Kenya black and white. Usually, I love colors. I really do! But we all know that sometimes, black & white pictures add a certain depth to the image. B&W could give the picture a classy, retro or mystical look.
This gallery shows a few pictures from my different travel spots: Nairobi, Ngong Hills, Naivasha, Diani Beach, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Mount Kenya.
I have not intended to edit my Kenyan photos into b&w, however I planned to have some b&w pictures up on my kitchen wall. I thought it would suit the chrome and silver-ish elements and gives a cool look for my wooden furniture (take a look at my Instagram account to see the result). I ended up liking these photos so much, that I now want to show you those on my website. Don’t think these would be the last pictures from Kenya, there is more to come, and then with all shades of color!
In Nairobi, I stayed with a family who has a house help. Her kids stayed with us during their holidays. They were shy, but so sweet and curious. We liked to hang around together. Mostly they loved to take my camera and try it out, or we played with the silly yet adorable dogs in the garden. One day we went to a small fair where they got their face painted and they wore it with pride!
What I love about kids is the instant joy they feel when an adult gives them attention. Just last week I was inside a train that needed to stop on the tracks. Refugee children were waving at us, trying to grab our attention. When I waved back (and I believe some other train riders did as well), they were so excited and animated all their friends and family to wave back at us, too. I experienced this among Aborigines, Polish, East-Timorese children and then Kenyan children. When I took this photo, I was on an excursion through the infamous Kibera, a slum that is divided by a train track. Working on Slum Upgrading, I was visiting some initiatives. These kids followed us as long as they could on the other side of the track, constantly waving and smiling at us. Thank you!
I’m sure that everyone who has travelled experienced these sketchy people who you don’t really trust, but don’t have any choice but to do so? This is how I felt with this man: On this Saturday morning, my friend and I decided to hike the Ngong Hills near Nairobi. You are strongly advised to hire a guide since there are buffaloes which can become very aggressive (weirdly, none of the Kenyans had a guide, who would have guessed). One guide was already approaching us down the hill in our taxi. He tried to convince us that there would not be any other guide up there. That made us skeptical and we also did not like the machine gun on his shoulders. We respectfully declined. It turns out he was right, there was no one else up on the mountain. He followed us up the hill and offered again his guidance. We did not really have a choice since we were really looking forward to that 15km hike. He explained that the weapon is to scare buffaloes away, just in case. But at the point where I took this photo, up on the hill, with the fog and no one else around us he says: “If something happened to you, no one could see or hear you up here”. Scary!! My friend and I stayed together closely and kept our distance to him, while he disappeared into the fog. Of course, in the end, he turned out to be friendly and polite.
The start of our Ngong Hill hike was, as already said, foggy. Although you would think you go on top of a hill to have a view, I loved the mystical atmosphere. Although I love the warmth and tropical weather, I might have enjoyed the cooler weather and the super strong breeze just a little bit (in fact a lot, seems like I’m getting older).
By the end of our Ngong Hills hike, we were rewarded with blue skies and fluffy clouds and a gorgeous view over the Rift Valles. This cloud sat perfectly on top of that hill over there.
This one is up on my kitchen wall and an all my guests take a second look at these nice beach bums. Haha! Taken at Diani Beach near Mombasa.
You might remember the scene from my Naivasha post. It’s the same wall. I just could not resist showing it in black and white as well, as I feel like it demonstrates the different structures quite well. No difference for the Zebras though.
The lioness was roaming around with two adorable cubs in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. She let them play and fool around, while she found herself a good observation spot. To see these animals in the wild is truly an overwhelming feeling, I would honestly have never guessed!
On our second day trekking up Mount Kenya, we had a lunch break with the spectacular view on the Gorges Valley. I think this was my favorite spot. The view was superb, I wasn’t exhausted yet, the sun was shining most of the time and I wasn’t freezing (yet).
One of Mount Kenya’s peaks that are 5,000m above sea level. This was the view at the end of our second day hiking. Clouds came in and brought snow for our final ascent to the top. I was in awe looking at these massive and beautiful mountains, where clouds formed different shapes within seconds. Best idea ever to hike Mount Kenya! This shot was taken at the camp around 4,200 m.