Sunrise over Guinea, West Africa

With my plans to go up the the Sudan, North Africa, getting under way, I thought I'd better post some of the lovely sky shots I took between 2004 - 2006 while living in West Africa. When I first joined the gold company I worked for, I was set on as temporary staff and only worked a 5 - day week. (Later on when I got a contract, I had to work on Saturdays as well, urgh!) Until then, I used to run from our house in the camp down to the air strip (800m/500 yards) every Saturday morning, run the length of the strip (1.25 km/.8 mile), turn around run the length of the strip back and then run up to camp again. (total 4.1km/2.5miles) Not much to real marathon runners, I know, but it was a good warm-up exercise for me before going into the gym and working out for another hour.

I always had my small camera in my hand, strapped to my wrist and took many photos along the way when I stopped for a breather - which was often!

As I said above, I thought I'd better post some of the sky photos I have of this beautiful country which stole my heart while living there. Once I get to North Africa, I will have so many scenes and skies to photograph, I will constantly be posting them on my blog.

These photos were taken in July 2004 in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere winter. This season is called the dry season. There is often a pall of dust hanging in the air, called the Harmatan, at this time of the year and you can go for days, even weeks without seeing the sun. This day, however, the sky, although slightly cloudy, was clear. The sun rose majestically over the African bush as only the sun in Africa can rise.

This is the end of the strip. When I got here, I noticed a pall of mist hanging over the African bush. Beautiful...

After turning at the end of the airstrip, and jogging halfway back up the runway, I stopped to take this photo and all the following ones. (A girl has to catch her breath, you know!)

I wished I was an artist and could capture this beauty on canvas

Africa, always in my heart and part of my blood.

Wild, beautiful and untamed.

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