Reset search
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. Read more
+2
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Apocalypse now
    Car camouflage2The place keepers' den

    Lumangwe and Kabweluma falls

    March 5, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    2nd biggest falls after Victoria falls. Absolutely awesome campsite directly at the rim of the falls! Very loud night with water from above and below. I think the water level is just a little bit above average, hehehe. The next morning I feel like Indiana Jones, it's truly a wild place!

    Did I mention that I haven't seen any other tourists since Livingstone? :-P    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Chishimba falls

    March 7, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The first time after Livingstone that I meet
    other "tourists" even tough they are all
    locals from Kasama enjoying their Friday evening at Chishimba falls. A nice place worth the 20 USD for a visit and overnight camp but no showers are present. We still have the river for a Badepause ;)

    This "heritage site" is more accessible than the previously visited ones with different viewing points and a beautiful view down onto the endless mainland where the river continues. At two points they elegantly blended small dams between the natural steps of the river and harvest some of the water in a rather antique power plant. I explore this region beyond the actual visitor's area and find a water tower to climb on for an even greater panoramic view. The pipelines lead the way back to the falls :-)

    In general all these bigger water falls in Zambia have been declared as national monuments by the government and they charge 15 USD per visit per person plus 5 USD for a car and sometimes even additional 15 USD for camping. I always argue not to pay for the visit if I camp. Anyway, totally overpriced! The camping facilities are mostly run down (except here at Chishimba) without running water nor electricity. Showers I did not encounter anywhere so far. The place keepers obviously don't get paid well, they all ask for additional support/tips. Would be interesting to know where the government spends all this money ...    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Next morningIn-car audio theatre lounge

    Thunderstatement

    March 7, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    North of Kasama I spontaneously stop by at a coffee plantation belonging to Olam (huge company). It's a plain industrial plant and they do not expect any visitors at all. Still, I get a private tour on this Saturday's early afternoon and get the opportunity to interview the manager thoroughly to make sure that he will never forget my perky questions.

    In the evening I reach Mpulungu at the world's longest lake: Tanganyika. It's also the world's second deepest lake with its ground reaching deeper than 600 m below mean sea level! I choose wild camping for tonight on the edge of an elevated quarry with splendid view northwards over the lake and prepare a whole bucket of Pfifferlinge with Zwiebelchen. Afterwards my in-car audio theatre lounge entertains me and all passing locals with Supertramp, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and early grooves of the Scorpions while distant clouds fire the corresponding light show.

    In contrast to my previous Sambian nights, which have been all very fresh at an elevation between 1300 and 1600 m, here in Mpulungu at 800 m things get slightly sweatier at night ...    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    The mostly desirable, distant gem

    Lost between falls

    March 8, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    No plans at all, so I start a small hike to discover a yet unmapped path to some allegedly well-mapped waterfalls "just 500 m off the gravel road". Stupid. Already in the beginning of the hike I get a nice view on some other, very distant, very high and very beautiful falls. Thanks to today's curiosity I end up hiking the whole day through farm land and thick forests up the whole mountain ridge because the initially focussed falls are apparently badly mapped, undiscoverable and these distant ones offer a much higher reward. I never reach but instead end up high above these distant falls. Seven weeks in the car, 35 °C, no chocolate and I feel like climbing the Picco Humboldt in Venezuela :-DRead more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Tanganyika Science Lodge
    Englishfish

    Lake Tanganyika

    March 9, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Back down I check in at the Tanganyika Science Lodge directly at the waterkant, jump to Mpulungu's fish market and get some endemic fish for me and the lodge's host and her family for supper. Hammock out, chill mode on! The next morning Celestine prepares a braied Englishfish for my journey :-DRead more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Fun fun fun!

    Why WW I ended near Kalambo falls

    March 10, 2020 in Zambia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    During a rainy day in the Moto Moto Museum in Mbala I learn that the last bullets during 1st World War have been fired in Mbala where we find a British-styled roundabout today. War news from Europe had just arrived with two weeks delay here. The Germans were trying to connect today's Tanzania with Namibia by conquering Zambia and luckily have failed. Currywurst and Döner just wouldn't have grown here. I spend my night at lake Chila where many German weapons have been dumped after the idiots got their asses kicked.

    The next day I work my way north towards Tanzania and visit Kalambo falls on the way. Lovely! You could hike from here to the beaches of lake Tanganyika which are only accessible by boat otherwise!

    The road to the border post is pretty much the worst I have encountered so far, but fun to ride and my skid plate gets a new, personalized, professionally bended "accent". Step by step the car accumulates some character. I get rewarded by the smallest and chilliest border crossing ever, without any other traffic. Tunduma border would have been a nightmare! My Tanzanian visa I pay in three different currencies.    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    SIMsalabim

    March 12, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Today I spent/lost the whole morning in Mbeya running between the immigration office and different mobile network provider offices. The providers all have "new computer systems" which require me to get identified with the government's immigration authority by scanning my fingerprint. You remember the tiny little border post where I crossed? They had a pack of paper and a toilet but no fancy devices to register any fingerprints which means that "I am not in the system" at all ... and thus cannot be identified by any of these "new computer systems". Even the immigration office in Mbeya could not register my fingerprints! They certified my passport copy in order to convince one of the providers to assist me but were not in the position to understand, that the provider simply cannot override the fingerprint identification processes of his "new computer system" which just quits with the notice that "Michi, der, is illegal". They should stop introducing premature laws. (And they should stop trying to bake bread!)

    Totally frustrated that I could not listen to Rockantenne Bayern while rocking the super-annoying main traffic route towards Daressalam I continued.

    As always, after pain comes joy. Some
    might call that "destiny" but I prefer "the miracle of life". So, luckily later today I get stopped by the police for speeding with 76 kph instead of the allowed 50 in the middle of nowhere! After telling them that they suck, that they are corrupt - but friendly - and that their taken picture of my car is a lie, I get approached by Heiner, a Swiss guy travelling around with his Tanzanian wife Rozina. They got befriended by the police guy three months ago and shared a drink with him. We meet again in Makambako further down the road for lunch and afterwards Rozina gets me a SIM card on her private account. Rock! :-D    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Good start"Sir, please do not leave!"

    Ruaha

    March 14, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After pressing down the price from 95 to 20 USD I spend a nice night in an elevated lodge with fabulous view over the Ruaha national park. The whole day I drive around in the park for way too much money and many roads are not passable. Still, the landscape is beautiful and different from all other parks! Three large rivers there are and everything looks very natural and wild. That's the way it should be! My hitlist for today: a snake, a jackal, a hippo, a serval (!), zebras, impalas, baboons, a bird, a different bird, another different bird, many other different birds, three owls, elephants, some giraffes, a kudu, tiny little turtles, a duiker and trillions of tsetse flies!

    I reject to pay 30 USD for a simple campsite inside the park and do some wild camping next to the road around 10 km away. I didn't see any fence while leaving so probably some impalas are watching while my kitchen system proofs very flexible as I prepare potatoes with roasted cashews, onions, ginger, lemon and chakkalakka sauce. Yum!    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Poo back to life100 km of this to and from Ruaha NP :-DChipsi mayai

    Chipsi Mayai

    March 15, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    I leave my provocative wild camping spot and head to direction of Dodoma via Iringa where I stop for Chipsi Mayai. Like Spanish tortilla but fancier with spicy toppings. Let's see if the mountains east of Dodoma are traversable!Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Bush camping

    March 16, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    From Mtera dam I wanted to turn northeast through the mountains to Mpwapwa but the turnoff was an active river bed. So, bush camping near Dodoma instead ;)

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Waiting for Mr. President
    Demolished bridge. Taking pics of (intact) bridges is forbidden!Approaching MorogoroLenin and Remmy

    Remmydemmi

    March 16, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    In Dodoma I just fill up diesel and continue eastwards. Somewhere on halfway to Morogoro the omnipresent Tanzanian police decides to stop all traffic along the road. Not only along this very part of the road but along the whole route from Dodoma via Morogoro to Dar es Salaam. Yeah, do you get what I’m writing? THEY MANAGE TO FREEZE THE WHOLE TRAFFIC ON 450 km OF "HIGHWAY"! Here they call it highway but from "western" perspective it is just a rural road with one driving lane per direction, comparable to a standard German Bundesstraße. The point is, that especially the part from Dar es Salaam westwards is probably one of the most frequented roads of whole southern Africa because via this road Dar feeds not only Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Burundi and Rwanda with precious goods on stinky trucks but even Congo and South Africa receive Asian stuff by this connection! I bet you have never seen so much mixed, hectic traffic like you find here. Let’s not talk about the suicidal bus drivers ...

    So, "all traffic has to move off the tarmac in order for the president to pass". What? Usually the president would fly to Dodoma but not this time. For two hours I wait and have nice chats with all truck drivers in my gang of paralysed vehicles. They hide chickens under the trucks making their trailers sound like moving farms, well-concealed by Maersk or Hamburg Süd containers, hihihihi. The president passes in a platoon of 20-40 noisy, shiny, blinking cars, accompanied by a military helicopter. Some of the bullet-proof Land Cruiser 200s carry anti-air equipment and others oversized sensor arrays. And they drive faster than allowed!

    I pass a highway bridge over Kiegeya river which must have simply disappeared with the last flood 2-3 weeks ago. All vehicles drive down into a filled river bed and up again. Pfff. Morogoro is as appealing as Mordor. Just erase it from the map. More fuel stations than inhabitants and they constantly add new stations. It gets late and I desperately search for a place to stay. No campsites around, no simple guest houses. There are mountains nearby but - again - probably not traversable and I don’t want to loose daylight by getting stuck in mud while crawling up steep hills and this arterial road by night brings death!

    I continue 50 km to the village of Bwawani where Google reveals the Ngerengere River Eco Camp. Remmy tells me on the phone that actually his camp is 17 km further in the bush and not directly near the road as it is marked in Google. He will await me in Bwawani. Funny that this call is my last possible because it sets my phone balance to 0. In Bwawani it gets dark and no way to contact Remmy. I am about to ask strangers in the village for the directions to his virtual camp when he calls back. He is just around the corner, next to the road, having some beers with his friends, and now also with me. Perfect! He prefers his beer lukewarm. A Maasai leaves our table and pays all beers. Oh, these Maasai, you have to see them when they walk along the road! They are mysterious, fancy and beautiful. Saw the first ones around Iringa as they are quite eye-catching in their traditional robes. They are slenderly built and taller than many other Tanzanians and show distinctive facial features. They say that the Maasai are the last tribe still sticking fully to their original tradition while being wholly “integrated in the regular society”. One of 120 tribes in Tanzania?

    Today we heard rumours of the first case of COVID-19 in Tanzania and this is why president Magufuli travelled by car and stopped in some villages on the way to talk about the current situation. He allegedly also suspended two hands full of responsible people in the roads department for letting the crucial bridge over Kiegeya river degrade so much that it couldn’t withstand the ongoing rain falls. All people at the table are very fond of their president and say that he even rejects invitations from European countries in order to save the money for local investments.

    Remmy manages his Eco Camp which is integrated into a local community. From time to time he hosts different volunteers and tourist groups there but today I spend the night at his home with the family. He has four kiddies with one son living near Bielefeld and the other, Lenin, spending the evening with us. Mommy prepares delicious supper, yay! And I get my own room =)    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Probably helps best against COVID-19
    Hand brake adjustment and wheel swapping

    Dar

    March 19, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Dar is hot, getting here was stressful. Overall I am not impressed and have the need to leave quickly. At the Ethiopian embassy I get my visa within one day! Let's hope that the border crossings will let me through :-\
    Update: Sudan closed all borders and the Sudanese embassy in Dar will not issue a visa for me at this moment :-(

    One night I stay 20 km north in a small beach camp. Calm and friendly it is but the beach is totally rubbished with sea weed mixed with plastic. Getting there and back into the centre takes 1-3 hours depending on the traffic. The second night I try to find a cheap room in the centre but the few hostels I call "are closed because of the virus". I find a small workshop to change my engine oil, oil filter and the totally clogged air filter. The guys are very nice and with Mosses I go for dinner later. The location is used to be crowded in the evenings but yeah, "the virus" starts to show his effect here as well. Mosses also shows me an affordable, simple accommodation close to the workshop and to the embassy. Hell yeah, I really enjoy how everything works out in the end even though 5 minutes earlier it seemed to be a disaster. Again one more evidence to always stay relaxed and calm :-*    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Backyard workshop of Mosses. A/C works again!

    Stillst(r)and

    March 19, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Many touristic places are closing here because all bookings are being cancelled. Few whites around. I will hide well and sanitize my internals thoroughly (was forced to sanitize my hands in Dar approx. 12x today).Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Old Arab building, extended to a German fort and now used as tourist officeUsed to be a high-end hotel until the 90sOld DOMA/BOMAFormer slave harbour now being used to ship different "goods" to Zansibar

    Bwagamoyo

    March 21, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    In Bagamoyo a major slave and ivory trading route ended roughly 100 years ago. And the Arabs and Germans built some strange ruins. The fish market dominates your perception of the village but keeps all the underground cats in good mood.Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Usambara mountains enrolling while entering Korogwe
    Personal Maasai guard ;)

    Korogwe

    March 21, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I want to move north along the coast to Tanga today but the coastal road is - again again again - not drivable as it is partially destroyed by flooded rivers. After reading how big this city is I loose interest and anyway, while processing north the Usambara mountains enrol in front of me and I feel a strong gravitational field deflecting my path strongly to the west away from Tanga.

    Today I travel in company of my personal Maasai warrior Alamayani. He works at the lodge/camp where I stayed the last days and wants to visit his family south of Arusha. He carries three major items: A wooden stick, a traditional sword (ol alem) with which he once cut a lion's neck and a smartphone which shows better battery runtime than mine. We have a slight communication problem though because my Kiswahili is nearly as good as his English ;-)    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Cheesus!

    March 22, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Brown, heavy bread, jucy avocado, aromatic tomatoes, citronpeppar from Sweden, locally made rosmary gouda and passion fruit jam, accompanied with Tanzanian freshly ground coffee from fincas south of Kilimanjaro =)

    Apart from calling me "Jesus!" all the time, since yesterday the young generation sympathizes with the new nickname "Corona!" for all non-locals. From heaven to hell in one day! -_-    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    30 million year old rain forest2Half chicken, half manIt's possible

    Perfectly in time for a short rhyme

    March 22, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    I arrive at 1,810 m just in time for the sunset! A dog approaches and whispers something with a ladyish voice in Polish to me. Wahhhhoo, whoat? Okay, behind the fur there is the lodge's owner hiding :D

    The village of Mambo killed my time schedule because its "roads" are so narrow and washed out that some locals had to bend a wooden fence in order for me to get through and at the end they even had to lift the protruding roof of a house because of my stuff on the rack. We all had fun =)

    Shortly after arrival I get an e-mail from the German embassy in Dar that the Foreign Office organised two retrieval flights for Tuesday afternoon. One from Mombasa and one from Zanzibar. If I wanted to get out of the country, I would have to decide until tomorrow morning. Mombasa is closer but the border impenetrable. And what would happen with the car? Cheese!    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Going to hell. Not.

    March 23, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The Zanzibar flight is restricted to 50 persons and primarily designated for island tourists. According to the embassy my chances to get a slot are small so I don't risk all the stress getting there in half the time I would need. The mainland airport in Dar-es-Salaam is still in regular operation even though the flights to Germany are sparse with obscure transits for prices I would not pay right now where "thinks are still normal here". There might be skylifts planned later for all the other volunteers and expats scattered around but Tanzania has low priority at this moment. The embassy is currently gathering info about all people left in the country. All land borders are closed so whatever I will be doing, it'll all be branded "Tanzanian experience 2.0" ;-)

    As for now, I keep enjoying my coffee and fix some pending issues around the car. Maybe I continue tomorrow. Maybe not. This spot is just too pretty!

    If necessary, from here I can be in Dar within one day and the chances are high that my new mechanics' friends could take care of my car at their well-guared lawn.    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Mambo

    March 24, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Here at the lodge they constantly employ some 17 villagers (as long as there are tourists ...) and whenever renovation work has to be done they make use of their professionals' network and rotate additional employees weekly in order to give others the chance to also earn some money. Most supplies are acquired in Mambo, water comes from the forest and power brings the sun.Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    Sun rise viewed out of my bed in the car
    Got keys for a room. Prefer the car :pSzarlotkarrrr!High-end leather sofa

    Home office?

    March 25, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Fight nature with nature: Toast à la Cheesus with onions, garlic, aromatic habanero and tomato for lunch (germ-free zone), polska szarlotka in the afternoons (Dagmara knows her business!), coffee all around the clock und nen guaden Grappa for sun set. Our night watchman patrols with a
    small brown sheep and the bush baby in the nearby tree always has an eye on me. Doesn't sound like the end of the world, does it?    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    GPX
    Arriving here I had to squeeze my car between these housesMuslims are more scared of dogs than of Cheesus*miau*Nurek cools downModified bike for sharpening knifes :-)

    Back in time 30 million years

    March 26, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Since March 22nd I’m relaxing here on the spot and preparing my mind for the dawning apocalypse. Today I break out for a hike into Shagayu Forest Reserve (part of Usambara mountains) with the local guides Joseph and David accompanied by five dogs from the camp, of which three are Dagmara’s imported stray dogs from Morocco (all Poles I know are crazy about dogs!). We accomplish more than 21 km within seven hours and again I feel the past three months of sitting behind the driving wheel. Back home I will have to order a replacement element for my left knee on eBay :-P

    The path leads us from Mambo through monotonous pine and eucalyptus forests which have been planted by Germans and/or Brits during colonial times, primarily to obtain fast-growing firewood and building material. Already back then the natives’ settlement pressure was intense in this fertile and smoothly-climatised region that the whites feared to loose more and more of the precious, pristine rain forest. This is why they erected a wall of eucalyptus trees to denominate a border between cultivated land and the Shagayu forest which has been declared a forest reserve during the nineteenhundrets. This tree wall persists until today and looks somewhat strange. The locals say that this system still works pretty well as they are allowed to gather firewood from the pine and eucalyptus plantations any time whereas from the primary forest they may only collect dead wood which indeed is strongly controlled by the current government. At least they seem to have realised that this old forest is the only source for fresh water during the dry season. It even sources water during droughts when it does not rain for two years in a row!

    This "firewood thing" is really a problem. Tanzania is poor and has a huge population which uses wood and charcoal for cooking and heating all year long. Getting a hot shower in rural areas involves firing an oven. But in Zambia it is even worse! There the water reservoirs are depleting which also leads to hydro power shortages and whole Zambia’s economy and life seems to be concentrated around “where do I get firewood and where do I get charcoal?”. Even in Lusaka we experienced power cut-offs from early morning till the evening and running water was not available from 9 am to 3 pm. In their fuckin’ capital they cook daily lunch on charcoal! Here in Usambara mountains 30 % of the ladies are carrying veggies on their head and 70 % are carrying ... firewood. By the way, I don’t see any guys working here. They are just hiding or sitting around on crappy Chinese motorbikes (they say that they fall apart after one year).

    So, back to Shagayu forest: it’s nice, you should go there. Don’t fear any leopards, they don’t come any more.    Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Pa pa!

    March 29, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Didn't expect to having been talking and thinking a whole week in Polish during this trip. After seven nights camping deluxe I say "Pa pa!" to my new family at the heaven's gate and descend via Lushoto (stopping for cheese, local coffee and jam) in direction to Mkomazi National Park which is north "just around the corner". The whole day submerges into a melancholic atmosphere. Why did I leave? Will I return one day? Maybe even very soon ...Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa
    The most elegant of all, the secretary bird!
    BaobabsHartebeestBuffaloHornbillFunky lizardsPuff adder

    Mkomazi

    March 30, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    24 h permit with camping inside the Mkomazi National Park for me and my German-registered car: 118 USD. And that's one of the cheaper parks in Tanzania. The park is very natural, untouched, authentic with a nice hilly scenery. The wildlife is more on distance here! I expect to be saved from heavy rain and mud this time but that doesn’t work out. I cannot leave the north-western part further south-east because all possible paths turn into water and/or mud quickly. Wherever I see more or less fresh ranger tracks in the mud I follow with the simple thought “Hmm, if they did it, I will too!”. By that I increase my mud driving skills tremendously, especially after a short rain where the soil turns into soap and the car wiggles freely from 90° left to 90° right even tough the road is flat and straight. You can have as much 4x4 and as many differential locks as you like, it stays very funny and uncontrollable! But on all other roads I don’t want to risk getting stuck because there is nobody else around except for mongooses, duikers, an elegant secretary bird, impalas, ostriches, hartebeests, zebras, warthogs, masai giraffes (G. tippelskirchii), infinite numbers of giant ticks, turtles, tortoises, quail-like and chicken-like birds, falcons, pigeons, hornbills (love them!!), lizards, geckos, some tsetse flies, kudus, jackals, buffalos and a puff adder which decides to spit out its partly digested prey directly in front of me on the track. I have to wait, can’t continue before it finishes. In the beginning it just looks at me and then for 5-10 minutes it opens and closes its mouth several times until I see the big bulb inside moving to the front. Then it delivers its present in front of me! Thank you.Read more

  • Let’s bring Sauna into Africa

    Jippie Jipe

    March 31, 2020 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Not knowing where to go I head for lake Jipe near the border to Kenya. Yesterday and today I’m in bad mood because this overall situation of border lock downs and European news pisses me off. At the village of Jipe some boys tell me that I can sleep here and go down to the lake for a boat trip. But after I was inspected by the village’s chairman and had to prove where I stayed the last nights and after he phoned somebody he decides that I have to go back all the way to the main road to get a permission from the district office in Mwanga first. Sure ... as if this was the main tourist attraction in the whole world. I stay calm and friendly and decide to wild camp 800 m back the road between thorny bushes, awaiting the terminating thunderstorm which looses all its power before being able to cool me down.Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice