Ben Wilhelmi

Aerial photography, Tanzania

Tanzania is such a big country gifted with many beautiful landscapes. Not only that, those landscapes vary tremendously come the rain seasons.

 

Salt lakes are perfect examples of ever changing colors and patterns. Here is a detail of lake Eyasi.

I guess pelicans visiting Tanzania.

 

The Ruaha river after the rain season.

 

The famous wildebeest migration near the Mara river, here on the Serengeti side.

 

Lake Natron, another salt lake.

 

The Rufiji river in the Selous reserve.

 

Lake Natron again.

 

A typical homestead like millions in the country.

 

Tarangire national park. Quite famous for its elephants.

 

Lake balangida, a lesser known salt lake. Those white dots are salt extraction activities. I would guess operated by local people only.

Aerials, lake Natron

A magnificent salt lake in the Rift valley, northern Tanzania, that offers a stunning range of colors and patterns over the years. Flying in the area never fails to make my day…

 

 

 

 

Human activity in Tanzania, aerials

 

lake Balangida, people collecting salt.

 

 

Masai kids playing on the scorched salted expanses of lake Natron! The surface must be boiling hot…

 

 

 

 

aerial photography, Tanzania

 

looking at volcano Lengai while overflying a glassy lake Natron.

 

artistic farmers?

 

 

salt lake named Balangida.

 

 

 

lake Balangida, people are busy collecting salt in piles.

 

 

aerials, lake Natron, Tanzania

 

a salt lake in the Rift Valley. All pictures shot in the same day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natron is also the only breeding place for flamingoes in Africa.

 

lake Natron aerials, one day

 

one day, that was last Friday. Another stunning day over lake Natron and its incredible salt pans. 10 pictures out of 300 I took that day just looking down my regular flight paths. I agree that having 3 airstrips to visit around just that day helps a bit to see the lake from different angles.

 

this is Shombole on the Kenyan border, an extinct volcano. 2 strips on each side.

 

 

part of the western Rift valley cliff.

 

 

 

 

 

quite unusual view: salts creeping up a delta river…

 

by the way, there are some links about lake Natron and Nick Brandt speeding through Facebook. Some comments have sometimes been added in an unscientific way. No, live things don’t die and get calcified right away when falling in these brackish waters. This is not Sodom and Gomorrah… true many parts of the lake are inhospitable, the pH can reach 10.5, the waters can be quite hot up to 60C  but there is hardly no calcium. The big risk is severe skin burns. Gead bodies get coated by sodium bicarbonate and that gives the so-called ‘calcified’ aspect.

 

lake Balangida, aerial photography, Tanzania

 

another little salt lake in the Rift Valley. Usually bland. So it was a big surprise a few weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

people collecting salt.

 

 

 

aerial photography, shapes and colors, Tanzania

 

Tanzania, land of contrast and diversity. Always keep an eye open

blue and yellow salts on lake Natron. The same day! To be precise these 2 pictures are shot by a friend, Valerie Kosheleff, keen amateur too, but we cooperated as a team for these and decided to share the copyright. I was flying, sharing my experience out there, yanking or turning the plane, telling her what I wanted her to shoot. And she was  telling me in turn what to do according to what her wishes. Good eye I’d say.

 

 

below another flight, another day…

3 pictures of lake Balangida near Mt Hanang. These cones are salt mounds made and harvested  by local people.

 

 

 

below are some pictures of another small area near Hanang, Mgori.