Waza National Park, Cameroon
As I cannot go outside to make new photos, I have (or should have) plenty of time for processing old photos. These are digitalised slides from my past time. Probably Fuji, but it might also be Kodachrome, I was using both at the time. This was made while we were living in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with my wife and baby daughter.
The pictures were made in the Waza National Park, in Northern Cameroon, a paradise for wildlife fans. This was in May (1986), end of dry season. The water holes had been digged by park wardens, so as to retain water to attract the whole fauna, which was numerous at the time.
Paradise has turned into hell. The whole region is now extremely dangerous, due to Boko Haram sometimes crossing the Nigeria-Cameroon border, to raid the area. Local inhabitants are the first victims of the conflictual situation, both from a security and economic perspective. The region has always been a dry and poor area, but tourism was helping a little bit. I wonder if any European still venture in the region, but I doubt it.
Regarding wildlife, it is fairly difficult in this context to know how the populations are evolving. I found on the internet a 2014 document reporting the elephant population to be stable, but the giraffe decreasing. Unfortunately poaching is likely to have increased with the terrorist trouble.
Please note that EXIF are not representative, since I only edited the camera type and capture date.
Waza National Park, Cameroon
As I cannot go outside to make new photos, I have (or should have) plenty of time for processing old photos. These are digitalised slides from my past time. Probably Fuji, but it might also be Kodachrome, I was using both at the time. This was made while we were living in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with my wife and baby daughter.
The pictures were made in the Waza National Park, in Northern Cameroon, a paradise for wildlife fans. This was in May (1986), end of dry season. The water holes had been digged by park wardens, so as to retain water to attract the whole fauna, which was numerous at the time.
Paradise has turned into hell. The whole region is now extremely dangerous, due to Boko Haram sometimes crossing the Nigeria-Cameroon border, to raid the area. Local inhabitants are the first victims of the conflictual situation, both from a security and economic perspective. The region has always been a dry and poor area, but tourism was helping a little bit. I wonder if any European still venture in the region, but I doubt it.
Regarding wildlife, it is fairly difficult in this context to know how the populations are evolving. I found on the internet a 2014 document reporting the elephant population to be stable, but the giraffe decreasing. Unfortunately poaching is likely to have increased with the terrorist trouble.
Please note that EXIF are not representative, since I only edited the camera type and capture date.