Ben Wilhelmi

Random aerials, Tanzania

 

 

It took me a while and a picture to notice at the same time a reflection and a shadow of an aircraft. "They have eyes but don't see" says the latine proverb...

Here over lake Natron salt flats.

 

Flamingoes taking off. Lake natron again but on a normal looking area where the water reaches 3m deep.

 

2 young Masai boys. Their white make up and black cloaks indicate the boys were recently circumcized, paving the way to warriorhood.

 

I was lucky that day...what a scenery.

 

Lake Natron again, always a different coat.

Flamingoes on lake Natron, aerials

 

 

 

Those white dots are nests.

 

 

The chicks are grey initially.

 

 

lake Natron, aerial photography

 

a wonderful salt lake in the Rift Valley. One of many along the Rift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

aerials shots, lake Natron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lake Natron, aerial and abstract photography

 

 

some general views of that wonderful and artistic lake. Above in the dry season, the salts are very colorful. Whereas below we are in the rain season, the water level has risen and the salts are submerged. The lake looks normal.

 

Flamingoes love this place, they even selected this lake and only this lake in Africa for breeding.

 

I really love flying out there and shoot vertical shots to isolate details, like abstract paintings.

 

 

 

 

breeding flamingoes, lake Natron

 

 

those dark spots are flamingo nest by hundreds.

 

getting closer. The nest are now empty and the chicks are walking around under the adult supervision.

 

 

 

 

lake Natron, Tanzania, aerials of colorful salts and flamingoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not a B/W picture. Interesting fact after all these colors before.

Tanzania, lake Natron, B/W aerials

 

tiny white salt particles floating on black water.

 

Flamingoes nesting on the dry crust.

 

usually the tones would be red, from pink to burgundy. This pattern is also the most common one and covering the largest zones.

 

Flamingoes flying low level.

 

aerial photography, lake Natron

 

northern Tanzania, Rift valley. The black dots are flamingoes. The Natron is the only breeding place in Africa for flamingoes. A fact to keep in mind when bloody plans are proposed to open a soda mine there.

flamingo nests on a dry crust. They look like giant egg holders.

and baby chicks learning to walk. They love to stick together in the salt water for better protection from predator.

 

besides flamingoes let’s enjoy the ever changing colors and abstract patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

occasionally pelicans stop by on their long migration.

B/W aerial photography, lake Natron

 

lake Natron, a marvel of a salt lake in northern Tanzania, one of the few salt lakes in the Rift Valley.

Flamingoes thrive there, it is even the only breeding place in Africa. Notice the shadows and the reflections.

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, aerial photography

 

Once in a while in flight, I open my window and get a picture. Tanzania is an incredible beautiful country.

Mount Monduli and mount Meru further.

 

A common rainshower over the Serengeti.

 

Colored salts on lake Natron.

 

Long shadows, early morning.

 

The top of Mount Meru at about 15.000 feet.

 

volcan Lengai and lake Natron

 

lake Natron, the only breeding place for flamingoes in the whole Africa. And there are salt extraction projects to trash the place…

 

A Masai village, one early morning.

 

Those holes are boreholes. No idea why in this case they are so close to each other.

 

A bit of the Rift valley, lake Natron.

strong colors, lake Natron, aerial photography

 

a salt lake with an artistic touch...not the only one but I still feel privileged to fly over.

 

 

 

flamingoes breeding on the crust surface. Yes those little pink dots. It is very obvious on a large print.

 

Flamingoes nesting. Lake Natron is the only breeding place in Africa and one of the very few in the world. And they don't even breed every year. If conditions are not right, like salinity, water level...they won't breed, just patiently wait. So when those bloody plans to a open a soda factory there, one doesn't need to be a rocket scentist to foresee disaster looming.

Ok I cheated a bit, this a serious enlargement and cropped picture. I couldn't decently fly low and scare them off.

lake Natron, aerial pictures

 

some flamingoes seem to live there permanently. The others will anyway always come back to breed and only here in Africa. They visit many other lake including in Kenya but they favor lake Natron for breeding as they did this year. Not an every year occurrence by the way.

 

Believe it or not these pictures were taken on the same day on a double short flight, hopping from one airstrip to the next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt Gelai to the south east.

 

 

this place never ceases to amaze me.

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.

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.

flamingoes nesting on lake Natron, aerials

 

some time ago, there were news that flamingoes might come to lake Natron and breed…BBC Nature mentioned that rare feat and asked us at Flying Medical Service, amongst other pilots, to keep an eye open. Which we did and this Friday, on my way to Loliondo I spotted the hundreds of nests near the south but quite center on the lake on a large salt pan, isolated from predators by acidic waters.

I dropped a few thousands feet, did 2 circles and here are some of the shots. Those grey dots are the nests.

 

Then I realised we had missed the nest building period. Here are the flamingo chicks in grey with a few adults.

 

 

 

 

Notice that some nests still contain an egg.

 

 

 

sad news is that next day, the whole salt pan was submerged! The lake is flat, at 3 meter deep at most, so it fills up very fast in case of serious rains. And these days it’s all about serious thunderstorms and showers all day long. I‘ve just had 3 flooded airstrips these last 3 days of flying… so the adult flamingoes most likely took off but the chicks at that stage don’t fly yet and they must have drowned. I couldn’t see those chicks around but anyway I can’t imagine they’ve had time to walk to safety10 or 20 km away.

I’ve seen once nests disappear within one rainy day but at a much earlier stage I think since I hadn’t spotted any eggs and later did not notice any youngsters…

flying the Tanzanian bush

 

The Cessna I’m flying these days, just before take off facing Olbalbal pond. Funny airstrip, just long enough but way too wide…

 

active volcano Lengai at rest these days. But nevertheless a stunning scenery, still covered in grey ashes from the last eruption some years ago.

 

A typical dust devil, kind of a mini twister. Not dangerous…

 

Some colleague flyers, lake Natron.

 

Outreach clinics in the Rift Valley, Oleparkashi.

 

My Masai audience before take off.

 

Just after take off from Njurlanon salt lake Natron.

 

lake Natron and its permanent residents, flamingoes.

 

Looking down on final, landing at Olorbelin on the northern Natron shoreline. I love these reflections and shadows on the water surface altogether on one shot.

pink flamingos, photography from an aircraft, lake Natron

 

these pictures are all fresh from the last days. Lake Natron, northern Tanzania, was rich in colors, salt patterns and shapes. And in Flamingos of course. They had been nesting a few months ago. Now the chicks can fly.

 

 

First flight of the day over the lake, I stayed a bit high and far. The flamingos are thus not that scared but they gather together, leaving those blue grey footprints in the salted mud.

 

 

On a second flight I brought the Cessna 206 a bit lower and they start to take off. Now I get to anticipate their direction, their sudden turns altogether, and I have to bank more or less steeply, either to turn or to point the camera more vertically. Notice the smaller birds on this shot which are not flamingos but other stilt birds like avocets, lapwings…

 

OK I was not flying that close and shooting at the same time. These are just big picture cropping. These are not waves but water ripples due to the 1000’s of legs beating the water surface on take off.

Steep turns and the shadows are at nearly 90 degrees off, they seem at odd with the birds.

 

On take off. Once again, notice the shadow and reflection at the same time.

 

Near perfect reflections on this bit of water. Interesting lake as the water surface and colors change every 5 minutes.

flamingoes, aerial photography on lake Natron, Tanzania

 

2 days ago, I was flying over northern lake Natron and spotted the usual flamingoes living there. I had to slow down the airplane for landing anyway, less than 10 minutes of flight between the 2 airstrips, and I could shoot them at various angles and light and locations. There were 3 groups a bit further of the delta and the water aspect changes dramatically within a few hundred meters.

Once again, the birds were showing a shadow and a reflection on the water surface.

 

 

Still running to gain speed as flamingoes don’t take off vertically.

 

They get into flying in so packed formation flights and never seem to crash, always amazing. And that feat makes me a bit jealous I have to admit.

 

I like this one for the triple action: one group stays cool while a second one is on the run and a third is already airborne. I’ll see if I can print this one on our A3+ printer.

 

 

wildlife from the air, photography

 

It’s not always easy to get pictures of animals at lower altitudes while zooming quickly overhead and holding the airplane controls at the same time . But it’s highly rewarding when it works.

 

Easier when keeping a few hundred meters above.

Flamingoes nesting on lake Natron.

 

Wildebeests and zebras.

 

More flamingoes in Arusha NP.

 

Zebras on a lake Natron delta. And wildebeests a bit further.

 

A lone wildebeest, a bit lost.

 

2 days ago a giraffe enjoying a fast shrinking water pond in the Ngorongoro area.

 

Scared Cape elands on the run (my secret location in case bloody hunters read this blog), these are the biggest antelopes.

 

Zebras again on Natron.

wildlife, aerial photography

 

here is a collection of various aerial and wildlife pictures here and there in northern Tanzania. I’d like to remind the new visitors to my blog that I fly AND shoot myself, so please be kind to the flaws these shots might present. I can’t afford a private pilot with a helicopter…nor can’t I waste my boss’ money for my passion. I fly once over my subject and keep on. Many times I wish I could circle and circle again to improve some shots….

This herd of zebras roams not far from Arusha, quite a nice feeling to know about that feat…

The same, a bit cropped.

 

Somewhere in the Serengeti under low light. Not a great picture but I have got none other with a green background. Mental note…

 

Flamingoes on lake Natron. Notice the shadows and reflections.

 

Some giraffes near Ngorongoro.

 

Wildebeests in a delta on lake Natron.

 

Giraffes with Ngorongoro range in the distance…

 

…and zebras nearby.

Flamingoes, lake Ndutu, Tanzania

 

lake Ndutu on the edge of Ngorongoro conservation area is a wonderful place. A Serengeti touch with the Ngorongoro in the background.

 

early morning, warm light on feeding flamingoes.

 

low approach for landing.

fluffy feathers.