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Dominique LopesDominique Lopes
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ha viaggiato in 44 paesi Leggi altro Berlin, Deutschland
  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 148

    Lamu - cradle of Swahili culture

    28 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    I have asked Cosmus (a taxi driver I had gotten to know a few days ago) for a ride 🚕from Diani Beach back to Mombasa and it’s Airport. Like on the way coming to Diani Beach, the time flew by while we were chatting about my experiences at Diani Beach and many other things. I arrived well in time for my flight ✈️ to Lamu and was probably one of the first to check in.
    The flight with the small airplane was short (40 minutes) and since I was sitting in the front where the emergency exit was I had plenty of legroom. 😊
    On arrival at Lamu airport, an assistant waited for me to guide me to the guesthouse where I was staying. The airport is actually on Manda Island. So, at first we took the boat 🚤 to Lamu Island which is really just across the Lamu canal. Then we walked approximately 10 minutes through the narrow alleys of the old town until we reached the „JamboHouse Lamu“ - my accommodation for the time in Lamu. It was still hot and humid (like in all other places at the east coast) and although I had carried my luggage for only a few minutes I was sweating like crazy 🥵
    On my arrival day I just chilled in the afternoon on the cozy terrace of the guesthouse and went for a walk at the seafront during evening hours. I had left my mobile phone in the guesthouse to recharge 🔋and the whole old town experienced a power outage after dark. So it was pitch black which made me worry about finding my way back to the guesthouse. 👀 Luckily, the power outage was only brief. Otherwise I probably would have had a tough time navigating a town that I only knew for some hours by then. 😅

    On the next morning, I coincidentally met Jack (from Australia) at the breakfast table - I knew him already from my time in Nairobi. 😊He was leaving that day but I also started talking to Austin (from the U.S.) who was sitting close by. We both went on a DIY walking tour 🚶through Lamu old town - guided by the instruction of one of the old „Lonely Planets“ (which still had all of the helpful info in it). 😩
    Walking through the narrow alleys of the old town again and with more time for observation I noticed the many cats and donkeys 🫏 as well as their donkey poop 💩 in the streets. In the old town, donkeys are the major form of transportation (when you don’t want to walk). A few younger people also possed motorbikes 🏍️ ; the streets are too narrow for anything else. Moreover, automobiles are not allowed into the old town. 🚫
    Our first stop was the Lamu museum which extensively informed us about Swahili culture and history. ℹ️ The 'Swahili Coast' is the region extending from Mogadishu (Somalia) in the north to Sofala (Mozambique) in the south, including the Lamu archipelago, the islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, Comoros, and the western coast of Madagascar.
    The Lamu Archipelago in the north of the Kenyan Coast offers a rich cultural heritage and has been referred to as the cradle of Swahili civilization due to its numerous living settlements and ruins 🏚️ of ancient abandoned cities. Lamu Old Town‘s existence can be traced back to the 12th century which makes it the oldest town and the heart of an over 700 years old Swahili heritage in East Africa. The buildings of the merchant stone town and its traditional way of life sets you at least 100 years back in time 🕰️ and highlights the high level of sophistication attained by Swahili people from the 9th century throughout the golden ages of the 15th and 17th centuries. But it was the map 🗺️ with trade routes between Swahili people and settlements going as far as Arabia, Persia, India, China and Indonesia in the museum that impressed me the most. Swahili settlements were maritime and trade oriented. It was through trade that Swahili people were able to travel overseas and at the same time foreign Muslim scholars and craftsmen reached the East African Coast using monsoon winds. 🌬️ Travelling the sea for trade exposed the Swahili coast to cultural influences across the Indian Ocean, Arabian sea, and the Gulf of Aden - with the Omanis 🇴🇲 seemingly having a particularly high influence.
    Next we visit the Swahili house museum. As the name suggests it illustrated how a Swahili house 🏠 typically looks like. The entire way of life of the Swahili strictly follows the Sharia Islamic law 📖 and encompasses very high moral standards coupled with uttermost cleanliness, adherence to their faith and accordance of respect to all living things.
    We continued our journey and visited some galleries with African art, the local market, the biggest mosque 🕌 in town as well as the fort on the way. There was even a german post office museum but it was closed.
    In the afternoon Austin and I went back to our guesthouse to relax for a little bit before we went out for dinner again. We went to the Moonrise restaurant which served excellent food. 👌

    On the next morning I went to the Whispers Cafe for breakfast - I had forgotten to inform Arnold (the host of my guesthouse) about my breakfast wish. 🤦 But that also gave me the chance to test out something new. It’s a theme that runs through all restaurants in Lamu: many things on the menu cannot be served because the ingredients are missing. The reason is simple - only mango 🥭 and coconut 🥥 grow naturally on Lamu island. In addition, chicken 🐓 and eggs 🥚 as well as fish 🐠 are raised or caught by the locals. Everything else needs to be imported. So, you have to be a bit more flexible with ordering. The fried eggs with toast and the coffee where good anyways. 😅
    At lunchtime I took a boda boda 🏍️ to Sheila beach and stayed there for the afternoon. It was very hot and I didn’t want to risk another sunburn. That’s why I stayed most of the time in the shade and went for a refreshing beer 🍺 to the very cozy Pepino Hotel. The food is expensive (and excellent) there but the drinks are reasonably priced. I walked a bit through Sheila town as soon as the sun didn’t shine as strong anymore. Many Europeans own the houses or resorts/hotels there. I guess this is the main reason why it appears cleaner 🧹and more geared towards tourists but at the same time lacks the cultural aspects and true feeling for the live of the locals, in comparison to Lamu Old Town.
    At 5 pm I met Salim - my guide for the sunset 🌅 hike to the sand dunes near Sheila town. We passed a small village and I had the chance to taste coconut wine in a local bar of the village. It was not really my cup of tea. In fact, it tasted horrible 🤢 but this is what the locals drink here after a long working day. In contrast to my initial thoughts, it is made from the juice that a coconut tree reveals when you cut its branches. The juice is then fermented as is for a day or two and voilà - finished is the coconut wine. 🧪
    After the tasting Salim and I continued the trip to the highest point of the sand dunes where we had a great overview of Lamu island. Even during dry season it was very green with lots of palm trees 🌴 and other vegetation. After sunset we walked back to Lamu town and ended the tour. Despite the better temperatures then it was still a sweat breaking endeavour. 🥵 So, I took a mandatory shower at my guesthouse before I went to the Moonrise again for dinner. I had the catch of the day - red snapper filet in garlic sauce with coconut rice and chargrilled vegetables. Needless to say that the food was excellent again. 😌

    My next destinations on the east coast of Kenya is Malindi and Watamu (a bit further south than Lamu). I will report in a couple of days how it is there. Stay tuned! 😎    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 144

    Diani Beach

    24 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    A couple of days ago, I left Mombasa to go to the southeast coast of Kenya. 🇰🇪 The hostel put me in contact with the driver Cosmus who would drive me all the way to my next destination - the Diani Hostel in Diani Beach. 🏝️ The 2 hour ride cost me 4500 KES (approximately 30 EUR) but therefore I didn’t have to deal with any of the hurdles on the way (changing from tuktuk to Matatu, taking the ferry that connects Mombasa oldtown with Likoni in the south, etc.). 😌 Actually I wanted to write my blog post about Mombasa during the drive to Diani Beach but Cosmus simply was the nicest Uber driver that I had in Kenya so far. We talked about many things and the time until we arrived at my hostel just flew by. 😅
    My hostel was very basic but also very cheap (5 EUR a night). I booked it only for two nights and later switched to another place. Being too far away from the beach and the main road, the hostel was simply a bit too quiet. 🤫I have been only one of 3 guests during the time and I was the only one staying in the 8-bed dorm.
    The climate in Diani Beach was very hot and humid - so not very different from Mombasa and other places on the east coast. 😰If you are lucky you find a fan that makes the heat somewhat bearable. My hostel didn’t have a fan and so I had to rely on one or the other breeze 🌬️Unfortunately, I was also not careful enough about keeping moskitos 🦟 away from my bed in the first night which resulted in many itchy mosquito bites. So, probably I slept only a couple of hours that night. 😴
    Anyways - coincidentally, it turned out that Kaili and Wim (from Belgium) which I already knew from Naivasha where also in Diani Beach. They planned to go diving on the next day and I quickly arranged with the dive instructor via WhatsApp that I would join them on the next day. 😃

    The next morning I woke up early to met the others at 8 am at the dive center at Galu beach. It was an hour walk 🚶 away from my hostel but I did not mind since it was early in the day and not yet so hot. Kaili and Wim had thoroughly selected Scuba Duka as our dive center. The dive instructors were very professional and the gear was of good quality as well. 👍We went on a boat to two different relatively easy dive sites: Milele and Galu Reef. Both were only 14-15 meters deep and with none to mild currents.
    Nevertheless, it was superwindy that day and there were a lot of waves 🌊 So, taking the boat was a bit challenging for our stomachs. 🤢😄 In the water, the visibility was not great (< 8 meters) but good enough to marvel at the abundant coral 🪸 and nearby fish 🐠 as well as the many big turtles 🐢 that we found at the bottom of the ocean. During both of our dives we spent approximately 50 min. underwater. We returned to Galu beach in the early afternoon and spent a little bit of time at the very cozy Soul Breeze Beach Club 🍻Then we went for lunch to Kaili‘s and Wim‘s place - Kaili cooked some very yummy vegetarian pasta - and chilled on their terrace. At 6 pm I took a boda boda (a taxi service but with motorbike) 🏍️ back to my hostel and spent the evening with watching YouTube videos. 🙄

    On the next day I moved 🧳 to another place - called „Rahani Beachfront Studio Apartments“. I booked it through Booking.com but the place was very hard to find: in Google Maps sends you to a place that is quite far away from the actual location. 😡And when you drive to the location shown by Booking.com, then there is nothing called „Rahani Beachfront Studio Apartments“. It turned out that the place has been a hotel called „Golden Sun Resort“ in the past but now is repurposed as airbnb apartments. 🤯 We had to call the phone number of the place in Booking.com, to finally get the right directions. Poor tuktuk driver that had to drive me around for almost an hour or so. I gave him a tip to make up for the inconvenience.😎
    My apartment was pretty nice though. I had my own bathroom and shower, a kitchen with a fridge and other appliances, a living room and my own bedroom. So, it was a bit of luxury in between the many hostels I had stayed in in the past. 😛
    Of course, I had to visit the beach & the pool in the afternoon once I had checked in. It was still quite windy - good for the kite surfers but suboptimal for me who just wanted to enjoy the beach and the sun. 😩 During my walk at the beach I met Salim. He was very friendly and talkative. Obviously he wanted me to buy a coconut 🥥 from him but he didn’t ask me to buy one. After 10 minutes of conversation I asked him how much one of them would cost - we agreed on 300 KES (2 EUR). He opened it for me directly at the beach with a small machete 🔪 and kept talking about Diani Beach and it’s advantages. After 30 min. I ended the conversation and went back to the pool 🏊
    Although on the beachfront, the apartment was also far away from central cafes, bars and restaurants. After dark, when it was a bit cooler, I walked 🚶 for 30 minutes to the Carefore (which is basically in the city centre) for some grocery shopping and back again.
    One thing I did not like about Diani Beach in general is that it is very streched out along the main road 🛣️ so that you always have to either walk long distances or take a car, a tuktuk or a boda boda when you want to go somewhere. Other than that, the locals in Diani Beach have been all quite friendly and very helpful to me. It is the place in Kenya where I felt the safest so far. 😎

    On my last full day in Diani Beach, I went together with Kaili and Wim on a snorkeling 🤿 and dolphin 🐬 watching trip at Wasini island and the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park. During the drive to our destination, we almost had an accident with a truck. 😱 It was close but luckily nothing happened. 30 min after that shocker we arrived at the jetty at about 10 am in the morning - it was still low tide. At the jetty we changed from the mini bus to a dhow (a traditional arabic boat as seen often in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean)⛵️
    It was cloudy the whole day and when we arrived at the snorkeling spot, it rained heavily for approximately 15 min. That didn’t discourage us and we went into the water anyways. 🤷 We were surprised by the very good visibility (probably > 25 meters) as well as the many colorful fish and coral. 🪸 After snorkeling for a while, we also spent a little bit of time on a sandbank that - due to the high tide - disappeared shortly after. Then we tried to find some dolphins but were not successful. Instead we went for a late lunch lunch - fish 🐟 and seafood 🦞 as well as coconut rice 🍚 and chapati 🫓 It was really good considering that we payed for our whole day trip only 5500 KES (approximately 37 EUR) and the entrance to the national park was as already 4500 KES. 😊
    Although it was cloudy the whole time everyone of us got sunburned. The sun ☀️ is really strong on Kenya’s east coast and the clouds were misleading us. We all have to apply now heaps of aloe vera to ease the pain 😅
    At approximately 5.30 pm we were back at Kaili‘s and Wim‘s place and hung out for a bit.
    For dinner we went to the Salty Squid. They had really good cocktails 🍸 and food 🥘 there. It was a suitable location for our farewell. 😌
    Kaili and Wim will stay for 10 more days in Diani Beach while I will travel further north in Kenya - my next stop is Lamu. That’s a more traditional and not so touristy place with some arabic culture but also some beaches nearby that has been recommended to me from many Kenyans. I am curious what awaits me there 👀    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 141

    Mombasa - let's get out of here 😵‍💫

    21 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Two days ago, I took the express train in the afternoon from Nairobi to Mombasa. Michael (from Austria) who was also in my hostel was on the same train. 🚆 So, we could share an Uber to the train station in Nairobi. There was a ridiculous amount of security controls at the station: at first a body scan. Then we had to lay down all our belongings for two drug tracking dogs 🐕 Afterwards our luggage was scanned. Then we went through a passport control and finally another scan of our luggage. The whole procedure didn’t take long though. We still had enough time for a coffee ☕️ at the station before we had to board the train.
    The train ride took between 5-6 hours since it went quite slow (80 - 120 km/h only) but I kept myself busy with watching 👀 the Japanese and quite entertaining movie „Bullet train“ (with Brad Pit) on Netflix that I had downloaded before to my iPad.
    Michael and I sat in different waggons of the train and did not find each other after the arrival in Mombasa due to the total chaos 🤯 at the stations exit and parking lot. So, this time both of us had to book our Ubers separately - we were staying in different locations anyways. However, it took my Uber driver almost 30 min. just to leave the parking lot (!!!) due to the inefficient handling of the traffic by the officers on site (sorry - for my German nature 😅).
    Anyways, by 10 pm I was finally in my hostel in Old town Mombasa. My Uber driver already warned me on the way to the hostel that I had picked a dangerous place to stay. ⚠️
    Unfortunately, the whole old town (which is the main attraction of Mombasa) is known for pickpocketing and mugging - even during day light hours. Coming from Panama City and the Casco Viejo 😍 I definitely had other expectations for that historical part of the city. So, the visit to Mombasa turned out to be a rather disappointing one.
    Michael and I visited only Fort Jesus 🏰 and the Spice market on the next day. Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese in end of the 16th century to protect the port of Mombasa. It was the only fort maintained by the Portuguese 🇵🇹 on the Swahili coast, and is a testament to the first successful attempt by a Western power to establish influence over the Indian Ocean trade. Viewed from the air, the fort was built in the shape of a man and is roughly square, with four bulwarks at its corners. There were constant battles 💥between Portuguese and Arabic forces throughout the centuries involving the fort until it fell under British rule 🇬🇧 in the end of the 19th century and was converted into a prison (mainly for slaves).
    After visiting the fort, we walked through the old town a bit. The buildings looked very run down and in general the old town could be mainly described by vibrant traffic and endless streams of stands with all sorts of things to buy. We came across Mombasa Market which also hosts the spice market 🌶️ It was nice to walk through it but we got a bit stressed out by all the vendors that wanted us to come to their stand, smell the spices and obviously buy some afterwards. So, we left it after 30 min. again and returned our hostels 🙄
    The temperature and humidity in Mombasa was another reason not to leave a shady spot once you found it. The balcony of my hostel seemed just perfect with a constant breeze from the sea and its enjoyable view. 😌 I stayed there all afternoon with Hessel (from the Netherlands) and Ethan (from the U.S.) - some other guests of my hostel. We all figured that there was not much more to do in Mombasa. Even beer 🍻 was hard to come by in the very islamically influenced old town. After walking 2 km to the next big supermarket chain and finding out that they don’t sell alcohol, I went back to our hostel (frustrated) and ordered beer for us via Uber Eats delivery. 📦 It took a while (almost 2 hours) because the poor delivery driver had to bring it from a shop in another district but eventually we could enjoy our refreshing drink. 😄
    After dinner, I just watched a few episodes of „The Rookie“ on Netflix and went to bed.

    The next morning I woke up at 8.30 am and took a necessary shower. Due to the warmth in the rooms I sweat a lot during the night and needed refreshment. 🥵
    After breakfast, I briefly met Ethan and he told me that some turkish guests in our hostel had been robbed on the day before. A motorbike had snatched the entire daypack of one of the guys - passport, money, phone, etc. - it’s all gone now. 😱 What a hassle it must be to recover/replace all of that again. At least the guy is not alone and travels with some friends that can help him out. It goes to show that worrying articles like this one from 2 years ago are still acurate: https://www.malindikenya.net/en/articles/news/l… 😔

    Shortly after, I ordered an Uber to take me to my next destination: Diani Beach. And I was glad to get out of Mombasa without any trouble. Should I come back to this city, I will stay in Nyali (apparently the nices district there). 😤    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 139

    Nairobi (Part 3)

    19 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After my excursion to Lake Nakuru, I returned to Nairobi for the weekend. The journey was surprisingly simple. 🤓 For only 700 KES (4-5 EUR), the hotel arranged for me the pickup by a „matatu“ that would go straight to the capital and drop me off at Westlands (where my hostel was). The trip took only 2-3 hours and was - despite the warmth in the spacious minibus - much more comfortable than my last experience in a „matatu“. 😊
    Back in the Jabulani Backpackers Hostel, our small group that had left Nairobi a couple of days ago, was reunited again. Lisa & Nic had returned already a day earlier and Rhett came back only a few hours later than me.
    Lisa & Nic had been with some other backpackers in a Casino 🎰 in the night before and found out that there was free food and drinks - as long as you gamble. So, we went that evening again. The food was surprisingly good. It was a buffet consisting of fish 🐟, chicken 🐓, pasta 🍝, rice 🍚, salad 🥗 … there was even desert. 😋
    During dinner an older guy (60+ years) sat at our table. It turned out that he was a retired math professor from the U.S. who’s main subject was statistics 📊 He revealed to us the intricacies / strategies for black jack and admitted to us that he is counting cards (in Kenia the casinos seem to be less strict as long as you do not win too much). He seemed to know what he is talking about since he left the casino that night with a big surplus. 😜
    I set my budget for my entertainment that night at 2000 KES (13-14 EUR). First I tried my luck at the roulette table but I didn’t hit anything until my last attempt. I put my chips on the number 23 (Michael Jordan’s number) which already had brought me luck in a similar situation some years ago. 😃 Like back then, I hit the exact number and my money was multiplied with 150. Suddenly, I had 4500 KES (30 EUR). 🥳 It probably distinguishes me from others but I had no problem with walking away from the roulette table in that situation. I joined Nic and the others at the black jack table and observed what was going on. Nic was playing against the dealer. Rhett did not play himself but had developed a pretty good feeling 🫰for times to chip in when the dealer would loose. I joined in on the fun as well and it worked - at least for a few times. 😆 But as it goes in a casino, money is equally fast lost as it is won. We left the casino a little later and I was the only one who didn’t loose all his cash. I was still going home with twice as much as I had „invested“ that night. That was a pretty good deal - considering that I also ate and drank for free. 😄

    On the next morning, I met Audrey & Sofie (from the Neatherlands) as well as David (from Switzerland) in my hostel. All three have been travelling Africa already for a while and had arrived in Nairobi just a few days ago. We shared an Uber 🚙 to visit the Giraffe centre. The centre is not very big and has only a few info points as well as an enclosure for 5-10 giraffes 🦒 that could be fed with little pellets that we got at the entrance. There were many people trying to feed the animals - maybe because it was Sunday. 🤔 I awaited my turn and handed my pellets over to the giraffe „Salma“. Afterwards, we were already done with the place. It took us only 30-45 minutes - about the same time as our Uber drive to the giraffe centre 😅
    We all felt hungry after our visit. So we went to the close-by „Boho Eatery“ that Audrey & Sofie had carefully picked - due to inconvenient layout of the roads in that part of the city, we took again an Uber. The service in the restaurant was slow but the food was really good - Audrey & Sofie had done a great job. 👏 I had the risotto, a Sauvignon Blanc and some coffee-flavored ice cream as desert. All in all 3100 KES (approximately 20 EUR) but I was in for a treat, I guess 😇

    Besides this, I didn’t do much on the weekend. I participated in daily trips to the Sarit centre 🏬 (shopping mall) for frozen yoghurt, buying some groceries 🛒 or trying to get missing Camera 📷 equipment (that I had forgotten back home). I have also revised my future travel plans for what feels like the 100th time and booked a train ticket 🎫 to Mombasa as well as a flight ✈️ from there to Lamu on the coming weekend. After spending the past 2 weeks in Nairobi and the surrounding national reserves and parks, it was time for a change. The next 2 weeks shall be spend at Kenya’s east coast. 🏖️    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 136

    Safari at Lake Nakuru

    16 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I had seen quite some wildlife already since I arrived in Africa but out of the Big 5 I was still missing the rhinos 🦏 and leopards 🐆 Nakuru is known for rhinos and flamingos 🦩 and only an hour away from Lake Naivasha (where I had spent the past few days). So, it felt just natural to me to make that little detour to Nakuru before I would return to Nairobi for the weekend.

    I started the day early and took the „matatu“ (that’s what a shared mini-bus is called) 🚐 from Naivasha town to Nakuru. The principle is quite similar to the collectivos in Central and South America: the route is fixed but there is no time table - you just wait at the pickup location 📍 until the bus is full and then you go. The route from Naivasha to Nakuru is less frequently travelled and I was the 4th person in the bus. So, it took another 1.5 hours ⏳ until the remaining 7 seats were filled. I didn’t mind it much since it was only 8 am and I could fill the waiting time with writing my blog post for Naivasha. The bus ride was not very comfortable though 🥴 and I was glad that it took only a little over an hour to arrive at the central bus station in Nakuru. Our driver had not even parked the bus but there were already at least 3 guys who wanted to offer me their services. „Where are you going Mr.?“, they shouted 📣 through the window. After getting out of the bus I fended off two of the guys (I don’t like to be rushed) and talked to a third one. He wanted to take me with all my luggage on a „boda boda“ (that is what a motorbike is called). I rather took the more expensive Tuk-tuk 🛺 to the hotel; and rightly so because the streets of the last 2 km of the route where really bad. Once I arrived in my hotel, I talked to the receptionist about afternoon arrangements for visiting Lake Nakuru National Park. I had already paid 💸 the entrance for the park (61 USD) but I had neither a car nor a guide for my visit. It cost me an extra 75 USD to get both arranged through the hotel. I didn’t care at this point because trying to get a better deal directly at the gate would have cost me precious time. 😩 Instead, I tried to enjoy the amenities of the hotel jumping in the pool and having a small snack for lunch. The animals were hiding in the bushes anyways during lunchtime because of the heat. 😅

    My private tour started between 2 pm and 3 pm. John (my guide) and Josh (my driver) took me through the whole national park and explained its most important aspects to me. Because of its wide variety of wildlife, it is one of Kenya’s two Premium Parks (the other one is Ambroselli) 🏆 The entire national park covers about 188 square km (116 square miles). Depending on the season, the lake can cover up to about 68 square km (26 square miles). It is fed by 4 rivers and has no way for the water to escape. Thus, evaporation 💨 is the only natural process for water to leave the lake. This makes it a salt-water lake and promotes the growth of an abundance of algae that is vital for the flamingos living in this area.
    On the way to the flamingo point we saw many pelicans, baboons, buffalos, zebras and other wild animals. A decent amount of flamingos 🦩 was also still there but apparently that was nothing compared to the thousands of flamingos that were nesting along the shores in the past. There are two types of flamingo species: the lesser flamingo and the greater flamingo. The lesser flamingos are the ones that are commonly pictured in documentaries 🎥 They have a deep red carmine bill and pink plumage. In contrast, the greater flamingo has mostly white plumage and a bill with a black tip.
    Pollution and drought are mainly responsible for overall decreasing water quality and increasing food shortage for the flamingos in the area. 😩 Climate change has also been hypothesized to contribute to the changing environmental conditions in the lake.
    It didn’t take long until we found the first rhino 🦏 - it was a white rhino grazing close to the lake. white rhinos are characterized by a square lip whereas black rhinos have hooked upper lips. We came pretty close to it and I got some good pictures of it with my SLR camera. Mission accomplished! 🥳
    But there was more. In fact, we have been super lucky that day since we saw 3 more white rhinos including a calf (probably a family) and even 2 of the rare black rhinos 🦏 The population of black rhinos declined dramatically in the last century at the hands of European hunters and settlers. In 1995, the number of black rhinos had dropped to less than 2,500 individuals (2%). 😱 Thanks to persistent conservation efforts across Africa, that number has more than doubled again from its historic low to 6,000 today. However, the species is still critically endangered.
    We saw a lot more animals in the afternoon but John and Josh wanted to show me the sunset 🌅 from a location overlooking the lake. So, we drove the last 30 min. of my private tour up to a viewpoint. We almost didn’t make it in time because we discovered a lion 🦁 and a lioness chilling on the road. Even John and Josh were excited because seeing a lion at Lake Nakuru was not that common - in particular not in the part of the national park where we were 😂 After sunset we left the national park. It was already 7 pm and all visitors were supposed to leave the park by 6.30 pm. John was on good terms with the rangers at the gate. Thus, we had no problems leaving the park. 😮‍💨

    Back in the hotel, I took a shower and went for dinner. I was very tired after the long and eventful day and fell asleep early on my bed. 😴    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 135

    Hiking in Naivasha

    15 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    At the beginning of the week, Lisa (from the Netherlands) as well as Rhett and Nic (both from Australia) and I joined forces 💪 to go to Lake Naivasha and it’s surroundings.

    Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake outside the town of Naivasha, which lies approximately 2 hours (with the car) north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley.
    With only 6000 KES (around 40 EURs respectively 10 EURs per person) for the ride with Uber 🚙 from Nairobi, we had found an affordable option to get there. The driver even handed his phone 📱 to us and let us pick YouTube videos for the music that was being played in the car. So, we had a pretty enjoyable ride.
    Although our group of 4 has joined forces, we managed to stay in 3 different accommodations - each one on an opposite side of the lake. 🤦
    The Camp Carnelleys had been recommended to me before and turned out to be a pretty good option. But our first stop was Rhett’s and Nic‘s hotel - the „El Sueño“ since it was the closest to the jetty where the boat rides 🚤 on the lake depart from. We have been there at lunchtime and were looking for something to eat. I didn’t notice it first but we were the only tourists in the area. It didn’t take long until we were approached by one of the many men 🧍🏿‍♂️ that connect you with a boat captain. After some negotiations the price for the boat ride was settled at 1000 KES per person (a little more than 6 EURs). The man could help us also with lunch. We opted all for french fries 🍟; Lisa and I even shared a fish that was just caught that day making the meal sort of a delicious African version of fish and chips 😅 we had our lunch right next to the very lively „Wembley Stadium Bar“. The locals that stumbled out of that bar were generally completely drunk 🥴 but one particular guy stood out. He was so waisted that he had to be carried by others since he couldn’t even crawl out of that place. They tried for a while to sit him on a motorbike 🏍️ but eventually they gave up. It was an entertaining lunch break but we were also lucky to get out of there for our boat ride. With the boat 🚤 we went to the Hippo point and immediately spotted some in the water. Afterwards we continued to Crescent Island which is situated in the lake and hosts a number of wildlife species - most of them I had already seen in Masai Mara but since the the islands does not host any predators you can walk around 🚶 and get up close to the animals, if they let you. After an hour or so walking with our guide on Crescent Island and seeing ostriches, baboons, gazelles, zebras, wildebeests, monkeys and giraffes we were picked up with the boat 🚤 again and returned to the jetty where we enjoyed a cold beer. 🍺
    The it was time to return to our accommodations. At Camp Carnelleys, I stayed in a 8-bed dorm (for 20 USD a night) but I had the room for the entire time to myself. 🤷‍♂️ All other guests seemed to be coming to this camp as part of their safari and had their own private rooms (for at least 60 USD and up to 300 USD).
    In the south of Lake Naivasha there are only flower farms 🌹, restaurants and lodges. When I arrived at my camp the sun had almost set already and it was getting dark. I didn’t feel adventurous enough to go outside the camp and try to find a supermarket or similar - also because the distances were vast there. Instead, I tested the restaurant 🍽️ of the camp. A beetroot and goat cheese salad with lots of further high-quality ingredients as well as a white white wine later and I was stuffed. 🫃The food was pretty good but also quite pricey for Kenia. I didn’t do much more that evening and went to bed early. On the next day we had planned to meet one another at „Elsa’s Gate“ - the main entrance to „Hell's Gate“ National Park - at 9 am and that meant I had to get up at 7.30 am. 😴

    Hell's Gate 👹 is a small national park (only 70 square km) that lies south of Lake Naivasha. According to our guide Benjamin, it got its name due to the active volcanic activity (eruptions and even hot lava shooting out of the ground from underneath) which the Masai could not explain and therefore just called hell. 🤷‍♂️ There is even a river named „Styx“ running through the national park. According to Greek mythology, that is the main underworld river that the ferryman „Charon“ would take the souls of the dead across into Hades. 👻 Apparently, there are various places on the surface of the earth that have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld. Often they are found in regions of unusual geological activity, particularly volcanic areas, or sometimes at lakes, caves, or mountains - like in Kenya. 😄
    The scenery is actually quite spectacular. So much so that parts of the „Lion King“ and „Lara Croft: Tomb Raider“ have been filmed in the park. And after many hours of Safari and traveling in a car during the past days, Hell’s Gate was particularly appealing to me since it’s the only national park in Kenya that can be cycled 🚴 and hiked 🥾- in all other places you need a car and guide to drive you around.
    As I wrote earlier, Rhett, Nic, Lisa and I met around 9 am at Hell‘s Gate. Lisa arrived with two more travelers from her homestay - Kaily and Wim (from Belgium). So, the 6 of us rented bicycles and a guide to explore the park. This was the second time I am cycling within days - Lisa’s Dutch influence was starting to rub off on me. 😜
    Our first stop was Fischer's Tower - a testament to the volcanic activity in this area. 🌋It is a 40 m high tower of cooled lava that was once pushed up from the ground and it was really standing out in the landscape.
    Then we cycled further south on the dusty road 😮‍💨 passing by huge plateaus to the left and right which made the rift very recognisable. Our destination was Hell's Gate Gorge - the main attraction of the park. Though officially closed due to an accident in 2018 that had cost some tourists their lives, our guide was willing to take us through the gorge - for some extra pocket money. 😜🤫
    It was an adventure to hike through the gorge: we had to crawl through narrow sections of the vegetation, lower ourselves down on a rope 🪢 and hike up some trails through the bushes to some viewpoints. Afterwards, we took our bicycles again and made our way back on the official routes. It was only 2 pm and we had payed the entrance as well as the bicycles for the whole day. So, we stayed a little longer in the hope to see some more animals later in the afternoon and we were lucky - we at least saw a herd of buffalo’s 🐃 as well as a herd of warthogs. Although the park is known for its wide variety of wildlife, I left it somehow with the feeling that I didn’t see many animals. Maybe I was still a bit spoiled by Masai Mara. 😅 At 4 pm we had seen enough and went back to each of our accommodations. That gave me time to see my camp in daylight - so far, I had seen it only in the dark. I walked around a bit and found even two young hippos 🦛 playfully fighting at the lakeside. Their older family members could not be bothered and just chilled in the water.
    The evening I spent again in the restaurant of the Camp Carnelley’s. It was the only place in the camp where there is WiFi. I was watching an interesting YouTube video 🎥 interviewing Harvard Professor Daniel Lieberman with regards to his studies in Africa for the human evolution since the hunter gatherer times and how our modern day life causes many wide-spread diseases like cancer, heart disease 🫀or arthritis (see https://youtu.be/A-8tPmQtYqs).

    On the next day, our group set out for a hike of Mount Longonot. It is a stratovolcano 🌋located southeast of Lake Naivasha. Stratovolcanoes have relatively steep sides and are more cone-shaped than shield volcanoes because they are formed from viscous, sticky lava that does not flow easily and therefore builds up around the vent. 🤓
    The volcano is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s but today it is dormant.
    We started our hike 🥾 at the entrance gate which is around 2150 m above see level and followed the 3.1 km trail that runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim. Already during this first bit we have been challenged by very steep and heavily eroded parts of the trail. 🥵 When we arrived at the crater rim we were happy but realised quickly that were only at 2560 m and yet had a considerable height to climb up to the top. The highest point of elevation is at approximately 2780 m (9200 ft). So, we took a rest before we would continue to hike the crater rim. Suddenly, a labrador 🐕 showed up asking for food. We shared a little bit with her and that earned us her unconditional companionship for the next hours. We named her “Beth” since we were joking about nicknames earlier and one of Lisa’s nicknames in school has been “Beth”. 😄
    Hiking the crater rim was pretty exhausting but we made to the top and the view was quite rewarding. 🥳 Although the top is only 220 m higher than the entry point of the crater rim, we had to go up and down a lot. As you can see in the screenshot that I took from “Organic Maps” (great mobile app, btw), the total vertical difference we hiked that day added up to over 1000 m up and 600 m down. The track was only 9 km long but with all the breaks in between it took us 5-6 hours to complete it. “Beth” 🐕 was still with us when we arrived at the campsite that was close to the exit. But after the hike it was time to say goodbye 👋 - not only to “Beth” but also to the others. Since the rhinos and flamingos at only 1-hour away Lake Nakuru were so close, I couldn’t refuse to take the opportunity and see them. Rhett wanted to stay a day longer in Naivasha, Lisa as well as Nic wanted to go back to Nairobi and Kaily & Wim would start their safari in Masai Mara on the next day. Some of them I will probably see in Nairobi again. 😄

    So, my next post will be from Lake Nakuru. Until then - happy hiking! 🥾    Leggi altro

  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 133

    Nairobi (Part 2)

    13 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    After my first ever safari, I went back to the Jabulani Backpackers Hostel 🏨 in Nairobi to unwind and prepare for my trip to the Naivasha region (my next destination in Kenya). Initially I wanted to stay only for one night in Nairobi but the camp 🏕️ that was recommended to me - Camp Carnelley’s - could not be booked via the usual platforms like booking.com or Hostelworld. Instead, I tried the old school approach and sent an e-mail 📧 (for which I got a reply only days later) to the address on their website. I also sent WhatsApp messages which were at least sporadically answered but my booking was never confirmed. Only a phone call ☎️ triggered the necessary chain of events that led to the confirmation of my reservation. Getting to this point felt so difficult that I was really questioning at some point how they actually make money. 🤭
    Lisa (from the Netherlands) and Rhett (from Australia) - 2 other travellers that I had gotten to know in the hostel during my time in Nairobi - also wanted to go to Naivasha; but a day later. So, I extended my stay to a second night as well to join forces with them.
    In the end it was for the better anyways because it gave me some extra time in Nairobi to organise some things like getting some cash 🤑 from the ATM, setting up my M-PESA account in a „Safaricom“ customer support centre and buy some groceries for lunch - the same stuff as Lisa and Julian (from U.S.) had to do. So, we went together to the Sarit Centre mall to get all these things done.
    After some yummy DIY cheese and ham sandwiches 🥪 for lunch, I teamed up with Lisa and Harsh (from India) to visit the Karura Forrest in Nairobi. I honestly had no idea what a forest in Eastern Africa would look like but it was surprisingly similar to forests from Europe or the US. We took an Uber 🚗 to the forest and rented mountain bikes there before we biked through the Forrest for 1.5 hours or so. The 10 km route was really nice. It took us to a waterfall 💦 and through densely packed tree colonies. Although I know it is physically impossible, it felt almost the entire time as if we were going downhill. Unfortunately, it was already pretty late when we tried to visit the nearby café ☕️ that Susan (the owner of the Jabulani) had recommended. We could only order a drink for takeaway as it was closing at 5 pm. Then we took an Uber 🚗 back to the hostel.
    In the evening, we went to the restaurant „Tamu Tamu“ which is in walking distance to our hostel in Westlands. I ate Ugali - a typical Kenyan dish - and it was delicious.
    It is similar to very thick mashed potatoes but without any taste. You eat it with your hands 🙌 (only the right hand though) and you are supposed to mix it with the other ingredients.
    I had beef stew as well as cabbage as sides for my Ugali.
    After dinner 🍲 and back in the hostel, I finally finished my desired setup for charging my M-PESA account: after a lot of trial and error I am now able to send money to my M-PESA account directly from Apple Pay 💪
    For me, the NALA app worked best for sending money to my account and M-PESA app for sending money to someone else. Now, I can do almost any payment digitally. With that I was all set for the coming weeks in Kenya.    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 131

    Safari in Masai Mara

    11 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Already in my first week of being in Africa, I managed to go on a safari. 💪 In Swahili - the predominant language spoken in East Africa (but specifically Kenya and Tanzania) - safari literally means "journey" or "expedition“.
    It was also the reason why I came here to Africa. 😌 Although you should do extensive research before you go on a safari, for me it was rather spontaneous. I checked with some people in my hostel and they were really happy. So, I booked the 3-day safari to Maasai Mara with „Lenchada Travels“. 😊

    „Maasai Mara“ is a large national reserve in the south of Kenya, which was first established in 1963. it is sharing a border with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Next to lions 🦁, cheetahs 🐆, elephants 🐘 and many other animals it also hosts the Great Migration (only visible from June until September) - one of the ten Wonders of the World.
    The area is named in honour of the Maasai people 👭🏿 who migrated 1000s of years ago to it from the Nile Basin and are now its ancestral inhabitants. "Mara" means "spotted" in the local Maasai language. It is their description of the area when looked at from afar, because of the short bushy trees 🌳 which dot the landscape. The total area under conservation in the Maasai Mara amounts to almost 1500 square km (580 sq mi) and is located between 1500 m and 2200 m (4,920–7,150 ft) above sea level. It is the northernmost section of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, which covers approximately 25.000 square km (9,700 sq mi) in Tanzania and Kenya. And it’s a big tourist attraction: visitor entrance fees alone generated more than 5 million USD annually. 💰
    Kenya prides itself with having all animals of the Big 5 living in their national parks. What are the Big Five? Since I cannot formulate it better myself, I just cite a description from another travel blog here: „At one time, the ‚Big Five’ were at the top of hunters' lists, as they were considered the most difficult of Africa's big game to shoot while on foot. These were: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and cape buffalo. Fortunately, it's tourists who do most of the shooting today but only with their cameras.“ (see https://www.audleytravel.com/kenya/country-guid…) ☺️

    In the morning of our first day I was picked up at my hostel. There were already 7 people in the vehicle (including the driver) 🚐 I had the honour to take a seat in the front - next to David; our guide (and driver) for the next couple of days. My fellow passengers were Zim & Huani from the US 🇺🇸, Stefan & Kelly from Italy 🇮🇹 respectively Portugal 🇵🇹 as well as Shunjin & Senna from Japan 🇯🇵 We drove for approximately 6 hours into the southern direction from Nairobi to arrive at the Rift Valley. It is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya 🇰🇪 from north to south. By some sources it is seen as part of a "Great Rift Valley" that runs from Madagascar 🇲🇬 to Syria 🇸🇾 It was formed on a geographical upwelling that was created by the interaction of the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian tectonic plates. The valley hosts many volcanoes 🌋 and also some lakes that I plan to visit in the next couple of weeks.
    After passing the town „Narok“, we left the tarred street 🛣️ and went on bumpy and sandy roads for the last 1-2 hours of the drive … and they became worse the closer we came to Maasai Mara territory. The last few roads leading to our accommodations were really the absolute worst I have seen so far: deep ridges and countless holes in the sand made it almost impossible to drive there. 🫣David managed it anyways but it took him approximately 30 min. for a distance that could have easily been driven within 10 min. if the roads weren’t that bad. 😩
    Anyways, when we arrived we had a late lunch
    and then did the very uncomplicated check in: I had booked the budget option for accommodation with the safari. So, I was staying in a tent ⛺️ but not the way you would think right now. It was more like glamping (short for glamorous camping) because the tent was basically merged with a small stone house 🏠 that hosted my personal sanitary facilities (shower, sink and toilet) and even provided a roof for protection against rain - something that would proof to come in handy on the second day of the safari. In addition, I had a very comfy kingsize bed instead of a simple mattress in my tent. 😊
    After checkin we had a few minutes to rest before we went on a short 2-hour game drive in the evening. Already during these 2 hours we saw a lot of animals - from zebras 🦓 over giraffes 🦒 and elephants 🐘 to countless wildebeests, gazelles and topis. And we still had a full day to find more animals on the second day of the trip. 👍
    From my group, there were only Shunjin & Senna also staying at the „Lenchada Tourist Camp“ (like me). The others were in other mid range and luxury accommodations. So, I socialised 💬 a bit with some travellers from the other jeeps that were staying at the same camp as I did in the evening. I was lucky to meet some Italians which had a compatible cable for the battery charger of my SLR camera 📷 (because I had forgotten that important piece of technology 4 months ago at home 😮‍💨). I bought them a beer in return and was super happy that I had not unnecessarily carried that heavy camera and it’s equipped for the past months with me. It had been a great day already and I had only one more wish for the next - seeing a lion 🦁

    On the next morning we got up super early (at 5.30 am) 😴 Luckily, this time coincided with the time I was usually still waking up anyways; due to my jet lag. After breakfast we picked up the other passengers from their accommodations before we entered the Maasai Mara national reserve again. 😃
    Unfortunately, I had made a crucial mistake that probably will turn out to be my personal fuck-up of the month (if not even the entire year). 😞 Remember that I wrote about how I was super lucky to find someone who could help me recharge my camera battery? Yeah, it turned out to be all for nothing. All that time I was simply assuming that a storage card was already in the card slot of the camera BUT IT WAS NOT. 😱 I realised only that morning that I had no storage cards with me since I had left ALL my storage cards for the camera in the Hostel in Nairobi. 😭Meanwhile, I have made my peace with that situation and I can laugh about it but in the moment I was nothing but angry at myself / about my stupidity. 😅 I simply did focus more on actually seeing the animals instead of getting the best close-up photos of them. Fair enough.
    In the park it felt almost as if we were part of the Lion King movies 🎥 This might have to do with the main characters that we met there. For example, Simba and Pumba are both very literal translations from the Swahili language and mean „lion“ 🦁 respectively „warthog“. In fact, many of the lovable (and some not so lovable) film character's names are from the Swahili language. The drivers were constantly communicating with each other via radio. When ever we heard „Simba“ everyone got excited. 🥳 Soon enough we found a lion chilling in the shade and my wish from the day before was fulfilled. We even saw approximately 10 lions in total that day. Many males and females as well as some calves. As a rare spectacle we even saw two lions feeding on a topi 🦌 that they have just hunted and killed - fascinating and gruesome at the same time. Nature is just brutal. Of course we also saw many more animals like hippos 🦛, giraffes 🦒, elephants 🐘, ostriches, etc. It was simply a great day. 😍
    In the afternoon it was raining heavily 🌧️ We were protected in our jeep and the animals didn’t mind either. But that rain meant that all the bad roads in and outside of the national park even got a lot muddier and difficult to navigate. 😤 David did a great job and brought us back into our accommodations but I have heard that some of the other 4x4 vehicles got stuck in the national reserve and needed to be towed in the night. Can you imagine being stuck there in the dark with all the animals lurking 👀 around you? Kind of scary, isn’t it?
    It seems to be no joke to drive these roads and that point lastly made me abandoned my initial plan to maybe rent a vehicle and visit some other parts of the country on my own. 🤷‍♂️

    In the morning of the third day, we had the option to visit the Maasai village that was close by. I skipped this opportunity because I was too tired 🥱 to be at 7.30 am at the meeting point (with all my bags packed) and I will probably see some Maasai villages in the coming weeks anyways. I was supposed to be picked up at 9.15 am from the camp but David didn’t show up. 🤔 After 30 min. of waiting I asked the camp employees if they knew what was going on. There was clearly something wrong and after a phone call it turned out that David was stuck in traffic because other cars had difficulties to navigate the muddy roads. 🙄 It wasn’t until 10 am before I was picked up at the camp but I didn’t mind - I had no other plans for the day. 🤭 After me, Shunjin & Senna were picked up from the Maasai village and eventually Zim & Huani from their resort.
    The roads were terrible. 😣 If there was one thing that should be improved in this trip then it would be the roads in the Maasai Mara. I was not able to find out why these roads are not being taken care of. But somebody should really do something about it! 🤬 We left these roads behind us and were on our way to Nairobi - at least most of us. Stefan & Kelly went on with their safari. They had booked 2 more days at Lake Naivasha and Nakuru - some places I still want to go but since I am not as pressed for time as them, I will take it slow and spend probably the next week there. 😌 This time I was the only longterm traveller in my group. Stefan & Kelly would already fly back on Tuesday after finishing their safari which marks the end of their 3 weeks trip through Tanzania 🇹🇿 and Kenya. Zim & Huani actually live here in Kenya 🇰🇪 for an extended period until 2026 and just did the tour as a weekend trip. And Shunjin & Senna have just graduated🧑🏻‍🎓and were just using the time to travel the world before they had to start working. They told me that they were on a 10-day (!!!) trip through Kenya, South Africa and UAE … crazy Japanese. I guess that is their version of a gap year 😂
    Anyways, I wish all of them a pleasant journey and a safe trip back home. I am happy that we were able to experience the wilderness for a short time together. ☺️    Leggi altro

  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 127

    Greetings from Africa!

    7 febbraio, Kenia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    I arrived here in Kenya 3 days ago. It was a pretty long and complicated journey all the way from Panama 🇵🇦 to here in Nairobi (Kenya). Everything had to work out well and there was not much room for delays or other complications. I am glad that it went so smoothly 😌

    When I arrived at the airport I checked in the Uber and Bolt Apps for a ride to my hostel - according to some blog posts in the internet taking the public bus is not safe ⛔️ And taking Uber or Bolt doesn’t cost much in Kenya.
    At the reception I was greeted by Susan. She is the owner of the hostel and has opened it just 4 months ago. She is a strong 💪 and quick-witted African woman who has built her own business - admittedly not quite what you would immediately expect to see as a European when you come to Africa. 😅 The hostel is almost always booked out and very lively. The other guest are from all over the world - even from some nations or regions that I haven’t met traveling before (like Alaska and China). But of course, I met somebody from Germany 🇩🇪 and the Netherlands 🇳🇱 as well - Luisa from Berlin and Lisa from Amsterdam. Dutch and Germans are simply everywhere. 😎
    Over the past days we discussed a lot with Susan about misconceptions that might exist in the west about Africa - for example, that all people in Africa are poor and need to be saved by westerners. While it is true that poverty exists in Africa, it is equally important to distinguish between the people who have jobs or are business owners like Susan and the ones that live on the streets. Only the latter need support. Sadly, donations 💸 for Africa seem not to be the solution since most of the money does not even arrive where it is needed - but instead sticks with the middlemen.
    I probably could not have chosen a better hostel 🏨 for my start in Kenya since Susan is a source of information concerning every day life, history as well as travel destinations in Kenya. So, I have learned o lot in the last few days about Kenya. 😊
    Communication with the locals in Kenya is very easy since everyone speaks English. The country was a British 🇬🇧 colony and Jomo Kenyatta - the first Prime Minister of Kenya - made sure that English as well as Swahili are thought in school as official respectively informal languages after the country gained its independence. To this day, there exist a little more than 40 tribes on the land of Kenya 🇰🇪 Before the colonial period those tribes were largely incapable of communicating with each other because of their individual languages - putting them at a disadvantage in comparison with their conquerors. Only with the introduction of English and Swahili they gained that ability 🗣️ and could unite against the British forces that occupied their lands. Swahili has been greatly influenced by Arabic over many centuries though. The language has its origins due the contacts of Arabian traders 👨🏾‍💼with the inhabitants of the east coast of Africa. Under Arab influence, Swahili developed itself as a lingua franca used by several closely related tribal groups.

    My hostel was located in the „Westlands“ district in Nairobi. It is supposed to be the district to go for Nairobi first-timers like me.
    😅 On my first full day I went to the Sarit Mall to buy some ingredients for dinner and then went also to the lively area behind the mall.
    There are lots of modern offices, hotels, bungalows and apartments as well as restaurants, bars and clubs there. Almost all the local people there were dressed quite nicely. Men wore colourful shirts 👕 and trousers - women wore dresses 👗
    Other than that I simply stayed in the hostel, talked to my fellow travellers and tried to come up with a rough plan 🗺️ for the coming weeks in Kenya and Tanzania. To my surprise there were a lot of places to visit in Kenya - though very spread out throughout the country. In Tanzania all relevant places seem to be in the northern part of the country.
    In the hostel, I also briefly talked to Monte from Munich. He was just coming back from a safari 🦁 to Masai Mara - a national park in the south of Kenia and neighbouring the Serengeti in Tanzania. He had booked the tour through our hostel and getting his review directly from him gave me confidence to also invest the 380,- USD (which is a good price) for the 3-day tour for a couple of days later. 😎

    On my second day, I joined Lisa (from the Netherlands and Annemarie (from Norway) for a trip to downtown. We wanted to attend a Free Walking Tour 🚶But first we went to the mall to get some cash (USD for the safari) as well as some MPESA. From what I understood, MPESA is a digital 💴 that is used all over Kenya as well the close by countries Uganda and Rwanda. It seems to be essential since you can buy many things like bus or train tickets 🎫 only with MPESA online. In contrast to many other digital solutions that I know, MPESA and the balance of your account is related to your SIM card. The setup process is a bit tedious 😩 which is why most people let the staff of Safari.com (a well known provider in Kenya) do the job. We were able to withdraw cash but at the Safari.com customer service centre there was a huge line and we were pressed for time to attend the walking tour. So, we decided to try another day. 😤
    We took a Bolt to the city centre. And quickly organised some fastfood before we went on the walking tour. Kennedy (our guide) led us through the Government area, passing by 🚶the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, August 7th Memorial Park, the Parliament of Kenya, the Kenyatta Mausoleum as well as the Office Of The President. The „August 7th Memorial Park“ is a reminder of the U.S. embassy which fell victim to a terror attack 💣 linked to Osama bin Laden in 1998. It is probably one of the reasons why no one is allowed to take photos of the government buildings anymore. When you get caught taking a photo then your phone/camera 📸 will be confiscated so that the photo can be deleted and you will pay a fine of up to 100,- USD. I took two photos without knowing these details but luckily I was not caught. 😇
    As you might have seen above, many places (including the airport) are named after Jomo Kenyatta. He was the first Prime Minister of Kenya and played a key role in achieving independence ✌️for Kenya in 1963. He was a controversial figure nonetheless. During his presidency he was securing support from both the black majority and the white minority with his message of reconciliation. Conversely, his rule was criticised as dictatorial and authoritarian as well as favouring specific tribes over other ethnic groups and of facilitating the growth of widespread corruption. 😩
    Just outside of the government area we found a little house with a big sign saying „Smoking Zone“ on top. 🚬 It is not allowed to smoke in the government area - neither in the buildings nor on the streets. You can only smoke in the smoking zone. Guess what happens if you get caught smoking outside of the smoking zone - exactly: you will pay a hefty fine 💰 All in all I had the feeling that the rules in downtown Nairobi were very strict. I saw also lots of police men 👮🏿 and women - armed with machine guns - patrolling on the streets.
    In the past, downtown Nairobi was quite dangerous since thieves 🦸🏽‍♂️ could expect to go unpunished by the corrupt Kenyan justice system - even when they were caught stealing. This earned the city the nickname „Nai-robbery“ at some point 😂 According to our guide on of the former President’s put an end to this by giving the direct order to shoot them on sight when thieves are called stealing. 😲 That is a harsh reaction to the problem and police brutality as well as extrajudicial killings are a big problem today, but back then it was effective. Today, the downtown area is relatively safe in comparison to the past. 😌
    Other places of interest, that we visited outside of the government area, were the McMillan Memorial Library, the Masai Market as well as the Jamia Mosque 🕌 Shortly after, the tour ended.
    When we caught a Bolt ride back to our hostel - the traffic was just crazy. 🤪 I don’t know how you can drive a car in this city. Our driver did a U turn where we wasn’t supposed to do one and was caught by the police. Within seconds 3 police officers where all over him and he was begging 🙏 to let us go. The situation was quite intense. It might have saved him that we have been in the car with him because the police probably does not want to be perceived in a bad way by tourists. The driver told me later that he would have had to pay a fine of at least 3000 Kenyan Schillings (approximately 17 EURs) which is probably a days salary for him. 🤦

    On the next morning I met Kellen and Kade from the U.S. at the breakfast table. They are two brothers and take a semester off from school to travel the world 🌍 They have already been in Tanzania and shared their experiences with me. We also talked about hiking Kilimanjaro. They had done it and were able to clear up a few questions for me. ☺️Though I am still undecided, I haven’t ruled out doing the hike myself yet. But one thing is already clear: it is going to be very expensive.

    Shortly after our conversation, I got picked up by the driver for my Safari tour - but that is a story for another post 😉    Leggi altro

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  • ViaggiatoreSabbactical 2023/24
    Giorno 126

    Stop-Over: Frankfurt

    6 febbraio, Germania ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    And on we go ☺️ I'm changing continents faster today than other people their underpants 😂

    I was super lucky with my flight ✈️ from Newark to Frankfurt. On one hand it was a relatively modern Boeing 787-10 and on the other hand I had the entire row of seats to myself. So, I could lay flat down and even slept a little bit - it was almost like in business class. Time literally flew by 😜

    In Frankfurt, I had to take a shuttle 🚐 to the terminal for my connecting flight to Africa which worked perfectly. At the gate I was even able to improve my seat assignment 💺 for the upcoming flight (now at the window and a few more rows up front). 💪

    When everything goes well then my backpack 🎒 and I will arrive in Nairobi this evening. As usual, I don’t have clear expectations for my new destination when I go there for the first time. However, working through the „Lonely Planets“ for Kenia 🇰🇪 and Tanzania 🇹🇿 during my flights has already given me a great deal of ideas for the weeks to come. 😎

    My next post will be about my first days in Nairobi. Stay tuned! 😉    Leggi altro

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