Posts Tagged ‘Africa’

Boys to Men

Boys to Men

The story of two young men from opposite sides of the world who both appeared in the BBC’s Human Planet


Bayaka Honey Gatherer

Bayaka Honey Gatherer

Witness the amazing lengths that some people will go to to get their sugar fix…


Gerewol

Gerewol

In the desert of Niger, the Wodaabe tribe have a unique way of meeting a mate


Urban Safari

Kenya …Coming to Kenya with the BBC’s natural history unit you’d be forgiven for assuming that I was here to spend a few weeks on safari.  For sure, the BBC’s cameramen and women have had a long and fruitful relationship with Kenya’s amazing wildlife over the years, resulting in some of the most sensational wildlife […]


Hooked on Travelling

Hooked on Travelling

Mongolia …I am actually writing you this post from my home in Bristol, UK.  I got back from Mongolia two days ago via a rather overdue trip to the tropical diseases clinic in London in order to have a small community of uninvited parasitic squatters exorcised from my backside.  The good news for me was […]


Praying for Rain

Praying for Rain

Mali …Another day, another awe inspiring location that would sit quite comfortably amidst the pages of Lord of the Rings.  We’re guests of the Dogon people this week, camping by a small village at the base of a huge escarpment facing the desert plains of the Sahel.  There are strict rules to living here.  I’m […]


Extreme Makeover – Mosque Edition

Extreme Makeover – Mosque Edition

Mali …This week I didn’t expect to be back in Africa, especially not Mali, the country Abbie has been calling home for the last 3 weeks, but thanks to a small political situation caused by a disagreement over the ingredients of this locality’s fabled mud plaster I am currently in the 45 degree desert heat […]


Bye Bye Bayaka

Central African Republic …It’s the end of our time with the Bayaka and tomorrow we’ll be heading off to Cameroon and then home sweet home to the UK, but before I go I thought I’d leave you with one more picture from our Bayaka jungle home.  That’s Mongonjay with his wife and child standing outside […]


Honey Honey, How You Thrill Me

Honey Honey, How You Thrill Me

Central African Republic …When I was a child I spent quite a lot of time up a certain willow tree in our family’s back garden.  There’s a particular kind of comforting  solitude that can only be found up a tree.  I think it has something to do with the fact that as you sit there, […]


Amongst the Forest Spirits

Central African Republic …Often, when people seek out jungle dwelling tribes to photograph, the reality of their experience in the field doesn’t quite live up to the expectation they may have initially brought with them en route to their destination.  It’s 2009 after all, and the heyday of those kind of cultural expeditions has passed […]


Welcome to the Jungle

Central African Republic …Arriving in the 30 degree heat of Cameroon yesterday was a sensational change from the biting winds of Mongolia.  In fact, if you’d have asked me last week to describe the complete antithesis of Gobi desert calm, then the heaving sweaty crowds of Douala airport baggage reclaim would have borne an uncanny […]


A Short Film Shot With My New Camera

Niger …Last year I was lucky enough to receive one of the first new Canon 5D mark II cameras when they came out.  Niger was to be the trial run for this new SLR which also shoots high definition film, something I am very excited about.  With the help of BBC cameraman Toby Strong and […]


A New Camera But No Clothes

A New Camera But No Clothes

Niger … My time in Niger didn’t start as planned.  After 4 days travelling from Ethiopia, via London to pick up a new camera, I arrived in the capital Niamey with some new bags under my eyes.  Unfortunately, they were the only personal bags I’d be seeing for a few weeks since my luggage never […]


The Joys of Camping

Ethiopia …Traveling to remote places involves a certain degree of hardiness on the part of our film crews. Isolated communities rarely possess the means to support large groups of outsiders and consequently, on these journeys, all of us are spending quite a bit of time under canvas.  The mountains of Northern Ethiopia were one such […]


Growing Up in the Mountains

Ethiopia …This, my second trip to Ethiopia for Human Planet was my most memorable experience thus far.  The simple reason for this was the lovely people we met there.  Our time was spent with a family in a very remote settlement, a long way from the nearest road, high in the mountains.  For the most […]


My Scar Tattoo

Ethiopia …It was September last year when we spent time filming with the Suri Tribe in Southern Ethiopia.  Half a year on, and I still have one memory from my time there permanently imprinted in my mind.  Well, on my body actually… and semi-permanently I think .  Whilst we were there I had my shoulder […]


Phantom Fighters

Phantom Fighters

Ethiopia …In Southern Ethiopia, witnessing a Suri stick fight or ‘Donga’ was one of the most awe inspiring public displays of aggression I think I’ve ever seen.  Stick fighting is a brutal sport there is no doubt, but when you see it in the flesh, you realize that it is a very fair and honest […]