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To the motherland
  • Vita activa
Sep 2023 – Mar 2024

To the motherland

With a detour across the balkans
And an even longer detour across Turkey. Life happens. Read more
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  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    No idea what this is2Can you spot anything you wouldnt see in the netherlands or austria?11This dude wanted me to take a picture so I complied1Caravanseray2At the foot of the vulcano

    Caravanseray and her majesty

    November 13, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Cycling from Konya went, mostly, too fast. I had massive tailwind and was going 35 kmh at points; really fast for touring. So arrived at sultanhası around 3 and hadnt planned on getting there within a day. Sultanhası is home to a huge caravanseray, 5000 m2, which used to be used by Persian travellers around 13th century as a safehaven. Beautiful with all the carpets; most beautiful where the old artworks in the café, which noone seemed to pay attention to. Well, I made pictures so you can!

    Stayed at a campsite — managed to talk the price down ^^ — where two cats liked to play hide and seek in and on my tent. Quite annoying. Next day a friendly dog showed up, who was also chasing the cats away, and wanted to play: sadly I couldn't find anything to throw.

    Next day the wind turned slightly, and I had to go over lots of gravel roads, against the wind, toward hasin daği. Hammering the pedals on gravel against wind is kind of fun, but super heavy; and all the time slowly, from the distance, the volcano became clearer and bigger. Really impressive and really towering over everything else. It also seems to have left some destruction at a village at its feet, which was deserted, burned, and relocated 6 km downhill (with the same name). Dont fuck with her Majesty.

    Lastly, I was warned of wolves in this area, and Im pretty sure I saw some near my tent when I was cooking a bit away from it. Not harmful — they run away once you get close — but pretty exciting and scary the first time.

    It then rained and the wind blew hard overnight; and Im typing this wild cold fingers.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    1Is this a face or is this a face2Gözleme time! She rolls it soooo thinIn the best shape is this mosque12This church is inside the monastery inside the rocks / mountainPeynir 🥰

    Ihlara valley

    Nov 14–15, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Alright where is my notebook... There is so much to see here that I have to remember what happened yesterday...

    I actually don't, and even more so didnt, know anything about cappadocia, other than that it has these weird rock formations due to volcanic stone, that there are "fairy chimneys", and that it's supposed to be of " exceptional natural wonders" according to Wikipedia. I didn't know where it starts; and so I stumbled upon the Ihlara valley which is already cappadocia. Sweet, I made it!

    The weather was rainy, very wet even when dry, and not good for taking pictures, so don't hold it against me. But the Ihlara valley had a lot of churches literally carved into the rocks on both sides, and is really quite beautiful even in shitty weather. The churches had some engravings/paintings still, which are all the more impressive, given that these stem from the 6th century. First time, of many times here in cappadocia, that I ask "how did they make this back then!?". (Well, come on, look at what the greeks made way before!)

    Ironically they, at some entrance gate, boast that the monks in these churches were allowed to live in Harmony even when the area turned islamic. Sorry turkey, as beautiful as your country is, my current opinion is that it is not something to boast about after the armenian genocide, the massacre of greeks after ww1, and not giving a shit about your own jews in ww2. But I digress.

    (Actually during the ottoman empire this was true, they were allowed to coexist and not be Muslim; you just had to pay more taxes.)

    Next day the weather turned way better so I managed to make these sunny pictures for you. And the chimneys were lit!

    Less nice was this ticketing system here. They charge 330 lira to go in; fine, but you can easily walk around and not pay anything, I found out. Then the next day, when I wanted to visit one other bit—some old monastery — they wanted me to pay again because the ticket " is only valid for one day". (At the exit mind you, because the entrance is not well checked). Well, no, bugger off: I bullshitted my way out of it and didnt pay again. (Im a good bullshitter.) This is why I don't like touristy places, they charge you for everything everytime.

    Immediatly in my way to cappadocia proper (where I am currently writing this) I stumbled upon the best part, perhaps, of the valley: the weekly market. Such a nice place, such good food and nice people, and such nice culture. Old men playing backgammon, drinking tea, smoking, and many local people shopping around. I totally forgot I was in a touristy area.

    (Im not saying cappadocia isn't beautiful; it absolutely is!)    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Where does this go?Woke up with people waiting for baloons that wouldn't comeOnly here, a shitty tractor with burger kingHow touristy can this get? Just for us tourists I guessReally?!

    Cappadocia

    November 16, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Yeah this place is beautiful. I suggest you first look at the pictures and then read on. (Whatever literary “style” is gone with this last sentence, but yeah, cappadocia is all about the natural wonders... Or is it?)

    Yesterday (wednesday) I first visited the volcano lake, where I was greeted by a few toursbuses that were just leaving. It made for good pictures. Then onward to the underground cities, and I was recommended by a turk who worked in germany to go to the one kaymakli, not the deeper one; on the way I briefly had a traildog accompanying me which was very cool—he did first just want food, but kept me company even if I didnt have anything for him.

    Arrived at derinkuyu really, _really_ tired, as if I had just done interval training: headwind. But the road to kaymakli was with mostly tailwind so that was a breeze, literally. And man, those underground cities are impressive. Some background—which I didn’t know until after I visited: these were created around the 7th centuries mostly, and were also used as hiding places against muslims, mongolians, also still under ottoman rule, and even during the 20th century. And it’s all because of the volcanic rock that they managed to make this: they are huge. You go in, and the it goes deeper, there are tunnels (which they could close off with rolling rocks as doors) which go on for 5 minutes, it has multiple levels, ventilation, and they even connected kaymakli underground with derinkuyu, which is 10 km!! I am also glad I didn’t go to the five story one in derinkuyu, because two stories, albeit very spread out, is definitely enough for me. By the way, I was the last person to enter ( and also to leave).

    After that I decided to push on, with onsetting darkness, to Cappadocia’s göreme, to spend two nights there. Now I won’t rant about tourism again, but let me just say this: my lonely planet guide says the “open air museum” was 30 lira, about 5 years back. I expected 300. They charge 450-480 lira now for entering…. So I didn’t enter, and instead went and walked around some of the valleys; see pictures. Absolutely stunning. Also met some cool indian / british guy by chance and had chai (and a beer after—dont want to become too turkish) among old people playing rummikub.

    Maybe tomorrow morning I will update this with a picture of balloons; maybe I won’t. In any case I think I will cycle to ankara in about a week, and that will really be the end of this turkey trip. But the journey of middle earth [ahem, the motherland] is about to begin.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Boom
    Beautiful in the middle of nowhereElti ekmekWeird looking building, what else can I sayKoffie met gebak voordat het kutweer nadertInside of the ankara castle; this house could be austrianLooking for turkish coffee makers?Ancient (first settlers) goddess figure12I think she was laughing at the funny dance of the guard

    Ankara 🏁

    Nov 19–21, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 3 °C

    I arrived in Ankara, the final cycling destination of this trip on this continent! And fittingly I arrived in a snowstorm, with climactic and heroic conditions. And unfittingly, I don’t like this city very much.

    So, a recap: no baloons at sunrise in Cappadocia due to brilliant, beautiful, stunning fog, and serious cold in the morning (well, relative to what I experienced so far in Turkey). Glad I had all that thermo clothing with me. Of course komoot first tried to send me to a non-existing road in the beginning, but that was easily fixed by just following the busy road — this one was remarkably quiet actually and made for relaxed cycling.

    My route then quickly went into a smaller route to Kırşehir, which made for some of the quietest cycling ive had all trip. Just farmlands with villages where I encountered no-one whatsoever. Quite beautiful actually and a nice contrast from Cappadocia; it kind of seemed like all people stopped drinking tea and smoking, and this was the day they all had to work. Or they just somehow didn’t care for working in the other villages, what do I know. At some point I found myself without energy, and was quickly (15-20 km) offered food: the offer was communicated by a eating gesture, frantic waving, in the middle of farmlands, next to some tractors, and consisted of a huge, huge box of etli ekmek (literally bread with meat). Just stacks. And I ate… like 5 of those things. Turned out the guy had a brother living in vienna, so a phone-call to austria was made and I had a fun conversation with a turkish guy in Vienna. Plus, energy to continue.

    Kırşehir was a nice small little city with a busy center, with so few headscarves I thought the place wasn’t islamic. Of course it is, but it’s just different from Konya. Nice friendly, and very Turkish, place, where I had two bowls of lentil soup and icecream with helva (a really good match, I guarantee).m

    So, next days the weather turned shittier, and I wanted to make it as far as possible in reasonable conditions before it being, possibly, too cold. On the way I had another huge piece of pide (another name of etli ekmek ;) sort of) with cheese, egg, and of course, meat. That (and snacks) gave me so many calories I could push on and on for 130-140 km to Kırıkkale; and there the weather got really bad. Ended up looking for a hotel in terrible rain.

    Well, the third day the weather got really cold, but I just wanted to have this over with, and so just put on extra clothing and got myself ready for headwind, 800 meters of climbing, and busy car roads into ankara. Really. F*ck*n. Heavy wind at the top. What’s more, it was partially crosswind, which made it very dangerous with trucks which don’t give you any space. Ended up pushing the bike for 2 k, almost got run over by a truck (i have never waved so aggressively at a car or truck ever, I really cursed this guy to death, sorry), stuffed myself full of cake of which I could not tell the taste anymore, and somehow made it past the top where the wind turned into headwind, and got slightly calmer.

    Ok. In ankara it started snowing and I was super happy for this: the first snow is always nice.

    Let me just wrap up by also adding by Ankara experience: this city is busy with cars and people going everywhere, but not busy in a nice way. I did go to visit a hamam (turkish bath) to celebrate my arrival; I accidentally took two massages as I thought the massage and scrubs are two separate concepts, but nope, same thing here. That “thing” involves a really thorough wash (I needed that) where they scrub so hard that your arm almost gets dislocated, and confusingly being led to many places where you don’t know what to do in what order but which somehow works out in the end. And a hot hot sauna (like I want it) with a ice-cold swimming pool (that no-one ever uses it seems) which you can dive in (so awesome): a fitting celebration. I also visited the museum of Anatolian civilisations which taught me so much about the beginning of civilisations here, and is really, really good.

    But yeah, I don’t like this city: had to look for ages for a coffee, and the coffee they serve is really quite terrible. (In specialty places.) The tomb of Atatürk closes at 4 (…) and the metro system was too confusing for me at first due to a terribly designed metro map. (If I ask a ticket officer if he speaks english, I don’t have to be asked in return whether I speak turkish… But I just give him a shitty reply to that in English in return.)

    It does have some things going for it: a massive mosque in the city center which is too massive for any pictures with a smartphone, an ok-ish city center (which doesn’t have any cultural feeling in my opinion but isn’t bad) and a nice market. The museum of the independence war is just a recital how awesome Ataturk was, how they beat all allies in ww1 and greeks (the allies made such terrible strategy decisions — or lack of strategy, rather, like I already wrote about) and it was just felt like a “we are awesome awesome awesome” show. And come on, you were on the side of nazi Germany and committed genocides. Show some ability to put things into perspective. But its funny to see them do some march to change the guards.

    Oh my god I write too much. I could go on and on but it’s turning into a madman’s personal diary. Let me just upload some pictures for you…    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    How do you ever get your car out of here?City made for cyclists... NotRoman aquaduct1

    Istanbul

    Nov 22–27, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Let me try to divert my attention from the pre-flight preparations and give you an update from Istanbul!

    I really didn’t know if I would like or hate Istanbul, but I knew it would be one or the other. On the one hand, I hate touristy places with no culture, and thought I don’t like huge crowds of people generally; on the other I heard many people loved Istanbul, so there had to be something to it.

    Well on the first evening, walking from Taksim square to the busy shopping street to small alleyways, I was amazed at how different it is from Ankara. It is busy, and touristy in many places, but you can easily find authentic places in the city center and the place is very much alive. I liked it. Of course haga sofia, the blue mosque, and the highlights are beautiful to see, but the diversity of Istanbul was the most interesting to me.

    You have streets where cars are parked that cannot possibly get out. Cars dont give you any space and scooters (the small motorcycles) race through every street; luckily Im pretty good at throwing my bike in between cars and walking through red lights, but they take it to another level. Its hectic. Then you have hundreds of men (almost exclusively) fishing on the bridges —I am pretty sure there is overfishing — and fish restaurants and snack foods all next to it. And them you have hipster areas with vegan food, third wave coffee, and art stores. There is a kurdish area with there own customs (some of whom kept shouting “Yesilgöz!” When I mention the Netherlands… and sudden popup clothing markets in the evening where cheap clothing is sold on carpets. And there was a filmshoot next to my hostel for a few days, which didn’t look high tech at all, but seemed to have the entire neighbourhood involved.

    Yes, its busy, but the people that approach you can easily be shrugged off, and this cityhas much to enjoy. Oh, I didnt mention the organic market yet on Saturday, with loads, loads of fresh produce.( I bought way too much )

    Now Im going to a place where el niño is making a mess, and I hope things will work out. I will update my location in the next footprint.

    Oh, the picture? Yeah I had to go to a football match in Turkey. They go crazy over football here.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    2Some awesome food (you eat with your right hand)Downtown dar es salaamZanzibar old townBeautiful and empty beach — pretty good for cycling too as the sand is kinda hardFood market where they rip you off every chance they get; awesome food thoughNot so pole pole nowFreshness of fish is relative here...Small rain and the streets can turn into 30 cm deep ponds

    Dar es salaam and zanzibar island

    November 28, 2023, Indian Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Mambo! Because of airline tickets and safaris I decided to go to tanzania. Wasn't first on the to-go list, but looked alright and dar es salaam wasn't supposed to be too busy, so I just went with it.

    Which turned out to be very much the mindset of people in dar es salaam: just going with it. Hakuna matata, hakuna matatizo, hamna shida. Cycling there from the airport (which is super small) was not really too hectic despite all the honking and busy traffic: no one was driving like a turk or idiot. The roads can quickly change from being very good to having the biggest potholes and just being a huge pond, even if it has not rained for a few days. But it works in the end.

    Dar es salaam is quite big, but also very, very spread out. It does not have an easy identifiable center (unless you look for it), and it is not extra busy in any place; just busy traffic everywhere. It looks shady, but is actually really relaxed and not very unsafe. What you do find is a certain neighborhood where the poor houses and small shops are gradually swapped for huge houses or villas with lots of security and big supermarkets, also with lots of security. This is the place where embassy people and foreigners live apparently.

    I got to talk to someone from dar es salaam who showed me around, and the food here can be really really good; you do have to get used to eating with your hands though.

    Next I decided to go to zanzibar island, because it was hyped up quite a bit... And this island is something else to dar es salaam. Its beautifully situated with beautiful beaches, great fresh food (indian inspired due to the heritage) in zanzibar old town, and lots of tourism and very pushy local people. Zanzibar has some of the most amazing fresh produce (coconuts, bananas) and freshly caught seafood, so definitely a culinary hotspot. On the way down I wasn't too familiar yet with the tipping, and didn't know how firm you have to be. Was "forced" to tip many people for their "services" but learned days after that they are just fucking unsuspecting tourists. Just say no and be very firm about it.

    Speaking of "fucking", zanzibar island really is something of a " what happened ... Stays in ..." Island. In bars or on the street you are approached for sex services quite often, you see it everywhere, and a total pervert in the hostel bragged about how many women he had been with during his stay on the island; some other guys in the dorm and I had quite a few laughs over the guy over two days. But you also see local guys approach and leave with white women— this is, partly, undeniably a sex island. Its also a shame: it's their way of getting around, just living off of tourists.

    Well the tipping thing requires firmness: I tell them in advance I don't need them, and if they demand a tip anyway I just tell them kindly to fuck off. Shop owners (of a small art store, souvenir shop, etc) can be very relaxed and thankful, and also genuine: you quickly learn to distinguish the fake from the genuine smiles.

    They also say "pole pole" a lot but, as a guy from london put it, they are not "pole pole" when it comes down to it. They rush you all the time for the ferry; they can tell me to not worry all the time, but they should stop rushing everything and actually take those things "slowly, slowly". Off the ferry at the bagage belts Iwas the one yelling " take it easy" and "pole pole" but that didn't catch on: they are pushing and not keen on waiting at all.

    I will start my cycling in a few days, up north.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    "Camera!! Camera!!!"
    Car number one floodedSo you get the pictureI wasn't allowed to take pictures so I did. No idea of whatIve got some armband thing going onThese kids helped me out for so long when my wheels were all clogged up

    Lets go Tanga

    December 8, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    I have already mentioned the swahili / tanzanian phrases "hamna shida" and " pole pole", and I was immediately forced to apply this to my cycling journey, before I even managed to get going. The guys from the beach apartments locked the doors of the room where my bike was stored, and it took two hours for someone to know with whom or where it could be found. Hamna shida. Pole pole.

    Well, after some chapati and chai (also the word for tea here, easy) I got going; man is it hot and humid. I thought it would be fine, but the first day wasn't fun—the busy car road didn't make it any better. Cool experience was when I took a detour through a village to get away from the cars, and immediately came upon a flooded street which I was sure was too deep; a local disagreed and picked up my bike /including luggage/ on his back, and balanced his way across the water on a skinny tube, where I had issues getting across without anything. I was seriously impressed.

    Made it to bagamoyo to a really, really nice campsite with pool and bar which made me forget the days exertions. (The next morning crows did shit all over my bags and gear but... Hamna shida.)

    On the way to sadaani national park I was treated to my first experience of really really bad tanzanian gravel roads, including the occasional flooded part; you learn to deal with these somehow. The national park was shitty though, as I wasn't allowed to enter by bicycle, and had to have an escort or taxi across, which cost me 100 euro... Waaay more than I wanted to spend, but I didn't have a choice in the end—well that's what they convinced me, I could actually have taken the local bus across, but they hunt on tourists here.

    I did see some giraffes, zebras, and other animals, but could have cared less to be honest. I don't like the car experience, if I cannot do it by bike, I will skip the safaris. Interesting about the ride was to experience how deep the ponds are that they drive through... I was not surprised that some truck and multiple motorcycles got stuck on the way, because water for sure entered into the motor at some points.

    After that ride I had to cycle in the dark to the nearest town, which was interesting given those horrible road conditions. Thank god for supernova lights. Got some food on the town (mwkaye or mkwaye... I cannot pronounce it either way) and ate with some locals in a very small poor village—they do talk about you in weird suspecting ways, but nothing happened.

    Day three was shitty, because I thought I lost my water purifier, it was even more humid, and I lost my towel somewhere on the way: some lady found it for me though, which made me really thankful— it was not my day. But yeah, hamna shida. Have I mentioned that the "roads" are horrible and that it is hot and humid? Best experiences here are just being greeted by kids enthusiastically yelling "hiiii!!! Hiiii!!!" And waving, coming towards you if you stand still, and men that are chilling somewhere yelling "mambo vipi?!". Generally Tanzanian people are very welcoming and interested. Even if they will occasionally ask cash for fuckall. (They will literally come up to you and say "give me cash!") But just say no and they will leave you =)

    I mentioned this "hamna shida, hakuna matatizo, pole pole, hakuna matate" already right? Well, I think this is more the mindset of people because it is forced upon them, rather than an active choice. Roads are horrible and unrideable after rain; blackouts during the day or evening are norm rather than exception; it is so hot you are inclined to sit around and relax. And the bikes or cars that they ride and drive are not exactly made for going fast either. I am also losing stuff because I am less focussed and the heat makes things harder.

    Which brings me to today: first rainstorm during this cycling trip. And yes, it will rain HARD. But that wasn't the issue— shelter is easy to find as there are people everywhere. The issue is these sand roads become swimming pools — our above-ground pools are just as deep— or the soil becomes so sticky that you just get stuck, and the wheels clog up. (Hamna shida... Oh fuck off) I made it to tanga, but it wasn't fun and I lost my sunglasses to the mud. Oh, I also was not responding "poa" (cool) to people shouting "mambo?!" Anymore. More like "yeah whatever"... But a nice experience nonetheless.

    I again could go on and on about details but it's getting too long again. I hope this wasn't a song of self pity; the pictures of the kids surely make up for this.

    Plan is to go diving on an island for a few days, and then probably a bus or train to an area with less heat and humidity (and hopefully no rains).    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    1
    2Blijf ff rustig, jeeeezHoe dan21

    Pemba island

    December 12, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Aquí a Pemba todo es precioso. (Todo el mundo es muy amicable, pera exige dinero también.) (I am doing this spanish course and wanted to put it in use…)

    This place is remote, mostly agricultural with tourism far away from everything — and I am not in the touristic place, but remote, at the beach, next to farmer villages. And it is beautiful here. So much green, such a blue sea. No hay aqua corriende (where I stay… but more on that later), pera no es importante.

    This blog would not be my blog if I wouldn’t complain a bit… On the ferry to Pemba —where tourists have a different rate from locals (which differs by a factor of 2 I imagine… —everything is so terribly unorganised. When the ferry arrives everyone pushes and shoves to put their bags on first, without letting people (also carrying massive bags) off first. There is no system. And no pole pole. Everyone has to be on first for whatever reason. They have no concept of impenetrability—they try to walk through one another, and walk through my bike—and my cries of “let the people off first, and chill out; pole pole” go unheard. Then afterwards you have to do the luggage check again, which means putting all bags on a conveyer belt with no one looking at it, and a bodyscan where I could not be bothered to remove metal; no one cares anyways. And you are constantly demanded tips (I do not give them ever anymore.) This time they also demanded a “drive through gate” fee, with a receipt to make it look real, which I refused to pay without consequences. Every trick to rip you off.

    Anyway, on the island I took a “dale dale” (overcrowded shabby minibus) which sped over huge bumps and potholes after waiting for an hour to leave for the last package to arrive, totally overcrowded. (And the locals don’t sit by and wait, they all start screaming things, probably “start goddammit!”…) My bike was put by some guy on the roof and it was too crowded for me to worry about how my bike was doing up there. What followed was a really beautiful ace-ventura-like drive (if you know what I mean.) with sooo much green, along with mangos, bananas, lemongrass, cinnamon, cloves, papaya, … everything grows here.

     But I haven’t talked about the best part: the diving. I laid down a fortune to take a padi course here, as this is supposed to be one of the best spots in the world to see life coral reefs: I was not disappointed. The view underwater is amazing and all the kinds of fish you see is unforgettable; I wasn’t bitten by any moray eels but we saw 20 on one spot, hung out briefly with some venomous lionfish, and spotted a big ass turtle; this for me was surely better than any safari. So nice to see that this coral reef is still perfectly intact, despite everything, and that there are still lots of tuna here, despite all the overfishing (also here) against the fish.

    Now for some brief more political and historical notes: this island is mostly agricultural, but belongs to the zanzibar archipelago and was part of zanzibar before the formation of tanzania. That makes it mostly islamic — there was a sultan of zanzibar here —but this island never developed towards tourism like zanzibar island (unguja, for the offended locals of Pemba) itself. However, you see foreign influence everywhere on the coast: seaweed farming. They learned here that they could sell the seaweed to china and korea — not making much money off it, so it’s actually a shit deal for them, given the amount of work it takes — so now most of the shoreline consists of seaweed plantations, for export. They also do not have nearly any plastic on the island, except what it’s imported and comes from china, etc.; no facilities to recycle or get rid of and so it just piles up and you can be cycling through piles of garbage when on smaller roads.

    Speaking of smaller roads. A local guy from the surf center took me to a restaurant on the north of the island, on a crappy bike (I was cycling mine obviously) and we were basically riding through flat sandy singletrack 80% of the time. On the way there I was amazed how he managed with the rather suboptimal bike; on the way back I was really astonished. It was dark, I had my perfect supernova lights, and he wanted to ride with his phone in his hand for light… I told him not to and just use the beam of my light, but then he frequently went in front (on super narrow sandy singletrack) with no light, and he just rode on. On the way from where I stayed to the village, his phone was out of battery so he just cycled in the dark (on a super small overgrown singletrack full of sand)…Absolute madness but also quite impressive.

    What was also very nice about hanging out at afro divers, the dive center, is getting their view on the locals. Because they are all friendly, but have their own way of doing things which you cannot get into and cannot change, and they are very proud. The guy I was staying at has a beautiful patch of land with an amazing garden, but he does not take good care of his apartments/ bungalows, and pretends that everything will be fixed even though he doesn’t have good pipes for running water, there is mold on the walls that he “will paint over”… but “hakuna matata my friend, I will sort it out”… it seems like a saying that makes them also not want to get things done for some, and actually get your shit together…

    Which reminds me, and this is venturing somewhat into speculation, but Europeans provided a lot of services and education to these countries as a way to get them to be self-sufficient, which was also the policy of the first president of Tanzania, Nyerere, and during his administration literacy and education rates increased a lot. But currently, they work closely with the Chinese in Tanzania, whom they are thankful for and look up to somewhat; on the other hand Chinese makes Chinese projects which creates jobs so they can work, but China is in the end the one profiting off of it. They are very dependent and tied to China now, in Tanzania.

    Ok, I will research this a bit more and maybe correct this, but I wanted to add some historical and economic points to this blog at the end, so you could also learn (or disagree) with some things.

    Next up zanzibar, dar, and west, if the trains still run.

    Oh there are incredibly cute puppies at the dive center, which actually walked over to my room in the night (300 meters away) and wanted to play with me at 5am.    Read more

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  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Old slave chambers
    This lady wanted something from me that I couldnt giveChickens on the ferryTRAFFIC JAM !!! Whoop whoopChurch erected at the site of the old slave trading post

    Zanzibar unguja again

    December 17, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    What’s up, I am back in the same spot as a week or two ago? Am I bad in travelling or something, did I miss something here that I wanted to revisit? (Did I actually meet a prostitute on the island that I fell in love with? )

    Well, no, here is the thing: cycling was too hot, I went diving, and now decided I will go back to dark es salaam to take the train at some point, so just chilling it with plenty of other tourists in zanzibar for two days. And I missed the old slave market last time I was here, which I had to go and visit.

    I made a new footprint to elaborate more on zanzibar. Because it’s touristic, and it’s busy, and it’s too busy with busy tourism. It’s too busy in that, through the super small alleyways and between the zigzag of small alleys, you constantly bump into small “taxis” or motorcycles. You are also not allowed to be tired here, or you will be punished by the city immediately and mercilessly: the honking and motorcycles make it impossible. (Nice thing is that I am immediately tired due to the heat…)

    It’s too touristy in that everyone wants something of you; that you have shops called “the souvenir emporium” (cringe); and that you have ten (easily; Turkish markets dont come close) of the same shops selling (or trying to) the same thing—masaai people selling their armbands and necklaces. And that you have to be careful about not being ripped off.

    What is cool about the tourism is that you can find good specialty coffee shops and feel like at home. I had a decent espresso by my standards, which was really something new. Also, and this is because tourism and because of the diverse heritage of Zanzibar, you have lassi here at some places, which is my favourite cool drink by far in the heat. Ayran but better.

    That is the thing about Zanzibar, it has a history of belonging to Portuguez, Oman, and Britain (Germany only controlled towns inland I believe), and for a long time there was a sultan of zanzibar, and it was a prosperous place due to very successful plantations (centering on cloves) and due to the ports, making the city very very rich and prosperous. (I also read that “ ...It might be called Stinkabar rather than Zanzibar”, because it smelled so bad 150 years ago). But around the 18th century, slavery became one of the most profitable business— I learned that slavery, even amongst blacks (different tribes) was very common before the Arabs or Portuguez started it, but the Omans and Arabs made it into a business on the island. (Moslims cannot take moslims as slaves, but no issue with blacks.) All blacks on the island were slaves during the 18th century, under the Sultans rule, and Zanzibar hosted a primary slavery market for entire east africa. Plus of course the plantation slaves. This made for a lot of islamic influences, arab people, and indian people living here; it also made for a lot of slavery of blacks, and slavery was the most profitable business on this island. (All blacks living here were apparently slaves…) About a third went to work on clove and coconut plantations of Zanzibar and Pemba while the rest were exported to Persia, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. (Pasted from wikipedia)

    It was worth coming back here, as I managed to ask a lot of questions to the ticket clerk at the museum, who was a historian. So I learned that slavery was only made worse by degree by Portuguese and Arabs, that the British might have said to want to abolish slavery early in the nineteenth century, but it would have sucked too much economically, so they held off for a bit, and about some blacks being employed as slave porters (and in fact becoming rich sometimes doing this) for the Arabs; in fact Tippu Tip (one of the most powerful slave traders) descended from a black and someone from Oman. Slavery was just business: frequently also a business to transport ivory, say, so a means to an end.

    Lastly, Zanzibars road to independence (going through the British and back to a Sultan) was not without bloodshed, when there was a revolt and several thousand ethnic Arab (5,000-12,000 Zanzibaris of Arabic descent) and Indian civilians were murdered and thousands more detained or expelled, their property either confiscated or destroyed.

    Currently this town is just full of it’s own character, and not being anything like other towns I have seen. But also touristy. And busy.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    German colonial building in darWe were stuck here for a full day; I found some cold beer though

    Central line trc

    January 4, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Well, I talked a bit about slave trade on zanzibar and tanzania last time, if I recall correctly. After tippu-tip’s “rule”— in reality he did not rule people, he killed them, left villages deserted, and enslaved everyone in west tanzania—germany took over mainland tanzania. The germans then built a railway from lake tanganyika to dar es salaam, for economic reasons, and the railway was finished in 1914. It’s a very narrow 100cm gauge track (what do I know…) and, despite a new one being in construction, I was warned of it being long, old, in poor condition, and an experience.

    Before that, let me briefly say what happened in the meantime: I chilled in the heat of dar es salaam, celebrated christmas, and tried to book a train ticket. And that last part was very very difficult. You see, you go to the train station (a very poor-looking collection of small buildings), and no one knows anything about when the train goes, or they think they know and give false info. I wanted to go on 28, but then that train “did not run”, after first being told twice that there was a train on the 28th. Then on 29 I had to go to the train station to book the ticket—I was told to be there at six for fuck-all, and waited for two hours—I found out the train did go, not on 28 but 29, but they didn’t themselves know about it. Some of the personell also didn’t seem to know about the train on 31st, and I was left convincing them there was a train. In the end I also found out I could book it online, but they did not seem to know themselves… ("What are you trying to convince me, that you are as useless as an asshole right here [on my elbow]?!" if you get the reference).

    One more word on the history: there was an uprising and rebellion against germans forcing locals to work on cotton plantations. Bad for the economy here, but good for germany. Well, germany responded with a genocide: famine of locals, because you cannot negotiate with these barbarians. Or, better put: “Only hunger and want can bring about a final submission. Military actions alone will remain more or less a drop in the ocean.” I shall leave that at that.

    Ok, so after a 5 hour delay, during which we asked numerous times when the train was supposed to go: the reply at 5pm was at 4.30... they have a weird concept of time here. Well, it left, at 8pm, and then the next day we were standing still for 3, four, 8, … 24 hours because the track in front of us was once again (apparently it is once again) flooded. I was contemplating at night just getting off, but then it went through in the morning; it was really really flooded.

    The train ride itself is a genuine experience: it doesn’t go faster than 60 km an hour, yet you are being tossed around constantly like you cannot imagine; there are no power sockets; the police or armed guards on the train start the day with beer (hidden under the table); and at every long wait they want to rush you to get back on the train (I don’t partake) only to wait then again for 10 minutes. Oh, I was the only mzungu (white person) on the train. At a lot of stops entire villages greeted you at their small stations to sell their local produce, food, “madji madji!” (Water that is unsafe to drink), fish and meat. You won’t starve here, rather gain weight due to all the foods you can get without moving at all. (I got off at pretty much every stop, and constantly got shouted “mzungu, mzungu!!” Like anywhere in Tanzania ❤️.

    Well, I couldn’t believe it, but I arrived after 3 full days, exhausted. (I did have a first class sleeping coach, but still got there super tired.) My bike got damaged slightly but managed to get it fixed at a local shop here, and so soon I will go cycling to Rwanda: the land of a thousand hills.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    12Schmützig, niet te zuipen1Looking for green bananas?2Stork

    Into rwanda

    January 10, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Can I talk about rwanda without beginning about the genocide and the atrocious modern history of the country? I cannot, but I will talk about the history in the next footprint; I had to mention it, as it is something that is just too overwhelming.

    From Kigali to Rwanda was a long haul, and one I was not particularly looking forward to, as it is just one long route for 300 km. I did the first day, climbing 1526 meters, and decided to experience a different important part of the culture here: bus rides. And that stands out as a highlight. The bus left at 6 and within 10 minutes we were on unpaved road of varying quality—sometimes very good, sometimes very poor. And on the poor sections you get tossed around so much that Jim Carrey’s impersonation does not do justice: you really get car sick from the speed they go over bumps. The only thing I could focus on was breathing, and to grin and bear it. Another “experience”.

    I did suffer from some diarrhoea that day but I am pretty sure that cannot be caused by bus rides; I did have to spend the next day in Nyakahura, where I got to taste the local (rather horrible) robusta coffee. And experience an amazing market where everyone gazes at me, but always in a friendly manner. I really got to like the openness of Tanzanians.

    On to Rwanda: had to wait 20 minutes for the visa because everything is so slow there and got all my bags checked; I filmed everything for my reference later. He did not want to check my undies. At first Rwandans seemed a bit distant and sometimes talking behind my back, and not openly like in Tanzania. They also speak another different language, sometimes without English, so my shouts of “mambo vipi?!” Where frequently left not understood.

    But the next day I got to experience the most attention I have gathered so far. I just went for tea somewhere, and suddenly there were 20 or 30 kids standing around me and my bike; they kept standing there when I went inside, and were just too curious that there was mzungu there. Yeah, they borrowed “mzungu” from swahili. Then when cycling, I got support by a banana crew, and sooo many young kids who wanted to run with me, wanted high fives, and yelled “good morning!” All day long. Pretty amazing support to be honest. Unfortunately I didn’t capture it on video properly, and I have trouble uploading, so you have to trust my word until later.

    And they run and cycle fast by the way, and there are a lot of cyclists here. Plus pretty good roads most of the time and many, many, many hills.

    That was Tuesday. Tuesday evening I got shown around my a local kid in Ramiro, with many homeless kids shouting “give money, give money!” which is a horrible experience: they were left on the street when their (single) parent’s could not provide for them, and now beg on the street…

    Lastly, on Wednesday something changed: not a single cry of mzungu, no kids running alongside, just one or two that greeted me. I got nearer to Kigali—maybe that’s it—or they just only do certain things on Tuesdays. But I visited a horrible memorial site for the genocide which I will talk about next time.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Prime Minister's office
    I loved this fruity coffeeOld king of rwandaMt rwandaCo working space hereIn africa, the saying goes, in the bush, an elefant can kill you, a lion can kill you, and a ...Colonizers discussing how to split up africaDe geelhelmen

    Kigali

    January 12, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Culture shock. That’s how I describe Kigali after having been in poorer towns, and especially having spent so long in Tanzania. Kigali is busy, booming, business, and bars. There are so many young people working in coffee shops, startup hubs and co-working spaces, restaurants, that I just forgot I am still in Afrika. Plus sometimes really excellent (rwandan-sourced) coffee. Cars mostly behave here, it’s a lot less hectic than Dar es Salaam, but definitely more polluted with seriously disgusting trucks and busses sometimes. And very, very, very hilly. But all in all, it is the most European and modern city I have visited during this entire trip, excluding maybe Austrian cities.

    I stumbled on the prime minister’s office next to the hostel Im staying in, and it’s nothing short of a palace. Pictures not allowed. There is virtually no chance of political opposition in this country (usually tortured, imprisoned, or otherwise silenced, from what I read online), but mister Kagame did have an important role to play in stopping the genocide in 1994.

    Now I cannot possibly give a full account of the genocide and history in a travel blog, so let me give it to you in a dumbed-down version:
    - Rwanda is a former colony of first the Germans, and then the Belgians. The Germans already started in amplifying the pre-existent distinction between Hutu’s and Tutsi’s, which was formerly a distinction between economic classes (mostly; the Tutsi’s were also mostly the ones in powerful positions), but the Belgians divided everything by making it purely racial, and forcing everyone to have their “race” in the identity cards.
    - First Belgium missionaries and the administration only educated Tutsi’s, then they left after Hutu’s started an independence movement, and sided with only the Hutu’s. Suddenly.
    - Hutu’s were,due to the racial distinction imposed by the Belgians, convinced that all and only the Tutsi’s were to blame for their status, and full on attacks, and deportation of Tutsi’s, started after about 1962.
    - The Belgians and French fully backed the Hutu’s against the Tutsi’s, who were fighting against being deported or killed.

    And then in 1994 possibly the cruelest genocide in modern history began, with Tutsi’s being killed on the streets, in (claimed “safe”) churches, in stadiums, raped and worse, children killed so that the entire bloodline would be wiped out (all Hutus had tutsi blood because previously also cross-class marriages and children were very common, but hatred makes blind), etc. Churches full of bodies, streets full of bodies, which lasted about a 100 days. (Go and watch Hotel Rwanda; based on the account of a guy who turned into a opponent of the current regime and is now imprisoned…)

    I visited one of the churches, in Nyamata, and the huge memorial site in Kigali; while looking for the latter I found myself closer to a museum of Rwandan history in the Kandt house, were I also got to hang out with some deadly snakes and stand within a meter of a crocodile. Way better than a safari.

    In the church of Nyamata you still see gunshot-holes everywhere, holes from Granate explosions, and they also preserved some of the skulls for display of the traumas caused in the genocide. Really, really disturbing.

    Ok, finishing on a better note: I am heading to national parks and am going in search of some monkeys and coffee. I won’t leave Rwanda until I have a picture of me hugging a coffee tree. (Brought by the Germans by the way.)    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Sometimes the rosds are of very high quality,sometimes very poorDidnt need to leave the carCoffee plant

    Nyungwe forest

    Jan 15–17, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Nyungwe forest is one of the best preserved rainforests in africa, with a very wide biodiversity of plants, birds, and, the primary visitor attraction, monkeys. And it has an canopy walkway.

    They advertise „chimpansee tracking“ and other kinds of tracking, to only go after that certain animal with some chance of success (it isn’t guaranteed), but also many nature walks which they advertise with all the things you can see. Which is what I did and, to cut straight to it, I hardly saw any monkeys. No chimps, no colobus monkeys, no other monkeys during the entire hike except for mountain monkeys and baboons on the road and the visitors center, and only a handful of birds worth mentioning: among them turacos, which are definitely very beautiful birds. The hike was nice, the info from the guide very interesting, but after paying 140$ I cannot help feeling that I kind of left empty-handed. (It was also foggy, so the grandiose views of lake kivu or burundi were also not given to us.

    Some words on the way there though: leaving kigali I, of course, had to climb a lot, and was accompanied by some of the most disgusting trucks and busses I have ever experienced. The black smoke that comes over those things — and they really crawl up the hill— is unbelievably disgusting. I did meet another cyclist on the way who had pretty much the same route in mind (rwanda, uganda, kenya) but we split up to go each at our own paces. I went to a museum of the old kings palace, took a detour across gravel which I thought would be quicker but was incredibly slow, and I stumbled on coffee plants. I actually thought they were trees but hugging these would probably result in me breaking something, so I refrained.Also, next to Nyungwe forest there are huge, really huge, tea plantations, and I absolutely love the tea with milk here. (Its like chai masala…)

    Before Nyungwe no nice children running alongside, only children and people begging for money: they come up to you and just say “give me money”. Its horrible that Kigali is so well-off, but there seems to be so much poverty in other districts. (Not all, villages are generally not very poor, but I constantly get approached for money in some parts; also while cycling.)

    My experience of people alongside the road changes in the next footprint ^^.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Im a zoo attraction1Coffee!!!1Being a bike courier in rwanda is likeAfter a coffee breakCoolest kid Ive met here

    When I get rich I will buy you a car

    January 21, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After Nyungwe forest I left south along a gravel road that went east past the national park, past whatI think was called the Rukarara, a supposed source of the nile. And, it being rather early before class, I was joined by schoolclasses running alongside just shouting “good morning good morning!!”, where everyone we encountered was also picked up to join the crew. This was further from the main road, and less people begged, and everyone seemed a lot happier; a really cool start to the cycling madness with thousands of meters to climb the following days.

    Had tea in some small village — some guy showed me the way, and wanted my number afterwards, and also called me later where I kind of thought “hey dude, why you calling, what’s up”, but everyone wants my number and to write me here… — with about 6 people staring at me, but then at a village where I just wanted to buy fruits and stock up on water, things just got out of hand. It turned up a notch. Let me paint the picture: I cannot get near my bike because everyone is staring at it, to pick up my water bottle I have to ask if I can please get through, and I was doing nothing out of the ordinary. Now if I were eating a mango like I do, with a knive (I think they eat the peel here), or make coffee, I can relate. But buying bananas or water? Were they inspecting my bike for electric motors maybe?

    Ok when I had coffee after the next hill, I did gather a crew around me, but they have never seen a stove, and they kept a distance =).

    The landscapes are absolutely stunning, but brutally hard and the road quickly turned to really, really rough gravel where it was more like mountainbiking… After a long descent to Kivu lake the following day — I also made camp with the military of Rwanda one night, where the translator also wanted my number afterwards,really chill guy— I used my brake so much that the pads were all but worn out to the plate. But the views of lake kivu at the campsite made up for it. (I was struggling with the new pads which were too thick the next day, so had to cycle with extra resistance the first 50 km).

    Then I had a coffeetour in the gitesi coffee washing station, which was amazing: so much knowledge on quality, varieties, processing; and we also roasted the coffee the traditional way. Check them out. https://gitesicoffee.com/ also had a long talk with the guy about coming to work in europe, which they think is a lot easier than it is… But then their conditions are sometimes really poor, so I cannot blame them.

    But probably the best accompaniment on the bike I got by a 15 year old kid, who ran with me up the mountain (to his grandmother), just to have a conversation. He did ask for money, but not pushy, and explained it. He wanted to become a doctor, and said he was going to be rich, and then he would buy me a car, because why was I going by bike? And he ran with me all the way, even saying that other guys along the road were “bad people”, because they told him to get money from me. I gave him some small amount afterwards, which means a big deal to them… sadly immediately after I was greeted by other kids doing he “give money” thing.

    Ok I will wrap this one up. One more thing: my exped sleeping matt is fucked somehow and totally unusable, but I probably cannot find a replacement until Nairobi. (Yeah I have warranty but what good is that…). And I am now near volcanoes national park, where I will again spend money to go hiking and maybe see some monkeys.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland

    I just saved $1400

    January 23, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Sorry for the clickbait: I did not want to start with gorillas or monkeys or the bumpiest car rides ever.

    Volcanoes national park is known for the gorillas and people spend $1500 here to track them and spend some time with them, and the whole activity lasts a few hours. Instead I opted for the one day hike up the volcano mount bisoke, where you can sometimes get lucky. The hike was very steep, went up to 3711 meter with a beautiful crater lake at the top (no fish), and very very muddy. Beautiful flora but did not see any fauna; until we were almost all the way back down, went suddenly two silverback gorillas came across the corner. Not threatening at all, big strong muscular apes that are very chill; and so we saved quite a bit of money by getting lucky. Ok, we did not have time to hang around them, but after having felt myself what it feels like to have people constantly stare at you, I was totally satisfied with just leaving these animals alone.

    Also very interesting was the car ride to the start, which went over huge rocks for probably two kilometres, it was just a rock garden all the way; I guess they want to give a “genuine experience”. I don’t know if it’s genuine but its an experience. And the info and websites for the park are honestly really horrible, as I had to look forever to find where to book, the answer to a whatsapp question —“please contact us over whatsapp!”—was “we make your dreams a reality. Thank you for contacting us, we make your dreams a reality” (yes that was the answer), I called a service number which took me twenty minutes to find, which insisted that booking was very easy despite my objections to the contrary (it did not make it any easier), and then on the morning itself it turned out I should have also arranged a ride to the trail start (I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know). But yeah, everything worked out in the end, and nature makes you forget all that.

    Oh, there were also like 6 porters that joined and an equal number of armed personnel against buffaloes, alongside the guide; the porters join whether you ask them or not, and if you dont give them money, they don’t get paid. Well I carried my own backpack but “mine” did help in sections, so I happily gave this guy something for the help. A shit salary nonetheless.

    I decided to take another rest day before uganda, and was stressing a lot to try to find an atm that worked. People helped me a teeny tiny bit and asked for money; I was too tired so I gave in. And then something strap which is very important for my gear got stolen from my bike, which can really stress me out. Somehow other tourists seem to carry dollars with them for payment, but I am not that organised…

    Well if things go well I am heading to uganda tomorrow: Bwindi impenetrable national park, where I can again see wildlife.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Mubwindi swampCampsite at lake bunyoni2

    I got tired of chasing national parks

    January 30, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ 🌩️ 16 °C

    The title calls for an explanation, I know. It is hard for me to say where to begin, but I will summarize a few observations:
    -- in Bwindi NP hiking costs 70$, plus extra for the guides, but the village next to it does not have electricity.
    -- local "pygmies" were evicted from the national park, so left without a livelihood; but as compensation their lifestyle, on the border of the national park, has been made a tourist attraction, on which profits they now depend.
    -- most locals in volcanoes NP or Bwindi (from talking) never see a gorilla, monkeys, or whatnot, you only see white tourists visiting here to spend inordinate amounts (1500$/750$) for visiting gorillas. I was the only one doing a "nature walk" which costs $70 atminimum.

    Visiting National Parks feels like a travesty to me: everything of the culture you experience is distilled, blended with what tourists will want to see, and tuned to tourists' desires. Then again, it is the only place to see any nature where there are no people everywhere (and I mean everywhere); I guess I just wanted to relax without chasing tourist attractions for a bit. I did do some birdwatching in Bwindi, where I saw around 20-30 different kinds of birds I have never seen before.

    Ok with that rambling out of the way, let's look at some nice pictures of nature here, shall we?

    I went back to Rwanda for a week, hanging out with some people I met in Musanze city. Now I am in Uganda again, again on my way to another national park.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    In Uganda they don't care about coffee quality: pick it, ripe or not ripeA swamp or riverCould be dutch

    Avoiding mad drivers and watching birds

    Feb 7–8, 2024 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I could just see something hovering over masaka city, and wasn't sure whether it was a drone, or a raptor: it is a raptor and someone is just having a lot of fun with his landmower. (It is the expensive part of the city; I like enjoying relative luxury once in a while.)

    Drivers in Uganda are crazy. Trucks barge past, leave you no room, and when I left to a sideroad (of very poor quality and constantly going up and down) the same thing was done by car drivers. I wave (sometimes rather frantically) at every single one to slow down and leave me space: I guess I am an unfriendly mzungu on the road but these people need to be taught how to drive; or at least leave me alive. They are friendly enough, just dangerous drivers. Although due to the constant alternation of climbing and descending, I got very tired of the constant "mzungu!", " how are you?!" (Sometimes with a weird emphasis on "you"), whistling, " hey hey!", etc... It's cool for a while but when I tired I want to just chill sometimes, which is difficult when around these people ^^. But somehow they stopped asking for money; maybe it is a regional thing.

    I am also going through the last few days backward: I first went to lake mburo national park, where they again try to make money off of you any way they can. And those rangers just sit around all day doing fuck all. Entrance is 40$, but you cannot only have entrance normally, you also have to do an activity, which you have to organize, which costs extra, which... Fuck off I'll just go outside the park. I did get to do an amazing gravel ride blasting from a deserted gate to the main gate for 2 hours in between monkeys, antelopes, turacoes; but I didn't see any buffaloes or zebras or bisons as that, of course, costs extra. I'm not complaining, I am just saying these park people will charge for everything if they can. And I am a difficult one.

    Also interesting is that I have been to two "fancier" lodges (for camping) here, and both are run by dutch people. For some reason only foreigners put their lodges on booking.com.

    The amount of birds you see on the side of the roads is really amazing though. Uganda has lots and lots of different species, and the number of sounds and colours is really awesome; I am trying to learn to identify some but suck at it.

    Other things you see along the road: pull-up or popup blood transfusion stations, announced by a loudspeaker, in open air. It is really weird to see 5 people sitting on the street getting blood transfusions. But I heard that in hospitals the situation is a lot more precurious, with lots of people being thrown in one room, some infectious, some with open wounds. I am not sure I want to see that: I just know things are not well organized in Uganda. (I have a good hunch where the development money goes—actually more than a hunch, as a Dutch couple on the campsite told me from direct experience that it disappeared.)    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    1
    Swamp swampBikes of a guy I stayed at, nice brandThe car shop (owner not in picture)

    Scheisse on the way to Kenya

    February 15, 2024 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    I knew cycling out of Kampala wasn't going to be fun, but I hadn't counted on a bit of rain turning the gravel roads into sticky mud swamps, which demanded a lot of my brakes and drivetrain. That was one part. The other was the loads of traffic (once the rain stopped) which just makes cycling so boring. It was either sticky mud or heavy traffic (or both) for the morning; and since I stuck to the roads I started to get really annoyed with cycling here in the afternoon, too much traffic, nothing to see.

    So I accidentally ended up at a touristic campsite at the Victoria Nile, where I also went rafting the next day. (I was not motivated for cycling, just too much traffic.) Bit of a letdown bit of fun, but we did have one section where the boat flipped over and all of us where in the water. A huge tourism group was also staying at the campsite—some people were cool, some people just reinforced my prejudices about tourism groups. Hehe.

    The next day I first talked to another guy on a bike: a local guy carying a big stick, which he told me carried the spirit (I think) of his grandfathers or heritage, and he was part of the tribe of the buganda kingdom (Im sorry, I forgot)... Interesting to learn sth about the culture though. But I got to witness a lot of different tribes later that day.

    I took a detour from the road that was a detour from the main road, and ended up, via gravelroads and small tracks, to a singletrack through a swamp; I couldnt find the road anymore. Luckily in Uganda you are never alone, and an old guy on an old bike saved my day. I followed him for 15 km or so, and the old guy just ripped it down the hill on his shitty bike: so much fun. Then I got to very small villages with twenty or so (over exaggeration) different tribes, with I dont know how many languages between them. Every tribe has their own language, and so everyone speaks quite a few languages; at least the guy did who showed me to a hotel with dead cockroaches on the floor. Good times.

    Next morning was a nightmare. First, my front brake pistons were stuck, and I seemed to have broken one of the seals when pushing it back, rendering the brake totally unusable. Then I wanted to just make it to the main road, but the road was so muddy due to the rain, that my tires kept clogging up 5 times: every time took 10 minutes to clean at least. Kids pushed and helped me, and I finally managed to get out of the worst mud after an hour.

    I reached the main road and the first car mechanic immediately on the left was run by an american, with no knowledge on bikes but lots of knowledge of how to make makeshift tools, so we actually managed to bleed my brakes again and fix everything. Well, almost, I still spent another 2 hours elsewhere cleaning the pistons and am now carrying dot fluid just in case XD.

    But I made it to Kenya. Sorry for the delay: this "to Kenya" story ends here.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Stuck on 1 second, as are so many traffic lights here: just for showComposition of brake padsWith a lack of pictures, I shall use coffee to fill the holesWatching football in the slums

    Nairobi (and some of Kenya)

    February 21, 2024 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    From the border at Kenya, where they have replaced visa with "electronic travel authorization" for which you have to apply and pay 30$ but which is _not_ a visum, because Kenya is "visa-free" (the biggest bullshit I have encountered anywhere on this trip), I went to Kakamega forest, the only rainforest in Kenya. On the way I again had problems with my front brake—it was getting worse — so I again did road-side piston cleaning somewhere in a small town, which only helped for a while. It was rubbing constantly, so I tried to brake as little as possible: kind of deathgripping some sections.

    Kenya is definitely more developed than Uganda, with much more schools, supermarkets, and buildings rather than "shacks" as in Uganda.

    In kakamega forest I joined a sunrise walk for amazing views, and spent the afternoon trying again to make the brake work: I got some improvement done. The next morning, earlier than my early alarm: diarrhea. So did a 30 km ride only with lots of climbing and with a visit to a local church where they were jamming like it was a party, helped by imodium. That only lasted one day though (probably caused by bad water...), so the next day I climbed yo nearly 3000 meters, first encountering lots of kenyan long distance runners (kapsabet), and then encountering very bad gravel roads downhill, with bad functioning brakes (just enough to save me, it was really cool actually).

    In the end of the day my front brakes really refused though, after the pistons were rubbbbbing again and pushing them back rendered them unusable, so I was forced to take a bus to Nairobi.

    Ok so now I get finally to talk about Nairobi. As you know I am interested in (in)equality, living conditions, observing cultures, etc. Well I read "going down river road" before I got here, and I was dropped off by the bus a street away from river road, in the center of "genuine" nairobi, the real deal, the real mess. The area around the busstop struck me as a shithole: busy, cheap, somewhat poor and dirty, with many beggars (I was corrected later that "those beggars were very few") but many friendly locals. Very very busy with traffic. Go a few blocks out and you have small shopping malls, which are like western cities. Go 5 kilometers out—were the bike shop was, a very good one by the way— to the UN complex, and it is a separate world, with western people living luxuriously, lots of international restaurants, guards everywhere, and clear cultural divisions: the locals serve the foreigners. Go a bit outside of that and you have massive villas and houses, where the expats and UN personnel live. The division and different worlds of Nairobi are unreal; the inequality is possibly the biggest I have experienced anywhere. What's more, near the hostel I am staying there is a street full off big houses and hotels, and the street itself is guarded because of it (no embassies or anything). Go one street behind it, and the people serving there live, in shacks, slumbs, and poor makeshift housing. It is just a city of divides, where the separation of colonialism has been swapped by a similar economic separation.

    I have heard a defence that these lifestyles also create jobs for the locals, and so it helps them. It's self-gratification; the poverty is not combatted by receiving big salaries and living in houses built by very low salaries.

    To end this polemic, let me rephrase what an austrian cycling couple I met here said about cycling in Rwanda with satisfaction: that they, after having their bikes carried by children, gave them "some cookies as a thanks". I flinched. At least give them something worth to them, if they help you that much... But of course, I am not solving anything myself. (Not blaming anyone, it just proves the different worlds we are in and how they are kept intact.)

    However despite all my quarrels with the city and, as a friend put it, " the UN where they manufacture poverty", my bikes is nearly fixed. The chain is fucked and the casette is fucked, but it will get me to Dar: on o ring in the piston seems damaged because there is air getting into the system, but they did an awesome job in getting it to work as good as possible. Plus, new pads.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Mad MuuuuudIn the raincloudsOn top of mt KilimanjaroMateruni waterfallsDo NOT drink this. Disgusting banana beer

    Back to tanzania

    February 29, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    So I just learned the origins of the word "mzungu". It has originally nothing to do with skin color, but rather came from the bantu meaning: wanderer. Kizungu actually means" behaving rich, and so locals could also be called "mzungu"; given this it is no surprise to me that they think all white people have money. Language games dictate lifestyles.

    Anyway leaving aside this philological preamble, I left Nairobi on a rainy day and quickly regretted it. Thing is, roads around Nairobi are busy with crazy driving, so I tried a detour, which made me get stuck in the mud for an hour or so: mud or clay got between the fender and my wheel and blocked everything. I managed to escape the mudhell with help from locals, got a bikewash, and following main roads, with tailwind, I got on my way to Moshi. I was recommended a country road and paths north of amboseli, which was absolutely beautiful: very little traffic, amazing views (also of mt Kilimanjaro 100 km away), and even some giraffes. Just sandroads occasionally though, which can be quite tricky to maneuver in.

    Like mentioned but deserving a special paragraph: mt Kilimanjaro towers over everything unlike anything I have seen before. Amboseli is nearly completely flat, and you can see the mountain from very far—if it is not in clouds, which it almost always is—standing alone in the Savannah.

    Those perpetual clouds also made me have to cross the border in rain, which also made it free from people offering to exchange money: normally there are at least 10 on both sides.

    In Moshi it is interesting for me to see the difference with Kenians: Tanzanians like to relax. Everything seems more slow — except the driving. I was very inclined in Moshi to also go and climb Kilimanjaro, but at 1600$ minimum, I will leave this for another time.

    I did visit the Materuni waterfall, which is amazing. I also think I got ripped off by a local guy, at the materuni village.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    Safari Traffic Jam
    Baobab treeOstriches in the backgroundChilling with a masaai

    Arusha and maasai

    Mar 4–7, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Being in countries so bent on incomes from tourism, I also went on a safari and did tourism stuff with a friend here...

    All tourists that come here, and there are many, come for Kilimanjaro or Safaris. So I felt like I had to do one, to see what the fuss was about. Well, it's fun seeing these animals =). The coolest was spotting a hornbill (I think an eastern yellow-billed hornbill...), red and yellow barbets, and vultures... But no pictures of that.

    I am flying back soon from Kigali, and wanted to blast through the last days to end it with a bang. First day had to cycle up to the plateau of the ngorongoro crater (long climb), and yesterday along lake Eyasi: super long hot stretch with nothing to see except masaai walking around. And then the road turned into sandpaths, which disappeared, reappeared, and turned into a river... I had to call a friend to ask for translation, and apparently I could take a canoe across. Which was fun, except the other side was flooded, so the mud turned into clay, which clogged up my wheels completely... Again.

    So I spent that evening, just before dark, removing clay from the wheels and fenders, and about two hours the next morning because I was constantly stuck. If it wasn't for a local woman patiently helping me, I would probably still be in the mud (screaming). This was not fun. Oh, I also took of my front fender because it was the hardest to clean. So no rain anymore for the next stretch, please.

    But the pictures are nice.    Read more

  • Vita activaTravelerTo the motherland
    River crossingFor the collection "horrible truck accidents"This shirt caused my two spots of serious sunburnThis could be a Dutch landscape, couldn't it?Cycling through a market in Tanzania

    Things that happen on the way

    March 9, 2024 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    I have considered taking the bus for a while, because the heat, monotonous landscapes, and mud was getting to me. But I didn't want to give up on either Tanzania or the trip. And I wanted to experience these landscapes the best way I know how to: by cycling.

    Well I had to cross a few rivers (because I chose a recommended "shortcut"), maneuver through a mudpool (without again being stuck), but everything went well. Then actually the landcape gradually became greener, and after about 100 kilometers I stumbled on huge boulders in nature; I have no idea where they came from but it was an amazing sight! (Sorry for the bad pictures.) And then I almost got lost in a very Dutch-seeming landscape —except it was ricefields instead of polders—but as in a miracle a sign showed up, saying " jana-isaka road": Exactly where I was headed. And the road was a decent, newly built, gravel path, not flooded anywhere; a miracle or gift from above, saying I should continue.

    After that I went fasttracking my way to Kigali, only paved roads and following the quick route, to get there as soon as possible. I haven't done this much cycling during the entire trip, but I loved pushing it to finish the 1100 or so km in around a week. I also got some help from locals giving me momentary pulls; even an old man who was cycling faster than all the kids did.

    So I am now in Kigali, and will probably end this blog here. It's been fun. Although I ended it with a flu in Kigali and just spent a few days in bed.

    I guess I will end this with life lessons I have learned:

    Bring a towel
    Bring a toothbrush for cleaning your chain
    Bring ducttape (it has saved my trip on numerous occasions: and the cargo of others)
    Bring zipties
    Keep your chain clean
    Chamois cream rocks
    Get a better saddle
    I have not gotten enough of cycling yet    Read more

    Trip end
    March 19, 2024
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