Tag: africa

Suburbia in Zambia

Just a few miles out of Kabwe we stumbled upon this unlikely scene: rows of terraced houses with carports and small gardens. So different from the usual bungalows on walled plots. It could almost have been the Netherlands. Who lives there? What do they make of their suburban dream home? Is this the new Zambia?

Dream tree

When we had just moved to Zambia, people often asked us: What is it that you miss most? The presumed answer – I guess – was ‘my family’ or ‘that the power stays on’ or ‘pindakaas’. What I used to answer, however, was trees. I missed the trees I grew up with. Trees here, they have another shape. Their leaves are just not right. Their bark is different. Maybe that’s why I like to play around with my photographs of trees: to highlight the sense of not-belonging that they give me.

Road works

Road maintenance in Zambia happens less frequently than one might wish for. Especially the road from Lusaka to Livingstone has spectacularly bad stretches. In an attempt to let the users of the road pay for their maintenance a system of tolls has been implemented. Let’s hope that the revenues find their way to the potholes!

The Other?

I love this picture, taken during a play about witchdoctors. This is dr. Koko, and he is eating a snake while the audience scampers away in fear. The purpose of the play was to show how witchdoctors play on fears of their audience, and how they use props such as chemical reactions and rubber snakes to do that. But if you don’t know that background, what you see might well be the image of dark Africa: superstition, backwardness, scary occultism. That’s not the image of Africa that I want to spread. So… lovely picture, but it cannot be used?

Sunday afternoon

Speeding on the bicycle over the sandy lanes, with two bottles of juice on the bike rack – do you remember those Sunday afternoons?

(Btw I love the outfit: Millennium Falcon meets Pixie Pals…)

Photo taken in Choma, Zambia

Zebra love

We encountered a group of zebras standing on the road. After waiting for a while, a second group arrived. In this photograph zebras from the two groups meet and greet each other. Such affection and love!

Photo taken in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Painted dogs

African wild dogs, also known as painted dogs, are among Africa’s most endangered species. There are probably around 6,000 animals left in the wild. It’s therefore always a blessing to see them, like here at sunset in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.

Photo taken in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia