Nulstil søgning
Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
  • Michi, der
  • Franze Dude
  • Michi, der
  • Franze Dude

Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

South Africa to Germany – at least a try. Læs mere
+2
FølgOversigtOversigtKalenderKalenderBillederBillederDelDelTræskoliste
OversigtKalenderBilleder
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    BratkartoffelnWhere is the Kulal White-eye?Tiny!Bigger!Kulal helmeted chameleonsAwaiting sunsetShukri and the moon

    Mount Kulal

    27. januar 2021, Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    The omnipresent heat pushes me up to Gatab on Mount Kulal, an old, eroded volcano overgrown with primary forest and labelled a biosphere reserve by humans. I am curious about how this is managed and stay two nights at the guest house of the African Inland Church with a beautiful grassy lawn and in theory a view down to Loiyangalani and Lake Turkana, would there not be this very dense dust in the air. 1000 KES (7,50 EUR) conservancy fee and another 1000 for a local guide are mandatory in order to explore the forest. I could have done a fully-day’s hike up the summit but I am lazy and need also time for inner piece and nothingdoing. Half a day must be enough and so Shukri the guide picks me up in the morning. The forest is different, not as dense as expected but we manage to find huge old trees where I play Tarzan on the lianas. There are people living around the slopes of the mountain and the conservation activities try to cope with the challenge of respecting the demands of both the natives and the pristine nature. We find some grassy patches where successful re-forestation has been achieved and the new seedlings are protected against the grazing cattle which in theory is not allowed to be here. Shukri documents that with his phone and will report the violation to the community chiefs. Also logging is supposed to be controlled. We hear Baboons fighting about a fig tree. By incident I discover a super-tiny Kulal helmeted chameleon (endemic!) just next to our path on a twig where we pause for a second. Two seconds later another, slightly bigger just haft a metre away! Shukri is very excited because these are normally difficult to spot and he loves chameleons! Later he shows me also the Kulal White-eye, a tiny also endemic bird. Whatever resides up here must be endemic because migrating down from this mountain will lead to instant dustification of any bio-mass.

    Shukri tells me that he has some orphan kids around his place and is searching for patrons to sponsor their school fees. This is interesting considering the fact that one day ago I met Jane in Loiyangalani who distributes scholarships to poor kids. I connect both of them and hope for the best. Primary school – the first 8 years – is very cheap in Kenya because only books, the uniform and peanuts have to be provided. Pushing a teenager through 4 years of secondary school is more costly but still pretty not expensive for Mzungus. Shukri estimates around 60.000 KES (450 EUR) for the first year and 30.000 KES for each subsequent year. This would give a kid the opportunity to much easier find a job and be able to care for her-/himself. So, if anybody is interested in investing some of his money into such activities, I can create a direct link to these honest and reliable persons in order to offer a transparent procedure without any dubious, intermediate organisations.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    My decent camp view
    Have to update the map on that ...These times are over!Dwarf Nile CrocCows cooling down while eatingPied KingfishersAfrican DarterEpic scenary with Tugen Hills in far backgroundNorthern Carmine Bee-eater

    Lake Baringo (without flamingo)

    30. januar 2021, Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    The night I spend camping wildly on a viewpoint with panoramic view to the south-west across the whole lake. Pretty epic spot for a sundowner! I read that the Robert's Camp on the western shore - famous across overlanders - is closed temporarily due to flooding. This I want to investigate further and first of all find myself trapped between Loruk with a flooded road and a military post. In order to process south to my destination I have to take a northern detour where in turn I am held back by this military post telling me that the road northwards to Kapedo is highly dangerous. There have indeed been some shootings recently. But they are pretty stubborn to understand that I want to go south and not north and just came because of the detour. I have to fight-off an armed security patrol for these 5 km of detour. Ridiculous they are!

    Of Robert's Camp there is nothing left. Just the cottage roof tips. The water reaches up the whole access road because of this mysterious water level rising of all rift valley lakes. I get talked into a boat tour and indeed have some time left before I have to arrive in Eldoret for a new Covid test which I need for border crossing to Uganda. I negotiate a good price and it turns out that the money is well invested because the community-managed boating club makes a great impression to me. They have good equipment and professional personell. My boat guide is a smart one knowing everything about the lake, the environment, all plants, all birds, all animals. Usually this place must have been crowded with tourists! It is a very special situation being here as the only one now and experiencing the whole tragedy about the flooding. All hotels and lodges are completely sunken! The water rose by 14 m and went down again a few. The lake's shore moved in parts around 600 m further inland. Not only tourism died in an instant, people also had to move their homes. The hippos have a hard time because their grazing lawns disappeared and they have to stay closer to the humans now. Friendly crocodiles are floating like logs near the shore and it must be a bird watcher's paradise here! My favourite is the Northern Carmine Bee-eater which usually is just a migration guest and should have left by December but recently his schedule changed they say. Bee-eaters in general just look amazing in flight with their fancy wing cut but low above your head with the perpendicular sun shining through their colourful feathers this one is an extraordinary feast for the eyes. And this epic scenery of rising escarpments in the background!

    At 1200 I leave and arrive at 1500 in Eldoret to get a sample taken in a private laboratory. The hospitals don't do Covid testing for travel purposes at the moment because they are low on test kits.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Forest patches for firewood in the background

    Tea

    31. januar 2021, Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Haha! Whenever I don't plan anything the best things happen. Should I go north, west or south from Eldoret? Hmm, let's go south because there might be some tea and coffee growing. Nandi Hills looks like a very little visited region and turns out to be a tea growing centre even though the main region is supposed to be around Kericho. Coming from remote lake Turkana on this elevated plateau west of the rift valley the civilization shock is still frustrating me. Housing, agriculture, people wherever I look. So strange that it is basically just a day's drive away! But I enjoy the climate very much with 25-30 °C during the day and beautifully cold nights! On this Sunday it is difficult to step by at any tea plantation because yeah, it's Sunday. I stop a lot for picturing these vast, brightly green glowing slopes of low but dense tea bushes. Today the air is clear and the colours are driving me crazy (thanks to polarized sunglasses)!
    Still, I manage to find a shift manager at a tea estate who explains the basic process and answers my maaany questions. They used to be FairTrade-certified - the logo on their road signs lured me here - but not anymore due to some "issues". They all here produce classic broken black tea and I learn that around 98 % of it is exported to UK and India even though the Kenyans are good tea drinkers. Here you find the Kenyan "Chai" in every corner throughout all tribes which is a rich infusion of this very black tea in 50/50 of milk and water with a lot of sugar and chai massala - a herb mix of mostly ginger and sometimes cloves and cardamom. Delicious and cheap, perfect for each short road stop. The Samburu say that they drink two cups of that in the morning and don't require anything else during the whole day. Why they export to India nobody knows because if not the Indians, who else is more famous for black tea? There are many estates which provide their workers with sweet tiny houses and also schools! The companies invest in the villages and also supply neighbouring communities with schooling even though they might not be directly connect to the estate. I still did not figure out if these estate are private or governmental because it makes the impression of being the latter. No private company would voluntarily invest in the society, that's not how capitalism works ;-) The estates harvest also their own firewood from dedicated forest patches of eucalyptus, pine and ceder (?) for the drying process of the tea leaves. There are some tea patches which are plucked by hand and others by machines. But at this estate 70 % of the processed tea leaves comes from neighbouring private farmers. I see green tea bushes and also bushes of a violet variety which I find pretty fascinating. Again, I learn a lot but let this just be the beginning of this very afternoon ...    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Berry sorting section
    De-pulping stageWashing binsGrow my little children, grow!Milk cooling facility with computer guys next to itGood morning!TheoryCanopy management

    Coffee

    31. januar 2021, Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    In search of new coffee beans I find the Kabunyeria Farmers Cooperative Coffee Society on Google, also being located in the Nandi Hills just on the opposite slopes of the tea and being my initial reason for coming here from Eldoret. They have a clean and slim website with WhatsApp contact. On this Sunday’s late afternoon they are still happy to receive me after writing with Timothy, the CEO. Wahoo! I get a warm welcome from him, the 1st chairman, the treasurer and some other members who are involved in training of the participating 1800-2000 farmers. I am the first visiting tourist ever since and they seem to be very pleased to have me here! They give me a brief tour around the cooperative’s premises, showing the sorting station, the de-pulping machine, the washing basins and the nursery. The land with the installations was inherited by the community from Germans some 50 years ago.

    As always I ask many questions. It is their 3rd berry processing machine which removes the pulp and most of the mucilage mechanically with brushes. The beans then go into the washing basins for just one day in order to make sure that everything is removed. In earlier times they had no mechanical mucilage removal and the beans had to be bathed and partly fermented in water for a longer time in order to separate the mucilage. Afterwards the beans are traditionally sun-dried. The pulp and all residuals are composed and turned into manure to be reused in coffee farming. They are FairTrade-certified and now encourage all their farmers to move into organic farming. The cooperative’s ambition is to become Kenya’s leading organic coffee society :D Unfortunately they do not have any roasted coffee beans for
    me but solely green ones :’-( Here in Kenya generally nobody drinks coffee but just chai and in restaurants you get served poor instant coffee. At the moment the cooperative is producing around 8 full-size containers of coffee per year which is 330 sacks per container with 50 kg each but they thrive to increase their output. They sell most of it through the coffee auctions in Nairobi but are also involved in direct trade. Additionally, they run a small dairy with milk cooling facilities in order to encourage farmers to bring their milk which is then sold into the lowlands. Slightly regulated husbandry will generate additional income and the animals' droppings can be used as manure for ... coffee plants :-)

    As the evening approaches I am allowed to spend the night here on their premises being parked just next to the coffee store and enjoying natural forest sounds. On the next morning I get the opportunity to participate in the second day of a seminar on organic farming which is held by the Coffee Research Institute of Kenya. Yeehaaaw!! The people are so very friendly and welcoming, I am deeply touched. The seminar’s participants are half girls and half guys and I am delighted to see many people in my age and even younger. They are all farmers from the surrounding hills. The teacher switches from Kiswahili to English just because of me, hahaha. We learn about many different aspects of coffee planting: the correct land clearing, the soil treatment, hole preparation, planting distance characteristics for each chosen coffee variety (e.g. Ruiru 11, Batian), about the right planting season and the consequences of missing it. Highly interesting and much more sophisticated than I imagined! We also talk about how to prevent contamination from neighbouring farmers in regard of organic principles by installing plant barriers (Tithonia, Grivelia) and digging trenches. I ask a few challenging questions in order to make sure that I have the same understanding of “organic farming” as they. I report my experiences from visiting an organic coffee farm in Salento, Colombia, which leads to a discussion on inter-crops like banana, beans and other leguminous plants. Unfortunately they don't grow cocoa here. The teacher gives examples of organic manure, that it could come from composted tissue or from free-grazing animals. Manure from 0-grazing/commercially grown animals is completely banned by their organic principles because it will most probably be contaminated with evil chemicals which we do not want in our precious coffee beans. "Are we together?" After chai break practices on canopy management are taught outside and at around 1400 we have lunch. Tomorrow they will go into the fields for a hands-on session but I leave now at around 1600 because tomorrow (on 2nd) I will have to cross the border to Uganda in order to avoid problems with my car papers. Of all this I did not plan much and things just happened. They told me that now I have a second home here and I should bring my family and friends. How beautiful and delightful!    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Happiest cows on earthHillery's home with one pig

    Kakamega

    2. februar 2021, Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Did some 2-hours-drive towards Uganda yesterday which will reduce stress today. I wanted to stay at a campsite in Kakamega forest but it was closed so I just parked my car on a flat grassy lawn next to a lodge, on the private grounds of an old lady. In the morning I give here some shillings for that and I buy 2 eggs from her. I think this is a fair deal :-) There are even toilets nearby from an old abandoned church. Opposite of my camp a narrow corridor of tea plants blends over into the pristine forest. I see monkeys in the distance and many birds, working hard on the ambient sound atmosphere. Hillery, a local dude usually working in Mombasa in a hotel, is here at his parents' place because due to the current situation there is no work in Mombasa. He invites me to his place in the morning and from him I also learn that a worker on these governmental tea fields earns around 200 KES (1.5 EUR) per day whereas people illegally harvesting dead wood (for charcoal) in the forest reserve manage to earn 700-1000 KES per day. There is of course some monitoring but due to high corruption nothing takes effect. A police officer or ranger earns just 30,000 KES (230 EUR) per month and everybody searches for secondary and tertiary income sources ;-)Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Tororo Rock

    Crossing to Uganda

    2. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Before busy Malaba border post I have to pass a truck queue of 20+ km and struggle a lot with the insurance cartel. They all want to sell insurance for a whole year but I just need something for 2 or 4 weeks. Shortly after the border a police officer insists in seeing my Covid certificate but I refuse to search for my well-stored documents and annoyingly tell him that this is ridiculous because without any I apparently would not have been able to cross the border, right? He then wants an explanation on all things in my car which I also boycott and tell him that my car has already been checked by customs and police at the border ten minutes ago and ask him about his purpose of being here at all. He does not want to let me continue unless I "pay him a tea" for 10,000 UGX (2.20 EUR). Instead I hand him an old, brown banana symbolizing politely "go to hell". This he refuses and quickly waves me through. Fighting off corrupt police officers with bananas has always worked until now! I think they find it uncomfortable to be degraded to primates in public.

    In Tororo I buy a SIM card. Due to elections two weeks ago social media services like WhatsApp and Facebook are still disabled by the government. I never understood why they are doing this because Signal messenger and others still work :p

    There is no real campsite around but I find a calm hotel where I can camp in the yard. So far the people are very different than on the other side of the border. Busier, more of them, better/more elegant clothing, louder music, better music, more motorbikes, better motorbikes. And they are not taking any notice of me at all. Neither begging nor greeting. Fascinating contrast! Plastic bags are not banned like in Kenya and Tanzania. They wrap everything in thin, transparent plastic sachets. There are plastic bags flying around everywhere. If not a plastic bag then a torn condom pack.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Thomas and Arabica
    Blowing off broken bean skinsPan-roastingYumy!!One of three Sipi FallsOne of three chameleonsThe local community wins elections!First tent on Thomas campsite!

    Coffee, now roasted!

    3. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    In search for caffeine I climb up the western slopes of Mount Elgon to Sipi Falls. It is hot and since two days ago coming from western Kenya there is no view anymore. Agricultural planting season has begun and the farmers are burning all their land. The air is just thick, grey fog. The area is densely populated here and I somehow loose interest in further exploration. But coffee I must find! I search for Thomas who is offering plantation tours and there are rumors that coffee is also available for actual drinking instead of just for bewildering. But his phone seems to be off. The other way round, Thomas finds me at my lunch table and then everything develops quickly. He gives me a brief tour of his veeery small but organic plantation. There are other neighbours and friends doing the same business. Afterwards, at a different place I put hands on preparing my own (his) green beans and pan-roasting them over open fire. I create my own medium-roast which I then grind in a mortal the traditional way before it is infused in a pot. What a great smell, yum yum! In theory, after roasting the coffee beans would have to rest for a few days and I am impressed of how tasty these directly processed beans are! Very sweet and fruity with a hint of Quitte. No bitterness. The aroma develops further when the cup cools down. Now we are talking business! I buy the only three packs left of his already roasted beans and consider my mission as accomplished! Had I known that the actual roasting is so straight-forward and that it leads to more than just acceptable results in terms of "camping coffee", I would have grabbed the green beans in Kenya's Nandi Hills. With two (!) hand-grinders and Oli's AeroPress my car is well-equipped for getting them into a cup ;-)

    Thomas offers me to camp at his place because he wanted to advertise his backyard campsite anyway. Wonderful! He is very eager to improve the business and to build everything up step by step. I am the first camper on his lawn! There is a simple drop toilet where I even find a pretty Black Widdow spider waiting for me.
    Further, a wooden enclosure for washing yourself from a bucket of warm or cold water. We spend the rest of the evening and morning talking about possible improvements and I give him many valuable insights from a camper's perspective. We share the same attitude in many aspects. He grows lemongrass and rosemary, lemons, oranges and mangoes for his guests. In the evening we find three chameleons in his garden! I should change my title to "Chameleonist" ...

    Uganda's major elections have been two weeks ago but this very evening in Sipi some regional elections were decided for the community's preferred candidate. Right timing to be here! Apparently there are some "rich guys" around who call themselves "leaders" and who wanted to buy parts of the community's precious land and to build more rich-guys houses there. But the community managed to fight them off by letting their oppositionist win. All people are going crazy now and dancing on the streets while waving random green plants around and shouting "We don't want your money!" in their local language. Thomas is very happy and explains all the details of what was/is going on here.

    What a day. The next morning I drive with Thomas to Kapchorwa where he buys a brand-new Nokia 105 dual-SIM handset from part of my payment (for 16 EUR). That's the best feedback from your touristic investment you could get, right?! Now he is reachable by phone again and can communicate with future guests. I try to send him a second-hand smartphone from Germany.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Land clearing through burningKamalinga HillsRespect!Blind passengerPian-Upe Wildlife Reserve2Long-crested Eagle? But I see no white ...Good night

    Sunrise over burned land

    5. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    My flight back home is on February 17th from Dar-es-Salaam and I have to speed up a bit. I have to skip remote, northern Uganda and will go directly to the west where new mountains are waiting to be discovered and the Nile flows from Lake Victoria into Lake Albert. I cross the totally deserted Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve towards Kamalinga Hills. Yet another cattle-keeping and agriculturally active tribe is awaiting me here. They wear robes similar to the Maasai but also "modern", funny hats and look very serious with that outfit. I sleep next to the road and as always nobody cares. Just two motorbikes pass by and greet me. I like remote Africa.Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    1Hippoes in Victoria Nile
    Southern ground hornbillHartebeests camouflaged on lookoutWarthogs and one sleeping buffaloFishermen at park boundary. Illegal?Common garden catAdim's storks awaiting breakfast buffet

    Down to the waterline

    6. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Bsss! I want to move south through Murchison Falls National park but the ferry crossing the Victoria Nile is not operating since July 2020 due to … flooding. Again! Lake Victoria and Lake Albert have higher water levels than usual. I decide to enter the burning park anyway and spend around 270 km on self-driving safari within 1.3 days. The Murchison Falls themselves are not accessible from the north but from the south only. The northern path is so overgrown that I rip off my right mudguards with protruding, low bush branches and have to reverse 1.5 km before the falls. Again a poor view because the guys are also burning parts of this national park. But there are tons of Uganda kobs, bushbucks, waterbucks, Jackson’s hartebeests, Rothschild’s giraffes and buffaloes around which are not impressed by my car at all. My extended catch list: baboon, warthog, tsetse, southern ground hornbill, hippo, vervet monkey, black/white colobus monkey, patas monkey, elephant, jackal, Rüppell’s vulture, Adim’s stork, a tree-climbing African harrier hawk and one rare, shy bongo in the morning! The second night I want to spend wild-camping at the shores of Lake Albert but my designated places are flooded and I decide to go for the ruins of an old lodge but am interrupted by a broken bridge. Luckily a safari tour vehicle comes by the same way and the driver guides me through a secret detour over freshly burned grass to the far too expensive Pakuba lodge. They want 120 USD for a room, camping not allowed. Up your asses. It is dark already and as I am about to leave for the nearby ruins one of the staff approaches me and offers an unofficial campsite in front of the rangers’ headquarters. Splendid! I learn that they are burning parts of the park for various reasons. First of all the antelopes prefer low grass for safety and would move out of the unfenced park towards human areas because the humans are keeping the grass low through burning. Also they prefer freshly growing grass after burning over the older dry one. But the bordering humans would simply eat them. Allegedly the burning also controls the ticks and tsetse which I consider a poor argument. The last argument probably is the most important: Animals are better seen by tourists in low grass. In the end a national park is just another form of governmental and private income source. No animals, no tourists, less money.

    At midnight we hear nearby lions roaring and in the early morning, shortly before sunrise, I naively point my low-glooming headlamp around while brushing my teeth and suddenly see a pair of yellow eyes staring at me without being able to make out a silhouette of the starer. I switch the lamp to full power and see a huge lioness standing on the small access road just around 30 m away from my car. The next moment she disappears. Or was it a leopardess? But I didn’t see any pattern on the fur and this thing was huuuge! At sunrise I leave some Trinkgeld for the rangers and continue my safari after a great shower! All antelopes and buffaloes are migrating to the lake shore for a morning drink. I again meet a tour vehicle from this noble lodge. The same driver! He tells me that they saw two lions far away in the grassy valley and points me in the right direction. These guys are amazing! No human on earth can see anything in this grass on this distance and even with binoculars these two lions resemble more what I would nowadays call “pixel noise”. The good thing is that they are moving in direction of a branching track. So, I just drive around the corner with my car where I think they are heading, stop next to a tree, climb on my roof, sit down and wait. They are approaching some gazelles against the wind and are coming nearer but stop at some point. Very funny to watch that the gazelles are aware of the lions veeeery early but do not move at all. They let the lions approach to something like 50 m before galloping away. But maybe the cats are not hungry? Who knows ...    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Robusta plants
    Sun-drying of whole coffee berry

    For export only

    8. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    On my way I find a Robusta coffee plantation (CEED) which is an interesting community project set-up by US Aid in conjunction with a religious conspiracy around 20 years ago. They are not expecting any tourists but I get a brief tour anyway. The coffee beans are harvested in dark colour and classically sun-dried where they turn brownish-black. Further processing is done in Hoima and main selling in Kampala. Other than Arabica coffee plants which are imported from Ethiopia, Robusta grows natively in Uganda – especially around Kibale forest – and has a long tradition. It seems that every farmer has always some of these coffee bushes growing between his bananas etc.Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Crater lake Nkuruba1Black-and-white ColobusPretty pissed outside-inShitty coffee

    Shit

    9. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After loosing precious time in Fort Portal because I am blended by unmet expectations and apart from that I fill up my tank without having enough cash, I find a wonderful community campsite at Lake Nkuruba Nature Reserve in the Kyatwa Volcanic Field. Wah! Just in time for sunset. What a pretty, clean, grassy place surrounded by tall trees with black-and-white and red colobus monkeys and vervets. I am warmly welcomed by Good (later I will also meet a girl named Fortunate and a soldier called Innocent) who works here for several years and park the car under one of these trees next to the ridge which steeply descends into the crater lake. There is a path down to the water with a boat, bathing possibility and many places to hang my hammock. The trees are full with colourful birds and I can spot Ross's and Great Blue turacos for the first time. Yeah! Until now most of all my visited camps were run-down due to the lack of tourists but not this one even though I am the only foreign guest. Locals like to hang out here for a swim or dinner. The staff is young, fresh, friendly, passionate and the whole place looks very alive but calm and cozy. The campsite has been established more than 30 years ago by a European couple and is now in religious hands. Wonderful climate to hang out for at least a whole day which I need to work up on all the mapping I have done during the previous days of exploration. Hence, a nice day with the laptop in my hammock down at the lakeside. The colobus monkeys harvest only leaves and basically stay in the trees for all the time without interfering with me even tough they are not afraid to sit on the branches next to me. The vervet monkeys prefer a human’s diet and are very clever in trying to steal from my rations. They go totally crazy for bananas! They sit down next to me and patiently take single pieces from my hand. It is more funny than annoying because they never stay longer than for an hour in the mornings and continue their neighbourhood route in search of food. In the evening they come back and play in the trees. Outside of this tiny nature reserve monkeys are generally non-existent because people hunt them down for meat and for protection of their crops and fruits in the fields. The campsite managers established a banana plantation dedicated only to the vervet monkeys in order to keep their population stable in this area. They also had many avocado trees but unfortunately the colobus monkeys did not only eat their leaves but also the bark which killed all trees. This experiment emphasizes what happens when you try to introduce plants into an ecosystem where they are not necessarily native ;-)

    The first night I wake up at 0500 in the morning because somebody is throwing “things” at my car. Later on at 0630 “things” get really tricky because they also get wet and sticky. Apparently two football teams of colobus monkeys decided to have their morning toilet just above my car. And sleeping with open windows results in being shitted and pissed all over from the outside and the inside. My car quickly starts to stink like a festival toilet. The first time during these two months I feel like having reached my final destination, yet another home! It’s the first place where I really think that I will be coming back another day. Good helps me with cleaning the car the next day :-p    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Tea machines
    Tea waiting to be driven to the factoryCoffee ladyHome roasting (for tourists)

    More on drugs

    10. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    At the edge of Kibale Forest I search for traces of the Kibale Forest Coffee Project and find a guy to show me around. Unfortunately, without prior announcement we cannot visit many places and also my time is short.

    But first we visit a nice tea plantation. Each professional plugger manages to harvest 50-250 kg of leaves per day which is a lot and will satisfy the Indian plantation owners but the worker gets just 71 UGX (0,02 EUR) per kg. Again, most of it is exported, all is non-organic industry and nobody knows why Indians import East African tea. They all produce only broken black tea. There is no such thing as "green tea in whole leaves" or "single origin tea" or any quality label at all. Somewhat boring.

    The coffee (Robusta) in turn is growing scattered between outer forest trees and banana plants and processed in organic ways. In order to keep the animals from leaving Kibale Forest and securing their crops the locals plant bands of coffee, tea, pepper and tobacco at the forest boundary. All these crops are not eaten by the wild things. Additionally, in order to keep elephants from raiding around they establish bee hives because somehow elephants don't like bees around their ears and return into the forest. This is mainly financed by the national park fees. Interesting! But the coffee marketing could be improved. Difficult to buy in the place, I don't know where all of it is going nor the locals seem to know. Also the coffee processing is inefficient. They do this home-roasting on fire but with that you cannot process large quantities after a harvest. Also the roasting is very inhomogeneous. I bought a pack of which more than half of the beans are coal - crushable to powder between my fingers - and the others are still light brown. This is not tasty. Grinding is another issue. There are no grinders around. The people totally freaked out when I showed them my Turkish-style hand grinder. They even did not have any clue how such a thing works. I see some potential ...    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Rwenziori

    11. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Unfortunately my time is running out. I think that compared to all previous hiking options until now – Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon – the Rwenziori Mountains in the west of Uganda would be the most fulfilling choice. I will leave this spot “for the next time” and just drive up as far as I get in order to spend a last cool night in the mountains before starting my returning hurry to Dar es-Salaam. Up here at the slopes they also grow Robusta mixed with Arabica coffee and I found at least two big washing stations which are not open to the public. There is also a charity-backed coffee place and a fancy brass sculpture museum which offers me local coffee. Yum yum!Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    1Muh muh, yum yum
    Journey to Paradise

    Michi for lunch or cow?

    12. februar 2021, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Southern Uganda, pretty uninteresting. Many people around and all are growing plantains, these green East African Highland bananas, partially scattered with coffee bushes in-between. Must be the main agricultural region here. I want to sleep on a village’s football pitch but a local security officer insists in deposing me in the village centre next to the police station because we are bordering the influence of a cannibalistic tribe and he is worried that they never tasted white flesh before. There is litter and cow shit all around my car but it still stinks of Colobus monkey pee anyway, so it seems to integrate perfectly. The night is noisy and short. The cannibals would have been the better option.

    In the morning on the opposite site some of these beautiful Ugandan cows are loaded onto trucks and are beginning their journey to cow heaven in Kampala. I very much like the Ugandan street cuisine which is more diverse than what I know from Tanzania and Kenya. The beef from these free-grazing cows is so damn soft, juicy and tasty! You mostly get just 2-4 smaller chunks bathed in a thick, intense broth which serves as the main flavouring component of the huge side dish of maize porridge, rice or matoke (cooked, mashed green bananas). Additionally, beans or cabbage and fresh juice for lunch.
    But for my breakfast I manage to find a half-litre mug full of chai and a rolex. Rolex! The best! Why don’t Kenya and Tanzania have this awesomeness?? Its base forms one chapati, an Indian-style, pan-fried, flat wheat bread, like a pancake but different. In Kenya, Tanzania and eastern Uganda they use whole-grain flour, here in the south-west rather plain white flour. On top of this chapati they put an omelette of two fried eggs with onions, peppers, tomatoes and sometimes avocado and a pinch of salt. Then they simply roll it to the form of a big cigar. Off I go!    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Sad ruins of unfinished Bukoba Palace hotel :-(1Ferry to Mwanza between thousands of fishermenGood morning!Bah!Fixable in place!Widen, open, clean the hole2Insert rubber sealant with little bit of lube

    Thundering cliffs above Victoria

    13. februar 2021, Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Bukoba, the first big centre on Tanzanian side is my destination. Surprisingly nice, big but calm and very friendly atmosphere! I am charmed and think that it must be the only city in Tanzania where all people I talk to understand English. Wow. I even manage to get my personal, Michi-registered SIM card (finally!!!) which all other Tanzanian places before never accomplished. Also a new 12-month insurance for leaving behind the car in Dar. And a good lunch in the public police canteen. This must also be Tanzania’s capital of efficiency. I never got so many things done within 2 hours in this country. Would have taken 2 days anywhere else.
    The lakeside campsites are all washed away due to the increased water level of lake Victoria and I drive to some elevated cliffs not far away which are the perfect spot for the approaching night! Yeehaaw! Around me just grass, the ruins of a never finished hotel, an orthodox church to the south and a seminar and bishop’s seat to the north. I have read many down-turning things about that lake but this western side is very idyllic which does not change while moving further south. Late in the evening the ferry to Mwanza departs and squeezes between thousands of small fisher-boat lights. The bay of Bukoba is partly visible from my spot. I expect to be woken up by an epic sunrise but instead wake up by the thunders and lightnings of a distant storm above the lake, half an hour before sunrise. Equally epic!

    After packing my stuff and getting ready I discover a flat rear left tyre. Ha, a thick nail! The first flat one on these BFGoodrich tyres after 27,454 km, finally! I was about to think that they must be a miracle after what I was throwing at them. The front wheels I already swapped with my spare ones after approx. 18,000 km, but the rears haven’t been touched since Germany. They are well-worn already but today’s air must have escaped just now during morning cliff coffee because I have not noticed any tilted car when waking up. Finally I can experiment with my fancy tyre repair kit: remove the nail, widen and clean the hole, insert rubber sealant, done. Luckily the nail is exposed in a way that it is facing me in a perfect angle
    and I do not have to move the car much nor to unmount the wheel. Still, as it requires much more force than I have expected to push the sealant in, I get a free morning workout session in the same run. (The guys on the tool promotion videos must all be bulls with double my
    body mass and/or they do not demonstrate it on heavy-duty tyres and for them it looks as easy as pushing a knife into butter :p) But I consider my workout a solid mission because for the next 540 km on dirt, tar and a lot of rain no air escapes and the car runs as usual. Brilliant!    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    After lunch
    Bush workshopThis must be a joke

    Advances in real-world tyre application

    14. februar 2021, Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    What the f ... nail? After lunch I just discover another nail by incident while approaching the car from behind. Now in my rear right tyre and on the inner side which sucks for a quick fix. Because I am not loosing any air and the nail looks as if it has resided there for quite some time, I drive 15 km out of town and in a shady place without people I remove the wheel to get my hands on. The nail did not penetrate the wall and is sitting horizontally in the rubber tread. How the hell is that possible? Must have been deflected by the wall. I can easily remove it - in opposition to yesterday's nail - and without loosing air I decide that there is no need to do anything more even though some of the tyre's wire mesh shines through the penetrated surface and I felt it when pulling the nail. I categorise this under "advanced real-world application outside the sterile laboratory environment" and will carefully observe the tyre's performance on the following 200+ km of soft dirt track where speed will most probably not exceed 60 kph anyway.Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    4Last honest street foodiGuys preparing for Zanzibar

    Top Jesus!

    16. februar 2021, Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    I stroll around Bagamoyo to find my last, real, honest street foodi: Ugali with "local spinach", fishies with yellow chilli and okra in rich tomato sauce. People on the market greet me with "How is Israel?!" and "Hey Jesus!". I don't know why :pLæs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Data over time

    17. februar 2021, Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Time is over. Time to return into crisp winter air. Time to get woken up by blackbird sounds in the morning. Time to stroke a black computer mouse again. Time to listen to Black Metal in public radio 🤘. Time for statistics over the past two months.

    3 countries
    3 border crossings
    7,911 km
    863.36 litres of diesel: average consumption of 10.9 l/100 km
    2 thefts: 1 fancy micro-USB cable, 1 expensive but useless Olympus camera USB cable
    1 attempted theft: red handkerchief, got the boy and turned him inside out
    1 flat tyre
    0 bribes
    0 payments at police controls
    a lot of fun    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    New flatmate!

    18. februar 2021, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Yeeehaaaaw! :-D

    Se oversættelse
    Slut på rejsen
    18. februar 2021