Ben Wilhelmi

Birds, Tanzania

 

Pied kingfishers hover a few seconds, then dive vertically in water for fish. It took me a while but finally I had a great day last week and got a few of them in action, like this diver here just emerging from the river. (alcyon pie ou martin-pêcheur pie)

 

African spoonbill (spatule africaine), a rare bird with a flat beak.

 

African pied wagtails, 2 young females and one young male haha (bergeronnette pie)

 

Rare beauty, a northern carmine bee-eater (guêpier écartalate)

 

More common tough hard to get a picture in flight, they’re so quick so I’m reasonably happy with this picture. Little bee-eater (guêpier nain)

 

Yellow-throated longclaw (sentinelle à gorge jaune)

 

 

Red-billed oxpeckers (piqueboeuf à bec rouge) singing on what appears to be a rock. Well I guess I was victim of target obsession as described in the air force because that rock was just a sleepy hippo and placid, lucky for me since I was on foot only 20m away...dumb me. With my spine tingling big time I humbly moved back. Too much focus on the birds and voilà.

 

Another picture I’m really pleased with. This African skimmer (bec-en-ciseaux d’Afrique) does that fishing exercise on a few dozens meters with a stunning stability all the time but never too close, at least on that river. Except that time, it did its impressive feat 20m in front of me! The muscles on the neck must so strong. I couldn’t do that with my aircraft (nose wheel type that is, tail wheel aircraft can skim with their main wheels).

 

The same skimmer at a usual distance. I didn’t notice the crocodile till I opened the picture on the computer! Target obsession again.

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

Rare rhinos, Serengeti

 

The legendary Mara river crossing, Serengeti side.

 

Lions hiding, Ngorongoro crater

 

Goliath heron, the tallest flying bird in Africa, Mahale park.

 

Colobus monkey, Arusha park.

 

Pussyfoot baboon, lake Manyara.

 

Lake Magadi, Ngorongoro crater.

 

How does a pelican manage to land on an acacia thorny branch and get wounded….

 

 

An African jacana, massive feet for mud walking. When one spots the footprint alone, one can’t help wondering if a dinosaur has been walking by.

Random pictures, Brussels

 

A few days after the March bombing in Brussels, few planes were spotted. This military C130 or a cargo plane…

 

One of our few glories….

 

King Albert Ist.

 

Queen Elisabeth. Ours, not the Brit one. Soldiers reenacting for a memorial.

 

The house sparrow that we also find in Tanzania. This is not a migratory bird but was rather introduced in Africa.

 

 

Is this due to our comic book heritage that some good sense of humor artist gave this funny look to the highest statue on the Grand Place?

 

The other statues are classical.

 

Below some wildlife, not in Brussels, but on my doorstep in Enghien. Not bad for a town.

A lone roe (chevreuil)still shedding its winter fur.

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

A fish eagle chasing a young bird of prey.

 

The fabulous chimpanzees in Mahale park.

 

In the Ngorongoro, a young zebra still in his brown stripes.

 

Menu is a bit boring, wildebeests, but plenty for this cheetah… Serengeti plains near the Mara river.

 

The Mara river.

 

 

 

There was some red mud somewhere.

Death Valley, medium format film

 

Shot with a splendid 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerials of lake Natron in 8 min

Yes, 8 minutes between the 1st and last picture! That lake is just an 8th wonder… from bland colors to the brightest palette.

Except green, those salts can offer any color, adding black and white on top. Green colors though can be seen near the deltas where fresh waters come in and start to mix with the salts.

Ph can hit 11. No surprise only some algae and flamingoes thrive in that environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture shows the right orientation, you’re watching at a perfect reflection in the water.

 

Air temperature hits 45C sometimes. Those salts can be boiling hot. I remember feeling the heat through my soles. Now those Maasai kids just wear sandals made of old tyres…

 

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

Ground hornbill.

 

 

Sykes monkey, also called blue monkey, lake Manyara

 

 

Pelicans delaying my take off… lake Manyara. Every year they pass by in Tanzania. They’ve just reached the Ruaha park.

 

Buffalo in a lake, Selous.

 

Wildebeests near the Mara river.

 

Mother cheetah and cubs, Serengeti.

 

Hippos rolling in the mud, Katavi

Tanzania, aerial photography

 

Footprints on a salt lake bed, lake Balangida. Of humans, cows and goats I presume.

 

Hippos are having a hard time in the Katavi. They squeeze in the last remnants of muddy pools.

 

Last week a massive bush fire started on Katasunga plain, Katavi park. 80% of that vast plain was black at the time of the picture. The rangers were clueless or lying about the origin of the fire.

 

Mahale, lake Tanganyika, life on the beach. I guess the fishermen have laid out that massive net for fixing the damages.

 

A detail of the Indian ocean near mafia island. It looks like a channel at the shallow bottom.

 

A bit of the shoreline in Pemba island, my favorite island to overfly so far.

 

Siwandu, Selous reserve.

 

Near Mufindi, patchwork of fields.

 

Near Kipili bay, southern part of lake Tanganyika.

Indian ocean, Tanzania, aerials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little flight in the southern Selous

 

And what a show time! Hippos, giraffes, buffaloes, waterbucks, elephants…on top of the artistic work of the Luwegu river  flowing through the sand banks.

 

 

 

Some guys have a weird notion of straightness… unknown airstrip for now in the southern Selous reserve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waterbucks on the run.

People, South Sudan

 

 

In the middle of a civil war, some girls look out of place but we won’t complain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arusha, street photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial photography, Tanzania

 

Greeting a Maasai man one morning.

 

Mangrove on mafia island, Indian ocean.

 

Chada plain, Katavi park.

 

Katasunga river, Katavi park. Check the hippos all corned in one remaining pool.

 

Sand banks in the Luwegu river, Selous reserve.

 

Salt factory on the beach near Dar es Salaam.

 

Lake Balangida.

 

 

Sunrise on the Indian ocean.

People in South Sudan

Amongst all that extreme violence and barbarity there seemed to be some hope. With women as usual. Men seem hopelessly happy in crime and atrocities…OK maybe I simplify a bit. This week again 20 travellers were killed, 21 wounded while some trucks were attacked, one truck was torched with people on board. No women reported in the assailants.

This kind of stunning was a regular occurrence.

 

 

 

 

2 women in a military camp. Christmas 2014, their village next door had been razed and burnt. How does one manage to smile after that…

 

 

 

Scenes in Africa

 

Hadzabe man hunting.

 

Why step down if the pushers are strong enough…?

 

Not a royal British hat but a slab of meat. South Sudan.

 

Something went wrong in the marketing plan…

 

Nairobi.

 

Traffic jam in the bush, Kenya.

 

South Sudan, an extremely common scene..

 

Refugees with hope in a military camp, South Sudan.

 

Laundry day.

 

Sardines drying under the sun, lake Tanganyika.

 

Women’s duties, same lake.

Lake Natron, Tanzania, aerials over the years

 

OK OK I’m just a little bit biased over that stunning salt lake located in the Rift valley.

 

 

The salts offer all the rainbow palette but green. About shapes, well there is quite some diversity as well.

 

 

Just to add a little touch and leave nothing to the other lakes, natron is surrounded by an extinct volcano, Shombole on the Kenyan border, and an active volcano, Lengai to the south.

 

 

Another big touch is the presence of flamingoes. Not an exception in the various lakes of the Rift valley but Natron is the only breeding place for them in Africa!

 

 

Aerial photography, Tanzania

 

aerial shooting in Tanzania is an neverending activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial details, lake Natron

 

For those who jumped on the band wagon recently, these close up pictures were shot over lake Natron, a salt lake in the Rift valley, northern Tanzania.