planet-eating trees and other desert things

a planet-eating tree. in sudan!

i don't know why, exactly, but ever since i read 'the little prince,' i've been obsessed with baobab trees. baobabs are these amazingly gnarled, hulking trees that, at least according to the little prince, can make quick work of a small planet.

'a baobab,' the story goes, ' is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. it spreads over the entire planet. it bores clear through it with its roots. and if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces ...'

after you've read that, it's sort of impossible to pass up a picnic in a dried river bed lined with them.

(we saw a caravan of camels, too.)


first sighting of a planet-eating tree. my friend was slightly less impressed than i was. slightly.


the sun setting over the planet-eating trees.


planet-eating tree trunk.


planet-eating branches.


a caravan of camels near the planet-eating trees.


heidi photographs the caravan leaders.


water bottles make pretty good impromptu drums. this happens a lot in sudan. no joke.

leftovers

a while back, i posted a some shots from a wedding in obeid. here are a few more images from that day -- this time from the men's side:


traditional sudanese grub. clockwise from top: yoghurt, rice, pickled things, meat, cheese, bread, beans, eggs, falafel and (at center) asida (stew with flour paste).


the men sat separately from the women, drinking, eating, laughing. the usual.


the groom is the very smiley man to the left.

polaroids in transit

i'm in transit and still have much photo editing to do, but here are the last of my tz artistic exposures from sudan -- baobabs from different angles and one straw-and-stone hut.

i do - in sudan

i just got back from a bus-ride-filled, 10-day trip to kordofan, the region that lies at the heart of this massive country. i visited four different towns/ villages and took about 1,000 photos. it's going to take me a while to work through them all, but i'm hopeful i'll have a few good shots to post here soon. until then, here are a couple images to get me started:





in obeid, the capital of north kordofan, deanna brought us along to a wedding celebration. the women -- who celebrate separately from the men -- pass the time cooking, eating, chatting, singing and performing traditional sudanese dance.

the dance itself, pictured above, is hard to describe. basically, though, you throw your head and shoulders back and move your upperbody in this slow, circular rhythym. the way i describe it, the dance doesn't sound very sensual, but if it's anything, it's that. in fact, in a place like sudan, where sexuality and sensuality is sort of kept out of the public sphere, it's especially wild to see.