Ben Wilhelmi

Tanzania, scenes in a village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dar es Salaam, street photography

 

 

Swastikas…whether side they’re orientated, why did the Nazis choose a religious symbol from India?

 

 

 

Quite a few lost masai men in Dar. What are they doing so far from their homeland? Whenever I see them here they seem to do peanuts or just sell a few dirty jars full of whatever suspicious mixtures…

 

Beggar at a crossroad.

 

Sidewalks seem to belong to everybody in Africa. Too bad for your business visibility…

 

street vendor amongst traffic jam

 

Bicycle repair” shop”. Marketing is all about shit to sell right? Why not shop….

 

All the rednecks in the world, unite. A Ferrari sign on a piece of Chinese junk is no worse than what can be seen in the west.

aerial pictures, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

drama in Arusha,Tanzania

 

A few days ago a criminal was escorted to the prison near the airport ( a real great choice of location, the usual question is which one was there first…just like in my home country where an hospital is located at the end of a major runway for airliners).

The criminal was handcuffed and he asked to get out for a pee. The policeman agreed and got killed by a blow to the head with a rock!

The guy ran away but was then chased by other “criminals”, I’m just joking a bit, I’m talking about the “boda boda” riders, that is the motorbike-taxi riders who manage to drive quite carelessly and drive other motorists crazy. The local hospitals see victims everyday…the morgues notices a rise in clients.

For once, hats off, the “boda boda” posse chased the runaway, cornered him and  tried to subdue him, but he managed to get a machete from one of them and got menacing (machetes sometimes look like part of normal dress code in Tanzania). So the crowd sensed it was better to keep away, call the police and wait.

I left 2 details for the end. The dead policeman was escorting the killer on his own, it looks like the usual bright psychological experts get things quite wrong here too just as in the West and didn’t notice the potential danger of this nice person. And they were on board of a public bus! Cutting costs? This double cut will prove deadly…

Flying Medical Service at work, Tanzania

 

Flying Medical Service…in Tanzania. I ended my second tour of duty last month but I still feel close to the group. An airplane has been lost, a replacement is much needed. If anyone is interested in a good cause, please visit the Facebook page, Flying Medical Service, or visit the website http://www.flyingmedicalservice.org/. Thanks a lot!

The remote bush…a myth, a dream for traveller but sometimes a hurdle for local people who live far from everything. They will walk for hours just to attend our clinics, receive vaccinations, treatment or sometimes a lift back to the nearest hospital for the serious cases.

 

here a basic hut for the doctor and his patients, the pregnant women….

But privacy is sometimes a luxury so a tree will do.

 

 

Remote bush I said…

 

 

 

the type of village we serve.

 

after a bush fire.

 

pictures fished out of my old files, film photography. But the situation hasn't changed at all...

Flying Medical Service at work in the Tanzanian bush

 

Flying Medical Service is an NGO in Tanzania, for more information n the work we do, please have a look at our Facebook page or the website. We need a replacement aircraft like this after a spectacular loss last week…

This is a typical scene, the aircraft, the people (here Masai) waiting for their turn either for vaccination or treatment.

 

Our missed C 206 taking off from Arusha on a beautiful morning. Mt Meru in full glory.

 

A village and an airstrip near the active volcano Lengai. Some places are really remote, without even a decent dirt track.

 

Masai people can walk for quite some distance to see us every 2 weeks.

 

Things change. 10 years ago, none of our clinics had a network.

 

Masai pregnant women receive a tetanus vaccination shot.

 

A lady carefully listens to our doctor.

 

A typical village without any form of facility. The closest hospital is 2 days away for a fit warrior.

 

Sometimes we have a hut, so the doctor can work in a private environment and have a shelter, sometimes the wing is all we get.

a bad story from Tanzania

 

aaahhhh Tanapa Tanapa rangers... a guide new to Ndutu area (in Ngorongoro Conservation Area) had crossed into Serengeti NP by 200m with his 75 year old lady client. An unmarked jeep started to chase him. Smartly the guide sped away back to lodge in NCA.
That jeep followed within the lodge limits, the guys on board, without uniforms, dragged the guide out of his jeep and started to beat him big time in front of the lady!
It appears those punks are Tanapa people, that is Tanzania National Park! I can't believe how many mistakes these criminals have done in one action, on top of the beating!
I have to fish my baseball bat out for my next safari...

Flying Medical Service, crash, part III

 

 

the tail section looks interesting. The vertical fin is where the red cross stands…

 

the windshield is normal located there, instead of that orange pipe and the rest.

 

the wing…a big chunk missing obviously.

 

the engine, thrown 80m away from the impact. We hardly salvaged anything from it. A magneto, the starter and the oil cap… the rest looked too messed up.

 

Masai on the prowl…

 

the 6 seats didn’t seem worth of taking back with us.  All bent, rails ripped off…they’ll make people happy.

 

Pat looking for a last bit to remove.

Flying Medical Service crash, part II

 

 

one wheel track towards the killing tree…

 

damaged vegetation, the wreck lies 60m away from the impact point, the engine 80m away! The thing weighs close to 300 kg…

 

Picasso was here…

 

the leading of the right wing, looking backwards!

 

 

a serious bend in the longitudinal axis is here very obvious. That nose wheel shouldn’t be so high up in the sky.

 

and this wheel shouldn’t be that close to the door either… all that mess on the low right side of the picture is where the windshield was. It is amazing the 2 guys in front didn’t get serious injuries on the head.

 

Pat at work on the nose assembly. Incredible, the whole unit looked fine, so we salvaged it amongst various parts.

 

the pink shirt dude was a bit of a helper but was also impatient to get to the wreck for his own benefit. People had collected all the missing bits, mainly medicines, syringes and papers, alongside the accident trail seen here on the right side, and all should be burnt.

It was obvious some people had taken some medicines for self medication or resale…risky business especially amongst uneducated people. We have seen disasters before.

anyway, we're busy looking for a replacement aircraft so we can continue our medical outreach work in remote areas. If you are willing to danate for a great cause, please visit http://www.flyingmedicalservice.org/

Flying Medical Service, aircraft accident, Tanzania

 

Unfortunately an accident happened last week in Ilkiushi Oibor, also called Mkongonero, south of Arusha. Fortunately, though some injuries are serious, nobody died.

To make it simple, the cause of the accident is a fly-by that didn’t go well.

I was away for the week so I didn’t take part in the first 2 flights out there, that is the rescue flight with a larger plane to bring everybody back, including the 2 girls on stretchers, and then a second flight to bring an aviation inspector and assess the wreck.

It was then decided to fly a 3rd time this Sunday. I joined Pat my former boss, but still friend, at Flying Medical Service  down there with a big tool box.

 

Not a pretty sight… N36MS lying to rest.

 

a wheel track after the fly by went wrong. Further are the scrubs and the tree the plane at high speed.

here are some bits of the windows, probably on impacting the nose on the ground after the tree collision.

 

Pat having a close look . That nose wheel alone in the sky should be at eye level. While the engine was ripped apart, the whole front section was bent downwards, yes not upwards, the plane must have been by then close to vertical position on the first impact…

 

that is one wing. Yes, fellow pilots, that black hole is the fuel cap, which means indeed the wing has been twisted upside down! The tail was torn and twisted forwards at an angle 140 deg angle, and sideways 90 deg. The portion sticking up is an elevator. The 2nd elevator was found 70m away. A cargo door had been popped out…

and again those amazing landing gears, the 3 of them, were intact! Funny enough the main tyres were flat. Fat thorns had been picked up while going through the acacia tree.

the seats and the instruments are all over the place.  We couldn’t help wondering how nobody got crushed, especially the 2 front passengers…Cessna engineers definitely did a great job in designing the C 206 cabin.

 

lots of onlookers, some helpers too, others impatiently waiting for us to leave and finish off the wreck. Nothing gets really discarded in Africa.

 

we are looking to replace such an aircraft. In the meantime we are not able to provide our usual medical care in the remote areas. People won’t be able to get treated, kids won’t received their vaccinations… So if you are interested in donating, just visit our website  http://www.flyingmedicalservice.org/, thank you.

street photography, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

 

 

Lost Masai people, quite far away from their homeland. Not sure what kind of business they are up to but I bet profits will be minimal. Is it as a good trade as with cattle business in the open bush?

 

 

 

 

 

Che Guevarra’s iconic picture. Totally misused here as in the West.

 

Knife sharpener on a colorful bicycle.

 

Tanzania is said to be the African fastest growing economy in mobile phones…

Kenya, photography while driving

 

This is not Rwanda, so even though many people carry machetes there is no reason to raise concerns. This is a normal way of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“fresh from the field”

lake Natron, aerial photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bush portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burma, B/W film pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

aerial photography, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volcano Lengai, Tanzania

 

 

this active volcano lies in the Rift Valley, northern Tanzania. This picture was shot from the air overhead lake Natron.

 

 

 

seen from an airstrip on the other side of lake Natron, 70km away.

 

 

 

view of the bottom.

Château de Fontainebleau, photography