Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa


Wilkommen in Africa
Luderitz's eccentric townhouse with towers of two churches standing out on the edge of the Namib Desert.
black squad
Loons fly against the wind on the Bartolomeu Dias pattern.
The Berg Street
A woman walks down Berg Street, the city's old urban core.
Bartolomeu Dias passed through here
A replica of Bartolomeu Dias' pattern on a promontory on the edge of Luderitz Bay.
Goerke Haus
The Goerke house with its strange Bavarian-influenced architecture, prominent against the Diamond Mountain.
a brave atlantic
Wave crashes against the rocky edge of the wild, frigid Atlantic off Luderitz Bay.
Kisses. Self
Mother and daughter, residents of the city, with traits that show the genetic mix consolidated during the colonial period of Lüderitz.
a long meal
Flamingos feed on a stranded boat near the city.
New Colors from old Lüderitz
The old school building in Luderitz is still divided into Lesehalle (reading hall) and Turnhalle (exercise hall).
the cozy Namibe
New and humble farmhouse on the outskirts of the historic city center, occupied by employees of Pescanova's fish processing unit and other businesses.
Black Squadron II
Loons beat the gale above the dense fog caused by the difference in temperature between the frigid Atlantic and the hot Namibe desert.
closer to God
Felsekirche's church in its retreat on Luderitz.
Namibe by the sea
Lighthouse and houses near Angra Pequena.
SSSSs
Meanders of a river that flows between Angra Pequena and Luderitz.
Discovery Standard
A replica of the pattern left by Diogo Cão in Angra Pequena, today, at the gates of Lüderitz.
Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.

The approach to Angra Pequena confirms the meteorological phenomenon that generated Namibe.

Inland, it resisted, undisputed, the dry and abrasive heat to which the desert had already accustomed us. The closer we got to the wild cove opposite Lüderitz, the more the air cooled and came with a stimulating fragrance of marine iodine.

For a few extra kilometers, we meander on the dirt road and pressed salt.

We skirt the long stretch of sea south of the city and then head north again, to the peninsula exposed to the Atlantic already defined as our final destination.

We passed the white-and-red-and-sharp striped lighthouse that announced it.

Agra Pequena, Namibia

Lighthouse and houses near Angra Pequena

From then on, the wind gains overwhelming power.

It projects unbridled waves against the rocks and pushes waves of mist down the coast, sometimes so dense that it completely takes away the view of the rugged coastline.

Atlantic Ocean Waves Off Luderitz, Namibia

Wave crashes against the rocky edge of the wild, frigid Atlantic off Luderitz Bay.

Even diffused in that intermittent white mantle, we glimpsed a prominent pattern atop a rocky promontory.

Diogo Cão, Bartolomeu Dias and the Frozen Mist of Angra Pequena

There were no doubts. In 1486, Diogo Cão reached the current area of Cape Cross. After a year, in the service of King João II and at the command of two caravels of fifty barrels and a support vessel, Bartolomeu Dias exceeded, right there, the limit of Diogo Cão.

Then, the navigation in search of the southern limit of africa.

We skirt a wooden ladder destroyed by unrelenting tides and climb over the rocks. From the top, shaken by the furious gusts, we admired the power of the waves that shaped the rocky indentations and made the forest of kelp who had been dragged there.

Waves, fog and wind confronted each other. Out of nowhere, a squadron of loons flies over us at great speed. After that, another one. And so many more, as close together as the gale allowed them.

Loons fly over the pattern of Bartolomeu Dias, Luderitz, Namibia

Loons fly against the wind on the Bartolomeu Dias pattern.

That strange migration that mottled the whitened sky with black went on for a good twenty minutes.

In that time, we remain absorbed, with our eyes in the air.

Without anything to rush us, we still peek at other corners of a contiguous cove.

One of them reveals to us, on the other side of the great bay, the houses of Lüderitz. We see it perched on the parched coastline so common throughout Namibia.

A yellow temple stands out above the red roofs of the other buildings, not so much from the sandy ground.

It was the iconic, evangelical and Lutheran church of Felsenkirche.

Luderitz, Namibia

Luderitz's eccentric townhouse with towers of two churches prominent on the edge of the Namib Desert

The Germanic Genesis of Old Lüderitz

The German settlers who built it wasted no time looking for inspiration.

Since the hill (later nicknamed Diamond Mountain) on which the foundations were laid was rocky, they named it the Church of the Rocks.

The name, like so many other Germanic influences, is here to last.

And yet, the Teutonic domain of these parts was never to be verified. When it finally materialized, it resulted from a cartoonish colonial situation.

Since the passage of Diogo Cão and Bartolomeu Dias, the presence of Europeans in the Namibe desert was limited to the passage or limited and swift settlement of navigators and merchants. This reality lasted until 1800.

In the early XNUMXth century, German and English missionary societies were established and built churches.

Felsekirche Church, Luderitz, Namibia

Felsekirche's church in its retreat on Luderitz.

At the same time, merchants and farmers settled and founded entrepots. Some, British, were concentrated around the present-day Walvis Bay.

Historic in Europe and already projected to other parts of the Earth, the rivalry between Germany and Great Britain extended to that inhospitable end-of-the-world.

Adolf Lüderitz: founder of … Lüderitz

In 1882, Adolf Lüderitz, a merchant from Bremen, applied to the German Chancellor for protection for a trading station he planned to build in South West Africa.

Otto von Bismarck had been all his life against the colonial expansion of the German Empire.

He considered that conquering, maintaining and defending the colonies would cost more than the profit they brought. In addition, there was the risk that the damage would sabotage the power that Germany maintained in Europe.

Against his opinion, there were millions of Germans who watched rival European nations grow their empires. In many cases, profit from colonies.

There were also merchants and adventurers with dreams and projects in different parts of the world, such as Lüderitz.

This one was contemplated with the luck of Bismarck needing to be re-elected and, as such, having been forced to please the defenders of colonial expansion.

River next to Luderitz, Namibia

Meanders of a river that flows between Angra Pequena and Luderitz.

As soon as he obtained the chancellor's support, Lüderitz instructed Heinrich Vogelsand – an employee of his – to acquire land in Angra Pequena from an ethnic Nama chief. In this way, he was able to build a village that Lüderitz gave his own name.

From Rest of the African Continent to Germanic Warehouse

In 1884, determined to prevent British intrusion, Lüderitz managed to have the area declared a protectorate of the German Empire. A few months later, the German flag was raised.

In a hasty and arrogant way, the British became convinced that their rivals had only left unfit for consumption from African territory. They agreed.

Even against Chancellor Bismarck's principles and genuine will, Lüderitz – the man and the people – forced the creation of the Germanic Southwest African colony. Thereafter, until 1915, the colony expanded. Especially to the north and into the inhospitable interior. It equaled, in size, the Germanic Empire in Europe.

Then it surpassed it by more than half. Until 1915, the population stayed at 2600 adventurous souls. Lüderitz – the city – concentrated a good part.

The new inhabitants devoted themselves to hunting whales and seals. To fishing and the trade of guano produced in industrial quantities by the same species of birds that had flown over us – and shot – along with the Bartolomeu Dias standard, and by so many others.

Back to Eccentric City

We return to the center of the village along the same path, which, however, looks different to us. The tide had receded hundreds of meters.

It had left behind a sandy expanse once covered by the encroaching Atlantic, a winding, sedimented bed where a brackish creek continued to flow out to sea.

Next to its threshold, on this side of a stranded boat, a flock of flamingos was drinking the water.

There was no sign of the brown hyenas endemic to those parts of Namibe, so they fed without worry.

Flamingos around Luderitz, Namibia

Flamingos feed on a stranded boat near the city

We stopped at the edge of town to fill up the car. The owner of the gas station appears from inside a booth and starts a conversation. We immediately realized that he was of Germanic origin, without any ethnic mix, one of the few who resisted time and the vicissitudes of history.

“Oh, are they Portuguese?” It is admired, at the same time that it reproaches the inefficiency of its native employees. “There are several here in the city, they inform us as if turning up their noses and seem to contain a certain chauvinism.

Now they are even less.

There was a time when they were everywhere.” It wouldn't take long to find them.

The Atrocious Imposition of the Germans on the Natives

The afternoon was coming to an end. The sun setting west of the Atlantic warmed the assortment of colors of the city's countless low-rise buildings. We took advantage of this additional stimulus.

We walk through the almost deserted streets paying attention to the architecture art nouveau Germanic, that the discovery of diamonds in the surrounding desert in 1909 allowed the foundation of the neighboring village of Kolmanskop, like Lüderitz, soon endowed with whims and fantasies otherwise difficult to pay.

However, it was not only the precious stones mined that contributed. Since 1903, the Germanic Empire fought the resistance of the natives to its invasion. The conflict escalated.

It degenerated into the cruel Herero Wars fought against this cattle-raising tribe who, like the neighboring Nama, the Khoi and the Namaqua elsewhere, controlled that part of the Namib.

At the height of the conflict, German troops numbered 20.000.

In 1908, they had already killed tens of thousands of natives, in the midst of conflict, or in concentration camps such as Shark Island opposite the city, from which prisoners only left to work by force in the construction of infrastructures or in businesses that enriched their lives. the settlers.

On Berg Street – the old diagonal heart of the city – the row of houses they helped build looks like something out of a cinematic set.

Berg Street, Luderitz, Namibia

A woman walks down Berg Street, the city's old urban core.

A Strange Germany on the Edge of the Namib Desert

We appreciate the picturesque Haus Grünewald with its Bavarian windows, some part of a built-in turret. The pediments of the following homes are cut to match. They display very bright colors: almost turquoise blue, yellow, orange. Further on, the salmon tone of Barrels, a bar-restaurant specializing in seafood and dishes also with a German influence.

It surprises us, or perhaps not, that several of the palatial mansions have steeply sloping roofs, as if snow had ever fallen in those parts.

This is the case of the exuberant and emblematic Goerke house, right behind the Felsenkirche, also the train station and the Krabbenhöft & Lamp building.

This one, in the image of the Kreplin and Troos houses, built by the diamond tycoons heirs to the Kolmanskop.

Goerke House, Luderitz, Namibia

The Goerke house with its strange Bavarian-influenced architecture, prominent against the Diamond Mountain.

As we walk through the center we notice the golden skin tone of several passersby, their translucent eyes the color of honey, olive green and even blue, like those of a smooth-mannered salesman who, at the entrance to the local station, almost convinces us to buy you smoked fish.

Coincidence or not, we go shopping when we come across the first inhabitant of Portuguese origin in Lüderitz.

Luís Figueira owns the only large grocery store open after dark, the “Portuguese supermarket".

Luís Figueira: One of Many Portuguese in Namibia

Despite speaking English, the features of the man at the counter, somewhat chubby and unshaven, give us promising indications of his ancestry. "Are you the Portuguese here at the store?" we ask you.

The question and the suspicion that he was dealing with people with his blood sparked a gleam in his eyes and a strong incentive to tell us a little about everything. Speak in English.

The Portuguese language, he had lost almost all of it. “My grandparents came here from Madeira at a time when there was always work fishing and fish processing.

I still have my mother there in Santana and I go to Madeira once a year. Here in Lüderitz, I married a colored lady and here we are. We have four children, all with Portuguese names. You have to stop by our cod academy! It's where the Portuguese-born gang lives…”

When Luís Figueira's grandparents arrived, Lüderitz was part of the South Africa. Thus dictated the continuation of the history of these stops. In the midst of the 1st World War, the South Africa occupied all of Germanic Southwest Africa and deported many Germans.

Incorporation in South Africa and newly independent Namibia

With the shift of mining prospecting from the surroundings to the south, this deportation contributed to the temporary decline of the population. THE South Africa it managed Lüderitz and the former German colony – first under the League of Nations and the UN, later in the absence of the UN – until 1990.

This year, the movement SWAP (SouthWest African People Organization) forced Namibia's independence, with a strategy of military confrontation from southern Angola, recently freed from Portuguese yoke.

A century passed without the present territory of Namibia being subject to effective Germanic rule. There are more than 30.000 inhabitants of German ancestry and speaking German.

They form a compact audience of a German-language radio station, their own television news service and the daily newspaper general newspaper founded in 1916 and which has endured over the years.

Despite the unusual genesis of the Teutonic legacy and the efforts of the Namibian authorities to mitigate it, in Lüderitz as, further north, in Swakopmund, this zeitgeist is far from passing.

Kolmanskop, Namíbia

Generated by the Diamonds of Namibe, Abandoned to its Sands

It was the discovery of a bountiful diamond field in 1908 that gave rise to the foundation and surreal opulence of Kolmanskop. Less than 50 years later, gemstones have run out. The inhabitants left the village to the desert.
Fish River Canyon, Namíbia

The Namibian Guts of Africa

When nothing makes you foreseeable, a vast river ravine burrows the southern end of the Namíbia. At 160km long, 27km wide and, at intervals, 550 meters deep, the Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Africa. And one of the biggest canyons on the face of the Earth.
Table Mountain, South Africa

At the Adamastor Monster Table

From the earliest times of the Discoveries to the present, Table Mountain has always stood out above the South African immensity South African and the surrounding ocean. The centuries passed and Cape Town expanded at his feet. The Capetonians and the visiting outsiders got used to contemplating, ascending and venerating this imposing and mythical plateau.
Damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia On the Rocks

Hundreds of kilometers north of Swakopmund, many more of Swakopmund's iconic dunes Sossuvlei, Damaraland is home to deserts interspersed with hills of reddish rock, the highest mountain and ancient rock art of the young nation. the settlers South Africans they named this region after the Damara, one of the Namibian ethnic groups. Only these and other inhabitants prove that it remains on Earth.
Graaf-Reinet, South Africa

A Boer Spear in South Africa

In early colonial times, Dutch explorers and settlers were terrified of the Karoo, a region of great heat, great cold, great floods and severe droughts. Until the Dutch East India Company founded Graaf-Reinet there. Since then, the fourth oldest city in the rainbow nation it thrived at a fascinating crossroads in its history.
Ilha de Mozambique, Mozambique  

The Island of Ali Musa Bin Bique. Pardon... of Mozambique

With the arrival of Vasco da Gama in the extreme south-east of Africa, the Portuguese took over an island that had previously been ruled by an Arab emir, who ended up misrepresenting the name. The emir lost his territory and office. Mozambique - the molded name - remains on the resplendent island where it all began and also baptized the nation that Portuguese colonization ended up forming.
Sossusvlei, Namíbia

The Namibe Dead End of Sossusvlei

When it flows, the ephemeral Tsauchab river meanders 150km from the mountains of Naukluft. Arriving in Sossusvlei, you get lost in a sea of ​​sand mountains that compete for the sky. The natives and settlers called it a swamp of no return. Anyone who discovers these far-fetched parts of Namibia always thinks of returning.
Dunhuang, China

An Oasis in the China of the Sands

Thousands of kilometers west of Beijing, the Great Wall has its western end and the China and other. An unexpected splash of vegetable green breaks up the arid expanse all around. Announces Dunhuang, formerly crucial outpost on the Silk Road, today an intriguing city at the base of Asia's largest sand dunes.
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Cape of Good Hope - Cape of Good Hope NP, South Africa

On the edge of the Old End of the World

We arrived where great Africa yielded to the domains of the “Mostrengo” Adamastor and the Portuguese navigators trembled like sticks. There, where Earth was, after all, far from ending, the sailors' hope of rounding the tenebrous Cape was challenged by the same storms that continue to ravage there.
Twyfelfontein - Ui Aes, Namíbia

The Rupestrian Namibia Uncovered

During the Stone Age, the now hay-covered valley of the Aba-Huab River was home to a diverse fauna that attracted hunters. In more recent times, colonial era fortunes and misfortunes coloured this part of Namibia. Not as many as the more than 5000 petroglyphs that remain at Ui Aes / Twyfelfontein.
Walvis Bay, Namíbia

The Outstanding Shoreline of Walvis Bay

From Namibia's largest coastal city to the edge of the Namib Desert of Sandwich Harbour, there is an unrivaled domain of ocean, dunes, fog and wildlife. Since 1790, the fruitful Walvis Bay has been its gateway.
PN Bwabwata, Namíbia

A Namibian Park Worth Three

Once Namibia's independence was consolidated in 1990, to simplify its management, the authorities grouped together a trio of parks and reserves on the Caprivi strip. The resulting PN Bwabwata hosts a stunning immensity of ecosystems and wildlife, on the banks of the Cubango (Okavango) and Cuando rivers.
Spitzkoppe, Damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia's Sharp Mountain

At 1728 meters, the “Namibian Matterhorn” rises below the ten highest elevations in Namibia. None of them compare to Spitzkoppe's dramatic and emblematic granite sculpture.
PN Etosha, Namíbia

The Lush Life of White Namibia

A vast salt flat rips through the north of Namibia. The Etosha National Park that surrounds it proves to be an arid but providential habitat for countless African wild species.
Palmwag, Namíbia

In Search of Rhinos

We set off from the heart of the oasis generated by the Uniab River, home to the largest number of black rhinos in southwest Africa. In the footsteps of a bushman tracker, we follow a stealthy specimen, dazzled by a setting with a Martian feel.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions
safari
NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Heart of Mozambique's Wildlife Shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 5th - Ngawal a BragaNepal

Towards the Nepalese Braga

We spent another morning of glorious weather discovering Ngawal. There is a short journey towards Manang, the main town on the way to the zenith of the Annapurna circuit. We stayed for Braga (Braka). The hamlet would soon prove to be one of its most unforgettable places.
Visitors at Jameos del Agua
Architecture & Design
Lanzarote, Canary Islands

To César Manrique what is César Manrique's

By itself, Lanzarote would always be a Canaria by itself, but it is almost impossible to explore it without discovering the restless and activist genius of one of its prodigal sons. César Manrique passed away nearly thirty years ago. The prolific work he left shines on the lava of the volcanic island that saw him born.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Aventura
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Correspondence verification
Ceremonies and Festivities
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, Travel Korea, Color Maneuvers
Cities
Alone, South Korea

A Glimpse of Medieval Korea

Gyeongbokgung Palace stands guarded by guardians in silken robes. Together they form a symbol of South Korean identity. Without waiting for it, we ended up finding ourselves in the imperial era of these Asian places.
Lunch time
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Culture
Jok​ülsárlón Lagoon, Iceland

The Chant and the Ice

Created by water from the Arctic Ocean and the melting of Europe's largest glacier, Jokülsárlón forms a frigid and imposing domain. Icelanders revere her and pay her surprising tributes.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
travel western australia, surfspotting
Traveling
Perth to Albany, Australia

Across the Far West of Australia

Few people worship evasion like the aussies. With southern summer in full swing and the weekend just around the corner, Perthians are taking refuge from the urban routine in the nation's southwest corner. For our part, without compromise, we explore endless Western Australia to its southern limit.
Vanuatu, Cruise in Wala
Ethnic
Wala, Vanuatu

Cruise ship in Sight, the Fair Settles In

In much of Vanuatu, the days of the population's “good savages” are behind us. In times misunderstood and neglected, money gained value. And when the big ships with tourists arrive off Malekuka, the natives focus on Wala and billing.
Portfolio, Got2Globe, Best Images, Photography, Images, Cleopatra, Dioscorides, Delos, Greece
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

The Earthly and the Celestial

Cape Espichel, Sanctuary of Senhora do Cabo, Sesimbra,
History
Albufeira Lagoon ao Cape Espichel, Sesimbra, Portugal

Pilgrimage to a Cape of Worship

From the top of its 134 meters high, Cabo Espichel reveals an Atlantic coast as dramatic as it is stunning. Departing from Lagoa de Albufeira to the north, golden coast below, we venture through more than 600 years of mystery, mysticism and veneration of its aparecida Nossa Senhora do Cabo.
São Miguel Island, Dazzling Colors by Nature
Islands
São Miguel, The Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Horses under a snow, Iceland Never Ending Snow Island Fire
Winter White
Husavik a Myvatn, Iceland

Endless Snow on the Island of Fire

When, in mid-May, Iceland already enjoys some sun warmth but the cold and snow persist, the inhabitants give in to an intriguing summer anxiety.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Cachena cow in Valdreu, Terras de Bouro, Portugal
Nature
Campos do GerêsTerras de Bouro, Portugal

Through the Campos do Gerês and the Terras de Bouro

We continue on a long, zigzag tour through the domains of Peneda-Gerês and Bouro, inside and outside our only National Park. In this one of the most worshiped areas in the north of Portugal.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
View of La Graciosa de Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Natural Parks
La Graciosa, Canary Islands

The Most Graceful of the Canary Islands

Until 2018, the smallest of the inhabited Canaries did not count for the archipelago. Arriving in La Graciosa, we discover the insular charm of the now eighth island.
Jerusalem God, Israel, Golden City
UNESCO World Heritage
Jerusalem, Israel

Closer to God

Three thousand years of history as mystical as it is troubled come to life in Jerusalem. Worshiped by Christians, Jews and Muslims, this city radiates controversy but attracts believers from all over the world.
Characters
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde, Landing
Beaches
Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde

Santa Maria and the Atlantic Blessing of Sal

Santa Maria was founded in the first half of the XNUMXth century, as a salt export warehouse. Today, thanks to the providence of Santa Maria, Sal Ilha is worth much more than the raw material.
Easter Seurassari, Helsinki, Finland, Marita Nordman
Religion
Helsinki, Finland

The Pagan Passover of Seurasaari

In Helsinki, Holy Saturday is also celebrated in a Gentile way. Hundreds of families gather on an offshore island, around lit fires to chase away evil spirits, witches and trolls
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
Society
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Daily life
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Devils Marbles, Alice Springs to Darwin, Stuart hwy, Top End Path
Wildlife
Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia

Stuart Road, on its way to Australia's Top End

Do Red Center to the tropical Top End, the Stuart Highway road travels more than 1.500km lonely through Australia. Along this route, the Northern Territory radically changes its look but remains faithful to its rugged soul.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.