I spent four days early this year with my friends Charles and Libby trekking and photographing in the Usambara mountains of northern Tanzania.  Traveling between the towns of Lushoto and Mtae, we found the scenery spectacular and the local Samba people very warm and welcoming.  Aside from a harrowing few seconds when the front wheel fell off our truck on a narrow mountain road, we enjoyed every minute of this adventure.

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For anyone interested in touring these lovely mountains, I recommend organizing your itinerary and/or a guide through the cultural tourism office in Lushoto (conveniently located right next to the bank).  Just remember that some negotiation for price is expected.  Also, it is never a bad idea to kick the tires before climbing into a strange vehicle…

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Please enjoy the following slideshow of the Usambara.  I have made the images a bit larger than those I posted from Africa.  This means that viewing the slideshow full-screen will really make a difference.

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Now I am back in Portland, look for several more postings from my trip to Tanzania in the coming days.  I arrived home from Zanzibar with barely enough time to unpack and repack before heading out to ski, ride in snowcats, and make some more images up in British Columbia (note: a post of that work will be up soon).  Now I’m back at the computer with a little time to sort, edit, and blog before the next adventure.  Stay tuned…

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A brief post-script for the technically curious:

The photograph below is a 22-image, multi-tier panoramic merger; the native resolution of the file is over 100 megapixels.  This is a technique I’m using more and more to create large-format-like, ultra-enlargeable images.  Look for a future technical blog posting on the tools and techniques used in this process.  It’s anything but point-and-shoot, but the results are VERY rewarding.

Click Images to Enlarge

My crew has been off the radar now for a couple of weeks of exploration around Lake Victoria, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake.   Bouncing back after a 20 hour bus ride from Arusha to visit a friend’s family in Issenye, we continued  to the granite-boulder-studded city of Mwanza (aka Rock City).  It was here that Speke first laid eyes on Lake Victoria and rightly labeled it the source of the Nile.

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On New Year’s Eve our crew took the ship Victoria through the night from Mwanza to the quiet port of Bukoba on the western side of the lake.  There we organized transport with our new friend Naima to the seldom visited Rubondo Island National Park.    We had heard that Rubondo is a bird paradise, but beyond that we didn’t know what to expect.

Rubondo is indeed a bird paradise, but that description hardly does it justice.  This 25 sq. km. island has to be one of East Africa’s best kept secrets.  It is nearly completely undeveloped and teeming with wildlife from lush tropical rain forest to savanna grassland and papyrus swamp.  Resident species include elephant, giraffe, hippo, python, and even shy chimpanzees.

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In our time on the island we barely saw another soul aside from our party and the staff.  There are beautiful banda’s right on the beach and a roaring fire is kept stoked day and night.  However, I preferred to sleep out in my tent the first night in order to see the stars over the lake and listen to the waves, frogs, crickets and hippos.

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While hiking and Land Rover excursions are offered by the park with a ranger escort, the boat safaris are what set Rubondo apart.  Our boat captain Tua had an unbelievable knowledge of the island, its waters and its wildlife.  One evening Tua safely circumnavigated half the island by starlight, arresting three poachers in a boat along the way.  We had such a wonderful and productive time photographing Rubondo.  It is one of those special places in the world that I will be happy to return to many times.

Having parted ways with my friends, I am back in Mwanza preparing to fly back to Arusha tomorrow.  While I had intended to spend most of January in Ethiopia, I have changed plans and will leave the Simian Mountains for another journey.  Instead both Libby and I feel compelled to do more work with several nonprofit organizations before getting on that long plane home the 27th.  Along the way, I will trek in the Usambara Mountains and explore a few more islands off Zanzibar with my trusty friend Baboo.

My work schedule the rest of the trip is fairly tight and I am not sure whether I will have the opportunity to update the blog again before returning home.  In the meantime, please enjoy this longer slideshow of the images created over the past couple of weeks.

-Hudson

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It’s been tough to download, edit, and blog with the power out all across the islands.

Today I am plugged into the generator-supplied power and Wifi at the Livingstone House Bar and Restaurant (yes it was THE Dr. Livingstone’s house many years ago. The “bright side” of the power outage is the view of the stars over the old city at night.  The lights created by street-vendors with lanterns and candles are like tiny islands between the big generator equipped hotels.  Most of the city feels like it must have 150 years ago.  Not a bad Christmas all in all.

We have had the good fortune to stay with our close friends Baboo and Mariam at their spare flat in the heart of Old Stonetown.  Their friendship has led to such great times and amazing photographic opportunities.  As our friend Bob Krist always says, there is nothing like a good fixer!

I have very little generator time to write all I’d love to tell.   So far we have explored the Island’s forests, slept on a small adjacent atoll under the stars, sailed in two dhows, eaten copious amounts of local seafood, spice, and the best fruit in the world.  Oh hell, as I proofread this list, I see that it hardly begins to do the Zanzibar experience justice…  Please enjoy this brief slideshow to get a taste of one of the best places in the world.  I’ll be blogging more as power availability allows.

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The crew and I just returned from a fabulous five-day safari through some of Tanzania’s finest national parks.

Aside from driving Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and Ngorogoro Crater, we camped under the stars, hiked in the local hills, visited Olduvai Gorge, and explored a beautiful coffee farm.

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The trip had plenty of excitement.  We ran into an elephant walking back in the dark from a sunset photo shoot.  I got a stomach ailment that was thankfully short lived courtesy of Cipro.  Owen impressed the locals with gymnastic feats.  Jenny got got naked at Olduvai gorge.  Libby mountain-biked to a hippo pool, and I was hoisted to the roof of a ladies outhouse to get a dawn view into Ngorogoro Crater.

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Of course we saw plenty of wildlife along the way.  Our local friends were invaluable guides and made our experience so much richer for their presence.  Hopefully the following slideshow will give you a glimpse into how much fun it was.

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Today I am packing and hopping on a plane to Zanzibar to meet my friend Baboo.  He tells me that power is out island-wide, potentially for two weeks.  It will be even more charming by candlelight, but internet access may not be possible.  Look for more updates when I have the chance!

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Because Mt. Meru is the centerpiece of Arusha Natioanl Park, an armed ranger was assigned to protect us from wild animals.  We were fortunate to have Jafari as a Ranger.  I can’t imagine a more intelligent, enjoyable, or capable person to sheppard a group up a 15,000 foot volcano filled with animals like cape buffalo and leopard.

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The climb lasted four days, during which we were treated to frequent views of Kilimanjaro in the distance.  We encountered every variety of weather from snow to blazing sun.  Despite Owen having a quick GI illness the night after our summit, the group had a wonderful time.  I personally have never enjoyed a mountain more.

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We leave on a five day safari in the morning.  There is much to do, so I will let the photos in the slideshow tell the tale.

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Don’t miss the slide show at the bottom

Greetings from Tanzania!  It is so wonderful to be back in the vibrance, warmth and teeming life energy that is Africa.  My friends Jenny and Owen McCarty, Libby Bailey and I arrived late Friday night.  As exhausted as I felt after more than 24 hours of planes and airports, I was energized by seeing all my local friends there to greet us at the airport.  After loading our 360 pounds of equipment, gear, donations and presents we stopped at a restaurant to be greeted by even more friends and a midnight champagne celebration.  Exhausted, we finally arrived at Victor and Jacqueline’s lovely home to hit the sack for a few hours sleep.

Yesterday we awoke to a home cooked breakfast and then drove into Arusha to meet with Jim Lace and Gosberth Baitwa at the Orphan’s Foundation Fund.  Together we drove for an hour and a half to a small village orphanage called Rafiki (which means friend in Swahili).  Rafiki takes in orphans from all over Tanzania; most of the children lost their parents to HIV.  The Orphan’s Foundation Fund is working hard to improve the lives of the children who live there.  Ramshackle huts have been replaced by a sturdy modern structure with dormitories, a kitchen, classrooms, and a high quality well.  It is wonderful to see an organization doing so much to improve the lives of these young ones.

Please enjoy the slideshow below of images taken by Libby Bailey and myself at Rafiki as well as several other Tanzanian orphanages around Arusha and Zanzibar.  This work on behalf of orphans in conjunction the Orphan’s Fondation Fund and the local government of Zanzibar was incredibly moving and rewarding.

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