Ben Wilhelmi

the streets of Arusha

 

 

 

that’s a cool haircut or what? It reminds me the disco years or a cartoon after an explosion has happened in one character’s face. Funny enough that thick mop of hair looks authentic, which is far from being the norm in Africa. A Tanzanian female friend admitted to me once that their hair don’t grow well. Extensions are the norm and they can unfortunately waste a lot of time and spend quite some money in them.

 

a beggar who still looks clean and decently dressed. Not good for business.

 

even if given a rucksack, Africans prefer to carry their burden on the head I’ve been told a few times.

 

Indians are numerous in Africa. They’re having a rough time once in a while too, when some governments (Kenya and Uganda lately) need some scapegoats to blame for their own incompetence.

 

local playboy. Nothing to compare of course with the crazy “sapeurs” in the Congo who spend a fortune in clothing.

 

waiting for a job along the main street in Arusha.

 

typical wheelchair around

 

matching pair.

 

the lady on the left side has definitely fake hair, like a helmet.

emergency flights

Flying Medical Service main jobs are to provide health care in remote areas on a regular basis and perform medical evacuations. I remember one of the figures by then: 20.000 patients were seen every year by the doctors or nurses were flying in! More than 100 emergency flights…

 

nowadays there is internet and cellphones, but even to this day, that doesn’t mean all can be done and relied on these 2 systems since many areas are still not covered. The good old HF (high frequency) radios are still very valuable especially to contact the aircraft while in the air. The HF radios are long range radios (the ones that make a lot of statics and noise as seen in movies).

 

here that little patient was flown back from the bush to Arusha. Ambulances in 1999 were pretty a rarity so we had to use the company jeeps, which were tiny. But the same stretchers that Pat Patten, the founder-director, had designed for the Cessna 206 aeroplanes fitted too in the jeeps.

   

 

another example below in Loliondo. For once I was at the airfield with the 2nd aircraft when Pat came in for landing with a patient.

the C206 is a great plane on many aspects, one is its big cargo doors. 2 persons seem to accompany the patient lying on the famous red stretchers.

the patient was then transferred to a more classic stretcher and leveled onto a car, a typical pickup which had many purposes beside serving as an ambulance that day.

 

nurse busy with the drip.

arrival at Wasso hospital in Loliondo, outside northern Serengeti. Funny enough, the dirt track from the airfield to this hospital was much better than the one from Arusha airport to the hospital in town. The situation has just improved a bit in 10 years, just. And the authorities still want to call it “city”…

 

the “dream” team by then in 2000: me, Damian Wissolik (a former FMS pilot), Pat Patten and Andries Put. Steve Cunningham is missing on the picture.

Maasai portraits, some years ago, on films

 

proud Maasai warrior

 

the make up job is taken seriously as even his eyelashes are discolored. I suspect there was a bit of show off…

these 3 guys are pre-warriors, that is they’ve been circumcised after leaving the childhood status and are now impure while healing. Black clothes and white paint are a clear indication. Next step will be entering the warrior age, and hell will break loose! Slightly, but just, joking…

 

 

kind of similar story with the 2 young girls here, they’re between childhood and marriage, full grown women instead of warrior. A black cloth and white beads are the signs. Some of the biggest ear lobe extensions I’ve ever seen! I’ve been lucky with these 2 girls are they are normally kept at home while the impure process is going on.

 

 

years of heavy weight on her ears take a toll. A bit dumbo like I’d say. I’d read her biography if one were to be published, she must have had a special life….

 

this boy is also a pre-warrior but from a different area. He doesn’t show his white make up today. He wears his feather hat instead.

Maasai portraits, B/W films

 

scarification is not a major part in Maasai social life. Though they love real scars resulting from accidents, mostly after an encounter with lion or a fight.

 

kids all over the world tend to be easy posers but this one deserved a medal.

 

 

old one-eyed lady. As said before I’ve got few of elder people on pictures.

 

 

weighing a baby at one mobile clinic with Flying Medical Service.

 

the usual wooden wedges through the ear lobes. Initially a small piece is inserted at a young age, then a bigger one a bit later and so on. So a 10 cm plate like here is common.

 

it is not always easy to snap these pictures. A bright sun in mid day, dark skinned people with more contrasts than white skins, and the same people under a half dried tree…not a good combination.

 

but this girl in the full shade poses no problem, the light gets softer and more uniform.

 

or here even with a few sun rays popping through the leaves.

Flying Medical Service, scenes and life.

 

Engoveroni, on the slope of Empakai crater, Rift Valley, in dry and wet seasons. I mentioned gullies on each side on the strip yesterday, here is one visible on top picture. The whole crater slope looks like a giant fork scraped it. And the airstrip was built on one of the numerous ridges.

it is obvious here that the strip is not even straight on its lateral axis.

 

 

in some remote areas, if you happen to have long hair, blonde or red is even better, you’re in for feeling like a circus animal. The girl on the right was a bit upset when she discovered local people, and especially the Maasai here, tended to nickname her “Mama Kubwa”, that is Big Mama! Yep, according to African standards, just an extra few pounds still make you big. The funny thing is that they didn’t mock her at all, the slim Maasai women were envious of her health and the men saw her as a good potential breeder. Just as our ancestors did not long ago in the west.

There is a controversy still going on in Africa: whenever a Miss Something is elected, the defendants of the generous African curves and shapes face the other defendants who are eyeing the western “skinny bitch” type…

 

 

kid waiting for a flight to the hospital. I made sure he didn’t touch anything in the airplane and I put him on a blanket. I feared some contagion I must admit. This is scabies (la gale en français). Thanks but no thanks.

poor kid, that must be itching like hell.

 

doctor Leonard at work in a medical hut.

 

corn is a staple food in many areas.

 

nothing special in that photo but occasionally people approach me and ask for a family picture. I couldn’t refuse under the pretense the picture wouldn’t look great. I always obliged to bring a print. Never money.

 

the Cessna 206, an aeroplane to compare to a Land Rover with a pair of wings, in her favorite environment, the bush. Olaika, on the Kenyan border near Serengeti.

 

one day we landed in Oibor Kishu in the Maasai steppes south of Arusha and noticed some activity. A cow had died at night, of what disease is a mystery but that didn’t deter the men from happily slaughtering the carcass. We didn’t hear of food poisoning later.

 

Maasai portraits and more

 

this guy…every time I look at this image, I can’t help wondering what he was thinking. “Here is that stupid whitie again with his camera”? “why doesn’t he buy a cow instead of that black thing?” ? I’ll never know. Maasai, the big failure for the various missionaries, don’t give a shit about White people. Cows are the only thing they revere. They’re the proudest people you can think of and somewhat, good for them. They appreciate our medical knowledge and tiny portable radios and bicycle but more than that…

another example of a pill container wedged in someone’s extended ear lobe. Convenient wallet.

 

OK, well yes maybe they are not so different from other culture males. How come NO self respected male in any culture can use a car, a bicycle, whatever in a normal way? We always have to push and see further than the handbook.

 

Maasai warrior.

 

the same guy some months later, sick but recovering from tuberculosis. Quite skinny, skinnier than usual. TB (tuberculosis) is another rife disease in Africa. The problem with it is that it takes about a year to cure, meaning regular intakes of pills. Even if the treatment is normally free, to convince people to come again to the clinic from far away or convince them that because they feel better again doesn’t mean they’re cured is a big challenge. An expat doctor running a bush hospital in Loliondo had decided to ask a cow as deposit during treatment. Suddenly the rate of success skyrocketed. Great,no?! Well that was without counting some sour asses from the PC world (Politically Correct shit) who decided that was a colonial paternalist attitude. In short, the doctor was forced to drop his bright concept and the disease and its spread rose again. Was it that paternalist attitude? I don’t think so. People are what they are, black or white or yellow. You want results? Treat them as kids…we have received enough advices to stop smoking, to eat healthy, to think about the environment in the rest of the world, right? Does that work? Hardly without good carrots in my opinion…so we’d also need an adapted “cow” system I guess.

 

caught in the low sun.

 

me at work with the doctor at Engoveroni, a serious case of an airstrip located on the slope of Empakai crater, Rift Valley. For pilots: 6500 ft elevation, about 400 yards or meters of usable but really rough grassy surface, 12% slope, surrounded by little ravines, 600 ft down on VSI on take off, kids and donkeys and cows all around. No go around of course on a normally aspirated Cessna 206.

Engoveroni again.

see how people stand up in a skewed way, look at the aircraft apparent angle of attack! I admit the first time I went there with Steve Cunningham, I thought he was joking (knowing the guy…) when he pointed me the airstrip, but how exhilarating afterwards. I never lost respect for this strip, never took it for granted, as it should be for any airstrip anyway but especially this one.

 

weird fungus on her nose but she healed normally.

 

one of the 2 Cessna 206’s, somewhere near Serengeti.

some portraits in the bush, on B/W films.

 

 

 

this young mother is probably from the Sonjo tribe, to be found in the Sonjo Valley, west of lake Natron.

and this warrior though very similar to a Maasai one is also Sonjo. I was told they used to fight a lot over the centuries but the Sonjo realised they were a a lot less numerous so they decided to dress like their enemies to avoid being sighted far away on every opportunity. Nowadays they’re living kind of peacefully. That long strip of metal on top of the head is definitely the main difference between these warriors.

 

I suspect this one is Sonjo too, because of the contraption on his head, it looks like a metal strip support.

 

look at the distended ears! Years of hard work and patience.

 

 

mother and child waiting for medical treatment.

 

Maasai girl.

 

young Maasai herder.

 

 

 

Maasai warrior.

Flying Medical Service, some portraits

 

Ezra Jay, a pilot at work, giving anti polio drops.

 

 

dry season, the main tree in the village is leafless and no shade in turn. The area is really hot on top.

 

flies!!! A calamity and Maasai people don’t even mind anymore.

 

 

some flies here too.

 

Maasai shoes made of tyres.

 

 

 

 

 

caring mother.

 

Flying Medical Service, old days pictures part II

 

the Cessna 206 landing at Olpirikata, in the Rift valley. The real bush…

 

though looking Maasai warrior in Olaika, northern Serengeti. I happened to walk around with my camera and shot a lot of pictures while on clinic and if work allowed, often in exchange of a print later on. It took time to build some trust but it was worth the effort in the end. No money was exchanged.

 

girl with extended ears, big time. The umbrella…the area is one of the driest and hottest but to get a protection from the scorching sun, why not…

 

old woman. Quite a feat within Maasai culture. I found it very hard to get old people to accept a pose, dunno why. I’ve got few portraits of them.

 

this boy made an effort to look cool while the doctor treated him.

 

not only pilots, we were helping with vaccinations, with syringes or drops like Steve Cunningham here. This is not the USA, nobody here will sue us.

 

a very rare picture!! A queue in the African bush…still a problem in towns but improving.

 

Olaika, me on the 206 wing, happiest man on Earth, living my dreams: fly the African bush!

 

  

but on a sadder note, I got the job to replace a pilot who had died with 2 passengers.

Flying Medical Service, old days pictures.

in the middle of the dry season, spectacular take off from Olpirikata, not far from the volcano Lengai, Steve Cunningham at the controls. July 99, I was till under bush training but on this flight I had been lucky to stay behind while Steve had to fly some patients to the hospital and come back. So I could take that picture and mostly realise what a propeller at full speed can do on a dusty soil. After that, I tried to avoid sandblasting people on the ground (or not, depending if I took a dislike of some people…)

 

for the picture, loose formation flight with Andries Put, an colleague by then. We’d get a lot closer after the picture shooting of course, proper formation flight a few feet away. Top right corner, that’s Olpirikata with, luxury, a taxiway to the medical hut. I love those names, always a very exotic sound to them.

 

vaccination shot. He won’t cry for long.

 

Barabaig woman. She was part of her clan so faraway from home. Pretty unusual to see them in our clinics. Because of the language barrier, we couldn’t figure out why they had travelled so far but they knew about the medical treatments we provided. That’s the only set of pictures I’ve got on them by the way. She kept on touching the airplane, so puzzled by smooth metal surfaces. I was impressed to see the scars on her face. It’s one thing to see scarification on television documentaries, another one to see that in real life.

 

an evacuation (in Ifakara?), they had brought the patient on a bed as a stretcher, which wouldn’t fit in the aircraft of course, but Pat Patten, the creator and director of Flying Medical Service,  had long before designed its own stretchers to fit in the Cessna 206.

 

another airstrip that is hard to find in the middle of that ‘prairie’, Oleparkashi, in the Rift valley too. Except for gynecology, the patients are treated in front of everybody. Hey, no television, no iPod etc, it’s show time for people, they don’t want to miss any potential action.

 

Olbalbal (I told you the names were cool he?), on the western outside slope of Ngorongoro Crater.

 

the kid has just been weighted and is of normal weight, the mom is happy. Pininyi, lake Natron western shore.

 

these 2 pictures at Olemilei, between lake Natron and Gol mountains.

by now you’ve guessed that the Maasai language (Maa to be precise) is fond of the ‘ol’ prefix.

 

 

nurse checking on the charts from each mother and child. These charts contain all the information at a glance, names, dates, vaccinations given, weight…

Flying Medical Service, I’m back in service.

WARNING!!! at the end of the post there are 2 ugly pictures.

that was my initial flying when I arrived in Tanzania in ‘99, after a few vain weeks in Kenya. Flying ambulance basically, performing medical outreach programs. The commitment was to volunteer for 3 years. 3 years…I took a few days to think about it. In the end those 3 years went in a flash! No regret at all and I’m now more than happy to join Flying medical Service for a second tour, though a much shorter one.

there was some retraining required, ‘coz from school and book to this job, there is, let’s say…a big gap. I loved it, never complained once, swallowed every flying tip and lesson.

here landing at the foot of the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai with some decent cross wind, shown by the way the plane is banking to its right.

 

I was a bit surprised to discover occasional bad weather like the crappy one we’ve got in Belgium. I expected storms or nothing but blue sky I guess.

 

my first emergency during the first week was a Maasai warrior with a spear in the head, near the ear. His friends had lead him through the most remote bush for 4 days. 4 days! Walking amidst trees and bumpy tracks with a heavy half metal spear in the head! Forget pain killers. I didn’t see the spear X rays but it must have been similar to the one above. The doctor in the bush hospital could only remove the spear, so we flew him to a better equipped hospital. In this photo, the second emergency in the second week: an arrow through the forehead down towards the lower jaw. I thought that if this was the average spectacular pattern for medical evacuation my 3 years would be more interesting than initially thought. It cooled down a bit after that, just a bit. By the way the 2 guys survived, with nice scars, but they’re doing fine.

 

luxury here, 2 huts for the patients and the medical staff we were carrying from one remote village to the next.

 

 

Maasai boy with typical extended ears. Less typical is the pill container through his lobe. The wooden wedge is the norm usually.

 

sometimes we had to fix the plane on the spot, (and sleep on the spot…)

 

  

the white circular thing under the wing is not a radar but a scale for the babies.

 

no hut here so the big tree will for shade.

 

a scale, a simple and cheap tool but it tells so much on the baby’s health.

 

the airstrip…good condition but hard to spot sometimes. Luckily the tree was a very good landmark.

 

WARNING!!! second reminder, the pictures below are quite graphic and show blood.

 

 

the guy had spotted his wife in bed with his brother. Maasai are pretty cool about sex but there are rare rules nevertheless. So they had a fight, the brother must have feared for his life to use the machete in this extreme way. Now this guy here had been waiting patiently a coupla days for us. The doctor here is examining the damages. The eye is history obviously. I flew him to the hospital where employees took care of him and tried to convince him to call the cops. Of course the guy declined and said this was family business and he’d take care of it. So that means the slashed brother and wife might, might, arrive to the hospital soon after.

Stonetown, Zanzibar

after this one, I’ll choose another subject for the next posts.

old man drinking in a touristy street. That type of painting is called tinga tinga, invented by the Tanzanian artist of the same name in the 70’s. Very popular and easy to produce in the Henry Ford’s chain style.

 

I love this one. The girl is veiled but obviously fighting a bit against traditions: jean’s and a scooter, pink on top! I said once that in Uganda, there were as many women as men on bikes but it is absolutely not the case in Tanzania. This girl is an rare exception.

 

 

a typical scene all over the world, though in different patterns. In the west, how many times do you see a smartly dressed girl (and made up) hooked with a guy who can’t be bothered to even match his socks? Girls, I bet some of you know what I’m talking about. Here it is a bit of a different kind: a veiled girl dressed in a traditional way whereas the guy look like out of a rap band. Talking about difference within same cultures… now maybe the couple would love to both dress equally in western style but the weight of tradition is still too big?

 

the opposition party. This board looks like a child has painted it. Let’s hope the leaders and other members have a better level of education.

and some opposition posters for elections. That man on posters calls himself ‘prof’ as one can read so all should be fine…

 

selling trousers. Considering the hot and humid climate, not all men wear trousers around. Not the best place for such a business…

 

on the mosque stairs.

 

taking a rest.

 

as said yesterday, these high sidewalks are located all over the town. Very convenient to sit on and rest, or escape when floods happen.

 

 

 

details of a wooden door.

 

T shirt showing a condom advertisement. Some hope at the horizon. “Salama” means safe in swahili.

 

Food stall. no clue what the Lebanon brothers are, even less what they do while in action.

 

a funny house trapped between buildings. Curious waste of space in front of it.

Stonetown

 

by the colors in that shop, no wonder the kids are attracted.

 

Zanzibar is a big melting pot. India and Arabia are close by, add centuries of business and slave trade…

 

 

typical Zanzibari door.

 

I read somewhere that Tanzania was the fastest growing cell phone country. Those thick sidewalks or benches at the footstep of many houses are very common and appreciated in Stonetown.

 

I wished there were a worker in the scene. At least restoration is happening nowadays.

 

 

 

funny shallow shop.

 

dreaming of a Harley Davidson? then he should learn other poses…

 

Zanzibar, Stonetown in B/W

Same old Rolleiflex camera and B/W films.

 

stifling heat, humid atmosphere…sometimes there is just a need to sit down in the shade and rest…while taking pictures.

 

 

 

 

the good, the bad and the ugly…aka the lazy ones.

 

at the grocery shop.

 

 

 

 

old man resting in front of his shop.

 

prune seller.

 

and somewhere else.

more of Stonetown, Zanzibar

 

typical in Africa, when a shop is closed for holidays the front wall or window is quickly squatted by another “businessman”.

 

typical narrow streets, bright contrast between light and darkness.

 

unusual western style outfit.

 

a touch of disco on a black cloak.

 

one of the few restored houses in Stonetown.

 

fruit seller, typical built up of fruit.

 

2 friends but very different styles.

 

oops.

 

waiting for business.

 

prune seller.

 

Street life in Stonetown

AAhh Coca Cola and its sister barnds…sometimes I wish their CEO’s would be named presidents of some countries, African ones but not only. I can’t remember a shortage of Cokes in Tanzania. And whenever I happened to be in a really remote place, if there was one western product available, you could bet it was a Coke!

 

 

nice outfit…

 

these 2 were going to the catholic church.

 

  

 

 

happy soldier stepping out of the ferry, on leave I suppose.

 

Forodhani garden, on the waterfront. The place is very alive at night with various food stalls. Many Zanzibar families come here to enjoy the cool evenings. Many tourists do too, which would be fine per se but some annoying vendors were in turn harassing people. Not even locals since they’re selling food only here but Maasai people, out of all the people, Maasai? They were finally kicked out by the authorities, part of a plan to restore and clean the place. Rationally speaking that legal measure won’t prevent me from sleeping. I hate hawkers, street vendors and other pests anyway. And if on top, they are even selling fake stuff (like so-called Maasai art) or not even linked to the area, no pity. There is no reason to buy Maasai stuff in Zanzibar, 1000 miles away from the real Maasai steppes, no? You don’t go to Paris to buy Italian art, right?

 

happy girl with a coconut peeled and just opened for juice and pulp to savour.

 

actively waiting for business. I said cartwheels were extremely common in Africa. But the Stonetown models are much more narrow than standard ones to fit in the medieval streets.

 

the opposition corner. Relaxing place…except when elections come up. People have died, including cops being decapitated! And their heads were then shown across the streets on spikes! Didn’t I just used the word ‘medieval’ before?

more street life in Stonetown, Zanzibar

 

boy sipping the excellent tasty sugar cane juice. I’d rate that juice as one of the best I’ve tasted. Fresh and crushed sugar canes behind.

 

hygiene is not that great with flies all around and I wouldn’t bet the dishes or the juice machine (the big wheel behind) are cleaned regularly. But it is sooo good that I accept the risk. And so far so good. Unfortunately this juice is not available on the continent. But I remember the same juice (and recipe) in Burma! A proof below, the exact same machine!

 

nice grid but not much behind…

 

typical shop. When there is not much choice, the same article is piled up to avoid empty spaces.

 

some Indians live in Zanzibar, sharing with various christians the 2% of non muslims on the island.

 

book seller, including calendars.

 

this poor guy, I really felt sorry for him. Weather is hot and humid.

 

one of the few examples of a restored house in Stonetown, well the outside at least. most of the town is derelict I must say. A bit like like La Havana.

 

poor picture composure I know but there was nothing interesting around her and these pieces of cloth. I still liked the colors.

 

this guy had spotted me and my camera and wouldn’t show his face. Not much to sell…

street life in Stonetown, Zanzibar

digital pictures with Nikon D200, before my new D300s.

forget the shitty politically correct concept, these are facts in Africa…like the pictures below: some men hanging around in pubs or just on the street pavements if they are too broke and doing just nothing, even they pretend they’ve been busy trying to sell a goat all day as an excuse. I’m still waiting to see women having the same right too…

 

 

and this is not a counter example, she is just having a sugar cane juice for no more than 5 minutes. By the way, I like the ‘convertible’ niqab (or whatever that veil is called): she is normally fully covered, only her eyes are shown till drinking. Then she flips the thing up but doesn’t even try to hide.

 

these young girls seem eyeing the western style, jeans and t-shirts but a veil is still compulsory.

 

 

Laurel and Hardy…

 

colorful clothing but strict cut.

 

I like this one with the pin up on the paper whereas the reader is more conventional. One needs to be quick to get such a picture.

 

more colors

 

   

 

cliché or postcard I know but this is still nice to see such a spectacle. Better this than traffic jam in Belgium…

Stonetown, Zanzibar, on color slide films

Shot with a vintage Rolleiflex camera and slide Fuji Velvia 100 F.

Stonetown roofs, some views from a house we visited just next door to our hotel. As said before, not worth Paris’ roofs but still they are colorful and there is a view on the Indian Ocean.

Stonetown narrow streets, the historic quarter. Not to be taken as a touristy fake quarter. It is really an old town and not much restored nor maintained unfortunately.

98% muslims live on this island. Some people are quite strict about it, others are more modern. 2 examples on this picture.

 

here some colors go along the typical black cloaks

view from an Italian restaurant while enjoying an ice cream.

 

 

the museum called the House of Wonders. It used to be a palace for some sultans.

Zanzibar, B/W film

Rolleiflex camera and 6x6 negatives. It was fun using that vintage camera in the medieval narrow streets but it is not the most convenient camera. One advantage though was that people didn’t look suspiciously at us. Old timers even talked to us (Karine had her toys too) and evoked some memories.

 

Zanzibar, arriving overhead Stonetown and its slums.

 

I’m not  beach guy but the Indian Ocean has its charms for a little resting time.

 

one of the famous wooden doors. Wooden carts are still very popular in Africa, even in the narrow streets of Stonetown.

 

the roofs of Stonetown are not worth the roofs of Paris but they can be talked about at length, especially about the urbanism or lack thereof…

 

98% muslims occupy the island but some churches have survived, catholic like this St Joseph cathedral or protestant.

 

climate is always hot or very hot and humid. Poor women wearing all these layers…

the

Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Grand Canyon, B/W film.

Rolleiflex, B/W films.

this place is run by Navajos. Good for them, except that we were not too impressed by their management, as opposed to the national or state parks…they try to rip visitors off by claiming a regular car can’t be used on the dirt roads inside. That’s huge bullshit since even a sport car could go in though carefully I agree. Karine and her parents missed such an easy visit on a previous trip…Of course, the local operators offer tourists their own expensive trips on “cattle” vehicles, a disgrace…

but let’s now enjoy the landscapes…

 

 

we had left the park for a quick lunch in the restaurant on a nearby hill still with a view on the park. Much to our surprise, a sudden sand storm kicked in. Weird feeling. We had planned to go down again for a better light orientation…tough luck.

 

so we left earlier to Antelope Canyon, Arizona. This tiny canyon was ranking high on my wish-to-do-list. In the same afternoon we had time  to organise that visit  for the next morning. Run again by Navajos, you have no choice but book a guided tour. Which is probably better considering how small the canyon is.

I recommend the “photographic tour” even if you don’t take pictures. The group is then smaller, the visit lasts longer and is somewhat better organised for shooting pictures at ease. I was far from convinced initially as we kept on bumping into other groups. But later on it got a bit better. I had planned to shoot with the Leica and Kodachrome films, and also the Rolleiflex with B/W films (as below). Well there were so many people initially that I preferred to focus with one camera and be ready for any picture without people in the frame. Quite a mission, trust me. So only a few shots with the Rolleiflex before I realised that anyway the flying sand was a bit too much for my precious film cameras, vintage or not. I then switched definitely on the Nikon D300s for the rest of the visit. I’d rather have this one get gritty.

I’ll post color pictures one day. No way to really figure out with the 2 pictures above what it looks like in there. Very narrow path, only one person at a time here and there, vertical winding cliffs. But the light gives these abstract patterns, equally beautiful in B/W or color.

then we left for Grand Canyon, still in Arizona. We had heard about really bad weather over there. It was on our way anyway…indeed it was bad. Snow had fallen a bit but was melting fast, it was freezing in the evening and low clouds were lingering. We wished we had listened to our moms and pack warm clothes.

 

 

snow had fallen in some places only.

Monument Valley, B/W film

 

6x6 cm negatives, shot with a Rolleiflex

typical wind waves on the sand. I’ve seen the same in the Sahara.

 

John Ford, famous film director loved this park for his western movies. Some his famous movies were shot here with John Wayne as a regular actor.

 

 

the “Three Sisters”.

 

 

 

 

usually I don’t enjoy too much human interferences in my landscape pictures but here I kept the car in the frame to show the size of the fallen rocks.

 

the most famous skyline in the area.

 

another tall rock. The wind was extreme on this viewpoint spot. We had to bend forward to keep our balance.

Capitol Reef, B/W films

 

  Rolleiflex with B/W films, red filter…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a bit blurry but I found the hole pattern very interesting. And that huge steep cliff behind…impressive!

snowy landscapes in Utah, B/W films

 

 

birch trees, they came and disappeared. Pine trees did the same. I suspect the reason was the great variation in altitude as we were cruising around between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef.

 

for a while no more pine nor birch trees nor snow, the road had gone down big time… What a landscape, quite isolated for a house. Luckily there is the nearby road but next shop or neighbor are far away!

 

 

then altitude rose again and snow came back, to my greatest joy.

 

and with altitude birch trees came back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

with such vistas, driving was part of the holidays. Not bored very often, at all.

Bryce Canyon under snow, B/W film

Rolleiflex camera and B/W films

 

I had visited Bryce in April ‘97. I remember tiny specks of snow. This time, snow was a bit more glorious. Breathtaking landscapes…

 

 

 

funny enough, snow has vanished from this vista.

 

 

 

Zion nat’l park in B/W infrared film

film Ilford SFX 200, which is a soft infrared film, and a Rolleiflex.

 

the results are a bit unequal: leaves can be bright white but not always. Dark skies can always be expected I’d say.

 

so this is Zion, Utah.

 

 

  

here the leaves seem to lose a bit of their darkness.

 

definitely white on these 2 pictures but I’ll need to think of avoiding mixing white back ground like the cliff with trees. It can be a bit messy to read the picture…

 

 

and normal again. I’ll need to do some research and why the results are not regular. Well at worst the film still offers nice usual B/W tones obtained with the addition of a red filter

from Arches NP to Telluride

Arches nat’l park was really worth. It rank high on my US wish-to-do-list in the US. Yellowstone and Alaska next…

I really loved these snowy peaks in the distances. Such a glorious improvement on the horizon.

 

from Arches, Utah, we crossed into Colorado towards Telluride.

in Colorado, we didn’t visit any park, no need as the road was just perfect, with hundreds of bends, every mile was scenic in the mountains, 14000 foot mountains all around us, and snow, and snow. Loved it.

 

too bad for the power lines…

 

once in a while a lovely little tunnel with a tiny parking spot. Traffic was not big though. We could stop on the road itself very easily and snap a few shots.

 

 

 

 

even if Telluride, a famous sky station they say, was mostly closed due to the low season, the detour was worth every mile. I can believe it is a famous one: with houses at 8 million $, I assume some celebrities visit the place. We met there the only unfriendly waitress of our whole trip. No tip in turn, first time…

from Colorado we headed south to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Capitol Reef park and Arches park, Utah, on B/W film

again shot with a Rolleiflex.

 

as I said in previous post, I had never heard of Capitol Reef. Well worth the detour. The rock formation is impressive and very colorful with a choice of ochre, white, grey and some yellow tones.

hmmm yes, I’m talking about rich colors and variety and I end up showing monochrome pictures…dumb me.

 

 

 

and here below, the equally but bigger Arches nat’l park.

erosion has it ways that I can’t really understand… This formation shows 3 different levels and shapes of erosion. This rock could be nicknamed the Ship or something like that.

 

Delicate Arch.

 

 

a little trekking on our way to Broken Arch.

 

 

 

 

I could have walked (and camped) for days in there.

 

and here the most famous arch in the park, if not in the world: Landscape Arch. The picture doesn’t do any favor to the arch but the span is huge, a few hundred feet wide. I’ll do my research for next time I show a picture of this wonder in color

on the US roads, Kodachrome

Kodachrome and Leica M

 

we drove for about 3000 miles total, nearly each mile deserves a “scenery” label. This was on highway 12 in Utah between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef. You shouldn’t be bored while driving in the Rockies.

 

mountainous plateaus, and lots of snow. Karine declined any snowball fighting…

 

 

 

 

 

Capitol Reef…I had never heard of before but it was well worth the detour!

 

 

and to finish this post, Arches nat’l park below. This park and  Antelope Canyon in Arizona were tops of my list. No regret either.

the famous Delicate Arch.

 

and Broken Arch. The park is, like all the other parks, such a pleasure to walk in. Just half an hour to reach this arch for instance. Quite a big arch. I was pondering if I could fly a Cessna 206 through. I guess not without risk…

snow in Bryce Canyon, Kodachrome film

that was in April 2010, a snow storm had covered the area just before we arrived. That was a superb feat in itself as I miss snow big time, I hadn’t touched snow in 15 years basically, and on top the sun shone like hell. Perfect day to spend in Bryce Canyon, Utah.

these below were shot in Kodachrome 64 and with Leica M6. Sorry if I bother you with camera and film type, but for the photographers, amateurs or pros, the subject can be interesting or even hot. Also I am personally very happy to keep on shooting on films too, to help the film survive by using it and talking about it. I didn’t become a film hater…

 

superb birch trees. We only spotted them in high altitude.

 

some parts of Bryce kept the snow quite well…

 

..whereas other parts looked snow free.

 

 

so I missed snow, but even when I saw snow in Belgium last time, that was still only in towns or maybe a park or a meadow. Nothing like such vistas in Belgium!

 

 

 

 

 

near sunset, long shadows…we left and slept in a lousy village called Tropic. Well the place itself was not so bad, but the people we met at the motel were a bit on the retarded side… it was one weird thing to close down restaurants at 8 pm but to give no notice whatsoever to guest? Luckily we had some junk food in the car…

between Death Valley and Zion

good old B/W films loaded in a Leica.

 

snow on mountain, alongside the Area 51, Nevada. We didn’t spot any nutcase fans of alien life nor aliens themselves…

 

dinner in a nice saloon restaurant in Springdale, near Zion, Utah.

 

 

spring time, trees are blossoming…

 

 

 

cyclists! In Zion, or other parks too by the way. I was so jealous. Most were just biking for the day. Some had bulky gear attached to the bike which meant long trip and maybe even camping. I hope to jump again on my bicycle one day, in the Rockies this time…

 

still in Zion, I was nearly as jealous of this rider on a vintage Harley. The road in this park is never straight for more than 100 meters, perfect!

 

below, on Kodachrome film, leaving Zion park, but the area stayed amazing for a while. The park boundaries could be easily extended…

  

 

Zion nat’l park, Utah

 

while I was doing my digital work, I couldn’t help using film cameras like this vintage 1960 Rolleiflex and medium format films, that is 6x6 cm negatives. I’ve started my photo amateur career with film, so I tend to keep a fond memory of that technology. It’s also good to keep in mind that every picture will cost something, so thinking is required to avoid waste.

 

 

most of the Zion area shows that red brown tone. Those cliffs are a dream come true for the rock climbers.

 

 

some other huge peaks are grey offering a nice contrast with the red ones.

 

notice the detail: even the road is colored to match the rock formation! And yep, no car on the parking lots. Cars are blissfully forbidden in some of the park. Instead the authorities have developed a superb and efficient shuttle system. That must have required some balls and serious thinking to face the average American citizen and his/her right to do everything by bloody car…

 

 

many arches can be spotted against the cliffs.

I used a normal B/W film but a red filter was installed. When the conditions are right, the blue sky can turn black.