Pwani is Kenya- Part 2/2 (Fort Jesus, Mombasa)

.....after jumping into the tuktuk, a few minutes later,... pap!! Fort Jesus!

This whole day I was zururaing like a mwenyeji n kumbe i'd never been to this side of the coastal town. One looking at me striding majestically, with all the confidence in the world, would be forgiven for thinking I've lived there all my life or probably even been there from the Vasco Da Gama era

By the way, about the years mentioned in history of this Vasco Da Gama dude n the whole FJ drama, sound so surreal.......u agree?; ati he landed at the coast in the year 14something.

Haiya!!!...that's not the dinosaur age? People back those days never used to go to Safari walk coz there was none, they used to go to Jurassic park to see themselves a T-Rex, n I kid you not. Go back those few hundred years and the beautiful peaceful sandy beaches, that we now sunbathe on or write those things for "...nani was here" as we stroll, were the subject of a few bloody confrontations between someone and someone....and DoooooN'T joke, we are talking Sinbad stuff here!!! Coast back then was the whole... ships, canons, three-headed flying-dragons stuff (yaani i can't imagine Sinbad with all those fake monsters was once my favorite show.)

Anyway, forgive me for my bad and very brief history lesson to you right there. Si kwa ubaya, I'm just one who prefers to live in the present as I ponder about the future hehehe. Anywho, this FJ place was built in the 1593 by the Portuguese.

This is the model of Fort Jesus. Looks like a person. I wonder if someone was trying to be funny with us. Ama......wait for it......wait for it............ it was built by aliens. Yep, I said it ALIENS!

Speaking of Aliens I wonder why, in movies, they only show up in western countries and especially in The States. Yaani, we are even being lengwad apparently by aliens whenever they come to 'take over the world'. Talk about 21st Century discrimination, n.... by aliens. Unbelievable. If I probably were to write the aliens a letter now it would most likely open like this...

Dear Aliens,

When you come to take over the world next time, please try starting from Africa. We are the emerging market and even the rest of the world knows it. Since your last attempt to take over the world, we as Africans have really made progress and we even have fibre optic. Further more, we as Africans are very warm and welcoming and have some of the finest weather in the world. Our primitive energy is second to none....

Then it would go on to explain further why they need to pick us first the next time they are coming to conquer the world and the advantages Africa has to offer. Yet again, maybe the letter would be a bad idea. I am sensible and know that the last thing I want is to open the curtains and see a flying saucer outside the gate. Btw ati flying 'saucer' of all the things in this world, these guys with all their imagination just decided ni saucer.......anyway....I won't get into that right now.

Enough of aliens (and don't ask me how we started talking about Fort Jesus and ended up talking about Aliens). These canons may not look like much now but in their day I can tell you for sure that some guys had to find out the hard way what these things can do. Lakini jamaneni, kwani how many canons were needed? I must have counted millions of them. ok.....ok..maybe 10's of them inside the FJ yard- numbering almost a hundred.

Go back a few hundred years and when it was time for war, you wouldn't want to be caught standing in front of this. This is one 'gun' you don't wanna jump....

This here is the yard for the famous FJ. 

Yaani....just look at the beautiful blue skies in the background. Just make me feel a sense of nostalgia. I totally enjoyed my visit. I'm Nairobian through and through but I totally love coast n would holiday there everyday (*read relocate) given the chance. waaaaat!

SO hey..... that sums up my short tour of the coast, Mombasa. What do you think about the coast, aliens or anything else? Please share your thoughts.

Pwani is Kenya- Part 1/2 (Likoni ferry and Mama Ngina Drive)

A few weeks ago I jumped onto a bus and off to the coast I went. First thing, weeeee!!...as soon as I arrived I discovered malenge si mboga!!! ...coz, for all those who have been there (99% of Kenyans), you know that as usual, of course it was smouldering hot. It's even hard to meet cool people at the coast....but good thing is everyone is just hot by default ...lol! Yaani, kazi ni kusweat.

No wonder guys at the coast just sit under palm trees and drink mnazi 24/7- 365 on the white sandy beaches as they tunga vitendawiliz and wait to watch the sun set in the horizon (#dream_on). 

Anyway, this collection only represents a small part of my tour....so hey, where do we start,... ferry side of Mombasa n Mama Ngina Drive....

Before this day I hadn't seen ferries operating live, only on the news on telli...I used to think the distance they have to ferry (pun not intended) people is a long distance and that they take long- maybe even a couple of hours. In reality, navigated with the precision of a surgeon, they actually move very fast. These ferries transport a lot..and i'd estimate not more than 7 mins from end to end.

Marked in red are the ends where the ferries dock so you can see the distance is not so huge. I estimate that the place is hardly a kilometer wide. Btw which reminds me.. sadly this Ferry/ Mama Ngina area had a shark incident late Sept 2011. If you didn't get to see the story then the link can be found here.

Now this is what I call Pwani life sit on a bench and stare at the ocean, no school, no work, no waking up early (except to watch the sunrise). U just go home to change ur clothes n eat then u come back to watch the ocean, n press repeat. Then you find money has been deposited into ur account end month without having to work or fight with traffic in the morning n evening. Ur only worry in life is how to avoid getting an uneven tan for those who have the skin tone for it...(again #dream_on)

On a serious note though, let me just confess, getting to the ocean and starring at the vastness of it, usually leaves me in awe. I find myself feeling small, wanting to fall face first as I'm thinking to myself....'what is man that you are mindful of him...Ps 8:4'... 

Bearing in mind the 2004 Tsunami that swept guys away, damage it caused and how helpless guys were at the sheer magnitude of it's sweeping force. When I see the ocean, and i'm not exaggerating, I can't help but acknowledge that God is merciful. Human beings can really be what would be described, by a former primary school teacher of mine, as 'vinyangarikaz'. With all that we have done and continue to, if He orders this ocean to breach it's boundaries....where we'd all end up, I leave it for your imagination. But of course it's obvious that this 'blind-eye' is not gonna stand forever. It's a chance to make things right while it is yet called today.

Btw at the Park on Mama Ngina drive there are some very ugly and scary looking birds- carrion crows to be precise. They should consider making a new game called 'Ugly birds' (hahaha... couldn't resist) featuring these crows only. If you think am exaggerating please google the images and view the up-close ones. You can thank me later for my accurate description. Does anyone else agree with me?

With all the heat though there was a very nice humid breeze coming from the ocean. The breeze what we call tamu sana! And when i say tamu sana I mean a breeze good enough to make a person go "jambo bwana, Kenya hakuna matata!!"

After strolling the park a bit and enjoying the breeze, kiguu na njia mimi huyoooo, I jumped into a tuktuk and off I went for some more kuzurura...where to you ask? Part2.

Btw i think 99% of kenyans have been to the coast. Is that true? You can vote on the top left hand corner.
For your comments, please leave them here. Thank you for taking the time to view this post and your participation.

Night shooting spree!!!

Two week ago I was out at night heading home and went on a shooting spree....Night photography is usually hard due to low quality lighting but hey..... here I was with my cam in hand...

Ordinary things usually look very extra ordinary at night when lights come into play....

Even ordinary things like street lights. It looks like a flare...or like someone set it on fire.

It's like the lesser the lights the more... things just come alive...

That's me under a lamp....don't let the shadow fool u. I'm tall and not that 'healthy'.

I liked the texture on this wall brought out by the light. The shadows and the bright areas work very well in this shot. What do u think? Do u have any pics to share?

Nairobi show

This year i said i have to go tour the Nairobi Trade Fair aka 'show'. We just reached and immediately seeing the dust my mum decided to cover her hair kama mama Ami.....i can't believe i almost called my mum mama Amina...that would have definitely made either me or one of my two brothers Amina.

First of all we got lost a bit... quickly though after buying a map we soon found our bearings...Came across many farm machinery and other strange looking gadgets...others like this i don't even know what to say...looks like optimus prime.....#yenyewesasahiyomachineninini

Then we took a walk into the prison's showroom...these particular group was singing for the visitors...they can sing and they all testify to be saved by the way...now that's what they really call #convictmusic

By the way did u know that inmates make ur number plates here in Kenya? I also understand that it's a common practice in the world. I don't know if it's a punishment for those who are caught stealing cars; In the mould of...write on the board 100 times..."i won't make noise anymore...i won't make noise anymore...."*100

Make enough of these n when released am sure ul ran away when u see a number plate let alone a car!!

Guess what else these guys made? Yep. If u ever dreamt of sitting in parliament at the comfort of ur home n have like 270k to spare then u can get one of these straight from prisons. On a serious note tho, these innmates are really talented and by the way while we were starring at this we were told that Prisons won the tender which had some other entities bid as much as 400k to make each seat. Say what?! Yep, ..400 dhao per piece.

Then we saw cows as usual.....what is an agricultural show anyway without cows...#abit_dhasty

It's funny how everything in 'show' is labelled...there's nothing like going home then u start talking about "nyumba ya ng'ombe!!!" or "mahali ng'ombe zinakulianga chakula.."...warrathoze??

Having seen everything that there was to see it was time to call it a day...but not before i bumped into this fella....this guy must have carried like a million....ok a billion ...kids that day...

Anyway...HOME TIME!!!!!...The sun set beautifully to mark the end of an afternoon well spent.

Special mention: Considering that the whole of Kenya was at the trade fair that day and the whole week at large...these guys did a terrific job with the traffic. #asantesanaafandez 


Anyway did u attend the show? yes,..how was it for u? no,...why didn't u n shall u go next year?

Silhouette show

This particular collection of silhouettes came as I was experimenting with the various light metering modes....

Thought the collection was interesting and that I'd share. So the story is that..

At first I set the cam timer, pressed the shutter button n then walked to take my place but little did I know....

...that the shooting had began as soon as I pressed the shutter button.

and that's why u can see my silhouette entering the frame as I 'RUSH' to the window to beat the timer. lol!

   So what do u think?

Landscapes, skies, places etc

Evening Sky...

Through the window...

What is your profession....?

So far we've seen pics n so evidence of the cam. Wouldn't be an -actuarywithacam- without being an actuary. Evidence of my profession as an actuary...

Hey world these are some of the tables we use to classify you, LOL!

My first proper negative image...my fx82...taken me through many actuarial exam sittings

Portraits and people

The piece I like best so far. She's my best friend, so forgive me if you think I'm a bit biased. I also like it because of the dramatic black and white.

Dance Time!! At a friend's wedding. People up and ready to dance..

I like this piece. The lens on the cam blurred this shot but in some strange kind of way i think it's very cool. aRT!!!

Mother dearest. Another special woman in my life. On their solemnization day!

not exactly a proper portrait but it sure aint no landscape either..

Skywards

Mo1 plot swimming N Nyama choma plot

The man of God wondering whether to walk on water or to dive :)

....still more contemplation

meanwhile my other pals decided to ACTUALLY swim.... but not before having photo session.... *wakenya na picha!* ...hehehe

they cooled off as they waited for nyama choma...they swam n swam n swam n...I'm sure u get the point by now....

Soon they got bored of regular swimming and came together to figure out something new...

  Finally they decided to form a train n race each other.... on ur marks, set, n....

...The trains swam off...! does that even make sense?!!.....for more on how this race ended;  the winners n losers etc.. be sure to grab a copy of your favorite newspaper tomorrow n flip to the sports pages.....page number uhhhmmm....