Ben Wilhelmi

Tanzania in the rains, aerials

 

it is always fascinating to observe the drastic changes in one country between dry and wet seasons.

This place, Olorbelin, is located on salt lake Natron, very often described as a harsh and most unhospitable place. Yet no one would guess that in the wet season. This greenery won’t last very long of course but t is very impressive in the meantime.

 

Monik, another village around the lake, fares a bit better because there is a spring nearby but this rocky river bed is usually dry. Here a truck got tuck.

 

various muds mixing in a delta.

 

dry rocky river bed usually.

 

some light rains coming.

 

some weather over the Gol mountains. Pilots normally fly higher except Flying Medical Service because we have a few airstrips located in these very mountains. It can be challenging to land on those sometimes.

 

flooded swamp.

 

interesting mix of salts and mud on lake Natron.

 

lake Natron, mud brought by flowing rivers.

 

momentarily flooded area.

wildlife in Tanzania, aerial photography

 

flamingoes on lake Natron.

same picture but seriously cropped when by luck I spotted this pied avocet lost in the middle of the flock. ( une avocette élégante en français)

 

gazelles and topis (damalisques en Fr.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

wildebeests ( des gnous en Fr.)

 

ostriches…males in black and white, females in brownish outfit.

Tanzania, flying the bush

 

superb landscape in the Serengeti. A large De Havilland DHC 7 landing.

 

Kigoma, a large UN operated Mil 26.

 

Early morning.

 

Twin Otter DHC 6 on landing.

 

Wildebeests crossing while I’m busy landing.

 

Caravan taking off, Seronera in the Serengeti.

 

A Caravan overflying lake Manyara.

 

Being overtaken by a F406 at close range.

 

During a storm at Seronera…

Flying the bush, Tanzania

 

I love bush flying especially last weeks with the rains.

Softened terrain after some rains.

 

Partially flooded airstrip. Last week I couldn’t land on another airstrip and hesitated heavily on a 2 nd one.

 

On final for landing.

 

On a Flying Medical Service clinic at the foot of active volcano Lengai.

 

Looking back towards lake Manyara.

 

I wish I could fly these Hercules C130….One of the few big airplanes with bush capacities.

 

The active volcano Lengai seen from a Twin Otter.

 

Lake Natron in the dry season. Here is Monik airstrip on the western shoreline and an extinct volcano on the horizon.

 

things change in some remote villages. 10 years ago, only traditional outfits would be spotted. Now either western style or common African style creeps up.

wildlife photography, Amboseli, Kenya

 

Kilimanjaro, early morning, dust and elephants. Reminder: the summit lies in Tanzania.

 

Grey-crowned crane (grue couronnée en français)

 

Interesting shadow.

 

 

 

Agama lizard (un aguame)…

The same but cropped.

 

A grey-headed kingfisher with ots fighting prey. (un martin-pêcheur)

 

White storks (cigognes blanches)

it always looks like a messy take off but there are never any crashes.

human activity in Tanzania, aerial pictures.

 

a Masai herder and his cows at a pond.

 

a truck crossing a lava field at the foot of the active volcano Lengai.

 

These people are probably going to a wedding, the clue being the flower on the front of the pick up truck,

 

fishermen near lake Eyasi…

here busy with ‘daga’, that is little fish like sardines being dried up in the sun. It is a common staple in many areas.

 

not sure what this man was doing with his stick flat out…

 

Masai men crossing a fresh water patch in acidic lake Natron, so that is near  flowing river before the acid level gets too high.

 

Masai herders.

 

Masai people building a hut on a delta.

Kilimanjaro and wildlife, seen from Amboseli

 

Karine and I went for a few days in Nairobi and Amboseli National Park. A tiny park on the edge of Mt Kilimanjaro which allows a close view of the Tanzanian peak. Some Kenyans funnily claim the peak is in Kenya. Just grab a map and though the colonial Brits screwed up many borderlines when they carved up their colonies, the peak lies in Tanzania.

A tiny park, not the wildest of all parks, some bad guides/drivers but we enjoyed many wildlife actions on top of the landscapes. Kilimanjaro is a shy mountain but we managed some good sighting over the 3 days.

 

A sunrise, a spectacular viewing even with the slight atmospheric veil.

This is the secondary peak, sometimes showing snow after a storm, like the daily storms these days.

 

A bit later, the orange hue disappeared.

 

The park is quite flat, made of swamps mostly. So Karine and I were keen to include animals in that glorious landscape.

 

 

 

 

A superb last minute ray of light at sunset.

 

Another sunrise. One of those (many) days when I’m glad I have got that great Nikon lens, a super wide 12-24mm, here at 12mm.

 

Elephants in the dust.

lake Eyasi, Tanzania, aerial photography

lake Eyasi is another salt lake located in the Rift valley, just south of the Ngorongoro Crater. It’s not very famous and not as reliable as lake Natron in term of stunning colors and salt patterns but once in a while, this is what one can observe and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously I have to be careful in my photo files as Natron and Eyasi photos could be easily mixed when I focus on vertical shots…

Tanzania, human activity seen from the air

 

that gray area is a lava flow from the major volcanic activity in 2007 and 2008. That truck is using the regular track near the culprit, Oldoinyo Lengai.

 

another truck, but this one has some problem to sort out. This a delta on the lake Natron northern shoreline

same truck. I wonder if the driver enjoyed the scenery while waiting for some help…

 

laundry day a bit further in the delta.

 

cows and goats…. to be seen everywhere in Tanzania and further. The country is vast and not barb-wired everywhere like in South Africa.

 

Masai farmers plowing the fields the old way, an ox or and a hoe.

 

Market day in Loliondo, a village north of Serengeti.

 

the person in the river is an adult, a masai man in his bright red clothes but he could have been a 5 year old child as well. Those kids don’t always go to school but they enjoy somehow a great outdoor life. Roaming the bush without a real schedule, meeting friends…

lake Natron, Rift valley, aerials

 

various pictures of lake Natron in a vain attempt to show its diversity.

Flamingoes love this place and favor it over all the other African lakes to breed, like this year.

this kind of pictures is a reasonably good challenge: the airplane is quite faster than the birds, the white feathers against the dark background provide a serious piece of contrast for the camera dynamics… and least but not last I’ve got to fly the airplane and handle the camera.

 

Old volcano Shombole on the Kenyan border.

 

 

on the southern part there are some rocky islands. When the conditions are good grey salts come around, swirl, leave and come back, or are pushed on the lee side by the wind…

 

this is a Shombole again but overflown and giving an unusual view of the lake as nobody else but Flying Medical Service seems to fly there on a regular basis. Mt Oldoinyo Sambu (not the one near Arusha) to the west .

Mt Gelai to the south east. Connoisseurs will recognise Kerimasi and volcano Lengai (with reflection)  near the middle of the picture and the Ngorongoro Highlands.

the same mountains on these pictures.

My view with a super wide 12 mm.

people in the bush, Tanzania

 

blue clothes, blue wall, Masai man with ‘stored’ extended ears.

 

hot waether but Chinese made umbrellas made an apparition some 10 years ago and are now commonly used for sun ray protection.

 

Kids, usully happy to pose, even more when the picture is available on the digital camera display.

 

 

Masai warrior on the move…

 

 

school boy in uniform.

 

black clothes, that is a freshly circumcized Masai boy, soon to be a warrior. That is the active volcano Lengai in the background.

 

a Masai warrior.

people, Tanzania, photography

 

 

she insisted on posing with her rooster.

 

morning duties for these Masai women.

 

Masai men love their sticks, even when biking.

 

curious fashion  creeps in sometimes.

 

quite a common view, boys only a wear a wrapped around toga, though usually a bit more carefully than this one.

 

Dutch design but Chinese copies (who else?), these bicycles are to be seen all over.

 

female job, in pair with water chores for example.

 

another typical scenery in northern Tanzania: wherever you are, have a close look when you need privacy. Masai people have a knack to pop out of the middle of nowhere, in the most isolated place. The savannah is their home after all.

flying the bush in Tanzania

 

Small airplanes tend to be crippled after a puncture, they don’t have multiple wheels…so I needed a tow machine.

 

elephants crossing an airstrip. Sometimes it happens while on landing or take off but they are slow and big so hitting one with the plane is pretty unheard of. Whereas zebras, buffaloes, gazelles, giraffes…are most commonly responsible for accidents.

 

Masai men enjoying some shade. This picture shot with the incredible Rolleiflex camera.

 

A storm was just making the airstrip quite wet. I had just landed (too bad I couldn’t film myself) so I quickly jumped out of the airplane and got ready to shoot  the next ones.

 

A hot balloon in the Serengeti.

 

Arusha with a  poorly maintained runway and taxiway some years ago. In turn the turbine engines could swallow some dust.

 

A BN2 just crashed after its 2 engines stopped together (!). Nice job from the pilot who put the plane down nicely.

 

The Navajo I used to fly some years back., Mt Meru, Arusha.

 

Sad sighting, a wrecked rotting DC3 in Nairobi. That’s no way to treat such an old lady.

 

on take off while I was a passenger.

volcano Lengai, Tanzania, various pictures

 

a fascinating active volcano located in the Rift valley, northern Tanzania.

dry or wet season.

 

Flying Medical Service operates about 10 airstrips around that landmark so I get to enjoy various points of view, not to mention the regular flights over.

 

viewed from lake Natron.

 

 

detail of the ashy slopes.

 

Pinhole style.

 

On the right slightly covered by clouds. Mt Gelai on the left is one of the neighbors.

 

On top of airstrips there are of course many villages around.

street photography, Arusha

 

 

trendy taxi-biker.

 

 

security guard. I often cringe when I see the casual way they have to carry weapons. This only one example….

 

typical grilled-corn seller.

 

Another typical scene: a loaded cartwheel though this one is lightly loaded.

 

“Black Idea”…it must a new ‘daladala’ company since there a few minibuses carrying that motto.

 

No fear no shame…VIP??

 

trendy man. White clothes are so hard to wear in this country…

 

alongside the highway…at night the same herders will carry and agitate frenetically a flash light to the motorists, which is a good idea since some motorists don’t have working headlights.

 

 

the most horrible and kitsch posters are to be found on the sidewalk stalls.

lake Natron in B/W, aerial photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rain season, Tanzania, aerial photography

 

dramatic skies are the norm.

 

Irish green grass is another norm whereas the soil might have been dusty prior.

 

 

Usually dry river beds is all one sees most yearlong. Flash floods are common and dangerous after a rain shower.

 

lake Natron has lost most of its colorful salt pans.

Deltas get flooded.

River shorelines might disappear.

 

Interesting patterns appear but might change from one day to the next.

 

mud flows invade lake Natron, and other lakes.

 

Another river that is dry the other 350 days or so of the year.

aerial landscapes, Tanzania

 

Ngorongoro Crater. The city of Paris would fit in!

Mt Kilimanjaro close to sunset, just before the descent.

 

Volcano Shombole on lake Natron.  The artistic pattern on the foreground is made of salts.

 

Mt Kilimanjaro.

 

Coming back to land in Arusha.

 

Mt Gelai, another mountain around lake Natron.

 

Mud flow on lake Natron after heavy rains upstream.

 

A few neighboring mountains: Gelai, Kitumbeine, Lengai.

 

Interesting weather.

lake Natron, aerial photography

 

that was an exceptional day, a perfect visibility. Kilimanjaro on the left is more than 150 km away. Mt Gelai is close in the middle, and Mt Meru on the right, Mt Kitumbeine on the far right. I’ve got very few in that style. And of course, lake Natron in the foreground

 

a typical abstract and vertical view of the salts.

 

a psychedelic view of a Natron delta.

 

I’d say there is a spring underneath to explain that swirl of floating salts. I’ve spotted that phenomenon, on the same spot, only twice.

 

Oldoinyo Sambu cliff on the western shore.

 

volcano Shombole on the Kenyan border.

 

sometimes, it gets more sober.

 

various deltas.

a 7 min flight over lake Natron, photography

 

that lake hardly ever disappoints me. Flying Medical Service has a couple of airstrips located on the shoreline. So taking off from one to the next airstrip offers some stunning vistas. Always.

Just taking off from Pininiyi for instance and heading north for instance, that’s a full view of an extinct volcano, Shombole. Or Shompole in use in Kenya.

 

Temperatures are close to 40C these days so opening a window is really welcome. Just look down and enjoy the show. Here is a small delta hardly filled up nevertheless the rains were heavy lately. But the village has an efficient irrigation system still going 20 years after some Belgian engineers built it.

 

within 2 minutes at 120 mph, here is another set of colors. These salts seem to possess an artistic sense of their own.

 and another minute...

the only color I have never seen in those salts is green.

 

 

 sometimes I feel there is a 3D aspect in those colored patterns...

 

red tones are the most common ones all year long.

 

10 minutes on the clock, time to land already on the northern shore, Njurlan.

Bush flying, Tanzania

Gorge flying in Olduvai Gorge.

 

My installation for video making while flying. Very efficient. Excellent results with that Nikon D300s.

 

I used to fly that airplane but I didn’t trash it. Funny enough the pilot managed to bring that crippled bird home. Well deserved bad karma for the company.

 

Dawn on Mt Meru, Arusha.

 

That’s a cheap and efficient way to maintain a grass airstrip.

 

 

Unwelcomed guests on the airstrip.

 

After the first rains the water levels can rise quickly.

 

bad weather brewing, time to leave.

Arusha, street life in pictures

 

 

The gap between poor and well-off people is getting bigger here too…

 

A truck full of pineapples. Various businesses take over empty lots in town.

 

I guess this dala dala driver got it wrong. No way Bollywood would be favored over Hollywood by non-Indians or Indian-descent people. Even the decent Indian-run cinema complex in Arusha is reducing the Indian films…There used to be 2 screens for each category. Now Hollywood films are taking over the Bollywood group. And '”VIP”?? That’s serious sense of humor.

 

 

 

an Indiana Jones tourist, one of million visiting Africa…

 

Bicycle-taxi, still pretty rare in Tanzania.

 

 

Some areas are just chaotic, selling everything but in too small shops, so the goodies and various dubious sellers  overflow on the sidewalk.

 

street photography on B/W film, Paris

 

Le Louvre and the Pyramid, the controversy is still raging. This married couple doesn’t seem to care.

Les Colonnes Buren in the Palais Royal, another example of mix between modern and classic arts that brings controversy. This model was posing for another photographer so I joined the free ride.

Throwing the usual coins but this place lacks of style as opposed to the Trevi fountain…

 

Inner square, le Louvre.

 

Peaceful reading at Canal St-Martin.

 

 

Les Tuileries garden aligned with le Louvre.

 

Montmartre, the artist square at Place du Tertre.

 

Lunch in style. I don’t blame these visitors considering the skyrocketing prices in many restaurants. Towards the Ile St-Louis, Pont-des-Arts bridge. Notice the shiny stains on the fence. These are the lovers’ padlocks. The city of Rome had theirs removed lately.

 

All shot on Ilford Delta Pro films and Leica M6.

Flying Medical Service, Tanzania, the airplane in the bush

 

Flying Medical Service operates 2 Cessna 206’s in Tanzania, mostly between Arusha and the Serengeti but we cover emergencu flights all over the country. Here are some pictures of the beasts in their favorite element, the bush…

Oljoro, a small village off the map like many. The clinic hut needs some repair and that big dust devil won’t make the roof any better.

 

Landing soon on the shoreline, Olorbelin, lake Natron. A quick look outside and here is a picture of the reflection and the shadow on the shallow waters.

 

At Monik on the western lake Natron shore, facing the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai. The doctor is busy attending the patients under the much needed shade.

 

Another airstrip, another clinic, another doctor at work…

This is Engoveroni on the slope of Empakai crater, Ngorogoro Highlands. This is our grade 5 airstrip. Look at the slope…it’s not me being drunk for the composure, look at the people who are standing straight up. I landed there last month with defective brakes but that was not an issue at all. Everything else is wrong too with this one, which makes it very challenging and rewarding.

 

More clinics, Ololosokwan in the Rift valley near Natron…

and Olbalbal outside Ngorongoro crater.

 

On another note I got a serious surprise 2 weeks ago: I was doing a preflight check around the airplane when the front half cargo door fell on my foot! Obviously preflights are there for a reason…

That was because the 2 hinge pins had been stolen. That is the twisted white thing on the picture, the top one here. Those things have no value but we never know what new use local Masai people could think of…

 

Pat, our director, has always been thoughtful about how to sort out troubles in the bush before calling for help. So we carry a decent toolbox on board amongst many things. For instance there are what look like giant hairpins, called Cotten pins. I just had to clip one in two and play around with one half for each hinge. Not sure this was entirely legal but what the heck…

people, Tanzania

 

just a joke but this religious portrait is so all over the place that it looks like a Tanzanian dude.