Hi everybody!

I am currently in beautiful Cape Town crashing my buddy Ole’s couch and having a break from travelling (Thanks for showing me around your city, dude!). This also gives me the time and peace of mind to write about the country I visited before I came to South Africa: Namibia. It was a very strange feeling crossing the border from Zambia into Namibia. There were obvious things that changed. The streets were clean, modern cars and lots of shops. It was a feeling of leaving Africa. Not because of these obvious things but of the change of mentality of the local people. While the people in the countries I visited before (especially in Malawi and Zambia) were usually super friendly and polite, the people in Namibia had a more western coldness to their interactions. Nevertheless the country is amazing. The rough coastal line, the great national parks and the just stunning Namib desert (which is considered to be the oldest desert on this planet) are places to be seen. Also the vast emptiness of Namibia is ever present. Namibia has just over 2 million inhabitants but covers an are that is ten times larger than the country of Austria. 18 major tribes reside in the country and among them are for Damara people that have a very special language. In their language they don’t only use spoken syllables like we are used to but also four different click sounds which the produce with their tongue. It is just amazing to listen to a conversation between two Damaran people and how they incorporate the click sounds into a word. I tried to learn some words but it is close to impossible to produce those sounds on top of a spoken word
Another very interesting side of Namibia is the turbulent history. The Germans colonised it in 1882 and lost to the South Africans in 1915. Still the German influence is very strong. In the coastal city of Swakopmund most of the people speak German and most of the street names are still in German. Also there are so many old German buildings that you get the feeling of actually walking in a town in Germany. After the South African rule ended in 1990 Namibia finally became an independent country and is still doing well in terms of economical development.
I spent only two weeks in Namibia which is way too short for a big country like that. Reason for that is the lack of transport. All major sites that are worth of visiting can only be reached with an organized tour which usually costs a lot of money or by a rented car. I will definitely come back and see more of that country.

Peace!

Namibia – Deadvlei near the Sossusvlei dunes. These dead Acacia trees are around 900 years old.

Namibia – Sossusvlei: With dunes as high as 300 to 400 meters these are said to be the highest dunes in the world. The reddish colour comes from iron ore particles in the sand.

Namibia – Swakopmund: A German building which is over 100 years old.

Namibia – Etosha National Park: The one rhino I saw in all three months of travelling in Africa.

Namibia – Etosha National Park: A grey hornbill.

Namibia – Somewhere in the middle of nowhere: A young Himba woman wearing the traditional hairstyle of her tribe. The hair is wrapped in clay which they also use for their skin.

Namibia – Etosha National Park: The long road leading into the first rain of the season.

Namibia – Etosha National Park: A harem of springboks and some zebras.

Namibia – Etosha National Park: A cow.

Dear Friends,

So after rushing through Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia in only one month I spent 10 days in Namibia where I still am.. well actually I will be leaving for Capetown today thouh. I really don’t like to hurry through countries like that because you miss out on many things and it is very exhausting too. Especially when the public transport is as cruel as in Tanzania and Malawi. After the many rides on mini busses where 21 people are squeezed in a vehicle which is supposed to carry 12 people (plus live stock, bags of grain, pottery, baskets and screaming children) then add to this the relentless heat, constant hassle by touts at bus stations and “tourist guides” and the whole thing can easily become a quite draining endeavour. Yeah, I was pretty tired of travelling in between but by now I am back in the flow and enjoy it to the fullest again eventhough Namibia is close to impossible to travel as a backpacker. While in Tanzania and Malawi the trasport was terrible here the transport to the most places is just none existent. Still I must say that I really love Africa. Also I got really lazy with my blog which mostly due to me rather spending my time with the nice people I meet. Hence this time the blogpost is very short and the information on my travels and the countries I travelled is scarce. I will do better on the up coming one on Namibia. I promise.

Peace

Zambia: Victoria Falls taking a swim in the Devil’s Pool

Zambia: Typical market

Zambia: Ox Peckers riding an impala antilope

Zanzibar: I was captain of a traditional dhow boat for a day.. kind of..

Zambia: Morning glory in the beautiful South Luanga National Park

Zambia: Leftovers of a bull that got taken down by a pride of lions

Malawi: A village’s witch doctor whom I met. A very interesting experience but is prediction still remain to become true.

Malawi: Typical dusty Malawian village

Malawi – Nkhata Bay: Lake Malawi

Zanzibar: The sunset I enjoyed every evening.

Tanzania: Train window shopping

Hi everybody!

This time I would like to share my experiences of the three weeks of travel in Ethiopia. Suffice to say that three weeks can’t really be enough to thoroughly travel any country but it was enough to see some incredible landscapes, witness a unique peoples’ culture, and to learn a lot about this ancient country’s history (and to stuff my face with probably some of the best food in Africa!). And by the way, I am digging my feet deep into the white powdery sand of one of Zanzibar’s most exquisite beaches while I am writing this.

Ethiopia is probably one of the most misunderstood and underrated countries. In the western world people first think of famine and starving people when they hear the word “Ethiopia”. Of course there were the terrible famines in the 80s caused by the inability of the socialist Derg regime and another grave one in the 70s caused by the troubles of the Italo-Ethio war. These were just eye glimpses compared to the 4000 year old history of this country that claims that its royal blood line is traced back to King Solomon of Jerusalem and the Queen of Sheeba themselves. Also Ethiopia claims to be in posession of the original Arch of the Covenant that contains the actual stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai which would be one of mankind’s most precious treasures. I have seen the place where this treasure is guarded but it remains to be proven that it is genuine. On top of all this Ethiopia is the place where some of the oldest remains of skeletons of Homo Sapiens Sapiens and it’s predecessors were found (also the oldest bi-pedaling humanoid skeleton “Lucy” which is 3.2 million years old). So of course the claim is being made that Ethiopia is the cradle of mankind itself. Combined with the fact that Ethiopia is the only African country that has always successfully fought off any attempts of colonialization, it is quite understandable that the Ethiopian people are very proud. And if you are drinking a coffee while reading this: the coffee plant originates from southern Ethiopia in the Kaffa region where it got its name from as well (and this is a fact).

I wasn’t really feeling comfortable when I left Kenya to fly to Addis Ababa because I wasn’t prepared at all. I had no hotel booked, had no real guide book, I was alone and no idea what to expect. Also I wasn’t really fond of the capital and I wanted to leave it as fast as possible. The gods of travelling were kind to me though and blessed me with the company of some amazing people. I just love this so much about travelling. You rock up to some random place, meet nice people and then you decide to travel together. So it came to be that from the first day to the last day in Ethiopia I was never travelling alone. So shouts go out to my Ethiopian crew Hendrik, Tim, Caspar, Dani, Gili, Orit, Neil, Kate, Hadrien, Omer and the others I might have forgotten to mention right now. Anyway with only three weeks to travel one country I decided to go the classic historical circuit that lead my friends and me first to Bahir Dar where we visited some of Ethiopia’s oldest churches and the Blue Niles Falls. After that we went of the the old capital city of Gondar which is the starting point for almost all treks into the Simien Mountains and thats exactly what we did aswell: A four day trek on the roof of Africa with walking on peaks as high as four thousand meters, passing canyons falling as deep as a thousand meters, marvelling at stunning waterfalls, being savaged by bed bugs and also being rained on, hailed on and nearly frozen rock solid. Still it was amazing and I would do it again without hesitation. After this out door experience it was time for some history and culture so off to Lalibela we went. Lalibela was a former capital aswell and it was founded by King Lalibela. The word Laibela means “honey eater” and the legend says that when the king was born a swarm of honey bees gathered around him and hence his mother gave him this name. The area still produces great honeys. Some of them are said to have magical healing powers. King Lalibela was a priest king and he is known for building the famous rock hewn churches of Lalibela. 13 huge churches freed from the rock and turned into a spiritual and religous centre where the old orthodox form of chrstianity is still practiced in the same way like centuries ago. I felt thrown back in time as soon as I entered the compund with pilgrims praying and chanting in the ancient tongue of Ge’ez and following there ancient rites. Somehow the whole atmosphere reminded me of Tibet with its living and omnipresent spirituality. After spending a couple of days in Lalibela and being eaten alive by fleas this time, we moved on to the former capital of the aksumite empire: Aksum. This place has the oldest history in Ethiopia and many archaeological sites. The amazing fact that so far only 10% of the archaeological sites have been excavated makes it even more fascinating. who knows what tombs and treasures are still hidden in the ground only waiting to be found. Also it holds a ruin which is believed to be the former palace of the Queen of Sheeba. After spending only two nights in Aksum we pressed on to Mekele where we organized the the four day trip into the Danakil Depression which was definetly my highlight of travelling Africa so far. An area so bizarre and hostile that it feels like being on a different planet. Still there is life and even settlements to be found. Between sulfur lakes, bubbling potassium pits and areas with a ground like shattered glas lies the Dallol Salt Lake. Caravans of camels and mules are still led there in a two weeks walk by some of the toughest people I have ever seen: the Afar. The Danakil Depression is the lowest place in Africa with -125 meters below sea level and that makes it also the hottest inhabited place on earth with temperatures that are frequently above 50 degrees centigrade. Still people are working there and are cutting the salt from the ground with axes, sticks and knifes in way that was the same centuries if not millenia ago. The Afar people refuse using modern machinery because they believe that once people start exploiting the salt, which is their foundation of life, it will just vanish. This was very impressive to witness but even that paled compared what was next. A visit to one of the five active lava lakes on this planet. It was one of the most difficult and exhausting expeditions I did. An eight hour car ride through barren wasteland, desert and a huge field of lava rock followed by a stiff three hours hike up the mountain. The view was more than rewarding though. Standing on the rim of a bubbling lava pit is a sight that I will never forget in my entire life. Remembering it now I even have to ask myself if it was real or just a dream.

Since I have been travelling pretty fast in the past two months I am taking a couple of days off now on the lovely island of Zanzibar. The weather is perfect, the water is as blue as the sky and the food is great aswell. I am not really sure on my next steps but right now it feels good to just relax and get tanned.

See you around
Flo

Simien Mountains: Farmer boys selling there handicrafts.

Bahir Dar: Centuries old christian murals in one of Ethiopias oldest churches.

Simien Mountains – Gogo Peak: A four thousand meter high peak where we stopped for a lunch brerak.

Simien Mountains: Bleeding Heart Gelada Monkey. A kind of monkey that is endemic to the Simiens. And quite a filthy one too. There were constantly “commiting adultery” or at last touching themselves.

Lalibela: We were watching the football match Ethiopia versus Nigeria. Unfortunately we lost 1:2 due to stupid referee.

Lalibela – Rock Church: A priest showing his cross that is used for blessing pilgrims.

Gondar – 4 Sisters Restaurant: A typical Ethiopian dish. Different kind of meat, vegetables and sauces placed on an Injeera. The Injeera is a part of every Ethiopian meal. It is a sponge like pancake with a slightly sour taste made of an endemic grain called teff.

Simien Mountains – Geech Camp: Our scout who guarded us from dangerous wildlife and bandits. Luckily he never had to make use of his old M14 rifle.

Danakil Depression – Dallol Salt Lake: One of the Afar people loading the cur salt bricks on to a camel.

Danakil Depression – Dallol Salt Lake: One of the many soldiers that protected us from a potential attack from Eritrean Soldiers. In 2012 a group of German and Hungarian tourists was killed in the Danakil Depression hence the high securtiy meassures now.

Lalibela – Rock Church: Pilgrim during the morning mass. She insisted on me taking a picture of her.

Danakil Depression – Dallol Salt Lake: Cutting the salt into even bricks of 10 kilos.

Danakil Depression – Dallol Salt Lake: The breaking of salt from the ground.

Danakil Depression – Irta’Ale lava lake: I was so tired from the trip there that I had to take a nap right next to the boiling lava.

Selam, my dear friends!

So I finally managed to get my first blog post online and it took me only one month to do so. Currently I am in Ethiopia in a small town called Gondar in the northern part of the country. I will tell you more about this fascinating country in my next post. First I will try to sum up my experiences of travelling in Kenya and Uganda:

When I arrived in Kenya I was quite happy that my bro Paddy picked my up at the airport in Nairobi. We didn’t linger at all in the capital. Instead we headed of to the outskirts of a town called Naivasha where we spent a couple of days in an amazing camp called Carnelly’s. The people were great and food and drinks were too. We also were lucky enough to be taken to a private game drive into the Oserian Wildlife Sanctuary (Thank you, Tammy!). The abundance of wildlife in every form was stunning: warthogs, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, waterbucks, buffalos, baboons, eagles, hippos and many other animals all wild and free. Even along the main roads you would always encounter loads of wildlife. After spending a couple of days in Naivasha we moved on and took a night bus to Kampala in Uganda. The 12 hours ride was the bumpiest bus ride I had in my entire life. I literally jumped out of my seat a couple of times in the middle of the night because of the bad condition the road was in. After arriving in Kampala we took another 12 hours overland bus with seats that seemed to be made for pygmies. So it came to be that I had the most painful busride of my life on top. Anyway we arrived in the Queen Elizabeth National Park where we did a couple of safaris where I saw my first leopard. The grace and subtle power of this predator literally left me speechless for an hour. It was almost too much to see a pride of 7 lions only 5 minutes after that encounter. A couple of days later we headed on towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where we had another amazing experience: the mountain gorillas. After a 2 hours trek into the jungle we met a family of about 12 gorillas that decided to spend an hour with us on the path. Seeing these strong yet gentle creatures in their own habitat was another humbling experience.

Another terrible bus ride later we arrived back in Kampala where I was immediately put down by a food poisoning (I’ll never eat goat stew again!). It took me a couple of days to recover but then I was back to 100% again and we jumped right into the next adventure. At the source of the White Nile river we spent a whole day trying to drown ourselves in grade V rapids doing white water rafting. It was so much fun and a great work out. The two british girls in our raft that were constantly shitting themselves and our guide making fun of them were quite entertaining too.

Uganda, your people are lovely, your nature is amazing but your food is terrible. Also seeing the difference between those two countries was very interesting. Uganda is still recovering from the Idi Amin regime but is showing very fast development. Kenya on the other side is already some steps ahead and is still the economical powerhouse of East Africa hence the shockingly high prices for all touristic activities. The first month already blew a hole in my budget.

The last 10 days we spent back in the camp in Kenya where we relaxed, enjoyed great peoples’ company and had lots of good food and drinks. Many thanks to Lovat and Chris and all the others from the Naivasha crew. You are the nicest and most welcoming people ever!

One thing I really do not like about travelling is saying good bye to the people you meet along your way. First leaving the Naivashians who made me feel like home and then saying goodbye my travel bro paddy who finally came to the end of a trip that took him around the world over a course of three years. It was a pleasure, man!

Now I am exploring the third country of my trip and I am really looking forward to it. End of October I will fly down south to Tanzania and begin my journey to Capetown where I plan to arrive around Christmas. The countries I will visit along the way are Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and maybe Namibia.

So long!

Flo

Kenya – Oserian Wildlife Sanctuary: A family of bat eared foxes at sunset

Uganda – Queen Elizabeth NP: Apparently the Buffalo is one of the most vicious animals in Africa

Uganda -Queen Elizabeth NP: A Waterbuck at sunrise

Uganda – Queen Elizabeth NP: Early morning game drive

Uganda – Queen Elizabeth NP: The elusive Leopard

Uganda – Queen Elizabeth NP: The Lions we met

Uganda – Queen Elizabeth NP: Elephant bull crossing the road

Uganda – Katunguru: Meeting locals in a small fishing village

Uganda – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: The Silverback Gorilla

Uganda – Bwindi Impenetrable NP: Gorilla mom and baby

Uganda – Bwindi: Paddy and me donating pens and books at the Bwindi Primary School

Uganda – Jinja:White water rafting in the Nile river. Paddy and me in the front

Only a couple of days before I board a plane to Nairobi in Kenya. Equipped only with my backpack and a one way ticket. The excitement is still covered by a layer of panic and melancholia. Panic because I still have to get my shit together and melancholia because I will leave my loved ones behind. I am pretty sure though that as soon as I am at the airport the joy of travelling backed by a feeling of adventure will take over. So far the plan is to go from Kenya to South Africa overland and to see as much of the neighbouring countries as possible. By end of December I will try to make my way over to Argentinia and then from there heading of into Antarctica. Until then I will give frequent updates and present to you hopefully great pictures of the things I encounter along the way.

So long,

Flo