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Portugal, Trâs-os-Montes. 2010. Railway crossing of the derelict Tua line.

21 Apr Linha do Tua railroad

25 May, 2010 Linha do Tua railroad   Trâs-os-Montes (Beyond the Mountains), used to be one of the poorest regions of Portugal. Emigration over the past decades has been massive. But, Trâs-os-Montes is blessed with quite a number of narrow gauge (100 cm) railways which, unfortunately, are being...

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Mozambique, Sofala province, Marínguè. November 1993. The crew of Scan Air DC-3 (registration number: C/N 19006 C9-STE) during an airlift of emergency goods for displaced population. From left to right: Brian Nordan, John Murphy and chief pilot and Scan Air CEO Oscar Hermannson. The same team fatally crashed with this Douglas DC-3 near Molema in Tete province on 22 November 1993. Only John Murphy survived.

21 Apr Oscar & Felicity

January 2008 Oscar & Felicity   For years the air charter company Scan Air provided flights for the aid organisation that I worked for. This was in the early nineties. Mozambique had been plagued by civil war for decades. Transport by road was often difficult – if not...

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Guinea-Bissau, Djobel village. 2013.

21 Apr Time out in Bissau

Lisbon, February 2006 Time out in Bissau   Guinea-Bissau - situated on the West-African coast south of Senegal and not even half the size of Scotland - becomes an addiction. That is clear soon after my visit to the country in January 2005. Within a year, I, branco...

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Salt production. Guinea-Bissau.

21 Apr Women of Guinea-Bissau

Mulheres da Guiné – Women of Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, not even half the size of Scotland, on the west coast of Africa. Independent from Portugal since 1974 and ever since, torn apart by internal political disputes that brought the country close to bankruptcy. Abounding in water with...

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Ali Farka Toure in concert.

21 Apr Mali Blues in Lisbon

Ali Farka Touré   Now that our hero Ali Farka Touré has passed on from mortality to immortality, I cherish even more my memories of his brilliant concert on 22 July 2005 in Lisbon. In the open air in Monsanto Park, high above Lisbon with broad views...

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Zimbabwe, Bulawayo. 1986. The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) workshop.

21 Apr Steam in Africa

October 2006 Steam in Africa   Ever since my earliest childhood days I have been fond of everything that rolls, flies and floats. One of the most impressive forms of transport still remains the steam-engine. Even in The Netherlands I remember them seeing operate and, as a young boy with...

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Italy, Venice. 2004. Two youngsters from Israel visit the former ghetto during WWII. On the background the wall with barbed wire where many elderly jews were shot dead.

21 Apr Guetto di Venezia

The ghetto of Venice   Wandering through Venice, I find myself suddenly in front of a narrow gate that marks the entrance of an unsightly alley. At the gate, a small sign that reads “Getto di Venezia”. It marks one of the few entrances to the Jewish...

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Portugal, Amadora, Alto Cova da Moura. 2010. Whassysa Magelhães.

14 Apr Whassysa

Whassysa Some 250,000 Africans from the former colonies are living in Portugal these days. Many came to the country during the years after the 1974 revolution, which hastened the independence of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and São Tome e Príncipe. Married to a Portuguese or taking advantage...

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