Kenya; Ngong Hills

Just out of the city of Nairobi are the Ngong Hills covered with windmills, satellite antennas and communication towers. Can’t cost anything to hike there around, i thought. In the village on the way to the hills were children playing. Some hide shyly, other ones showed up curiously about the stranger passing trough. Just a few adults were around, as curious as the young ones. A father peeks over the fence and ask me to take a photo from him with the kids. Over the village circling the blades of the massive windmills, making a sonorous, deep sound. You get used on it, the villager told me.

Despite the forest is almost gone, replaced by a wide access road and the wind generators, it’s called still a conservation park and a fee is to pay. With Ruth, a new friend and model, i entered the park and hiked around the huge generators. Some women and children followed along a trickling creek. Near the source of it they scooped water into buckets and carried them back to the huts.Three siblings got curious about the white/black couple doing a photo shooting. The youngest got scared, start to cry out loud, but got then overwhelmed by his own curiosity. With the support of the older sister he dared to get closer and play with the cam and the looked at the photos i made of him. At the end we all had a laughter about funny pictures.

Fun Group Hiking At Mt.Longonot

Mount Longonot a quite volcano about two hours drive out of Nairobi, is the destination for a group of friends for a hike. I got invited and joined it with pleasure. Too long time i didn’t hike, and with that funny, open minded and nice people it’s pure pleasure too.

There’s many photos in purpose of giving the people of the group the chance to see them and download it. Have fun along the „photo story“  …and many thanks for the group letting me join in for that day!

with Solita at hot springs

Early morning gives us a clear sight of Mt Kilimanjaro, while the natural hot springs are still deserted. Perfect condition for a photo shooting with Solita (instagram: @solitacruz), the queen of selfies, as she called herself. And indeed, she put herself in great poses and i just had to push the shutter. But yes, you wanna see the results now…

Photo shooting with Maasai woman

The idea was to travel to the Maasai village of her family to make photos in genuine Maasai  dresses. Unfortunately we didn’t make it so far, but found nice location around Arusha for photo shooting…

visiting ticino – southern switzerland

It’s a day trip over the Swiss alps by motorbike to reach the region of Ticino, the southern part of Switzerland. With the early golden morning sun i picked up a good friend who gave me nice company for this trip. At a lake just before the ascend to the alps started we had a coffee. From there it’s a winding road up to the heights of the mountains. Small, narrow roads, old, stoney bridges -as the „devil’s bridge“- and even a Russian monuments from the war at 1799 shows how busy this route was the last 2000 years.

By motorbike it’s a pleasant journey to lakes surrounded with mountains and palm trees. After a refreshing swim and some original Italian ice cream just over the nearby border, there was a nice stroll trough ancient alleys of town and visiting the castle of Bellinzona. Just before the night fell in, we were already back on the way north, letting the palm trees behind us.

making of: music clip with my travelcar

At first sight of the scenery i got confused. A girl was dancing on my dirty Land Rover and many spectators were watching her. As i noticed the film crew with all the equipment and the loud music from the back, i realized  my Land Rover gonna be part of their music clip. I didn’t find that clip on internet now, but desperately wanna see it when it’s published. And i’ll share it with you!

photo shooting with Lyster

On another fine day i drove south to discover new beaches. The menu at a beach bar offered masala tea, wich i chose over a thin coffee. The tasteless tea was rather disappointing, but at least i met a cute, young woman to talk with. She revealed her dreams of becoming a photo model. Her t-shirt said ‚be happy‘, confirming her sweet smile. There’s just a little chance for a real career, i told her honestly. However, i could offer a simple photo shooting, if she likes a few shots from herself. She agreed immediately and we had a funny time shooting at the beach…

 

Linda At The Beach

Many young women are keen of getting nice pictures of themselves. And photo shootings are always fun anyway. So was it with Linda too, as we met for a coffee at South Beach. A hazy day at  beach but just right for a few shots.

Tanzanian Beach Life

A crowded ferry sets hundreds of people over to the southern beaches of Daressalam. At Kigamboni i found a little paradise to camp and got stocked for more than two weeks. Every morning i watched early sun pushing trough the clouds and chased them away, made my coffee with the friendly words of the staff, did some laundry or small repairs before taking my book to the hammock at the beach.

There’s always been people to talk with too. As i met energetic Radhia, who told me about life here and all the many ideas and projects she has in life. Or two young volunteers just finished their time on a project in Rwanda and were on search for a perfect beach before heading back to Europe. I offered to drive south to more remote and unspoiled beaches …and we found was we were looking for: A lonely, white sanded beach with crystal clear water.

Tanzanian Maasailand (part 1)

It’s a little while since, but i don’t want hold back the pictures from my last Tanzania trip any longer. After the safari tour to Serengeti and Ngorogoro crater with – a rather disappointing – safari tour operator. I was happy to continue traveling with my own car and pace. On the safari tour i met two young tourist girls, who wanted to go to Daressalam too. I offered them to join me trough Maasailand instead of a boring, long bus ride direct to Dar. They agreed for sharing fuel and food.

The day before departure, the three of us went to local market to buy food. It’s hard bargaining if one goes with typically dressed tourist girls to the food stalls. Somehow we managed to get our supplies, as the girls told me about their appointment with the owner of the safari company we went days before. The same guy who cheated me and gave false informations to me, was inviting those young girls for pizzas and swimming pool at the most expensive hotel in Arusha and paid them even their room in a backpacker hostel. I joined the girls for that appointment and got at least a pizza myself and some relaxing hours with wifi at the pool at „Mt Meru Hotel“. The pizza was tasty, the pool refreshing and the view of Mount Meru splendid.

The first day traveling didn’t brought us very far, but to a wonderful oasis i knew from earlier visit. Hot spring and pool with crystal clear water was a delight after a dusty road trip. Since we supposed to travel as friends, the girls had to help with cooking while i pitched their tent for the night. With the highest mountain of Africa – Mt Kilimanjaro – we camped just next to the hot spring.

On the next day, we got deeper in Maasailand, with no specific route, just follow south on dusty roads. We passed some huts and villages which seemed to be abandon. Some kids lead cows somewhere, looking bewildered as we crossed their ways. The rain brought much green food for their cows. For us was it easy to find a quite place to camp in that lush, green bushland and enjoy a peaceful sunset.