I love Dar

When you are backpacking you usually try to avoid big cities, especially in less developed countries. Big cities are always busy, stressy and ugly, as proven by our short visits to Gaborone, Harare, Lusaka, Lilongwe, Mbeya and even with Cape Town I couldn't get very close. After traveling through beautiful countryside, staying in relaxed hostels and living a slow pace, you are mostly overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle and anonymity, the noise, dirt, smells and crowds.
Dar Es Salaam has all this plus a heat of 30 degree and still I fell for this place.

Maybe it is because it reminds me of Almaty in summer... the traffic chaos, the food stalls, the crowd of people on the streets - isn't it all similar in these third world country metropolises? Maybe that made me adjust better, helped finding the right places, meet friendly locals (mostly the Arab immigrants, not the Africans), made me move around so quickly and easily, that even though I might be the only white person around, people don't stop and call me "muzungu" anymore... as if I'm merging with the various colors around me.
Whatever it is, in no time I felt comfortable here, know the street names by heart and all the little secrets you need to know in a big city like good exchange rates, good&cheap food, who is open sundays and what is a good taxi fare.

See our dinner tonight for 3EUR per person, directly grilled on the street (yummy chicken in funny shape including neck and tail), with fresh naan bread and a water tank to wash your hands:

11 days in paradise

What can you do when you are frustrated by the local circumstances, stressed by people, traffic and ever changing hotel beds, tired of being chased by touts, in short: sick of traveling? You clearly need a holiday!

And this is what we did for the last 11 days. We had a holiday from traveling. We found a place with friendly staff, good kitchen (both rare so far) and located on the beach. We kicked off our shoes and settled into a routine of kite surfing and reading every day. We hadn't planned to stay that long, but we felt so comfortable in the resort, we were surrounded by relaxed European holiday makers, there was a pool and of course an amazing beach, we just didn't want to leave anymore. The whole place felt so far away from the "real" Africa that we traveled so far, it made it easy for us to enjoy it.

Our kitesurf instructor (a German girl from Krefeld) mentioned the other day, that "Africa is definitely MY thing", whereupon I asked back, what other than Zanzibar she has seen of Africa and it turns out nothing. Yes, I thought by myself, if Africa is like Zanzibar, everybody would love it.

So we enjoyed our piece of paradise, chatted to other tourists, enjoyed good food along the beach and slowly made progress on our kitesurfing abilities, of course not without lots of bruises, scratches and twisted limbs.

And very surprisingly, after 10 days we admitted that slowly but surely we've had enough of carefree paradise, we were looking forward to being travelers again.

 

John's highlights

As we now have a new laptop i thought i had better add my two cents worth as well. This journey has had its up and downs. The biggest down was obviously when everything got stolen but we have managed to bounce back and not let that one incident ruin everything. Although the experience was extremely upsetting it did show us that we could survive without many things and in a funny way it did bring us closer together.

Since Christiane is udating you all on what we have been doing since the lasts post I won't spend to much time on that. Although i do have to mention the places we have visted that I have enjoyed the most. Etosha national park, Livingston, Lake Malawi and Zanzibar are at the top of my list. I am just going to write briefly on the two earlier experiences Etosha National Park and Livingston as i don't want to muddle up the order of this blog and i am sure Christiane and I will write more regarding Lake Malawi and Zanzibar (Which mainly involves us kite surfing...awesome fun i might add)

One of the biggest driving forces for me to visit Africa in the first place was to come and see the animals. Most are unique to Africa and seeing them up close and personnel in their natural habitat didn't disappoint. We had herds of Zebras, Springboks, Impala in fact every sort of Antelope you could imaging grazing and frolicking literally meters from the car. Elephants and Girrafes cooling themselves off at waterholes. There were lions pacing lazily next to us without a care in the world, Wilderbeest by the hundreds and even Hyenas with their funny gait and lopsided smiles making early morning apperances. All in all it was a wonderful experience and one we hope to repeat soon when we visit the Serengeti. This time armed and dangerous with a brand camera and long distance lens. So expect some awesome photos.

Livingston is a strange place, a tourist mecca in the middle of Southern Africa. It nestles on the Zambian side of the Zambia/Zimbabwe border. I think its popularity has increased ten fold as the popularity of the town of Victoria falls which is on the Zimbabwe side has declined. Mainly because of the strife that has been going on there. But one persons loss is another persons gain so to speak and Livingston is booming. As well as only being 10km away from one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls, it offers many things that the avid tourist would want, like White water rafting, Helicopter rides over the falls, Bungee jumping, Gorge swings, canoeing and many more adrenalin fueled activities that i can't remember. However these activities are not cheap and whilst i would have liked to indulge in more we only partook in the rafting and Gorge swing. But that was enough to sate my adrenalin junkie desires. The gorge swing especially was terrifing, probably not as bad a bungee jumping but launching yourself backwards, actually stapping yourself to your girlfriend and then launching yourself backwards of a cliff whilst falling for 4 seconds and tumbling definitely gets the old ticker racing.

Anyway thats just two of my highlights and i will write about my others when the blog has caught up a bit. Still lots more to see of this continent yet so i hope you stay with us and enjoy the ride.

This is Africa

Sometimes special African phenomena appear already so normal to us that we don't give it a second thought anymore. There are the ancient looking ox carriages you see next to the roads. In some countries people had donkeys and especially in Botswana where there are much more donkeys than people, there were 3 or 4 in front of the carriages.
Other than this goats and chicken roam the streets everywhere, sometimes cattle but only in the slightly richer areas. Women carry babies on their back and luggage on the head or whatever they just shopped and most importantly, women ALWAYS wear long skirts. I bought myself one the other day in order to be less conspicuous. Appearantly knees are considered a sexual symbol, so walking around in a mini skirt raises lots of attention and comments.
　

Transportation is another topic. In areas where people own bicycles you often see more than 1 person on it. Usually men are riding it and a woman, a toddler or both sit on the back including the groceries. In general it is more the men who are traveling, be it by car, bike, bus or whatsoever. Women you see next to the roads are mostly walking with firewood on their head, or shopping items, or they are washing cloth or preparing food.

Whenever you see a vehicle with loading space it is full with people. In case there is actually cargo loaded at least one person is sitting on it in order to protect it from thieves.

The most African phenomenon however is the minibus.
Imagine a 9seater-bus. Imagine how you consider it full, when every seat is taken. Imagine how cheeky you would feel when you squeeze one more person in, criminal even... And now take this scene to Africa: add another 10-12 people, half of them with babies, chuck a couple of live chicken in, fill the gaps with big bags full with rice or potatoes, some luggage here and there and age the minibus by 20 years. There you go, that is medium distance traveling in Africa.

Long distance traveling is done in normal big busses (everything between 1 and 20 years old vehicles) but it doesn't mean you have a seat for yourself.

Sometimes the only way to escape this craziness is investing in a taxi, which is mostly not official, but it gives you some much needed space...

Zanzibaaaaar

Hello world,I have a new laptop! A tiny one, but with a keyboard, so I can keep on updating you on our travel adventures. Unfortunately the screen is already errornous (pixels missing) so I will have to return it... I knew it can't be the best option to buy something like this in Africa...

Anyway, we are in Zanzibar. What happened between Etosha and Zanzibar I noted down in a exercise book with a pen and bit by bit I will transform it into blogposts. As you can't know what we have seen and experienced in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania in the last weeks the following probably doesn't make much sense to you, but: Zanzibar is refreshingly different and lovable! Here the orient meets southern Africa and a little bit of European architecture, it seems to be worlds apart from mainland Tanzania and not just a 90minutes ferry ride...

Whereas in Tanzania we already recognised significantly more Muslims compared to all the other countries we've traveled through, in Zanzibar you seem to be right in the middle of the Arab world. Women were not only headscarfs but long garments covering the whole body and sometimes the face. It is Ramadan, so praying is the most important thing and you can hear muezzins calling from every corner at any time of the day. Life however goes on despite the fact that muslims don't eat and drink during the day. But they go to the market, do their business and serve food to tourists. Sometimes they would seat you in a remote corner of their cafe in order not to offend the muslim community. Eating streetfood in public makes you actually feel a bit bad but nobody would say anything to you.

The street sellers are quite annoying, sometimes aggressive. According to them you should constantly buy souvenirs, book tours or require a taxi. Saying no is mostly not enough, saying no 3 times doesn't help either and soon you find yourself being rude to these people who actually just trying to make money. It doesn't cross their mind that you want to be left in peace or even that western tourists are more likely to spend more money without having someone sweet-talking at their side...

Anyway, roaming the narrow streets of Stone Town, looking at the local market, trying exotic fruits and street food and relaxing at one of the many wellness centers is a real pleasure here.

Hang on there, we'll be back soon

Most of you might know it already: We got robbed and that means all stories & pictures between Etosha and Okavango Delta that I had on my laptop and camera are gone. Until we solved our passport and money issues we won't be able to post in this blog. Keep your fingers crossed that it won't take too long.

This is how it happened:
After a long drive from Maun across Botswana to the eastern border we wanted to stay overnight close to the Zimbabwean border to be the first ones to cross the next morning.  Unfortunately campsites were scarce on that side of the country so we tried our luck at a lodge. The manager was a really friendly guy and after a short chat he offered us to stay in one of the cottages on the property for very little money as they had a last minute cancellation. We couldn't believe our luck! After 3 weeks of camping a luxurious cottage overlooking a lake with a huge bed, hot shower and TV was just what we were craving for. We packed all our valuables from the car into the lounge room of that cottage and connected everything (laptop, camera, battery pack, electric razor) to the power station because who knows when is the next opportunity.
We went to bed and slept deeply because the mattress was sooo soft and comfy. ..
The next morning I got up, went through the lounge room into the shower, came out and tried to find my jeans which I just left hanging over a chair the night before. And only after minutes of pondering and searching, I realized the whole disaster: EVERYTHING from the lounge room was gone!!!
Not only the laptop, the camera, the battery pack,  the razor... also all available cables,  my handbag incl. all travel documents, John's backpack with important things in, his harddrive with documents, our clothes,  sunglasses,  watch, binoculars. ..
And the doors were still locked!
What a nightmare!
After the manager and the police came over we realized they must have come through the window, which were open due to the installed mozzie net.
There is no way we could have thought of that. Even the police considered the place safe. The thieves must have known the place.
The  manager immediately sent out his whole staff to screen the huge property for anything the thieves might have chucked on the way. The police came with a bloodhound who followed a trace. But only 4 km from the cottage is the Zimbabwean green border, so the police had no authority to follow the trace any further.  The staff however risked their life and safety for finding our things. Okay, the manager has set a nice incentive of 1000Pula ( almost a month's salary) for the one who brings the passports. 
The whole morning we were busy with the police, answering their questions (how much do you think the jeans was worth...), they even took fingerprints from the window. We could use the manager's office to manage some issues online, they fed us breakfast and offered free accommodation until we have sorted out everything.
In the afternoon we drove to the police station (luckily the car keys were dropped next to the car and they hadn't opened it), picked up our police reports ( a story in itself I can tell you) and went back to learn that the guys found something 20km into Zimbabwe, which was my (already cancelled) credit card and driver's licence. But that's it. We waited for them to come back to the lodge but they hadn't found anything else.

Of course many "if only's" go through our head. We were lucky enough to have had both our phones next to our bed. The thought of having thieves just behind a thin wall next to you while you are peacefully sleeping is horribly creepy. But honestly, who wouldn't have left his things in the lounge room on a guarded private property? Yes, we learned our lesson, however we were always aware of the fact that we are in AFRICA and we always took security seriously. But there is always this one moment when you feel a little safer, that's when it hits you...

As it is not much fun typing stories with one finger on the smartphone you guys have to wait until I get a new laptop which can't happen before my new credit card arrives in Africa...

And no, we will not cancel the rest of our travels! As soon as the embassy lets us we'll continue traveling... a dream is a dream.

Botswana - the good part

We decided to cross over to Botswana on rather short notice. Initially the plan was to go to the Victoria Falls, that's what everybody was doing whom we met up here in the Caprivi strip. But when we camped on the river Chobe only 300m away from the Botswana border called Ngoma Bridge, we changed our plans. And now it was time for me to get nervous again. I always got nervous when we were about to pass a police checkpoint within the country. Our very first check point had hit us by surprise just outside of Windhoek. John passed it at about 60km/h... not a good idea. The policeman waved us back and gave him a lecture about traffic rules. Luckily only that, but it took about 20minutes. After that we were more cautious, we stopped at every official looking person and most of the time they just lifted their hand in a very lazy way, didn't even get up from the chair under the shady tree. Sometimes it was more difficult to interpret their handwaving though. Once we were sure we've been waved through only to find the policeman shouting at us, and hence making us pull over, gave John another lecture on traffic rules and argued we didn't stop, which is a serious violation of the traffic rules. Oh well, he eventually let us go after receiving a "little present", but I was furious at the unfairness!

However, crossing the border with a rental car, not knowing the rules and regulations, made my stomach rebel the whole morning.

Luckily we were prepared and knew that we couldn't bring certain food into Botswana due to their struggle against food-and-mouth-disease. So at the checkpoint we only had to get rid of our apples, which very obviously would be consumed by the checking staff later on.
The border crossing formailites proved to be very easy at the end. A stamp in each passport, some payments for car insurance and carbon emission tax and we were through. Too easy!

Our plan now was to drive to Maun, the gateway to the Okavango delta, via a 4x4-only road which was about 250km long, instead of driving 700km around it. Unfortunately our tank wouldn't reach more than 300km. Enough on a tarred road, but not on soft sand. So we had to drive back to Kasane where the next petrol station was, which was a 100km detour.
The next morning, fresh and with a full car reaching another 1400km without being refilled we made our way through Chobe Nationalpark to Maun. The sandy road forced us to release tyre pressure enormously and most of the time we couldn't go faster than 20-30km/h. The 250km proved to be unmanageable within one day! At the end it took us more than 8 hours until we decided not to push it any further and stayed at a campsite about 80km before Maun. The whole day was very exhausting even though we've only been sitting in the car. The enormous concentration while driving (John) and the constant fear of being stuck (me) wore us both out. And even though we crossed the Chobe Forest Reserve we saw not more than 1 elephant, 2 giraffes and 1 impala... and of course lots of birds, but we didn't really enjoy the landscape and its fauna anyway.

Luckily the next days didn't require us to do a lot of driving. We went on another Mokoro Trip through the Okavango Delta. And here we could actually enjoy sitting in this wabbly canoe and being pushed through the maze of shallow water which forms the delta. We were a group of 3 Mokoros and quietly our little group slid through the water following a -to us- invisible route. All we could hear was the gentle splashing of the long stick that the guide used to push the boat forward. We stopped to watch elephants in the distance and after about an hour we reached Chief's Island. Here we went for a walk which turned out to be 4 hours long. The beginning was quite inexciting. We seemed to walk aimlessly around the island (afterwards I knew the guides were looking for animals all the time; the one in the front in order to show them to us, the one in the back to prevent any attacks) when we only saw one giraffe in the distance. We sneaked up to the young bull who stood still for a long while watching us approaching and when we were about 60m close he decided to turn and galopp away. Now, having seen more giraffes before in Etosha and elsewhere, we knew that a galopping giraffe is rather panicked even though it doesn't seem like it. Their movements are soooo slow, because it takes so much effort to move 4 2meters-legs, that's why they normally don't do it. It is almost like watching slowmotion when you see a giraffe galopping.
After that we walked for ages and learned so much more about white-browed sparrowweaver, yellow-billed stork and I-don't-know-what... it seems to be a great sport for others to watch birds in Africa, but for us they were just too unspectacular and then they are constantly flying away...

But we should have more luck watching a herd of zebras grazing, impalas, which were more nervous and took off, ostriches which didn't seem to like our company and then suddenly we were surrounded by about 15 giraffes. Not close of course, we only spotted them one by one and only realized at the end how many it were. They seemeed to be curious and cautious at the same time. We decided to have our lunch break in their middle. This confused them a little so they better disappeared slowly, one by one...
After the lunch break we came across an almost dried out waterhole in which 2 giant catfish struggled to survive. We couldn't see them as the water was almost black with mud and of creamy consistence already, but it seemed to be only 20cm deep and the big fish were constantly splashing trying to escape into deeper water. Quite dramatic but also exciting... the way of life, here it would end for 2 fish who were at the wrong time at the wrong spot... but at least they would end up as fish eagle dinner, because many of them hung around the island...
Now we were at peace with our game-spotting intention and went back to our mokoros. It was me who spotted the hippo grazing in the reed, which was unusual as they normally stay in the water during the day. But we were far enough away and hippo didn't mind. All in all, even from today's point of view that was my best Africa wildlife experience!