Introduction to the next pages. On the following pages you'll find part of the sand pictures I took of my sandcollection. My friend Jos searched for the maps of continents and countries that go with them, and put everything on the site, for I'm a nitwit with computers and I am unable to do it myself. All in all it was a huge job. I wish everybody a friend like that! For who takes the trouble to have an extensive look around, it's obvious that not all countries are represented; even if I had sands from those places they were not always worthwhile photographing. Apart from that: sand isn't everywhere. Some regions are covered with silt, or rocks, and finding sand is almost impossible. Other countries are seldom, if ever, visited by tourists, like Central Asia and North Korea, Antarctica and parts of Africa, and getting sand from there is very difficult. Every summer I collect loads of sands from the places I visit during the holidays. But apart from that, I am, like every sandcollector, largely dependent on the sands that are given to me by others. Most people don't travel to every nook and cranny of a country; they stay in one place, and this place is most often a beach. Nevertheless, a gallery of pictures sometimes gives a fair overview of the kind of landscapes that are found in certain regions. And if not, they show very well the big differences sometimes found between places that are geographically not that far removed from one another. In other words: look closely at your feet next time you are traveling, and take notice of the sands (and pebbles, and rocks) you meet. All the pictures you're about to see are taken through the microscope, with magnifications of about 10x to 45x. Not everything I photographed falls strictly within the parameters of 'sand'. I am often in love with the tiny shells hidden in beach - or sea sands, and some of the pictures show them in all their remarkable beauty. Remember they may have been there for ages, with innumerable people walking over them, and still they are as perfect as when they were occupied by the molusks that made them.

It's a huge site, more than 1000 pictures are waiting for you!!! Enjoy!