(currently under completion…please check from time-to-time as there’s much sound cataloging still to be done…;)

I had the distinct privilege of spending a little time at a Maasai village and, in one instance recording Maasai school children whilst in their class room (and the classroom was the actual tree in the background)
They absolutely loved to sing, and it plays such a strong tradition within their culture. What was a surprise to me was that, during one of the recordings I made, they effortlessly segued between their own language of Maa and that of the good ‘old English alphabet!

maasai schoolyard hybrid alphabet

The recording below is an excerpt from a tribal performance that they shared with me. There is essentially a chorus of Woman who are stationary on the left, whilst the men dance and singing around you. As such, the recording excerpt will become a little quieter toward the end as they move away from the mic!

 

 

 

maasai community traditional performance

arrrrr…the the universal fire starting method, tried and true!

 

 

Maasai fire starting

Maasai fire starting,,, a rough draft of how it sounds with some questionable sound transformation from the work ‘nilote’

The gleefully aqueous sounds of a hippopotamus pod enjoying a lengthy bath!

hippo recording

family of elephants enjoying some dinner…whilst these ancient and noble creatures  eat,
they communicate all manner of sounds to one another in such expressive and highly evocative ways!
(be a little patient…it takes about 10 seconds before the wonderful grumbling and rumbling begins!)

Tembo (Elephant)

warthogs’ don’t mess around whilst foraging for grass and roots
(again, forgive the quality of the recording, it’s been largely compromised to enable upload…;(

 

 

warthog dinner

Monkeys foraging and of course dining on local cuisine…mmm… crunchy…;)

Monkey’s foraging and dining

who knew Zebra were so polite and quiet whilst snacking…not me…;)

 

 

Zebra dining

perhaps for the better, perhaps the worst, it’s easy to sometimes forget how savage the survival instinct is for animals to simply exist.
(I found it pretty confronting to watch, yet it was an almost eerily quiet experience to hear as this Gazelle carcass was devoured…something that also didn’t seem to make the slightest impact on the myriad wildebeest all around!)

 

 

vultures and carcass

speaking of wildebeest, and on a far lighter note, the great wildebeest migration…the plains were absolutely teaming with wildebeest, as far as the ear could hear!

 

 

Wildebeest migration

a brief excerpt of some playful-sounding wildlife in the Ngorongoro caldera…interestingly (but not surprisingly given the sheer magnitude of animals and beauty of the crater) it’s been referred to as one of the 7 natural wonders of Africa.
(again, a thousand apologies for the very low res/ higher frequency emphasis on some of these recordings…inexcusable…;( I am uploading high res versions onto sound cloud to replace them, and will replace this one as well very soon)

 

 

Ngorongoro caldera oasis rec

a snapshot of part of my audio recording rig…had some very unusual and unexpectedly
charismatic sounds going on inside the dear old hilux after driving for days…;)

 

 

hilux and rig

good old fashion baptism, Tanzanian style!

 

 

baptism – Tanzanian style

back to the wonderful Maasi again, and I was extremely fortunate to attend a number of ceremonies and events… at one such event (a baptism no less!) some of the featured entertainment were the Maasai… Maasai really like to party (who knew!) this is an unusual recording in the sense that they were amplified, and passed the mic around, each taking turns vocalising…really great, energetic stuff…! (I do apologise for the quality of the recording, I’ve had to lower the resolution extensively to upload and have it stream functionally…;(

amplfied Maasai

for those who have a real penchant for cargo ferry sounds (there are more than you would think…;) aft deck and bow of ferry on the way to Ukerewe Island,
located in the middle of the amazing Lake Victoria

 

 

 

Ukerewe Island cargo ferry

Ukerewe Island_the great Lake Victoria underwater_1

Ukerewe Island_the great Lake Victoria underwater_2

 

Znanzibar under water ambience_db_low res rec

Znanzibar above water ambience_db_low res rec.

speaking of seascapes…sadly the sound has probably become a little pedestrian in this day and age, but hey who doesn’t love the audible drama of a coastline,
in particular from the ever radiant beaches of Nungwi…;)

zanzibar coastline

sometimes the best way to see Kigali, Rwanda is to walk to take it all in…

Rwanda soundwalk 1, Kigali

and at other time motorbikes work very well indeed
(and there’s certainly no shortage of them in the city for transportation!)

 

 

Rwanda motorbike, Kigali

many more sounds and images are currently being prepared continuously uploaded…;)