My family and I are in the process of relocating from Tanzania to neighbouring Kenya; so as one East African adventure closes, another begins… Although I may have physically left Tanzania, I am still keeping my memories alive by finishing off drawings in my sketchbooks. These sketches will go towards bigger art projects, involving acrylic…
Tag: Tanzania
A few of my favourite things – sketching, camping, watching the sunrise and listening to The Pixies
Much as I like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, my favourite things list is more likely to include camping in remote places, sketching and painting, watching a sunrise and listening to alternative music. So when a recent holiday involved all of the above, I was happier than a Von Trapp child having a…
A Botanical Paradise
After nearly three years of living in Tanzania, I am still amazed at the botanical paradise which surrounds me everyday, all year round. From the hibiscus flowers and bird of paradise plants in private gardens, public municipal areas and hotels, to hedgerows at bus-stops heavy with bourgainvillea and frangipani petals lying on the floor, the…
I am the resurrection and I am the life – The tale of Bertie Rooster
This is the story of the luckiest, most cock-sure cockerel that has ever lived – Bertie Wooster. We bought Bertie about a year ago. We named him Bertie, because my youngest daughter, Frida, has difficulties pronouncing the letter r and says wooster rather than rooster, hence Bertie Wooster. He soon had a lady friend which…
Checking out our local neighbourhood
When there are more power cuts than power, you don’t tend to tick very much off your to do lists. And here in Kigamboni, the “rural” neighbour to Dar Es Salaam, over the last few weeks we have had power cuts lasting days and nights and days again. Putting up blog posts is down at…
Dadas at the fish market
I’ve been painting this picture in my head for months now. The Kivukoni Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam is always busy. Both inside and outside the market walls there are scores of people; inside fishermen and traders huddle together around the many different catches of the day, outside house dadas dressed in brightly printed…
“How do you avoid the tourists in Stone Town?” said the tourist.
In the blistering heat of the sub-Saharan sun lies a labyrinth of narrow alleys lined with tall once whitewashed, now crumbling buildings. A walk through Stone Town’s higgledy piggledy streets, most of which are too narrow for cars, is like stepping back in time, providing you can ignore the high-tech gadget carrying tourists. The town,…
Matemwe Beach – Far Away in Time
At 31 degrees centigrade and with a hotch potch of people who frequent it, Matemwe Beach is a melting-pot in every sense of the word. Between sunrise and sunset the beach, situated on the northeast coastline of Zanzibar, becomes a hive of activity with scores of Zanzibari women wearing bright coloured kangas wading into shallow…
If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take
I took this photograph of a path leading down to the Indian Ocean at dusk as I was leaving my local restaurant a couple of weeks ago. The path, at Sunrise Beach Resort, in Kigamboni, Tanzania, looked particularly beautiful as it had been lit up with fairy lights to celebrate Christmas. But I couldn’t mention…
Hope over the Horizon – Sunrise on the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater
While camping on the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania I decided to wake up early to watch the sunrise. What I witnessed was nothing short of breathtaking. Snuggled up inside my hoodie and scarf, I sat alone, mesmerized by the changing horizon before me and watched as the African sky changed from an…
Colours Speak Louder Than Words
The colours in Tanzania are so vibrant and varied that I am almost certain there must be more shades here than there were in England, my homeland. I used to take many photographs in black and white, but in Dar Es Salaam, it seems such a waste to ignore the vast spectrum of shades that…
Endless Abstract Land
Endless Abstract Land is my interpretation of the Serengeti and is painted using ink and acrylics. Serengeti comes from the Maasai Maa word Serengit and means endless plain and this vast area of grassland spans northern Tanzania and southern Kenya and covers approximately 12,000 sq miles. As I travelled through these immense plains, which are…
