Africa

My first short trip to Africa was in 1975 to Kenya, at the tender age of six months. It is rumored that I even took my first steps at the Boulevard Hotel! Little did I know at that time, but Africa eventually became my home later on, importantly influencing my formation.

Gallery-at-a-Glance

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Worn Soles

A fisherman stands in the doorway of his modest hut in Wassini Island.

#Wassini #Kenya #ZeissIkon 

Savannah Silhouettes

The Masai Mara will forever have a special place in my heart. It was the first “zoo” I ever knew and a source of many great memories I’ve had growing up in Kenya with family and friends in my early teens. Vivid among those memories is learning how to drive in the rutted dirt roads of the Mara with elephants and giraffes sheepishly watching as I learned how to master the clutch.  This picture was taken in 2000 the last time I was in Kenya. As twilight approached, I caught this beautiful scene out of the corner of my eye and took it with my father’s antique Zeiss Ikon camera (my first camera -gifted to my father for his Bar Mitzvah when he was 13 years old).

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Detritus

On my last trip to Kenya, my family and I went to the Masai Mara to witness the The Great Wildebeest Migration – the annual migration of giant herds of grazers across Northern Tanzania and Kenya is a truly spectacular event. Over two million wildebeest, zebras and gazelles move through the Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystems in search of green pastures following a regular pattern.  Here is a vulture taking advantage of the thousands of deaths that occur as the animals cross the Mara River.

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Pride

In Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, the leopard, the rhinoceros, the elephant, and the Cape buffalo. The term was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot in Africa, but is now also widely used by safari tour operators.  This Alpha male looks over his pride near a watering hole.

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Acacia

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Last Sunset of the Millenium

Last sunset of the 20th century, December 31, 1999. Taken from one of my favorite spots in the world (where I have spent many New Years celebrations in the past) The Estuary at Diani Beach in Mombasa. 

#Mombasa #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Deep Roots

A lone mangrove tree battles the tides along the reef on Wassini Island.

#Wassini #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Tempest

The silhouette is of an Impala Gazelle on the horizon as the sun sets over the Mara.

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

Perspective

#MasaiMara #Kenya #ZeissIkon

"africa" Continued

At the age of 5, our family moved from New Orleans to Yaoundé, Cameroon where my father was carrying out a USAID project with the Ministry of Planning and also taught Peace Corp volunteers. Although still very young, I have very vivid memories of this time in my life.

After one year in Cameroon, we moved back to New Orleans (NORTH AMERICA), where I finished my elementary school.  At this time, my father had established himself as an international health specialist so he was given the opportunity to work with the Ministry of Health in Nairobi, Kenya.  It was only supposed to be a 2-year contract there, but we loved it so much that I ended up graduating from high school at the International School of Kenya.

Kenya was a key influence in my formation as a young adult. It is my belief that, as a young child, it is your parents that instill in you your morals and ethics. But, as a young adult, it is from your peers and your environment that you get influenced – and that is what happened.  Kenya will always hold a special place in my heart.

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