Ben Wilhelmi

People in South Sudan

 

 

A civil war is raging, another timid and fragile peace agreement in the process...let's hope.

Yet in the middle of numerous atrocities and 4 million refugees of various status, life can sometimes seem normal.

 

 

Fashion is taken very seriously even in some remote places.

 

Fashion but traditional outfits are still present.

 

 

"l love Africa" Tshirt!

 

I flew beds in and was treated like a saint...I was even interviewed and was known as the Belgica man for a while. Belgica...where did the radio girl pick that is a mystery.

 

Many of those pictures would have thrown me in jail if l had been caught. Beware! A cow or a mama selling can be considered sensitive subject by any trigger happy dude or any idiot with a government ID... remember you see a lot of what look like soldiers but they are not proper soldiers, just men in uniforms who happen to fight in the bush. Conventions and rules are a strange concept.

Aerials of lake Natron, Tanzania

A stunnig salt lake in the Rift valley, northern Tanzania. It used to be said most inhospitable yet it is opening to tourism. Let's not open the debate but I feel privileged I usd to visit and overfly this place for many years when visitors were rare.

 

Because the lake is shallow, a little or big rain and a variable wind will give a new coat on a regular basis. This explains why in the 6 years l flew there a coupla times a month l never got bored!

 

 

This red pattern tends to be the most common one.

 

Ph is over 10, wildlife in the lake is limited to flamingoes but on the outskirt there is a bit of normal life, including fish and some mammals.

 

 

 

This zebra and birds are keeping their feet safe on a river delta.

 

Some days, it looks like the lake is mourning...

 

Caught in the dust.

 

 

Random pictures, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

One of my previous jobs, pilot at Flying Medical Service. Real bush flying as this airstrip implies.

 

 

Technology discrepancies...

 

Fishermen casings around Pemba islands.

 

Waving at friends... I will never forget these experiences in such balloons. Here in Ruaha NP.

 

 

Not a car from the company I fly for! we meet interesting dodgy companies out there...

 

One of the ferries between Zanzibar and the mainland.

 

Many rivers flow in Tanzania, here is the Luwego.

 

A young woman in Zanzibar.

Different cultures and religions...

A young girl in the bush.

 

Portraits in the Tanzanian bush.

 

 

 

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Stonetown, Zanzibar, street photography

 

Stonetown can be quite vibrant, sometimes too much when the hawkers and other "superglue" get in the way. "Superglue" seems to become a slightly derogatory word in East Africa that doesn't need explanations.

 

 

Not fair, as often, guys dress pretty much the way they like in the heat...

 

As said before black clad clothes are meeting colorful rivals.

 

 

 

A mainland tourist?

 

 

There is always a bunch of active youngsters showing off at Forodhani garden. They have sadly just lost a great diving spot for the benefit of more tourist junk sellers. There are already a zillion around who are misguided into thinking tourists come to Zanzibar to buy their goodies....shame on the authorities for spoiling these guys' playground and a great vista too.

 

 

Tanzania, people in the bush, B/W analog pictures.

These pictures come from my archives, around 2000, northern Tanzania, but I still use a few analog cameras nowadays.