Bride at Axum, Ethiopia

Friends at Timkat celebration – Gondar, Ethiopia

Entering Fasil’s castle – Gondar, Ethiopia

Crowd at Timkat celebration – Gondar, Ethiopia

Angry bridesmaid in Axum, Ethiopia

Bridge over the Blue Nile – Ethiopia

Keeping up the curtain in St. Mary of Zion church – Axum, Ethiopia

Candle light at Timkat celebration – Gondar, Ethiopia

Curves above the Blue Nile gorge – Ethiopia

Mourning women near Debre Marcos, Ethiopia

Afrikaanse Dromen 1 & Afrikaanse Dromen 2

Have fun!

Man doing his afternoon nap in the streets of Jerusalem’s old city.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem shot through a security grill.

My nephew Matan on his way to do his Bar Mitsva in Jerusalem.

Matan getting dressed for his celebration.

The act of Bar Mitsva.

Three beautiful ladies at the sea front in Tel Aviv.

On the boat to Schiermonnikoog for a short winter break.

A couple getting married at the church of St. Mary on the Entoto Hills near Addis Ababa.

Wat wij ondermeer van plan zijn in 2012, lees je hier!

The Danakil Desert in Ethiopia is the hottest place on earth and the lowest part of Africa.

There are few places in the world where you are so isolated and so completely at the mercy of the elements.

Especially since regularly earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

The result is an alien-looking landscape with a hypnotic beauty, where salt plains, lava lakes and sulfur pools form bizarre natural attractions.

This is where the Afar live: A bold, semi-nomadic tribe, living in the cradle of mankind.

The Afar Triangle – as it is also called – is exactly the point where three tectonic plates tear apart.

The landscape of the Danakil is frightening but also an unreal beauty.

More Danakil images on FrankFocus’ Photostream.

Text source: Columbus Magazine.
Photography: FrankFocus.

Info (in Dutch) on our new project in Madagascar can be obtained here.

After a full week of checking out the Triangle (aka Danakil Depression) I will continue through the Tigray region to visit the famous rock-hewn churches and will end up in – what I believe to be – the most beautiful mountain range in the whole of Africa: the Simien Mountains, for a 6 day hike including a summit attempt of its highest peak: Rash Dashen.

As usual I’ll be making notes and pics, so reports on this adventure will soon be seen here.

Info (in Dutch) on our new project in Madagascar can be obtained here.

The ports of Djenné (of which there are 17), particularly the one at Bambana, where pirogues from Timbuktu would tie up.

More ports, Djenné and Mali pics on FrankFocus’ Photostream.

Info (in Dutch) on our new project in Madagascar can be obtained here.

The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region.

The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and their architecture.

The past century has seen significant changes in the social organization, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, partly because Dogon country is one of Mali’s major tourist attractions.

More on the Dogon (in Dutch): here.
More Dogon Portraits by Frank Janssens: here.

Info (in Dutch) on our new project in Madagascar can be obtained here.

The history of Djenné is closely linked with that of Timbuktu. Between the 15th and 17th centuries much of the trans-Saharan trade in goods such as salt, gold and slaves that moved in and out of Timbuktu passed through Djenné. Both towns became centres of Islamic scholarship.

The entire community of Djenné takes an active role in the Great Mosque’s maintenance via a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year (mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity). In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to cure but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosque’s built-in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque.

Djenné is situated 398 km north-east of Bamako and 76 km south-west of Mopti. The town sits on the floodplain between the Niger and Bani rivers at the southern end of the Inland Niger Delta. The town has an area of around 70 ha and during the annual floods becomes an island that is accessed by causeways. The Bani river is 5 km south of the town and is crossed by ferry.

The Republic of Mali initially submitted a nomination to UNESCO for World Heritage status for Djenné in 1979 but the advisory committee observed that the “anarchic urbanization has modified the environment of the most significant complexes” and recommended that any decision be deferred until information on the urban development of the town and the protection of historic sites had been provided by the Malian government.

Another FrankFocus story (in Dutch) about Djenné can be found here.

More pics about Djenné and Mali can be seen here.

Info (in Dutch) on our new project in Madagascar can be obtained here.

More info in Dutch here.

More info in Dutch here.

More Selous pics ‘in Black & White’ here.