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Morning Stroll – Serengeti National Park

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Land of Fire and Ice

During winter temperature can drop to -38˚C in Iceland and in general weather is quite unpredictable. When you live in such extreme weather conditions you better have a good sense of humour. Icelanders regularly say "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes".

Every time you hear this, It brings a smile to your face, but unless I'm wrong, I believe it was Mark Twain who said that originally about New England!

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City of the Dead, Cairo

An Islamic necropolis in Cairo, Egypt that dates back to the Islamic conquest of Egypt in 642 AD. Egyptians call it El’Qarafa or El’Arafa.

It’s a 7 km long grid of tombs and mausoleums where people live and work amongst the dead. For some, it’s the sentimental idea to be close to their ancestors and loved ones, but for some there is no other choice financially.

Generally speaking, City of the Dead and it’s neighbouring ares Manshiyat Naser (Garbage City) are the slums, mostly occupied by Garbage collectors and recycling vendors.

Just as I took this shot, a van pulled up next to me, three guys stepped out and told me that it was against the law in Egypt to photograph anything without official police permission, and if I didn’t leave right away then my camera gear would be confiscated… of course I didn’t buy any of that, I knew I wasn’t breaking any laws, when reasoning with those three gentlemen didn’t work I decided to leave, I was a guest in their country and it just wasn’t worth the unpleasant argument in the end. In 30 days that I spent in Egypt I had to deal with similar arguments quite regularly – perhaps its the size of my camera (Nikon D4!).

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Fire in the Sky (Sunset over Madrid)

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Königsallee (King's Avenue)

Famous boulevard in Düsseldorf, Germany. Famous for it’s canal, busy, upscale fashion and luxury stores located along sides.

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Sultan Hassan Mosque and Al-Rifa'i Mosque

Located opposite each other near the Citadel in Midan al-Qal’a, Cairo, Egypt.

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Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid)

Official residence of the Spanish Royal Family Madrid, Spain.

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Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Exterior wall - Art institute in Düsseldorf, Germany

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Sacred Ololokwe Mountain

Towering over the Samburu plains in Northern Kenya. Over 2000 meters above the flat plains, Ololokwe is a sacred mountain for Samburu people. Also known as Ol Donyo Sabache by some but most people prefer to call it Ololokwe.

Samburu are a semi-nomadic ethnic group who are related to their more famous cousins the Maasai. I was fortunate enough to spend few days with Samburu people, trying to learn as much as I could about their culture and history, it was an experience that I will never forget.

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Sunset over Nairobi

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Mama

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Hallgrímskirkja Church, Reykjavík, Iceland.

Named after the Icelandic poet Hallgrímur Pétursson, It’s the tallest church in Iceland (244 ft). Designed around 1938 by architect Guðjón Samúelsson, It took 38 years to build the church.

The church is also Reykjavík's main landmark.

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Lightning over Cappadocia

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Sunset over Pamukkale, Turkey.

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Road to Saint Catherine's Monastery

One of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world that lies on the Mount Sinai in Egypt.

Saint Catherine's Monastery was built at the exact same location where Moses saw the Burning Bush and God asked him to lead his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

It’s a powerful religious symbol that’s equally important among Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Walking up and down that road alone I found myself being overwhelmed with the thought that I am walking on the footsteps of Moses.

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Si-o Seh Pol (Sioseh Bridge) Isfahan, Iran

Literal translation of Si-o-Seh Pol in Farsi means ThirtyThree Bridge, but of course we're talking about thirty three arches of this magnificent bridge. 

Isfahn is a beautiful city, full of culture and history, and of course a city of bridges. I wanted to photograph this bridge and the beauty of photographing any bridge over water is either at dusk or down so you can capture the reflection in the water – unfortunately I arrived in Isfahan at the wrong sort of time, for last five years of so Isfahan is facing a river drought of sort and as a result the riverbed under all these bridges have gone dry, no dramatic reflections for me to photograph unfortunately.

The design of the bridge is a classic example of Safavid Architecture, Safavids dynasty is commonly regarded as one of the most significant ruling dynasties of modern Persian history.

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Little Miss Hummingbird