Ben Wilhelmi

infrared part IV

 

 

my last infrared pictures for now. Probably more soon.

  

Mount Meru, close from home.

 

color or B/W, though the difference is not always that obvious.

  

 

   and these 2 with the tree show Meru from the

western hills near the airport. Great area

for paragliding or just hanging around with

little disturbance.

 

infrared part III

 

 

 

last ones for that little trip on the mount Meru slope. We didn't go that far

up but far enough from the main road to feel welcome and not annoyed

for money or anything else.

 

 

Youth Camp...? seems a bit small to pack some youngsters there. Or then

don't complain for high demography...

 

a modern church. I mean the building, for the rest, no miracle!

Conservative to the bones.

 

 

Meru far away.

 

 

The large leaves are from banana trees.

 

Meru a bit closer at nearly 15000ft.

 

    

 

watching at these pictures, I sometimes feel there

is a "Alpine" effect. White like snow, the hut

looks made in bricks....

  

infrared part II

 

 

 

more trials with the infrared wavelengths in digital, including some

black'n'white images. Uphill towards Mount Meru...

the foliage still looks very pale. The sky stays dark.

 

 

I noticed and saw in magazines that if the real white

has to be white on these IR colored images, like clouds

or my car, the overall tone on the leaves turns a bit blue.

 

like this church wall is really white. but not only the leaves have turned

blue, the kid too. Weird. Better stick to B/W then.

 

 

Mount Meru across banana trees.

 

same pictures, one treated in B/W on post-production.

 

 

this could have been shot on in the Alps.

 

maize field and Mt Meru again.

Infrared picture trials

I just borrowed a friend's Nikon D70s. Not a recent model BUT it allows

infrared pictures if combined with the proper infrared filter. My D200

though newer on the market is not equipped for different reasons.

Sometimes to improve stuff you gotta give away something...

I'll do infrared pictures with B/W films soon but in the meantime

I'm playing digital infrared... these below are just quick tests,

worth nothing per se, but good enough to see the effects.

So infrared light, like Xrays, radio waves, microwaves etc, present

wavelengths  that the human eye doesn't catch. Luckily in the

case of Xrays! We'd see walking skeletons. Imagine sex then...

Initially infrared (and black'n'white) films were invented for aerial

photography. These films could catch more details through the

haze or mist for instance. Art effect was not in the military

specifications of course. But some artists heard about and here

we go.  This is what the world would look like if our eyes were

tuned to infrared wavelength...

these two images for instance: the T-shirt is dark green, the

table is in wood, the foliage behind me is green, I hadn't put

any make-up for that ghost tone...

 

here the fountain at the Blue Heron. Concrete shows the only normal color

on this shot. The sky was obviously blue, the clouds were plain bright

white. The grass and the foliage just green. LSD effect?

 

and all the ones below from our garden:

 

 

beautiful white leaves, these are indeed a bit

lighter than regular leaves. It look like another world.

 

I don't master all of it. Here I don't know why the leaves

stayed that dark whereas the sky got its effect.

 

 

yellow flowers.

 

 

 

and here similar views of the house. The top one has been played a tiny bit,

2 notches max on one cursor, to suppress the copper tone and though

the sky, the jeep,  and the clouds look better, the foliage got a blue tone

instead. We're going for a little photo trip this weekend for more trials, and

I'll also work out more on the computer with the color options and "see"...

 

 

 

bycicle trip... the end

 

so that faulty hand pump made me turn back towards Longido.

Uneventful ride...on a different track!! And again, I have no clue where I

missed any crossroad! I now wish I had flown there and mapped

the area. Well it is completely off track to anywhere anyway.

 

 

I found a lift in no time in a truck similar to this one. Without the cows...

Those Maasais...he is here checking and making sure his cows

are fine. His wives don't get so much care for sure.

It was one of the most uncomfortable trips of my life. These trucks

are equipped with spring leaves, which are meant to support a full load.

For once in my African experience, the truck was near empty. So the

truck bounced on every bump on the road and the awful diversion

road. Of course the driver had no consideration for the passengers.

There were on top many metallic noises banging in my ears. But 10

$ and 2h30 later, I was near Arusha. As said before, I've done this road

a few times....

 

Longido, some sense of a Far West village...

 

 

not sure what he was doing with these little cans of fuel but he got angry

when he saw I was taking pictures. Some kind of traffic for sure. My driver

bought one of these and refilled the truck within half an hour of driving.

No clue why...

 

 

passengers going to a daladala.

 

 

 

maasai coming to town to sell 2 jugs of milk.

 

 

Mt Longido in the distance. 2 hitch-hikers. the poor guys had been walking

50km across the same savannah as I did with the bike and food and

water...except that these guys had done of my items. So I gave them

some bottles of water from my left over. Nothing special there but the co-driver

thought that since I was so generous, I could also pay for their ride to Arusha.

I would have slapped him! He had been pestering since the beginning to use

my phone, to get my watch, to get my sunglasses. Insisting, not knowing

when to stop, all of it with the perfect politician-crook smile.

 

  

feet that tell a story. This is the national shoe, a cheap Chinese

flip-flop. How do you cross the thorny savannah for 50 km with that??

 

  

anyway, as soon as I hit Arusha, I went to the Blue Heron for a big juice

and ice-cream, but the owner saw me coming and offered me a huge one

beforeI could ask! Sweeet. I then got yellow roses for Karine. I got more

success, more looks, more smiles from the passer-by with the flowers on the

bike than during the whole trip!

a bicycle trip ...part III

 

 

 

so following the Maasai's indications, I carried on on that unmarked track

till a 'big' village. A lone track, no way to miss the village he said.

Though I thought I was going too much to the north, instead of

west... and of course at the village, they all pointed backwards! I just can't

believe there can be so many tracks in this remote area. What's puzzling

is that I didn't even see any crossroads or something similar. But there were

some forks. Drivers want to avoid a bad patch of track and make a little

detour to avoid it, more drivers do the same and it looks like a new track.

Maybe I got confused by such a fork and missed the good one, though the guy

didn't mention any... Big lesson confirmed, don't trust too much what the

locals say and confirm as much as possible whatever they say and ask for

details even if you feel like talking to kids, or vice versa.

 

Anyway this village being a dead end, I went backwards to a forest

10 miles back. Another puncture made me rethink my plan, the pump

is really not pumping hard at all, my tyres stay soft, lack of pressure.

this pump is going to die on me, I'm afraid. I don't really want to be stuck

with a flat tyre too far. There will be even less cars further than here,

reasonably close to the big road. I need to go back anyway, and nevertheless

the useless indications I got.

 

so I pitched my camp here, full view of Mt Longido.

 

I had decided to sleep under the stars, no tent. A bit breezy but I thought the

tent folded comfortably under the thin mattress would overweight the wind.

That evening I still couldn't light a fire! Dried meat, cheese,crackers,

nuts, dried fruit, juice. I wrote a few notes, fixed the puncture, pondered

hand pump bad luck... The sky without light pollution is incredible, the black

is very deep, the stars are brighter, the contrast is higher, and there are way

more faint stars to be spotted. A lot more than in polluted skies around cities.

The Milky Way and some star clouds were also clearly visible...and I felt

asleep quite quickly. At some point I woke up, instantly alert: a hyena

was laughing loudly very close! Hard to judge but it looked between

100 and 200m! I've never been so quick to pitch a tent. Forget the nice

comfy layer under the mattress. Animals rarely attack tents. Famous

last words! I listened to the hyena who came closer still laughing. Then

the tone changed, and another hyena came around. I fall asleep and woke up a

few times that night. Obviously still at it, those hyenas were busy in

social activities. In total I counted nearly 10 different growls, screams

and other vocal exercises. One of them being unmistakably a coital grunt.

After that things became quiet. except for some ant eater who came

to scratch the soil a few meters away from me. He fled when I opened the

tent of course. And another thing walked around, stopped, sniffed...left

the place after 5 min. No clue what it was. Now that happens all the time

in the bush. Nothing special there, specially that I don't wake up easily.

Mt Longido, sunrise. On the left, the second slope is Mt Kilimanjaro

 

 

 

 

   

 

after breakfast, raisons, cereals, dried bananas, dried

mangos, powder milk, juice, I packed my things, tried

to inflate again the back tyre. Since I couldn't I decided

to go home, towards Longido...sad.

a bicycle trip ...part II

 

 

so ready for another day I said yesterday...well when I started to pack

the bike, I noticed a flat tyre. I admit I had chosen a pretty bad spot for

camping. The area was peppered with tiny thorny balls. Sticky, hard, they

even punctured the tent floor. So the back tube, though protected by a

kevlar layer, had to be fixed. That's when I noticed that the hand pump was

leaking but I managed to pump enough. In Arusha I got helped by a

compressor to inflate the tyres hard like stones...

some images of the day, the different dirt track surfaces...I couldn't complain

in fact. I kind of knew I would have to push the bike here and there

because of sandy patches or erosion damages. After all this is one of the driest

if not the driest part of Tanzania. But I managed to stay on the bike 95 %.

 

those thorny trees always stay greener longer. Evolution again chose

the toughest trees.

 

 

This is a dry river. Obviously it didn't dry out recently. That thick layer of sand

proves the rains haven't been here for a while. And the next rainy season is

still a few month away. Tough times to come for the Masais...

and these clouds are just there to look nice....

 

 

there was a village down there, Mundarara, with water. I still had a lot

but I've always been extremely careful with water, can't help it. So

I replenished with 5 lt. There problems kind of started. The people

didn't agree on the way to go, on the miles left (either way to

Natron or Longido!). My GPS showed I was exactly half way as the crow

flies. By the way one guy wanted to swap the GPS with a cow or 2!

I can imagine the picture of a cow behind the bike...I had

thought there was only one road to the Natron from Longido

but it appears there are 3 at least, with extra loops. I discarded the one

that would have sent me across, not around, the mountain on this

picture. Too sandy and rough and climbing. So I came back a few miles...

 

...with a light bike, this slope wouldn't be an issue. I was pushing mine like

this guy with his 3 yellow jerrycans full of water. I met another Masai

who seemed to know what it was about, I tripled checked what he said,

made him repeat a few times...he must have thought I was really as stupid

as I looked. Because on my way, I didn't meet much approval of my idea to

bike here in those conditions. I could read in their eyes 'these stupid white

people'. Imagine Africans they have no rest really, no holidays or hardly any.

So what do they do when they take time off? They relax of course! What do

we do? We have a sweat. Well not everybody but...Puzzling... So I trusted

him a bit and followed his advice. Even if it is wrong again, the scenery

and theexperience were worth. At this stage I started to have my doubts.

More punctures and leak from the pump. I can't inflate as much as I want

now.The pressure in the tyre overcomes the leak... I feel on a boat

sometimes with the wobbly tyres. Also I'm carrying 3 spare tubes. 2

have to be discarded because old fixes have burst with the excess

of pressure to carry on the extra weight. Local glue that's not worth

much...and those bursts are now too big to be fixed again...

 

  

 

Barren land. Mt longido on the horizon.

 

  

that white water tank behind the tree was dry!

still a few months to go before the next rains!

 

I only got pestered by kids by the way, asking

for money or any gift. Adults refrained. Everybody was

friendly and curious. Still I never said where I was going to

sleep. Just in case...

a bicycle trip towards lake Natron

 

 

well that was the idea, to reach lake Natron via

the northern dirt tracks on my old bicycle...

always expect some surprises in Africa of

course. The common route to this remote

lake goes to lake Manyara first. From there,

a track goes north, the same one for the

volcano Lengai. I've used that road a few times.

Then I went once on a bicycle trip with

friends from Monduli, a mountain close

to Arusha, straight to the outskirt of the

lake, off road mostly but we had a truck

to carry all our gear for us. So that was quite

easy. The guide also had a GPS, had done some

recce too...the area is really remote and devoid

of people but maasai people...

 

This time, I wanted to be alone and try out

that new track going from Longido westbound

to the lake. Some people raised an eyebrow

at that idea... but I'm sure it is reasonably

doable. Good preparation is the key. And

though I've got some experience in biking

here, I tried to be careful and thorough and

I've promised my Mom to be careful since I've

arrived in Tanzania. And now there is Karine

too... anyway here is what a prepared bike

looks like, with a bit of African touch of course.

precious hat, precious water, about 21 lt once I left Longido village. On top

of the bottles you see here, I carry 2 lt on my back, the back panniers are

full of bottles, the front ones are quite full of food. Little place left is for other

things like the sleeping bag, 2 military pots, 1 cup, one spoon, one torch,

some matches, a tiny bag with toothbrush etc, a pair of sandals, and

a spare set of clothes. Add the spare tyre rolled up outside the back

pannier. On the handle, the top bag contains my road book, some sketch

books and all kind of pencils, the hand pump, the little binoculars,

and my camera gear, (3 of them, not reasonable, I know...)

The orange dirty thing is the mattress, containing the tent and

a foldable seat. Under the saddle, another small bag with a puncture kit

and spare tube, a multi-function knife. Ready no?

 

So Monday morning I left Arusha quite early up to Ngaramtoni,

10 km north of Arusha. From there I hitched a lift on a truck to Longido,

or tried to. Only got as far as Lengijave. This is the main road to

Nairobi which I know quite well by bicycle too and feel no need to do

it again. But no luck so I pushed the remaining 40 km that afternoon.

It took me a few km out of Arusha to get used to the heavy bike, more

than 50kg total. But I got back quickly with her. This bit of the trip

is not the funniest part, hot and dusty, not to mention the dreadful

road work with gravel and soft ground...just for Longido...the real trip

starts from there! Anyway, I met 2 other bikers from California

on their way from Entebbe to Cape Town. Very similar to the one I

did some years back. They cooked me on any advice they could get.

 

in Longido I gulped 2 fantas, bought more water, some chapati (local

greasy and heavy tortilla or pancake) and left the tarmac.

I felt a circus oddity, surrounded by people, with 'oohs' and 'aahs'

while looking at how I quickly set the bags on the bike with

only one click to attach. For them, this is sci-fi! they'd use straps

of all kind to get unstable and  wobbly results.

 

 

nice sign? well better enjoy it because this the last one I saw for the lake.

and indications from local people proved wrong (was I surprised? no...)

 

looking back after a few miles, Mt Longido, 8000 ft or so. Nice little

one to climb. One day round-trip.

 

 

I admit I'm getting older and after a hot day of cycling with

heavy gear...so I stopped early by 17h30 and pitched tent.

I will have drunk 5 lt of water today!

 

Anyway it's dark by 19h.Nice view for camping, no?

Ostriches, mongoose, squirrels, many birds like touracos were the

sightings of the day. I can't describe the feeling to bike on your own and

spot wild animals! I always feel privileged ...

 

sunrise on Longido, Kili in the background.

detail of Kilimanjaro, 70 or so km away. Visibility always drops quickly

soon after sunrise.

 

and Mt Meru to the south. With such a viewing and a proper night of

rest, a proper breakfast (chapati with honey, some dried fruit, some

biscuits, powdered juice), I'm ready for the day. Too much wind since

yesterday, I couldn't have lit a fire. No tea, no pasta....

 

         

Gone one week with my bicycle to the volcano Lengai

just busy preparing a little trip by bicycle to the famous volcano Lengai.

I'll try to skip the tarmac bit towards NBI by hitch hiking with *

a truck or a pick up. I've done that road before on a bike so no need

to do it again. I prefer to spend more time in the real bush, stop

more often for a picture, a sketch...

So from Longido, there is a reasonably new track going to lake Natron.

Sure some people here tookit but I haven't met any

to describe it to me. So I'll be self-sufficient with food and water

for 3 days.That is all kind of dry food (fruit, nuts,

dates, smoked beef, pasta, powder milk or soup or juice...) and 18 lt

of water. The bike looks a bit heavy like a donkey...

There is only one Masai village that I know of across

that bit of remote savannah, Kitumbeine, which

is also a mountain. I'll get some fresh milk there and

maybe some water if need be. On the lake area,

no problem, the volcano has become a bit more touristy

lately (sadly) and supplies, though basic, will

be plentiful. Even soda water. I might wander around

towards the lake, climb the 2000 ft cliff on a tough track

with 17 bends, if energy allows by then after

135 km of dust and rocks and sun.  2 to 3 days...

from the volcano area, I'll come south towards Lake

Manyara. From there bike a bit on the tarmac towards

 Arusha but I'll probably get a lift too as I've done

that road a few times with the bikes, a few times

by truck, and numerous times by jeep. This one

being the main road to the Serengeti and other parks.

 

packing includes a light tent though I'm not sure to

use it much, a mattress, sleeping bag, one set of

spare clothes, a torch, my drawing kit, a few light

cameras, a minimal kit of medicine, toothpaste etc,

some tools, matches, 2 military cooking pots, some

spices, plastic glass and cup... as usual everything

has been repacked in all kind of smaller containers or

bags. So when I consider my food list I think I'm still

carrying some extra goodies to eat in style and

enough. I'll make a report next week anyway.

 

unfortunately I had to compromise with Karine

and I'm carrying a cell phone....

 

can't wait for this little adventure tomorrow,

see you in one week or so.

transport in Africa.

 

 

 

 

home made cart, 2 oxen, some hitchhikers... Zambia.

 

 

he still needs to grow up a bit. Zambia.

 

 

typical in Tanzania: he wanted a lift, heehee.

 

Mount Meru, Arusha.

 

 

near the Burundi border, unstable bicycle.

 

same area, even more unstable bicycle. Banana trees.

 

and that's not even the worst load I've seen here...

 

 

a bit heavier but still within normal range.

 

 

on lake Tanganyika.

 

 

South west Tanzania. Even missionaries seem to avoid the place! Very remote

and poor. It was a bit soul destroying to see such a lost place. Even the wheel

seems unfamiliar here...

 

 

I happened to travel once like this for a long distance. Nice experience;

i mean it, much better than lousy crammed coaches!! You can get fresh air,

the view is great and if you're lucky, you sit on a rice bag, very comfy.

 

this poor Land Rover should be on her way to a museum and rest...

Transport again in Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

somewhere between Kigoma and Dar es Salaam, long distance across

remote Tanzania. A lifeline for those people. 40 hours for 1000 km!

Plenty of time to enjoy life and scenery.

 

 

home made cart. This one is a bit more complex than the standard one seen

all over the country. And it is probably pulled by ox or donkey, not by the owner.

 

 

Stonetown, Zanzibar.

 

 

 

Arusha. No clue if he broke any of these eggs...

 

countryside near Arusha.

 

 

Mount Meru

 

Pangani, on the Indian Ocean. We had met this biker on his way from

Nairobi to Zanzibar. He took a fisherman boat here for the few hour crossing.

Zanzibar can't be seen from Pangani? The opposite ground on the picture is

just the other bank of the Pangani river.

 

south of Pangani, not much there. Luckily for the villagers, there is a

coach once in a while.

 

 

not always a good idea to follow a railroad track on a heavy bicycle.

At least you can't be lost of course but the side tracks are not always

as good nor wide as on this picture! All trains in Tanzania, and

probably in Africa, are still diesel-powered.

 

Cars in Arusha...and other means of transportation

 

 

 

 

common scene with a dala-dala in Arusha. Probably, I know I'm not

afraid to repeat myself, the worst drivers in History...

 

a microlight...I'll have one day! Specially here. Low and slow tool,

perfect for fun and photography.

Masai kids were utterly panicked then they saw it that day.

A remote place, near the volcano Lengai. In the Masai

stories, there is one monster, a mix of a bat and a human

who abducts kids to rape and eat them or something...so of

course, what do they think of a microlight....for once

I didn't have to chase them away from the aircraft.

Nowhere to be seen!

 

  

flying quite low over the Rufiji River near Stiegler's Gorge in the Selous.

I was trying to combine flying and floating...river a bit dry

that time. The blue bit on the right is the aircraft nose.

 

 

and the white bar on the left is the left wing. Here I couldn't fly so low

and shoot at the same time. Need 2 hands to handle the plane in those

tight bends. Great fun, miss every bits of it...

 

Zanzibar: the trike, the brave and the lazy...

 

Zanzibar, a bicycle-wheelbarrow.

the Arusha-Dar es Salaam Express.

 

 

Kigoma, on lake Tanganyika. I've seen that stuff only once...

 

lake Malawi. So narrow entrance, it doesn't look very comfy nor convenient...

 

it is a way of transportation: a condom should get you high and safe...

bunjee, final

 

 

finally I can send all my posts today...

 

here is the rescue man who will start the process to pull me up.

 

the videotape was crap, he stopped filming just when one dives!

I've known of other locations which had better filming of the dive itself.

 

beautiful area...even for sweating on the bicycle.

another one being pulled up.

some jumpers.

  

view from the bridge towards the sea, still the Indian Ocean.

        

and we resumed cycling into Nature's Valley....I'll come back one day

and post more about that bicycle trip.

bunjee jump

 

just busy scanning and reviewing pictures. It just never stops...

anyway "found" these from the bicycle trip in 2002/2003.

South Africa, on the famous and splendid Garden Route,

Bloekrans Bridge. Supposedly the highest commercial bunjee

activity at 216 meters. With a jump of 180 meters...36 meters

from the bottom when you stop your drop before shooting up.

36 meters that look quite close though...

I loved every bit of it but you can see on my eyes that

I was impressed by the ride to say the least.

I wanted my pictures as usual so I tied my camera strap

around my wrist, the bunjee guys wrapped a few layers

heavy tape around the strap and my hand.

Nikon wide lens 24mm, 400 asa film to get high shutter

speed and a good depth of field. I wish I had had

a wider lens and a motordrive on the body. I was travelling

"light" ( 40 kg of gear on the bicycle, is that light?) and

so had left mine at home. I had to reload the FM2

after each exposure during the dive...

anyway, next time I go to South Africa...

Joanne had offered me the ticket but didn't dare

to watch me jump...

 

access to the jump zone, under the bridge,

using the maintenance area in fact.

 

at this stage you can get your money back if you don't even dare to use this

see-through footbridge. Good way to guess what's next for you...

 

 

preparation, everybody is being pumped up with loud music. Don't ask for Mozart.

I chose ZZ Top in their selection.

 

 

 

"what the fuck am I doing here", big breathe and...

 

the first jump brings you 180 m lower...

I quickly started to spin because of my movements to reload the camera.

the spin is clear here with the background movements.

Either arms stretched at my waist or forward.

 

 

then the rebound brings you back up and you dive again for another 135m!

 

 

 

 

 

and the 3rd dive is only 80 m or so. So basically for a

cheap 50 $ you've got the equivalent of 3 dives somehow.

Ok there is not the thrill to do it yourself 3 times

but the kick is longer than the smaller jumps I had

done before at 70 and 105 m in Europe...

In Zambia, Victoria Falls, i didn't want to jump

because they charged 100$ for a lousy 130 m if I

remember well. The ratio $ over m was quite different

than here.

 

done, big smile, head down waiting for the helper to get me up again.

Cars and others in Arusha and around

this post should have been available a few days ago but the local provider decided otherwise...

 

and old Land Rover 109 used in a camp. A killer with the lousiest brakes and

steering I've ever tried. I nearly got killed a coupla times with it. And this

driver got tricked as well...

 

no other car was available in camp, so this one, the garbage car, had been

quickly cleaned and  modified with wood posts and canvas to welcome some

clients, who luckily had sense of humor! The Unimog came for rescue.

 

 

ready for the World Rally Championship...the roads in town get more

dangerous during the days around those races. Drivers feel free to train and

drive crazy in town! Knowing their skills and the quality of their cars...

Which reminds me of a famous story here in Dar es Salaam: an expat was

driving fast and crazy in town like a local. A cop got him to stop and tried to give

him a ticket. The driver then pretended that he couldn't help drive fast with

the car, that it was precisely meant to be fast and powerful, that he was still

struggling to control the beast with the touchy gas pedal. He even offered the

cop to have a go. The cop half believed that (I hope) and let him go! And the

driver, consistent with his lies, departed full gas with spinning tyres and in

a cloud of dust! Perfect!

 

 

one of the few adverts against Aids. Nevertheless one can read read the

word 'familia' on the side, it seems this is the good kind of activists...

not the ones favored by the Vatican nor the Bush admin'!

 

 

this Beetle was spotted in Arusha a few months ago. The painting was

uglier before. The previous owner thought little school kids

would do a great artistic painting job: she gave them some paint

and brushes for a few hours. The final result looked like flower power

artists under LSD...Wish I had a picture.

 

 

same style, this other VW. No clue who what and why. Only spotted it

once and gone with the dust...though the plate is Tanzania registration...

notice the superb gazelle horns and the wood statue on the front.

 

 

sadly a vanishing classic in Africa...these Peugeot 403's were strong

and unintentionally made for Africa rough conditions, no matter the

driving style, the mechanics, the lack of spares, the bad roads...now

the 504's have taken over with the same success for more years to come.

 

driving lesson in Africa...only half a joke sometimes...

 

going for a second life, probably for stripping and scrap metal.

 

 

far out in the bush. Primary colors!

 

 

coach on a quick stop, big business for the hawkers.

 

no comment...

 

French writing on this superb Citroën 2CV but the owner was Dutch.

We had met him on the bicycle trip to Cape Town, somewhere in Zambia.

The guy was deaf but showing no fear and no concern as he was touring

himself too across the continent.

 

 

a tourist from South Africa, in Arusha....

 

a Land Rover 101, ex-military truck. Ideal stuff for off road trips

and carry our biking gear somewhere nicer for a start, for a weekend

or more.

but the best car is this one, my old

faithful Land Rover 110. She just pissed me off

big time last month when she broke an

alternator and a propeller shaft on our

way to Ndutu but other than that...loving it!