards in several languages spread over the sim. These boards are really there in reality, in particular the one to protect the brown hyenas. Serene also added some animals quite rarely seen in Second Life, “such as Bighorn sheep, Gemsbock (aka Oryx), Sable Antelope, Wildebeest” and the above mentioned Hyenas.
I want to mention the big pool, nowadays filled with sand. This pool was really there and it played an important role for the community.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (6) – Hospital ruins / pool and water storage

Don’t miss seeing the 2 colonial houses that witness the former wealth of Kohlmannskuppe. You can walk inside and as opposed to reality, going in is safe! You find the leftovers of the former residents, some look like they just left like the kids toys in one of them or the sewing machine, some other leftovers are just rubbish.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (7) – Colonial house, witness of former wealth

As usual in Serene’s installations you find many opportunities to sit and watch on furniture that is not that inviting, but fits to the scenery.

Once again Serene Footman took us to a place that most of us will never see in reality and can be experienced now virtually for a limited time. During times where we all can’t travel in the physcial world – take the opportunity to travel to Kohlmannskuppe.

Impressions of Kohlmannskuppe in Second Life (8) – Colonial house, witness of former wealth

Thank you very much for this Easter present, Serene. I enjoyed my visit a lot and I took tons of pictures. One personal remark: Yasminia, the sim where Kohlmannskuppe is built on, was once kind of my second home in Second Life about 10 years ago and it is already the second time that I visited it on my simploring tours with a totally different design. What a coincidence!

Landmark to Kohlmannskuppe
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yasminia/254/7/22
Serene Footman’s blogpost “Kolmannskuppe – The Ghost Town of Namib Desert”
https://furillen.org/2020/04/10/kolmannskuppe-the-ghost-town-of-namib-desert/
Kohlmannskuppe in wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmanskop

Simploring 2020 (18) Ubay Island

07 Mar 2020 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , ,

Today I came across Ubay Island and I should have noticed it before. With closing his summer version of Khodovarikha (read Simploring 2020 (13) Welcome back, Slava – Khodovarikha in Summer) Serene Footman has opened up another place: Ubay Island.

Serene Footman’s Ubay Island – overview

I strongly recommend reading Serene’s blogpost about this place in his blog here before you visit. Ubay Island is in the province of Bohol, Philippines, flooded due to climate change and the 2013 earthquake. It has an area of 1,5 hectares and a population of 223.

Impressions of Ubay Island (1) – upper left is the basketball court at the landing

Serene describes the living conditions on Ubay Island in his blog. It is absolutely astonishing how people manage to live there with wet feet getting flooded with each high tide. Serene has two short video’s in his blogpost. Don’t miss watching them. I promise you’ll get a different view on what you see in Second Life.

Impressions of Ubay Island (2) – discovering by boat

Serene has added some spots from the real Ubay Island into his Second Life version of it. I want to mention the basketball court right where you land when visiting Ubay Island (This is where we play) and the ruined building admist the sea, that is used by children as jumping and diving platform. This building has been realized by Harry Cover (Impossibleisnotfrench).

Impressions of Ubay Island (3) – the school and the church

There are swamps close by just as in the real place and hidden in them is a shack that is dedciated to another aspect of the local culture: Filipino folk magic, known as Kulam or ‘Pagkukulam’ (look it up on wikipedia)

Impressions of Ubay Island (4) – the ruined Building used as a jumping platform and the Kulam house in the swamp

Needless to say that Serene has added a lot of details to discover! The huts are mostly furnished, you find countless opportunities to sit and look around. There’s also a boat rental so that you can discover the swamps without getting wet feet. And for our convenience Serene has built wooden walks to get around in the village.

Impressions of Ubay Island (5)

Once again I learned something new and saw a place that I never would have come across without Serene’s Second Life installation. Don’t miss out seeing it. As ususal this place won’t be available very long. Thank you very much, Serene!

Landmark to Ubay Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Arcole/86/163/21
Serene Footman’s blogpost about Ubay Island
https://furillen.org/2020/03/03/ubay-island/
Flickr-Group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/ubay_island/

Simploring 2020 (13) Welcome back, Slava – Khodovarikha in Summer

20 Feb 2020 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

Yesterday, Wednesday February 19th, I came across Khodovarikha again when scrolling through scoop.it SL Destinations. I visited this extreme lonely place back in October 2017 (see Simploring 2017 (80) Khodovarikha).

Khodovarikha (in Russian: Ходовариха) is a weather station located on the freezing Barents Sea. Remote and desolate, with a permanent population of just one man, Slava. Witness his ‘arctic limbo’ in one of the loneliest places on earth. Once Khodovarikha was a village and there are a number of buildings scattered around on the sim. The most striking is the lighthouse, built in 1933 and decommissioned in 1996. It is made of timber, which Slava is cannibalising for firewood, and sits high up on a raised section of the land.

Serene Footman, who has a passion for unknown, strange and outstanding places, had brought Khodovarikha alive in Second Life and gathered a lot of information about it so that we could get an impression of it – and not only by reading about it in his blog (read here) and watching a video but also by exploring it in Second Life and thus getting a feeling for the place. That all was back in 2017 and as Serene’s places are temporar and stay about one month (some stay longer, some shorter) Khodovarikha is gone for more than 2 years now.

Khodovarikha in Summer – birds eye view

Welcome back, Slava – Serene Footman has reopened Khodovarikha on Saturday, February 15th. The first Khodovarikha was set up in Winter, the one we can see now is giving us an impression of it during Summer. In the above mentioned video we see that Khodovarikha is a real mess. Serene writes in his new blogpost: “the windswept sand is littered with barrels and crates, as well as miscellaneous bits of rusty salvage. I have often wondered about those barrels – why are there so many of them, and why are they left lying around, quite literally, everywhere … I have wanted to design a summer version of Khodovarikha ever since closing the sim in December 2017.”

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (1) – the “new” abandonned house

When creating Khodovarikha in Summer, Serene added a lot of life, in particular birds, many many birds and thus the place is full of life. As opposed to the first place, the lighthouse is not working anymore this time (like in reality). Serene has found more information about Khodovarikha, in particular he learned that the lighthouse was also used as a place for fun and sports back when Khodovarikha was still a village with at least some more inhabitants and even children. That is why Serene installed a zip line from the top of the lighthouse to the ground – and provides the fun for us visitors as well!

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (2) – climbing up the lighthouse

There’s really a lot to see, explore and to discover at Khodovarikha. I started my visit with exploring the “new” abandoned house close to the lighthouse. Yes, as described by Serene and as could be expected it is a whole mess inside. I sat down close by and enjoyed the strange atmosphere. All over the sim you find places to sit, just that you can breath in the atmosphere of the place. And birds, birds, birds. They have taken over Khodovarikha.

Of course I climbed up to the top of the lighthouse. At one level on your way up you can watch a slideshow with pictures of the real Khodovarikha. Using the zip line is fun by the way.

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (3) – birds, brids, birds

Did I already mention the many birds? The are also noisy (don’t forget to turn your sound on). One larger colony of them is by the water where they have occupied the rocks. Another colony occupied a small pond. I didn’t change the windlight. This ensures that the place still looks not inviting but facinating in its depressiveness despite of all the birds and the corners where you can blind out all the barrels and garbage spread all over of the sim.

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (4) – Ustin’s and Slava’s house

I visited Ustin’s house as well as Slava main living house. I don’t remember the kitchen in the 1st Khodovarikha, but it caught my attention this time. What a mess! It’s hard to believe that someone can live with such a mess (and dirt).

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (5) – the pier, Slava’s garage and other impressions

I also can’t remember that there was a pier and a boat in the 1st Khodovarikha. And for sure Khodovarikha offers may more opportunities to sit and watch this time. That makes sense as it is Summer but on the other hand I can’t imagine that Slava would clean up the place in Winter and bring all the stools and sofas back into his storage garage *winks*.

Finally I played a bit with the windlight and created a sunnier Summer day. This changed the atmosphere a lot! It swept away the melancholy on one side, on the other side the mess and all the garbage are more disturbing the peace.

Impressions of Khodovarikha in Summer (5) – just imagine the sun would shine at Khodovarikha

If you want to visit yourself, you shouldn’t wait to long with a visit as Khodovarika will only stay available for a few weeks.
Thank you so much for realizing Khodovarikha in Summer, Serene. I had a lot of fun exploring and learning more about this strange and outstanding place.

Landmark to Khodovarikha
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Saint%20Denis%203/203/182/21
My visit to Khodovarikha in October 2017 “Simploring 2017 (80) Khodovarikha”
https://themaurers.me/2017/10/11/simploring-2017-80-khodovarikha/
Video “Arctic Limbo”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-DzOJyGqGk
Serene Footman’s post about Khodovarikha in Sommer “Welcome back, Slava”
https://furillen.org/2020/02/15/с-возвращением-слава/
Serene Footman’s post about the 1st Khodovarikha in 2017
https://furillen.org/khodovarikha/
Flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/khodovarikha/

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