a German in America

After green and also quite rainy Uganda (and after having found out that white water rafting on the nile is too exciting for me), having a three hours break between the trip coming from Uganda and picking up new passengers going down to Victoria Falls from Nairobi we made our way to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater. Amongst lions, zebras, a python, an eagle owl eating a hedgehog, a leopard chilling out on a tree, elephants, giraffes…., we had a fantastic cheetah sight. Early in the morning this fellow was sitting on a big rock, first very sleepy, then getting up, looking around…. we all got very excited as it seemed that he was looking for food. He started to drink from a puddle on top of the rock, nervously looking around. Elephants walking in a far distance, gazelles but nothing very nearby… Eventually a grand gazelle pops out of the bushes near the rock. The cheetah looks, climbs down, starting to chase the gazelle…. 10 seconds later the gazelle made its way and the cheetah is giving up… what and exciting morning!!

After a long drive down from northern Tanzania to Dar es Salaam we hit the ferry to Zanzibar. Now enjoying ourselves relaxing in Stonetown and nearby white sandy beaches with crystal clear blue water… Pictures to be followed as soon as possible…

The great cheetah sight…

Ngorogor Crater…

an eagle owl…

Zanibar… half an hour rain in Stonetown… the rest of the days we had great weather, but I couldn´t be bothered to take any pictures…

and after three relaxing days on Zanzibar, back to work…:)

Uganda is beautiful. Green and hilly. Driving in the morning, seeing people waking up, cooking, kids walking to school, clouds hanging in the mountains, so peaceful. Market women staring at me driving and then ending up with the brightest smile you have ever seen and waving at us…

The other side: Driving on worn out tarmac full of potholes in thick fog. You barely can see more than 5 meters ahead, cars without headlights. Driving on gravel roads, Helena not able to climb the drive way up to the campsite, spinning her wheels in the mud… but thanks to sand mats we made it in the end and it is all good fun:)

Pictures are following as soon as possible…

here they are… in Kigali right now…

…in Dar es Salaam:
7.30: taking the ferry from the small island where we camp into town. Hundreds of people running busy on and off the ferry
8.30: trying to get a parcel sent to DHL from Dragoland. No success as I am not the actual receiver
9.00: trying to find a street named “Zenaki Street” as apparently this is the street to buy truck batteries and all sorts of mechanical stuff…
9.30: success… found street, but one battery is 360 Dollars!!! At least managed to buy a grease gun…
10.30: printed out some documents, got a Tanzanian SIM card and faked a power of attorney letter for DHL to get the parcel
11.30: no sucess with DHL, they are not happy with the letter as it is missing a stamp…
12.00: going back by ferry, then squeezing into a Matatu (minibus)
13.30: lying under the truck and trying to fix the exhaust break.
14.30: lots of swearing as one bolt is rusted and it won´t come off
15.30: success!!! we chiselled the bolt off!!! Here we go; fixing the loose flap is an easy job…
16:30: changing the fan-belt…
17:00: trying to get rid of all the oil and dirt in the blue sea, scrubbing myself with white sand…
18.00: enjoying a well deserved beer and chilling out…

Summing up my first week out in Africa: Driving IN the truck trying to avoid hitting people, goats and cows (and I never can decide if I pass them left or right which drives my colleague mad….) and making my way through Harare (for those who don´t know: the capital of Zimbabwe) without having a horn (yeah it is fixed since yesterday!!), sleeping ON the truck (which is actually the one and only reason why I applied for this job – fantastic!!!) and lying UNDER the truck to fix lovely Helena (the trucks name)…
And I just love it!!!
Of course there is some more like walking with a rhino, enjoying cold beers, having a fancy dress party again and jumping into the lake Malawi covered in oil and grease. What else do I want??

Before leaving England I do feel the need to tell the world the following:

1. The English countryside and small villages and their inhabitants are exactly like you think it should be: lovely tiny houses, friendly locals, cows, pigs, horses and rabbits, traditional pubs and even a small village like Debenham has a lovely old style post office where you still can buy only one envelope for some pence, a butcher, a grocery, a supermarket, an ATM, a leisure centre and two (!) pubs…
2. The English go mad when they run out of tea. They need to have at least five cups a day and if you do not boil the water to a certain extend or you add too less or too much milk they go crazy…
3. The English kind of admire Germans for their effort and accuracy but they can´t admit it… so they have to mention the war all the time and call them jerrys…;)
4. The English for some reason think that Germans love David Hasselhoff (The Hoff)… couldn´t really figure out why…
5. The English can´t pronounce names over one syllable… only Ants, Dans, Mics, Nats and Jens do exist…
6. The English love Health and Safety rules… you need to wear a high visibility vest when lying under a truck (luckily Dragoman seems to be the only place in England where Health and Safety is not practiced to death) and obviously people need to be reminded to lock doors by big signs with lockers on it (are English really dyslexic and stupid?? I don´t think so…)
7. The English seem to be frightened to live, they need insurances for everything, but then almost everything is excluded in their insurances and everybody needs to “cover their own ass” as they are afraid to be sued…. This leads to the fact that you can´t touch somebody at the inner side of their thigh when saving somebody’s life and putting him or her in a recovery position as he or she might suit you afterwards of sexual harassment… at least I have been told this in my first aid course…

So finally: I did not want do offend anybody with these remarks and I am not liable for the content of this page;)) I really really enjoyed my time in England, I felt always very welcome and made good friends. But looking forward to go to Africa now and enjoy freedom without Health and Safety rules and insurances…

PS: Yes I know, I am nevertheless happy about having a health insurance which flies me back to Europe just in case…

…preparing to leave for Victoria Falls: this means driving Georgy, the training truck, on the narrow country roads of Suffolk and of course still working in the workshop of Dragoman busy grinding, sanding, painting and as a highlight reinstalling the exhaust break button:)
Proudly presenting Georgy:

Exciting excursions to supermarkets (yeah, finally I can get out of Debenham at the weekends!!!) or even the seaside (Thorpness):

And most important, before going on the road doing my bugel…

I will finish my time at Dragoland with a fancy dress party next weekend. The theme will be: “German – don´t mention zee war”

Sorry for leaving the blog for several months without any notice… most of you already know…
After deciding to go for a new job, training under trucks in the middle of nowhere in England and obtaining my bus driving licence I am ready for Africa again. This time with a job… but still travelling. For those who want to see some pictures what I have been training for, have a look here.

“How are you? I am fine; how is your mother? How is your father? Good. How is your brother? Good. How is your sister? Good. How is your granny? Good. How is your donkey?…”
This is the correct way of greeting each other in many regions of Africa. Have been experiencing it when I was hiking in the Dogon Country in Mali. The Dogon Country is a real highlight in Westafrica, have never seen something like that in whole Africa: beautiful landscape, remote villages, silence, world heritage sights like mud houses built high up in the rocks, sleeping every night in small villages on top of one of the mud houses. Fantastic!
On our way up to Dogon Nadine, Maurice and me were bush camping in front of a hotel in the middle of Segou (by the way a very charming small town on the banks of the river Niger). All three of us were sleeping in the roof top tent which turned the Africans world upside down… “Maurice, do you have two wifes??” So we had lots of fun on our way pretending Nadine as his first wife and me as his second wife;) And I could rest a little bit from all the questions they usually ask: “are you travelling alone? are you married? can I have your phone number?”…
Don’t get me wrong: most of the time it is real fun and they are all very polite and if you say “no” usually they respect it. Just turn it into a joke and you can have real fun…

…had a fantastic stay in Bamako with great nightlife…the Sleeping Camel was a perfect home for those days, relaxing from the African dust.
Finally I will leave to Segou, Djenne, Mopti and the Dogon Country further north in Mali with two Dutch guys. They are offering me a lift in their Landrover and we will travel some days together. Thanks Nadine and Maurice!!

Believe me, this was a hard job and it only worked on fb

Even if you do not have a facebook account you should be able to see the pics…