Tag Archives: Africa

Africa

As if in a dream

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According to one definition surreal means an oddly dreamlike quality.

Accidental motion blur.
I dropped my camera while taking a picture of the things I was packing .

A decade ago I went on a three day safari before heading out to a remote village in Kenya where we were working on getting a library set up.

The safari was surreal in a few ways: the animal life so different from what I am used to seeing. They were doing a burn to keep the grasslands healthy and it was the rainy season, so the atmosphere had a hazy other-worldly quality. (You can make an image larger by clicking on it).

Do you see the hippos?
Keeping watch
Can you spot the lion?
Some images from Kichwa Tembo at Masai Mara in Kenya
Safari link plane arriving to take me away.

The return from the safari, flying over the Kibera slums

A bird’s eye view of Nairobi. The rusty sea of irregular roofs in the center is the Kibera slum.

then traveling though “the jam”,

then to the hot crowded reality of a small village

magnified the dreamlike quality of those three days at Masai Mara.

For the Lens Artists Challenge: Surreal I took a few photos from that little trip and played with them to get an even more surreal look, using a bunch of different tools and techniques in Topaz Studio 2.

Africa

Three Amazing Days

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Certainly one of the most memorable things in my life was a three day safari at Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. It was about ten years ago now but the memories have not faded. Words can’t describe being in such an awe inspiring place. I was there for only three days but…wow…I look back and have a hard time believing all of the amazing wildlife we saw.

Elephants and crowned cranes at a watering hole at Kichwa Tembo at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Watering hole.
A male lion in the grass.
Afternoon nap time.
Mother and baby elephant.
Baby looks so tiny, but it’s about the size of a normal adult human.
Mother leopard licking her cub.
Tender moment.
Two lepards in the grass.
Echo in the grass.
One year old leopard at Masai Mara.
The little one.
Three leopards, mom, two year old and one year old at Masai Mara.
Small, medium and large leopards.
Cubs playing while lionesses sleep.
“Nap” time.
Cheetah stretching after his afternoon nap.
Nothing like a good stretch.
Sleepy lion cub in a mass of sleeping littler mates.
Cheetah looking through the grass.
An al fresco champagne breakfast at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Best breakfast EVER!
Cape buffalo with bird accessories block a dirt road in Masai Mara through the window of our safari vehicle.
Traffic stop.
Lioness in the foreground and a group of elephants in the background.
African morning
A male lion during the morning golden hour.
Just out for a stroll.
Elephant at dawn.
A couple of hippos in the Mara River in Kenya.
The do look a bit like horses when they are in the water.
Family of crowned cranes at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Lilace Breasted Roller at Masai Mara in Kenya.
An opal of a bird.
Ostriches, Thompson's gazelles with a Topi just entering the frame.
Savannah mixer.
Topi at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Sleek and handsome.
Herd of giraffes at Masai Mara in kenya.
Watching us watching them.
Small plane arriving at an airstrip at Kichwa Tembo in Masai Mara.
Safari Link
Masai Mara Safari

For Len’s Artists Photo Challenge: Memorable Events, and Sunday Stills: Wildlife.

Africa

Mrs. Munyoki

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Mrs. Munyoki keeps a tidy compound.

Another person from Mulundi Village in Kenya. Mrs. Munyoki is a widow with two adult children. Her son, Mr. Elijah was a teacher, and assis tant principal (at the advanced age of 19!). Elijah was a good friend of my son and his mother was one of James’s “African mothers” who looked after him when he spent a few months teaching in the village back in 2011, right after he graduated from college.

For That Travel Lady in her Shoes’s Just One Person from Around the World.

Africa

Felix’s Mom

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Earning a few shillings

In this photo she is making mandazi, a type of free-form doughnut, hoping to sell breakfast to folks headed to school or work.

In the village in Africa where I visited people, women especially, seemed to often be identified as somebody’s parent. I don’t believe I ever heard this woman’s name. She was the single mother of one of the people we helped with scholarships. Her son, Felix, was starting university about the time this photo was taken. We were helping that family because, in addition to her being a single mother, her house had been burned to the ground a few years earlier, leaving her with nothing.

For That Travel Lady in Her Shoes blog’s Just One Person From Around the World challenge.

Africa

Water carrier in Kenya

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Kenyan woman emptying a jerrycan of water.
Water carrier bringing water to make mortar for construction.

A critical item in construction is water. The nearest well to this school project was about a kilometer away. The women of the village, in some cases mothers of the students of the school, earned a very small amount of extra money by carrying water. The cistern in the background was for rainwater, suitable for drinking, a commodity too valuable to use to make mortar.

Notice that this woman is using a khanga as a carrying strap for the jerrycan, it is softer than rope and most women have one with them, so it is readily available.

For That Travel Lady in Her Shoes’ Just One person from Around the World challenge.

Africa

Somewhere in Africa

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This is Mr. Kithusi. He lives in Mulundi, Kenya, a few miles from the market town of Kitui.

Here he is walking in the courtyard of his compound. My son and I stayed with him and his family on two trips to the village in 2011 and 2012. My son also lived with the family for three months when he graduated college, teaching at a near-by secondary school.

Mr. Kithusi of Mulundi Village in Kenya.

Don’t let the rust fool you, this is a relatively wealthy family and the compound is quite well kept. They have quite a bit of farmland and own a flock of goats and a milk cow.

Khanga on the wash lines.

Khanga, lesos are what they are called in other places, are an important part of Kenyan attire. I have a book of 100 uses for a khanga. Everything from a simple wrap around skirt to improvised baby carrier.

When Mrs. Kithusi came to the USA to visit her daughter, she gave her khanga (leso) to the woman who was going to milk the cow while she was away, so it would feel comfortable with her.

For Just One Person From Around the World and Monday Washing Lines.