Bakalanga Mud Huts Photo

Photographer’s Note

As I said before, there is only one way of getting IN and OUT of the Okavango Delta and here is how to do it. That little flying machine carried us from the Delta airstrip to Maun, for the last leg of our trip. From Maun we went on a two hours road trip to a lodge near the edge of the vast nothingness of the Makgadikgadi salt pan.

We were lodged in one of the Bakalanga Mud Huts which are spread under a grove of gigantic baobah trees. The hut design was inspired in traditional homes of Botswana. The walls are made of cow dung and clay and the exterior artwork is all done using the natural pigments harvested from termite mounds of the region.

Today’s main posting is all about the Bakalanga Mud Huts and it shows the hut were we spent one night.

WS1 is a view of the Maun International Airport, taken from inside the plane, minutes before landing. I had the privilege of being offered the co-pilot seat and I assure you, it is the best seat on the plane because you even do not have nothing to do, the pilot does it all for you!!!

For the picture itself, of course, was taken through the dirty windscreen and the propeller was turning around as it was supposed to be doing during the flight.

In WS2 you can see an aerial view of Maun, a typical African town.

With over 30,000 people, Maun is the fifth largest town in Botswana. It is a mix of modern buildings in and around the airport area and a large amount of native huts and houses which spread out over a large area. It is also the “tourism capital” of Botswana, infamous for its infestation of donkeys and to a lesser extent, goats. In spite of its fairly modest way of life, Maun has an excellent mobile phone service/coverage and internet access is widely available in many places.

stego, dareco, ViktorVaughn, AiresSantos, ChrisJ, Wirraway, MLINES, kiwi_explorer, xuaxo, paura, TeresaT, John_F_Kennedy, Matthew-Watt, Clementi, riclopes, azaf1, belido, tober, Bluejeans, plimrn, gunbud, Greg1949 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ViktorVaughn (1517) 2007-12-08 18:49

Great note to go with this photo. It does look like a very simple place, with basic amenities. I am surprised that you can get such good mobile access, and internet.

You can really see how dry this location is, with very little green present. Very interesting and informative picture.

Regards,
David

AiresSantos (42844) 2007-12-09 0:11

OLa Antonio,
Mais um belissima foto do Botswana, com cores excelentes e muito bem enquadrada.
Um excelente nota como é habiyual.
Um abraço Amigo
Aires

PS Então, ja há planos para a visita a Portugal ?

ChrisJ (70443) 2007-12-09 0:47

Ola Antonio

A good daily life scene. Perhaps I'd add some yellow, to the fg, with a large feather of 100 pixels? Good sharpness & composition & an interesting subject. Tfs!

Wirraway (1985) 2007-12-09 1:02

Nice capture of this out of the way location Antonio, thank you for the informative note, keep up the good work.

Regards Ian
Nth Queensland

MLINES (10948) 2007-12-09 1:32

Hi Antonio. Good to see this sort of thing on TE, just what it is designed for. Good constrast and colours. Blue sky sets it off well. TFS. Murray.

dareco (17104) 2007-12-09 1:47

Very curious looking huts! I like how they are decorated. The pictures in ws are also very interesting. I'm glad you have shared these with us.

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-12-09 2:19

Hi Antonio,
Looking the the photo and the associated photos in the workshop, this seems to be a very interesting trip. The primitive conditions must have been a shock to your system compared to the comforts of the city life. The kerosene lamps to guide your path just emphasized that you were a valued quest. Wonderfully captured and very good notes. Image and color quality is also very good. Well done! Tfs and have a nice weekend.
Cheers,
Renier

Giorgio (8776) 2007-12-09 2:25

- Another view for this camp, that points out Senegal and its wildlife park to me, in any case it is well same environment, tfs and cheers for this sympathetic picture.
Have a good Sunday, Antonio.
giorgio
* Very few Spiny Lobsters boats and the spiny lobsters are very expensive here, it's better to go elsewhere on the markets to buy them.

lucasgalodoido (16789) 2007-12-09 7:05

Olá Antônio!
Bem interessante esse local e a foto, as do WS ficaram ótimas também, mostrando o quão é diferente essa região, estou conhecendo bem!
Parabéns e Abraço!

xuaxo (5835) 2007-12-09 10:47

Olá António,
Mais um excelente conjunto de fotos para a categoria de Daily Life. Como é teu hábito, as fotos em WS complementam muito bem a principal.
Nesta, o muro amarelo parece estar ali a despropósito e nem faria parte do sítio. Dá um belo impacto à foto.
As cores destas fotos (excepto o muro) parecem terem sido diluídas em água, o que talvez seja literalmente verdade, dado o acidente com a câmara. Mas isso é o menos, no sentido de nos mostrares o lugar e as actividades. Vale a pena mostrares estas fotos, mesmo com as cores "deslavadas" (como diria a minha mãe, que em dialecto alentejano significa "lavadas e diluídas" ;-)
Um abraço,
F

sacavem (8519) 2007-12-09 12:44

Olá António,

Esta é uma daquelas fotos que eu digo obrigado pela partilha, pois mostra-nos locais perdidos por esse mundo fora.Gosto muito da composição o pormenor das lanternas a petróleo está demais.
Um abraço,
Boa viagem até Portugal
Filipe

paura (39202) 2007-12-09 13:51

Antônio,
O lugar é muito curioso e a fotografia está muito interessante para mostrar esse lugar. Interessante o amarelo vivo do muro contrastanto com a palidez de tudo o mais.

Abraço

Paulo

TeresaT (10733) 2007-12-09 14:04

Olá António,
Está muito boa a foto desta cabana.
O enquadramento está excelente, as cores e sharpness estão perfeitos.
E a nota está muito bem estruturada.
Um abraço
teresa

John_F_Kennedy (31994) 2007-12-09 23:32

What a wonderful scene you captured, Great lighting, composition and framing,
Best wishes,
Achim

Matthew-Watt (4467) 2007-12-10 2:27

Hello Antonio,

Another great image from this remote section of this world. I have seen a few docos on the Kalahari Bushmen, and this image brings back a few of the details. The landscape indeed seems pretty harsh, but it is not unlike some parts of SE QLD at the moment with this drought! Just add water. The blue sky is managed well and it contrasts sharply with the yellow paint. Good cental focus/composition. I look forward to visiting Southern African nations in the future, so much culture! I will soon post some aerial shots of the Redcliffe peninsular and also Pumicestone Passage, which I am sure you will be interested to see, you might see your house!

Matt

Clementi (45179) 2007-12-10 2:27

Ciao Antonio ,
beautiful and interesting notes ,
nice photo with of the beautiful colors, interesting the WS, said that you have made a good job of documentation.
Giorgio

riclopes (33131) 2007-12-10 4:22

Que alojamento tão acolhedor, António. O exterior parece ser muito árido, faltando verde para reconfortar a vista, mas aquele pátio colorido dá muita vida à imagem. Estas arquitecturas tradicionais são sempre muito interessantes, mesmo que estas tenham sido construídas para turístas. É sem dúvida uma "resort" diferente. Grande sorte que tiveste em voar no lugar do co-piloto. Eu ficava excitadíssimo se me fosse dada a oportunidade. Normalmente nunca temos aquela vista da pista. A outra vista aéria é muito interessante também e espanta-me que digas que é uma vista típica africana. Pelo menos as que eu conheci (também não é um grande conhecimento, diga-se de passagem) no Quénia não têem este aspecto de selva/savana a estender-se até ao horizonte. Esse WS2 com qualidade no ponto seria um post principal fabuloso.
Ricardo

ang25 (143) 2007-12-10 6:26

Hello Antonio,
Um lugar bem seco, da a impressao que passou por la um grande incendio. No entanto uma zona interessante com uma nota muito informativa.Gostei da vista aerea de Maun. E engracado como as fotos nos fazem viajar para lugares tao exquesitos.
Boa viajem a Portugal.

Magui

stego (22448) 2007-12-10 10:40

Olá António,
Não é que o resort até tem um ar bem simpático? O local parece muito árido, mas por isso mesmo tb. é interessante. O muro amarelo fica a matar e a compo, como não podia deixar de ser está bem cuidada, aproveitando a bifurcação do caminho, colocando o "quintal amarelo" ao centro e a casota maior no terço da esquerda.
Uma nota muito interessante e informativa, bem complementada pelos WS's.
Um abraço, José.

azaf1 (15547) 2007-12-11 1:42

Hi Antonio
Your comments is the big asset of your captures. This particular one is very good as it gives a clear picture of the local architecture and style
regards
Argiris

JPlumb (3153) 2007-12-11 4:15

Hi Antonio, great colour seen in this shot of yours of the Bakalanga Mud Huts. I was most intrigued with your town shot. It seemed at first to me to be very light, with the lack of vegetation and light coloured roofs. But of course that makes sense; they would want to reflect the heat as much as possible. It's a very interesting travelogue you're creating here.

Thanks, John

belido (16813) 2007-12-11 4:33

Olá Antonio,

o que mais me impressiona aqui é a luminosidade conseguida, sem danificar a qualidade de cores do céu azul. Sua postagem, incluindo as imagens do ws, são um grande registro sobre essa região, tanto em imagens como em informação. Obrigado por compartilhar!
Abraço,
Carlos

Bluejeans (33049) 2007-12-13 12:57

Oi amigo ,
Que contraste estas belas casinhas no meio de uma floresta de arvores despidas , muito interessante , belo ponto de visão , gostei das cores , parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

plimrn (19694) 2007-12-14 6:23

Ola Antonio,
It is wonderful to see eco-friendly tourist developments and now I know the appearance of a baobah tree; it looks a lot like Kiawe trees during the dry seaon. I have a great fondness for Botswana from Alexander McColl Smith's very loving picture of the people in the area in the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I particularly enjoyed the audio versions of his books as they were narrated by a woman of Botswana.

The photo is well framed and shows well some of the decorative details; however, the photo I fell in love with is the spinning prop. I did a WS to decrease the effects of the tinted windshield; you had already done an excellent job of cleaning the bugs off. The note is fascinating as well.
SAA, Pat

[workshop] [compare]

gunbud (28153) 2008-02-14 11:40

Hi Antonio,
Wonderful capture of this uniqe African abode. The lovely yellow gate is wonderfully complimented by the cloudless blue sky. Excellent details and sharpness with a very informative note.
Regardds, Tom

Greg1949 (8519) 2008-02-21 4:02

Antonio, interesting these shots of places not usually visited, at least by anyone I know. The colors are very vivid and the detail is great.

Greg

Photo Information

Copyright: Antonio Ribeiro (ribeiroantonio) (21967)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-09-05
Categories: Daily Life, Nature, Architecture
Camera: Canon EOS30D, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS-USM, Hoya 77mm HMC Cir-Polarizer
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/160 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Travelogue: Southern Africa
Date Submitted: 2007-12-08 18:09