Silent Nomad
A traveller with a camera!
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Kids with Buddha statues

The area around Kawgun Cave in Kayin State, Myanmar (Burma) can be a bit of a maze with many nooks and crannies to explore. Here, some kids were larking around some of the Buddha status, and I captured two of them having fun. Photo taken in December 2014.

Himba man

We were staying right up next to the Angolan border in northern Namibia. Great views of the river there. This Himba man sat next to a boulder by the river, not that far from Epupa Falls. He’s smiling now, but he was worried about the crocodiles!

Plant leaves in Borneo

I took part in a charity event in Malaysian Borneo in 2008 to raise money for an orangutan sanctuary. That was a good fun trip, and I especially enjoyed my treks through the jungle, leeches and all! During the trip, I came across this plant in Sabah, and I liked the symmetry well enough to take a photo. The jungle can be quite a dark place, giving one a sense of foreboding, so I think this black-and-white treatment compliments that feeling quite well.

Turkana and Samburu dance together

The annual Lake Turkana festivities see around a dozen tribes, mainly from northern Kenya, take part in cultural exchanges and traditional dances. It’s quite a fascinating couple of days and provides opportunities to see local tribes who are not normally on a safarist’s bucket list. For example, I found one local El Molo village to be just a few rudimentary huts loosely strewn together, surviving largely through fishing. A dwindling tribe, the El Molo may soon disappear through assimilation and intermarriage with other local tribes.

With the day’s festivities finished and with the onset of twilight, a few miles from the nearest village, the tribes of the Turkana and Samburu dance well into dusk on the windswept shores of Lake Turkana. Seeing the tribes enjoying each other’s company, it can sometimes be difficult to remember that cattle-stealing is causing much strife between the different tribes. But initiatives such as the Lake Turkana festival will help promote trust and understanding.