Ben Wilhelmi

life in an African village

 

Wasso village, hamlet of Loliondo. if i come back early from the flying clinics, usually take a stroll in the village nearby. I like it for its colors and for its diversity of activity and people.

 

Maasai people come there for shopping or selling before heading back to the remote bush. Notice the satellite dish, spreading fast everywhere. Sad fact…?

 

notice these Maasai ladies with their shopping bags carried in a peculiar way, not on top of the head as it is very common in Tanzania but by a strap across the forehead.

the lady in the shade is a tailor, working on a typical old vintage Singer or copy sewing machine.

 

whoever invented card games can be proud of its widespread achievement (as soccer by the way)

 

an old trailer modified to a shop. Unusual, I remember only one other example in South Africa, a barber’s…

 

my guessing here but this is a Maasai man, wealthy and western educated, they spoke Maasai together. Either discussing the possibility of hitch hiking or supplies transport, though maybe just exchanging family news. They shook hands and he jumped in his good looking Land Rover and headed off. Those thick white bags are to be seen all over. 25 or 50 kg of rice, flour or sugar

 

 

a glimpse of the hospital, well hidden in a forest at the foot of a big hill.

 

 

some weird looking plants on the way.

lake Natron, delta, grass, zebras and colorful salts

while you’ll be reading this, I’ll be out flying for a medical clinic tour near Ngorongoro, Lengai and this lake Natron. I’ll be staying in Endulen hospital, a lovely area on the south western slope of Ngorongoro crater. I haven’t been there for years, I was very impatient lately!

 

larger view of flamingoes, northern part of lake Natron.

 

delta

 

 

and 2 seriously cropped pictures to show the zebras, that were hardly visible on the first pictures. I was flying higher for a delta series of pictures, not details like for the salted parts.

 

 

salt lines often delimitate surfaces, like to prevent mix up.

 

within a few second, a surface can change totally, here from brown…

to magenta and purple

 

to blue, pink and white.

 

 

western shoreline, more colorful than in August.

more collateral…flamingoes on lake Natron

last month, I “complained” for the lack of flamingoes on lake Natron. Well they were back in little force this week. 4 or 5 big flocks resting on the shallow waters. Well resting till I arrived of course, hee hee. Flamingoes take off like aircraft, not vertically. So buzzing them is riskless while they’re busy running and flapping their wings.

here we can see their footprints on the mud.

 

shadows! And not one accident during those superb formation take offs…

copped and enlarged picture for details.

 

 

 

tracks on the water

 

flamingoes with an extinct volcano, Shombole on Kenyan border, in the background.

 

different water colors.

collateral moments of entertainment while working…

well working is a big word of course! 2h of flying per day in average during those flying clinics…some flights only last 7 minutes. I take more time to load/unload the medical supplies from the plane. So the collateral entertainment is flying 5 to 10 minutes between airstrips around lake Natron.

the lake gets better appearance further in the dry season.

black water and various colored spots surrounded by white dry salt crust.

 

here is one phenomenon I haven’t seen very often: some hardened salted islands have been surrounded by a larger grey layer of salt. The wind has pushed that crust through the little islands, leaving gaps behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some blue tone, not the most common one.

and as a reminder, all these shots were taken the same day west and north of the lake.

 

same old technique: the highest aperture on the lens so get the highest speed available on the camera, one polarizer filter and pronto. Personally, I like something around F:2 on a 50 mm lens since I’m to fly and shoot. The 50mm is easy to handle inside the cockpit and similar enough to the eye perception, so I don’t get funny sensations between looking at the real world and through the lens while flying at 200 or 300 feet above the surface. My 135mm is still fine but I used my 400 mm once for the sake of it. Since it sticks a bit out of the aircraft, it shakes with the relative wind. Not too easy.

life in a village, Loliondo

this is not a Maasai village, though Maasai people can be spotted in it. This is the village, Wasso to be precise, near the hospital I stay in for the few nights I fly around.

“Glory to God” it says on the windshield. Well I guess God was away ‘coz the guys had been working on the jeep at least for the 3 days I stayed there for no result….

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this one: “California”?? Look at that shack! Even in famous Venice Beach in L.A., the artists out there wouldn’t dare to build one like that.

equally interesting is this bicycle repair shop. Let’s hope knows more about biking that spelling and painting. Bicycle is baisikeli in swahili, not baskeli. Baisekeli being on these numerous example of English words used and “swahilicised”. Another example is a local hair saloon: “Paradaizi”…lovely no?

 

 

water duty with a cartwheel, usually reserved for boys. Girls tend to carry one bucket on top of the head. Boys anywhere in the world love any contraption on wheels.

 

“Tanzania without aids”. Unfortunately the rate of aids, though not skyrocketing in this country, is still a plague nevertheless and to be counted with.

Flying Medical Service, colors

 

a real catwalk candidate that warrior, he came and asked to be my model, he even opened his toga so to show off his jewels! Maasai warriors are famous to be narcissist.

 

their idea to use the umbrella which was a surprise to me.

 

 

 

 

 

water duty, starting at a young age.

 

 

crap picture but notice the unusual cool outfit amongst Maasai people in the middle of nowhere, AND the bag! Even I noticed it was a decent model, with magnet clips, expandable or zipped pockets... Karine  confirmed and was impressed that I had spotted that indeed.

Flying Medical Service, black’n’white portraits

some various faces out there in the bush, different tribes, different genetic shares.

 

 

 

Flying Medical Service, another medical tour

tomorrow I’m flying away again for another Flying Medical Service mobile clinic. This will be the Loliondo one, same one as I’ve done a coupla times so far. But next week is finally another one, the Endulen tour in Ngorogoro and volcano Lengai area. Can’t wait for it!

So tonight, I’m preparing a few posts to be posted automatically the following days while I’ll sleep in the bush hospital.

few people if any come to this clinic, Njurlan, northern lake Natron but I love to fly there anyway, at the bottom of the Rift valley. I have to overfly that beautiful lake, no need to twist my arm.

 

a little vaccination here…

a little treatment there…

a bit of waiting here…

or some gossiping…

 

I hope the weather will be good near the Serengeti this time

 

 

poor feet, they could do with some pedicure… those sandals are made of tyres.

 

examples of Maasai jewels from the Purko clan.

lions

northern Serengeti, many lions around either on flat terrain…

 

 

…or in the middle of rock formation.

the light got really low and dull so I tried some different editing…

 

 

sleeping seems to be the main activity, and yawning and scratching…though life!

 

Mara river, wildebeests crossing

northern Serengeti, Mara River. Another wildebeests crossing, we saw one about each day during our 5 day safari.

they gather on one spot, sometimes for hours as they are very indecisive.

but when they go, it’s worth the waiting, though we never had to wait for hours, always lucky or our guide had a good flair.

 

  

 

   

some seem to enjoy a good splash even though they were all cold feet initially.

 

 

some chicken out and prefer to go up the shore and think again.

 

 

hippos can’t be bothered to watch anymore.

 

 

and it seems to last for ever.

rhino, feeding baby

 

 

continued from yesterday, as we tried to approach they ran away. So we left it there and watched each other from 100-150m.

 

 

the mom kept a wary eye on us but the baby felt safe and plunged for a drink. Better be careful with that big horn. And well, when I say baby, it’s a rhetorical expression because he/she was 4 years old already. The mother will sever the link at 6 years old. Evolution didn’t do too good for rhinos. To make that horn attractive for small dicks who believe in some viagra effect was one glitch, then 16 months for pregnancy, 6 years for the kids to leave home, 45 minutes for the male to copulate successfully (one rare example for male to naturally take time I know), one birth at a time, that requires in average 8 years between baby deliveries…

 

 

northern Serengeti, rhinos!

 

Rhinos!! Pretty a rarity in Tanzania, like in many other countries. Some African countries like Zambia don’t even have an original rhino of their own. The original specimens have been wiped out by poachers and the actual rhinos they have there right now are all reintroduced. Tanzania still has its own but some help is needed. Those below have been imported from South Africa which bought their ancestors in Kenya decades ago when poaching became too rife and concerns were high off their survival. Nearly back to the source.

I had only, in the wild, spotted rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater, and only once. Karine never…so it was treat for both of us. More, they had been released in this area in July only. Here a mother and her 4 year old youngster.

 

too bad for the weather again…notice the scratches on the flanks.

 

 

 

birds get a free ride. Seriously, only cleaning wounds from bugs.

 

editing in B/W for a change and to compensate for that crappy light.

 

but they were shy and concerned, so we didn’t insist to come too close. They’re really funny when running.

various meat eaters

 

near the Mara river, northern Serengeti.

black-backed jackal (chacal à chabraque en français), a marabou stork (un marabout) and vultures on a carcass. The jackal is able to hunt little preys but wouldn’t spit on a bit of free and easy dead meat.

      

 

 

peaceful scenery but for the occasional clatter of beaks and screams when a fight is erupting. Though there are plenty of dead meat all over, these dumb birds choose one carcass and fight over it…

 

a few hundred yards away, lions were busy doing nothing.

except scratching fleas.

 

the dark and green patches have burnt some weeks ago. Some rains helped the new grass to sprout and color the area. Grass grows easier and quicker if the old dry grass is gone.

 

 

vultures taking off, near Mara River

 

Olakira, northern Serengeti, near the Mara river. Stupid animals as there are carcasses all over but they prefer to stick to the same ones and fight over them…

they look embroiled in each other but that’s due to the apparent compression of the 400 mm lens.

 

but nice formation take off anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

different types of vultures of course.

Mara River, wildebeests crossing

 

“yesss! I made it! One last jump…”

“oops, WTF!”

 

lonely buffalo, not tempted by the crossing.

 

2 unlucky swimmers, left to rot because the crocodiles are mostly overfed.

 

about the same picture, different editing.

poor things, they are really struggling.

wildebeests, the Mara river crossing

northern Serengeti, Mara river. We had been cruising not too far from the river, ready to come back quickly at the first sign of a crossing. Other jeeps had been waiting all day on the spot…

good sign, the wildebeests are gathering on the edge of the Mara. Elephants pass by but are not concerned, unfortunately! Imagine, elephants swimming in the river…would the crocs attack them?

they look like an army of ants. Light was so dull, too many clouds, bad luck…

 

giraffes and wildebeests running together in the dust.

 

 

 

one lost baboon.

 

 

at some point, under some kind of signal must be given and the herd starts to cross. But they are really indecisive animals! They can stay hours on the river bank walking around, as if checking water temperature or not really willing to go.

 

here they’ve started to change their mind.100’s have crossed but some prefer to go back up to safety. They’ll try later again.

 

 

those in the waters have a hard time swimming through. This bunch is stuck on rocks, and there is no room for more swimmers.

these young wildebeests are swept away by the strong current. One will be caught by a crocodile waiting a bit further down. Another will drown but many more will manage to swim back to safety but on the wrong side of the river. Play again…

life and death on the Mara river

 

fat crocodile. Unfortunately we had arrived in Olakira, northern Serengeti, about a week too late. The main crossing had taken place already and the crocodiles had had all the time to feed off the wildebeest attempting the crossing. After that they were so full that untouched carcasses were left to rot, either in the river or in the grass a bit further.

 

2 unlucky wildebeests stuck on rocks…

 

 

a black-headed heron (un héron mélanocéphale) looking for food, neck retracted.

 

quite obvious that the current is quite strong even at this dry time of the year. Crocodiles make some victims but drowning probably makes more victims. Well I wouldn’t like to try a swim in that, even without the crocodiles…

a similar bird, the grey heron, same purpose about food, neck extended. Same silhouette as the black-headed one. Only obvious difference between the 2 is the feather colors.

 

too bad the weather was bad…colors are a bit dull.

a slightly wounded hippo, typical since those animals are very hot-tempered. Behind is a sacred ibis (un ibis sacré, one very rare example where translation is direct and easy)

 

 

buffaloes on a secondary river. Typical flat Serengeti landscape, but for some interesting isolated rock formations. More pictures about those “kopjes” soon.

Lions, sex part III and end

the resting time for the male was less than 30 min then the female came to him again.

“hey I’m back…”

 

“OK, get your cute bum here!”

 

he tried to bite her neck, maybe thinking “ I bet she is of the SM type, sure she’ll enjoy the good ol’ good bite on the neck…”

 

well, by the way she growled back at him, I’d say she is not SM type…

 

less than 20 sec total and that was it…

 

then she left for the rock formation

she looked back at him as if checking if he was following…

    

 

the male did follow her and they disappeared from sight but I was then busy with my Rolleiflex camera and these medium format films won’t be processed anytime soon. Tomorrow is another subject.

Lions, the hard life, sex part II

 

as promised from yesterday, here is the sequence:

she came towards him with a funny low walking way. Maybe lioness’ ways to be sexy and let males know…no cleavage nor sexy underwear, they got to find another way to make them be understood, right?

 

it looks like even for lions, safe sex in the bush means to be quick so no predator would have time to attack and in turn there is no time wasted in foreplay either...

there was some growling, from both.

according to the sequencing of our digital camera clocks, 26 seconds and that was it! He then watched us for a few seconds, probably just a coincidence. The female typical rolled on her back. I doubt he was trying to get my kudos after such a short performance. But he’ll be at it every half an hour or so for more than a full day…

 

 

 

     

relaxing a bit till next one…

 

to be continued…

Lions, the hard life, sex part I

Olakira, northern Serengeti on the Mara River, Tanzanian side.

 

the male…

 

the female a bit further. This picture taken out of context could be titled “not tonight Honey, got a headache…” but she is just waking up

 

yawning…

 

 

cleaning up…

 

  

“now, where is that dude again?”

 

“There he is, yummy!”

 

“let’s go and have fun”

 

           

“hi there…”

“ ‘lo”

 

and more tomorrow, to be continued…

lions, the hard life

 

eating and sleeping and playing and scratching etc, that’s all they did this morning. All of them have a fat belly. With the wildebeest crossing, the food is plenty. We saw many dead wildebeests all over, some intact, too many carcasses lying around and not enough scavengers to clean up the place.

licking for tasty sauce.

 

her claw is fine, just stood in a funny way for the picture.

 

flesh can be elastic.

 

here Karine got a bit concerned. I have to admit the lioness here clearly walked towards us and kept on staring for a while, then turned around the jeep…jeep that is fully open by the way.

 

 

…to meet her friend and smooch a bit…

 

…and fell asleep.

 

another lioness kept on scratching her fleas. Finally those big cats just look like domestic cats in many ways. Except I can’t imagine them lying flat on a granny’s belly.

back from a safari in the Serengeti

we flew to Kogatende, northern Serengeti on the Mara river. The plan was to see the wildebeest (gnous) migration crossing the Mara river and we saw much more!

 

we started modestly with a shy young black-backed jackal who ran down his fox hole

but his mate was a bit more curious and relaxed.

 

 

50 meters further some lionesses and 2 males were hanging around on rocks and feasting on a wildebeest carcass.

 

 

 

a one-eyed lion. On all the pictures of that lioness, that eye looks the same.

 

 

2 similar pictures but edited differently. By nature, I can be very classical and I tend to stick to the real colors, to represent as it was on the spot. An exception is for B/W pictures. But I have to admit I quite like the treatment I gave on the lion below, just by reducing the yellow and orange tones. Of course this treatment was available way before Photoshop but it is now easier for all...the trick is to avoid any excess.

more pictures of lake Natron but another subject is on tomorrow

we came back from a superb safari where we enjoyed the wildebeest crossing (gnous en français) on the Mara river, Tanzanian side. I needed some time to process the numerous pictures we shot out there…so tomorrow is all about African wildlife.

 

western shore of the lake, which is also part of the Rift valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lake Natron, aerial pictures

 

 

 

 

flamingoes tracks in shallow waters and mud

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purko clan and aircraft

Maasai women from the Purko clan near and west of Loliondo

busy packing, wrapping babies on their back before going home, sometimes miles away.

 

this plump man doesn’t look like a skinny tall Maasai man but he is Maasai nevertheless. Years of plenty of fat food at the hospital where he works as a nurse…but as a potential husband(he is still looking for his first wife and collecting cows in the meantime), he’ll look like a good candidate who can provide.

 

below some old pictures with the aircraft in its environment.

Oleparkashi, near active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai. Cool landscape right?

I didn’t set up this picture, I swear. But we really collect some junk sometimes on landings. And by the way, I got a puncture last clinic. A good acacia thorn…more than 2 hours for fixing that. Jack up the plane, remove the brake pads then the wheel, extract the tube etc. I’m always surprised by how much time it takes. A spare wheel is too bulky so we fix. Too bad because a spare wheel outside of the aircraft on top, between the wings would be a cool bush thing to do. Or on the tail near the red cross…just joking.

Maasai women, from the Purko clan

I wrote in some previous posts that there were some differences in jewels amongst Maasai people living within the same big district.  Here is the Purko clan, roughly West of Loliondo I’ve been told by a Maasai nurse. Colorful jewels and simple manufacture. I remember years back I was showing potential ‘models’ some pictures that were to be delivered to previous models. it helps to show I can be trusted when I promise a personal print to each model. It also brings some good laughs and good mood. But above all, I was surprised that everybody could recognise everybody’s origin by a glimpse at jewels or clothes.

 

aerials, lake Natron….

and another short series of lake Natron, all shots within a few miles of each other.

a delta at the foot of Shombole, extinct volcano on Kenyan border.

once in a rare while, I let the aircraft shadow come in the frame.

 

flamingoes taking off. Notice the double silhouettes. The darker ones are the shadows and the brownish ones are the reflections on the water surface.

different angle, different light…

   

 

this escarpment is called Oldoynio Sambu, that is one of the cliffs dotting the Rift Valley.

aerials, lake Natron, Rift valley, Tanzania

that lake is just…any superlative is barely good enough. I should also precise that all the Natron pictures that I have published in the last 2 weeks and the few to come have been shot in only 2 different days, 2 weeks apart. What a diversity in such a short time and distance isn’t it?

like the 4 pictures below: 30 seconds of flight at 100 mph between the first and the last, and the evolution is obvious.

 

some grey stuff coming on the right side…

 

the pattern is changing too, the grey crust is cracked in large bits….

beautiful colors are gone…

and the crust is cracking in smaller bits. 30 seconds.

then I landed after less than 10 min of flight.

next flight and there are flamingoes on a beautiful abstract piece of salt waters

a bit further, a delta.

on the way, a shoreline that was close to the first 4 pictures. The layers due to successive evaporations are clearly visible.

 

a few miles further, totally dried up salt crusts.

   

then wet again but other colors… got it why I absolutely love to fly there?

Flying Medical Service, mobile clinics, part II

while you’re reading this, Karine and I are out flying to the Mara river, northern Serengeti. The famous river where the wildebeests cross during the migration and where the crocodiles feast on them at the same time… tough life I know… back on Sunday.

like everywhere on Earth, nothing beats that to make a crying baby quiet even after vaccination.

nurse preparing a syringe.

some cool landscapes out there. Isn’t that a typical cliché of African landscape? Well I had them in my dreams since I’m a child anyway and here I am. Olemilei in the Gol mountains.

I had some fun with the nurses. 35° Celsius and they were wearing woolen hats or fleeces!! Here a bit cooler in the morning but I’m only wearing a shirt and look at the thick jacket with hood.

and still in Olemilei, goats crossing the airstrip. Believe me, the mountain is steeper than it looks on the picture.

 

unusual features around here, some Somali heritage maybe? And a fashion seems to happen with hair gel and straightened curls…

fashion is those colorful umbrellas, probably crap made in China and full of various poisonous chemicals. Time will tell. For your info, this place here, salt lake Natron surrounding is the driest place in Tanzania. And there was absolutely no chance that day that one of the rare tiny rains would start that day. Maybe the women heard that sun can be bad for their skin…

the welcoming sign at the hospital in Loliondo, Wasso hamlet to be precise.