Sunrise in the desert of Namibia.
Sunrise in the desert of Namibia.

Africa photo pictorial

An African adventure captured on film.

Editor’s Note: These photographs may look old-fashioned now, but when we first started posting photos, most images were scanned in from film negatives, which have a very different color gamut than digital, and the resolution on the internet was very poor. Images needed to be only a few kilobytes so that you could download them with a phone modem; now they are hundreds of times bigger. Learn more about our original film photographs. Fortunately, I found the original images for this pictorial. I hope you enjoy this trip back in time.

Update: We recently found our higher-res version on our backup. These images are about as good as they get for that time period.

By Seth Tator

The Dunes of Central Namibia.
The Dunes of Central Namibia. The unique red-orange color is due to the ore from the surrounding land. Imagine an orange glacier eight or nine stories tall, slowly, through the centuries, moving over trees, valleys, and bushes alike. And then uncovering them just the same.
Canyon river bed in central Namibia.
Canyon river bed in central Namibia. This canyon is dry in all but the wettest portion of the year. To get to the bottom one must wind back and forth, following channels eroded over thousands of years. The floor is dotted with large black beetles who are standing still with their abdomens raised to catch moisture. This is something I never expected to see, something that made sense on nature shows, but actually seeing thousands of large black beetles during our walk really put life in a different perspective.
Beached ship on the Mozambique coastline.
The Mozambique coastline. Here, the water is clear and warm, and the palm trees thick and lush. Pictured is a dhow used by local residents in Vilanculos for transit and fishing. The dhow is upwards of 6OO yards from the true shore. To the left is the Indian Ocean, and 10 or 11 miles out to sea are numerous small islands that are just specs on the horizon. As the tides pull the water away, the sands of the beach stretch far out, appearing to provide a path from the beach to the islands.
Sunrise in Motopas National park.
Sunrise in Motopas National Park. The valleys are created from immense piles of boulders.
Railroad ties disappear into the sand dunes.
The remnants of a train line between Swakopmund and Windhoek are being claimed by the tan dunes of the Swakopmund desert. Swakopmund is a small coastal town of Namibia, and to connect it with the capital, a train route was built in the 30’s. The original route took the train in a straight line between the two points. While very expeditious in theory, this took the tracks directly through the northern portion of the dunes outside of town. The tracks were laid, and for 30-some odd years, the dunes moved continuously around them. Generally, they moved over them, and out would come the local National Guard to dig out the tracks and maintain the passage of the train. Sometime in the late 60’s a new track was laid and the original line laid to rest. These are what is left of them…deep inside the tan dunes of Swakopmund, swallowed finally and quietly…
Mt. Binga, the highest point in both Zimbabwe and Mozambique
Mt. Binga, the highest point in both Zimbabwe and Mozambique, with a frothy cap of clouds.
Africa Photo Pictorial Seth Tator 04
In South Africa, there is a clear distinction between the rural areas and the cities. I was in the Northern Province when I took this picture inside the classroom. There is certainly a brightness about youth that transcends any situation, and yet it is clear that the future of South Africa must overcome much to reach its goals.
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Guest Author

Guess who? Guest author, that's who, with some words of wisdom.

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One Comment

  1. Great photo novella of Egypt. I am especially drawn to the photo of Egyptian women waterbearers. So stark and far from my water experiences. It was shot in a nice brownish light or perhaps with film that produces those tones. Perfect for Egypt. It reminded me of some old Erroll Flynn movie. Nice work. ~ MD

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