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the dog was keen to get a bite but couldn’t eat it, too though skin probably or not tasty enough?
and the lizard is not edible according to the Hadza people, poisonous meat they say. Same consideration for snakes. So why kill it? Because lizards eat squirrels…bad competition.
more squirrels were looked for but no more success to come.
we finally returned to camp where we were offered jewels and weapons while the meat was put to roast on a little fire.
a squirrel was spotted in that tree.
a lot of scrambling and running started again.
many arrows were thrown up. Notice this guy’s muscles!
then a monitor lizard was also spotted in the same area.
this man, who had got the previous squirrel started to climb in the tree to retrieve the shot lizard.
while this younger hunter got luckier in retrieving his target, another tiny victim with hardly no meat on.
he took time to enjoy the scenery, or maybe a quick scan for bigger animal?
here is the lizard falling off the tree…
and met by the dog.
shots on film some years back
inside the Ngorongoro crater, 700 m high. This picture only shows a glimpse of that height.
giraffes fighting, that is hitting each other’s neck. Impressive deep sound.
Maasai looking for shade under the Flying medical Service Cessna 206
funny pictures: shadow and reflection.
an Antonov 2, a vintage airplane that was passing by Arusha. Still in use in some places in the world. I wish I could fly such a beast. Anytime over an airline plane….
how can such a big expensive piece of machinery be left to be torn apart in the middle of nowhere? Here near volcano Lengai.
same volcano in the distance. Dry season obviously. Sometimes driving off road is more confortable than what is called road…
but not always….
last year, with a vintage Rolleiflex 3.5F on good ol’ films.
yep, in Las Vegas on the Strip.
view from our room in the Bellagio Hotel.
as blogged last week, here are some more pictures about that hunting party we joined though Karine and I are absolutely no hunters ourselves, quite the contrary. But we made an exception for these hunter-gatherers. It’s not about trophies and guns but food.
they were looking for a mouse, which they eventually found. A tiny one with no fat no meat...
while some were digging, this one checked his arrows.
while those watched.
then we resumed walking. That cliff on the horizon is the western side of lake Eyasi. Beyond starts the vast Serengeti plains.
a squirrel was then spotted. The men started to run all around the trees and bushes where the poor thing might run and jump between.
a better view from high up.
throwing, shaking branches, screaming, crawling under the the thick scrub…everything was good to dislodge the squirrel.
running around…
coming back…there was a lot of running around.
and be disappointed. Hunters: 0, squirrel: 1.
More 30 minutes were spent after that tiny target.
a not so common scene, lions are notoriously poor climbers, but it happens.
a stroppy buffalo, 2 horns so badly damaged…
a waterbuck.
probably a bad landing!
while flying on clinics with Flying Medical Service, I always carry one film camera, here a superb 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F, so medium format, 6x6 cm negatives. Not always the easiest camera but man, I love it. And people eye me in a funny way. Here is a selection of Maasai people from northern Tanzania.
doctor, medicine box, translator, patient.
the medical hut in Olemilei, Gol mountains.
probably not her baby as her jewels show a newly circumcised girl.
one remote village, Habere, in the Sonjo valley, N.W. Tanzania. Quite a diversity of clothing and faces.
red paint on head is quite common among Maasai warriors.
Maasai people attending a Flying Medical Service clinic.
circumcised boy, between childhood and warrior status. Beads on the forehead, copper spiral on the ears and some blue clothes. In other clans the features will be quite different.
some older pictures of my flying days over vast Tanzania…
some views of Katavi nat’l park in the south west.
cape elands running away during landing approach…
herds of various animals, elands again and zebras.
lake Katavi
a yellow pond in the lush greenery.
and about a volcano:
active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai before its months of massive eruptions. The mountain in the distance is Kitumbeine.
that Akakous desert is a wonder. The contrasts were incredible, I was surprised to see so many rocks, such a variety of rocks in what is called Sahara. I had the image in my head Sahara was mostly made of sand and dunes…and I expected clean isolated mountains swamped in sand, not rocky grounds like the picture below.
a sunrise view from our tents
a Tuareg guide
the kitchen was basic but the cook made a good impression.
being lazy today, just fishing out old pictures. Some have been cropped.
flying low over the Serengeti, Nikon D200 equipped with a 35mm f:2.0.
I was trying out this new lens with autofocus so I could fly lower and
not bother with the focusing. Thomson gazelles here, slightly scared.
Cape elands (élands du Cap), a big gazelle.
considering I have to fly the aircraft, which is not the slowest, but with
a crappy window, I can't complain with the results. I miss a good
old Pipercub for that exercise. It's a very slow aircraft with huge windows
that can be opened for the pilot's pleasure! Thanks, Mr Piper.
here I pushed my luck a bit, flying lower but then the plane is
definitely too fast. Picture not cropped. One can guess I was low,
shooting with a 35mm....that was just after take-off.
a microlight ( un ULM) would be a great toy too by the way
Rift Valley, northern Tanzania…
an overall view of the northern tip of the lake, including an extinct volcano on the Kenyan border, Shombole.
lake Manyara nat’l park, Leica M6, 28mm, film Ilford SFX 200, IR filter
giraffes near the shoreline.
I just found this old wedding invitation in my junk. Quite a piece, I couldn’t resist to share it. I have erased last names and phone numbers by courtesy.
one of my colleagues had received it and thrown it away. I thought it was worth a little salvaging. From the outside it looks quite normal, slightly kitsch as usual for a wedding invitation. But…
once you open it, you realise this is not an invitation but a contribution! A world of a difference…. That was the 1st thing that shocked me a bit.
then there is a dateline! No fear no shame, huh?
the word “request” appears twice.
the word “contribution” twice too and “contribute” once.
the word “materially” once.
and a drawing of a wallet and money…just in case you didn’t understand those 6 hints (dumb you), here is a 7th to clarify it was all about money!
a little “god bless you” doesn’t hurt and it’s free, right? So why not…
4 phone numbers so you can’t say they were all busy.
because Mohamed is a friend and a relative…sure thing! He is still not invited!
I don’t criticize grammar issues as English is not the first language here.
and a last general note, did you notice the choice in title? Next to the usual “Mr/Mrs” etc, there is “Prof, Dr, Rev”. That’s title thing is quite a feat in Africa. Title grabbing is a national sport. You can piss off a high ranked somebody by using the wrong title or no title at all. Add a peps of corruption and people buy their title. Universities and other institutions etc are happy to oblige, between crooks, there must be some understanding I suppose, and “prof”, “honorable”, “doctor”, “chief”…are unofficially on sale. Of course there is a devaluation in title if the desk clerk is “prof” or if a colleague is already “honorable”. Too bad for the people who really deserve their title…So some smart Nigerian (as usual) guys created a business for “highly” and other sweet terms to add to existing titles. There was a superb and funny article on BBC Africa.
I’m called captain or capteni quite often by the way though they perfectly know my name, well or think they do: Beni, Benny, Bean(!), Benuwah, Benwa from the local people, and funny enough “Benoir” or “Benwar” from expats. Interesting but I don’t really know why this is the common mistake from various expat nationalities. But I knew from day 1 in Africa this would come, that’s why I became Ben right away. By the way my full first name is spelt “Benoît”. Write it down 100 times now, thank you. Next time somebody addresses me with a captain title only , I’ll pretend to be shocked and require a “ultimate honorable captain” title just to see the reaction, heehee.
old pictures on films.
I never got tired of them. There was always a new feat, a new aspect of their personality, a new similarity to the human kind to notice. It is virtually impossible to find them boring. Except from lousy temporary brain damaged teenagers of course. What do you say or do to a MP3’d teen with a long face here? Shoot on sight maybe to put an end to her/his misery?
piggy-back riding…
or belly-hanging riding, both equally appreciated by young chimps.
drinking between rocks
fishing for termites. The case that divided scientists for a long time. Humans used to be defined by their ability to create and use tools. Well, cutting a twig to fish in a termite hole is using a tool…
powerful runners!
and great players.
Flying Medical Service clinics in northern Tanzania, a few portraits on the spot.
this landscape below was made during a private safari in lake Natron/volcano Lengai area but this spot I know thanks to Flying Medical Service outreach clinics.
the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai seen from Ngaresero.
not only that lake is incredible beautiful and different over time but shows various coats too, all at the same time. here below is a series of shots taken during a 6 minute flight, on a 10 mile stretch! I don’t know about you guys but it never ceases to baffle me. Same altitude all the way through, same 35 mm lens.
on B/W films that is, some years back during my initial period of flying for Flying Medical Service. Pictures taken in various Maasai villages we visit every 2 weeks.
weight check, very important.
nurse checking on a pregnant woman in the hut on the edge of the airstrip
the doctor that day preferred to perform in the open.
Lake Manyara national park, a tiny park near Arusha. Perfect for a one-day trip.
Leica M6, 28mm, infrared filter and film Ilford SFX.
I had missed that wonderful location on previous US trips. No way to miss it this time. If you go and visit it, just make sure you book a “photographic” tour, even if you don’t own a camera. It mostly means less people and the place a little more to yourself.
colors tend to veer towards orange but glows of blue are not uncommon.
including tourists, only to give an idea of the canyon size. We’re not talking about Grand Canyon vast expanses here. More of a gorge.
this market happens near Inle lake, in the Chan territory. An area that is facing fighting between autonomist rebels and the army. Burma is suffering under an incredible dictatorship but people seemed quite smiling and happy…on the surface probably.
an open restaurant. I must say I was not too keen on Burmese food. Luckily there are Chinese and Indian communities in Burma, and they brought their good food with them.
cigars, cigars!! Huge business and pastime!
I don’t always wait to be in the bush to draw something.
away for a few days, pre-posted stuff, back to the Hdaza tribe soon.
while busy giving vaccinations to pregnant mothers or new born babies, I have time to shoot some pictures here and there during Flying Medical Service clinics. Here are some old shots on B/W films, with Nikon F3 or FM2, 24 or 50mm lenses, sometimes a 135mm. No need for bazooka lenses, you’ve got to get close to people say the old photography masters, and I agree.
check carefully this picture, the mother holds a stone, she has just wiped the baby’s bottom with it. When there is no toilet paper…when the concept of toilet paper doesn’t even exist…
a doctor checking on an old man on the ground. We’re in the remote bush, no medical facilities are available..
scenery in Arusha.
knife-sharpener. Grandma said she used to see the same kind of man cycling from one village to the next in Belgium some decades ago.
we left the dry river bed at some point.
then walked again in the open savannah. That mountain range is Ngorongoro Crater, the south west rim with the split mountain Oldeani.
suddenly stopped for the first prey of the day…
a mouse! The man here kept on digging for 10 minutes to catch finally the tiniest mouse. So much energy for such a little reward…
the old man watching. Well old…I’d be surprised maybe. No grey hair…but he was the father and grandfather of the bunch.
Around 7 am, the sun is still rising. They were walking a bit fast quite often running without even trying to be discreet. Not the usual common knowledge for hunting but they’ve survived over the centuries so…and then I’ve never hunted since I hate that. This being subsistence hunting, I made an exception to come along and appreciate the experience. I had initially set my camera on “quiet mode” but I soon realised I didn’t have to bother.
often one or two guys would run around a tree or walk through the bush and check on some potential prey.
the old man was still alert, not a burden on the group and was equally running all around.
another check but again to no avail so far.
then some roots were found on a collapsed river bank. A little rest for eating and drinking those roots. They contain a lot of water and are very handy when the season is hot and dry. We tried a piece and found it indeed very watery though slightly bitter. That tribe is specialist to live off the land without wasting anything. We should take example, right?
probably exchanging some jokes on us, sometimes we had that feeling anyway. Can’t blame them of course.
easy and quick to peel. This man and the others seemed to enjoy the flavor very much.
after the quick rest we resumed walking on the river bed.
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