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  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    11
    Day 47

    Day 47: Zambia - South Luangwa

    March 20, 2019 in Zambia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Welcome to Zambia 🇿🇲 🇿🇲🇿🇲

    Once you cross the border to Zambia and arrive in the first city, you realize that you have arrived in a different kind of Africa. You drive on proper roads (with side walks), see nice stores with shoes and clothing, traffic lights etc. After being in Malawi 🇲🇼, this was a bit shocking. BUT you also see a lot of poverty ... you see children begging for food on the streets, disabled and homeless people asking for money. I haven’t seen this before on my trip.

    Our destination today was South Luangwa National Park. It’s beautiful ... we were staying at a camp within the park, no fence as usual 😉 The camp was right at the river and so we were watching the sun set with a lot of hippos 🦛 getting in and out of the water.    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    Day 46

    Day 46: Malawi Village Tour

    March 19, 2019 in Malawi ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    So here is part 2 of today. In the afternoon we visited the local village. Village tours are the best as you actually interact with the locals and see what they are like 🙏

    Just like at the waterfall I was confronted with nothing but kindness. So many friendly people - almost everyone we have met wanted to “high five” or do a handshake 🤝 💛 And the children ... they were just adorable. I gave out some cookies and jut after a few seconds I made many new friends 👭

    After the tour I went to my tour guide’s wood carving shop to buy some stuff for my home. He asked for a certain amount of dollars and asked if I could also give him some supplies (rather than just money). So I gave him bandaids and mosquito repellant ... and because he was so happy about this, he made me a present and gave me one of his paintings. So someone who has much less than I do just gives me things for free ... I was beyond happy ... Malawi 🇲🇼 you are the best ✨💛 (I’ll come back some day)    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    1
    Day 46

    Day 46: Malawi Waterfall Hike

    March 19, 2019 in Malawi ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today was one of my favorite days. That’s why you will see two posts for this day 💫

    I got up early to go on a guided tour to the local waterfall. 4 hours of hiking. It was amazing to be active again - I haven’t done much physical activity ever since I got on the truck 💪

    The waterfall was beautiful but what was even better were all the people I have met on the way. The friendliness and happiness of these people is just unbelievable ✨💛🙏

    Words cannot describe how it feels to be around these people. I feel great being with them - their smiles are the best. I don’t think we need to pity these people. Yes, they lack wealth as defined by the first world. And yes, they are in need of education, medical supplies etc. BUT: They are so rich in happiness. And they live in line with nature. So I think they deserve our admiration as well as our compassion 🙏✨    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    Day 45

    Day 45: Lake Malawi (Central)

    March 18, 2019 in Malawi ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Another day, another drive. We travelled down south along the shores of lake Malawi 🇲🇼 to spend two days at another lodge.

    And this lodge is just perfect 👌 After two days of just very basic accommodation, this place feels like pure luxury: Right at the beach, nice garden, soft bed, clean bathroom with running water and an infinity pool 💛 Please forgive me for being so excited about this 🙈 - but these accommodations are so rare on this trip that when I do get some comfort I get really excited about it ✨

    When we were driving through Malawi I was thinking about our first world definition of wealth and poverty. Malawi 🇲🇼 is supposed to be a very poor country. But if you take a close look you see happy faces, people having enough food (because they grow everything they eat themselves) as well as small houses surrounded by lots of amazing nature ... and a huge fresh water lake. So basically they have what they need for a happy life, no?
    Almost no one is driving a car here ... they walk, they ride bikes. But I feel not having cars is actually a benefit - better for the planet, better for personal fitness and it makes you stick to the local community. At night everyone is out on the streets - happy!
    Don’t get me wrong the people here have their problems (like medical care for example) and they do need support, but I do think they are not just poor ... they have wealth ... just a different kind than we have and we should admire them for it 🙏💛    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    Day 44

    Day 43 & 44: Lake Malawi (North)

    March 17, 2019 in Malawi ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Lake Malawi is a beautiful place ... just look at the lake 🌴

    The only problem: it’s so incredibly hot... much hotter than anywhere else I have been before on this trip. And: there are so many flies 😱

    In the morning we went to the local village. This village is supported by an NGO, namely the lodge that we are staying at (and USAid). Any profit this NGO makes go directly into support for the local village. A very nice idea - which makes the fact that our accommodation was very very basic (no water today for washing) seem irrelevant. The village was beautiful 💛 So many happy and proud people. They were especially proud of their local hospital. And we were very impressed by everything they have accomplished 🙏

    Remember I was supposed to give Anne’s umbrella to the local kids? Well, I did and they were soooo happy about it. Just a simple umbrella. And more than 10 kids were excited about it ✨

    In the afternoon I was ready for another adventure. I wanted to go up to Livingstonia. Not hiking - too hot - driving up. It was an adventure for sure. We drove in a small car, no 4x4 ... and of course did not make it to the top 😂 At some point two passengers actually jumped out of the car as the car was just going downhill backwards (quite scary when the driver is not doing anything to stop this process) ... I stayed inside trying to explain to the driver how to drive an automatic car. He did not quite like it (he was actually surprised that I can drive a car in my home country) ... but finally accepted help and we made it safely back down to the hotel. The others were a bit terrified ... but I loved this trip ... when things do not go as planned you usually make the best memories 🤷🏼‍♀️☺️🙏    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    1
    Day 42

    Day 42: Mikumi National Park & Iringa

    March 15, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today was a perfect day. Really just perfect 💛

    We started the day with another game drive at Mikumi National Park. We got to see so many giraffes 🦒 and elephants 🐘 ... the elephants came really close to our vehicle. I’m never getting tried of being with these creatures. Although I must admit I have started to take less photos and just focused on observing them with my eyes. If you think about it: How many people travel and see only with their phones and cameras but not with their eyes and with their minds? It’s all about getting that perfect picture to show to friends and family. And that’s fine. But I have decided that for me it’s more about being present in the moment myself 🙏

    After the game drive we headed further south to a place called Iringa. On our way we stopped on the side of the road as we have seen several Baobab trees (very old trees, some almost 2,000 years old) - the locals believe that you need to hug one of these trees and make a wish and it will come true ✨ let’s see ... I made two ✌️

    When we finally arrived at the lodge, we came to find one of the most beautiful lodges I have stayed at in the past week. An old farm house. The farm is still intact producing meat and vegetables 🌽🥦🥬🥕🐄🐑. We also had dinner at the farm; they served us a meal with only produce from the farm. It was yummy! But the best was actually the rooms. I slept in the stables. And for the first time in weeks I had a proper pillow and blanket ... I slept like a baby 💫✨🌙    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    Day 41

    Day 41: Going South (Mikumi)

    March 14, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    So we have left the busy town of Dar es Salaam and spent the day in the truck to go further south and closer to our next country, Malawi 🇲🇼

    The traffic jam in Dar es Salaam was awful so the drive took a very long time. In the late afternoon we finally arrived at the next destination: Mikumi National Park. A beautiful lodge where everyone had their own little cottage.

    Like Serengeti, this national park as well as the lodge property are not fenced ... so guess what happened? Yes, I have been visited by four-legged creatures again. Two water buffalos having dinner right in front of my house 🐂.

    It’s probably just a coincidence. But I feel blessed that on this trip the wild animals always came very close to ME ... I love wild life and maybe this is just the law of attraction at its best 🤷🏼‍♀️🙏✨    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    1
    Day 40

    Day 40: Dar es Salaam

    March 13, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We are back on Tanzania mainland and spent an afternoon in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city.

    It’s a busy place 😉 We spent the day walking through some local streets and visiting a local market. You can buy anything you need for your home at this market: From fresh fruit and vegetables to clothes and household equipment. It was great fun and also quite nice to walk for a bit.

    But I am a bit sad today as I just realized that more than half of my trip is already over ... time flies and I am sooooo not ready to go home 🤷🏼‍♀️    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    1
    Day 39

    Day 39: Spices and Stone Town 2.0

    March 12, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Back again to a typical Zanzibar Spice Tour and Stone Town. At first I was hoping I could skip today’s program as I have done the exact same thing just a few weeks ago. But I went and I actually liked it as I have seen and experienced many new things 💛

    For example, we did have lunch at the spice farm. Local food: spicy rice and cooked banana with vegetable sauce. It was delicious 😋

    And in Stone Town we visited an exhibition on slavery which was very interesting. Zanzibar has quite a sad history. Once you enter one of the chambers in which the slaves were kept back then you really feel the horror of those days in which slavery was part of Zanzibar’s every day life.    Read more

  • TravelerTrans Africa 2019
    1
    Day 38

    Day 37 & 38: Zanzibar 2.0

    March 11, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    I am back in paradise for a few days: 1.5 days of relaxing on the beach of Zanzibar in Nungwi 🏝

    I really needed a break so this was just perfect 👌 I desperately needed some “me time” and a break from being on a schedule all the time. I wish we would spend a few more days here - it’s so beautiful.Read more

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