Kenya – Nairobi: Methare Slum

This slum suburb of Nairobi, as well as the Kibera slum, was the scene of violent riots and killings that erupted after the flawed presidential election in December 2007. These photos were taken during a pause in the violence. I visited the area accompanied by a friend, Thomas Gale, a university professor in Nairobi who

Kenya – Nairobi: Bomas Museum

This national outdoor museum near Nairobi displays various tribal houses found throughout Kenya and also offers colorful dance programs from the tribes. There are more than fifty tribes in Kenya. Not far away is the Karen Blixen Museum dedicated to the authoress of ‘Out of Africa’. Her original house stands near one of the coffee

Kenya – Nairobi: City (1)

Kenya has been among Africa’s economic and political ‘successes’ since independence in 1963. Nairobi is one of the continent’s premier cities. I arrived two days after the national presidential elections on December 27, 2008. The results were angrily disputed and riots broke out all over the country. Some of the images (#40-52) here reveal the

Kenya – Nairobi: City (2)

Kenya has been among Africa’s economic and political ‘successes’ since independence in 1963. Nairobi is one of the continent’s premier cities. I arrived two days after the national presidential elections on December 27, 2008. The results were angrily disputed and riots broke out all over the country. Some of the images (Nairobi Gallery 1, #40-52)

Tanzania – Mount Kilimanjaro

Like a huge crown on the vast green lands of Tanzania, Kilimanjaro rises high and majestic above the rural and impoverished human-scape below. Countless people climb the lower slopes every day equiped only with street shoes and a bottle of water. More serious climbers take a week for the journey up and back, accompanied by

Tanzania – Masai Country

The wide-ranging Maasai (or Masai) tribe is spread over northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. They are rural nomadic people who herd animals–sheep, cows, goats–and do not raise crops. Their diet is mostly milk, porridge, maize, beans and some meat. Easily identified by their deep red and bright blue garments, they nevertheless can often be seen

Tanzania – Ngorongoro Crater

The crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the world’s largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. The Crater, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 610m deep and the floor is 260km2 (102 square miles). Estimates of the height of the original volcano range

Tanzania – Zanzibar (1)

Zanzibar is an island 25–50 km (15–30 mi) off the east coast of Tanzania; it consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island known as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Zanzibar was once a separate country with a long trading history within the Arab world; it united (not without bloodshed) with Tanganyika

Tanzania – Zanzibar (2)

Zanzibar is an island 25–50 km (15–30 mi) off the east coast of Tanzania; it consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island known as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Zanzibar was once a separate country with a long trading history within the Arab world; it united (not without bloodshed) with Tanganyika

Egypt – Cairo: City (1)

Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt; it is also Africa’s most populous city. It has a population of about 6.8 million people and Cairo’s metropolitan area has a population of about 17.3 million people. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids to the great Cairo Museum.

Egypt – Cairo: City (2)

Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt; it is also Africa’s most populous city. It has a population of about 6.8 million people and Cairo’s metropolitan area has a population of about 17.3 million people. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids to the great Cairo Museum.

Egypt – Cairo: City (3)

Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt; it is also Africa’s most populous city. It has a population of about 6.8 million people and Cairo’s metropolitan area has a population of about 17.3 million people. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids to the great Cairo Museum.

Egypt – Alexandria

Alexandria  was founded by Alexander the Great around 331 BC. It was developed into a world class city by Ptolemy and his successors from 323-31 BC and included the greatest library of antiquity (now replaced by the stunning new Bibliotheca Alexandrina). The last Ptolemaic ruler was Cleopatra VII, who partnered wirh Julius Caesar and later

Egypt – Luxor City Scenes

Luxor is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. Its population numbers 376,022 (1999 survey), and its area is about 416 km2 [1]. As the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterised as the "world’s greatest open air museum". The ruins of the temple

Egypt – Abu Simbel Temple

Abu Simbel is an archaeological site comprising two massive rock temples in southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 290 km southwest of Aswan. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself

Egypt – Siwa Oasis Village

Siwa Oasis town is isolated 350 miles west of Cairo and is home to the ancient Temple of Ammon (Amun) where Alexander the Great came in 331 BC to consult the oracle. The other main ruin, the 13c mud brick Shali fortress, is in the town center. Today the town (23,000 people) is a picturesque

Zambia – Train to Zambia

The Tazara train from Dar es Salaam to (almost) Lusaka, Zambia takes about 43 hours–give or take some hours–and covers a distance of about 2000 kilometers (1200 miles). Along the track and across the green landscape life teems with energy, rural peasant life, curious children, aggressive vendors and even a wedding (photos 58-63). The track

Zambia – Livingstone Town

Home to the spectacular Victoria Falls, Livingstone is a modest town of about 100,000 people bustling with commerce, tourism and the usual hardscrabble laborers. On the outskirts of town are many rustic houses and some nicer homes as well as various private grammar schools. The roads in these areas are unpaved and rough and the

Egypt – Luxor: Ramesseum Temple

A huge temple built by Ramses II to honor himself. He ruled for 66 years from 1279-1213 BC (19th dynasty). The Ramesseum temple was intended to impress Ramses’ subjects but eventually fell into ruin . The major artifact here is a huge seated Ramses statue, but an earthquake toppled the colossus in centuries past (photos

Egypt – Luxor: Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings is the location of some of the world’s greatest ancient artifacts: the tombs of the pharoahs who ruled the Egyptian Empire. For a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth

Tanzania – Dar es Salaam (1)

Dar-es-Salaam is a city of about 2 1/2 million people that bustles during the work day and is quiet at night. It’s not the capital of Tanzania but is the largest city in the country and one of the most important shipping ports on the African east coast. Countless shopkeepers sell every imaginable type of