a German in America

It took a while to realise that kids and guys shouting after me “la blanche” really meant me… thought I am tanned meanwhile and not white anymore;)
Travelling with the local buses and minibuses is still a real highlight. Either you get stucked in a kind of roadblock and people on the bus not wanting to pay an extra 10 cents to go on…big argues break out and finally they are paying except me as the guy from the roadblock simply ignores me…
…or you are squeezed into a minibus for hours. They are stopping only for very few moments and you can either decide if you are going to pee or search for food. Both at the same time is not possible;)
Burkina Faso turned out to be real fun, especially Bobo Dioulasso. Had a great place to stay in the outskirts of town, just sleeping on a mattress on the rooftop and had a good dancing night. Yesterday I crossed the boarder into Mali and will stop for some time in Bamako relaxing in the Sleeping Camel…

All the minibuses (in Ghana they call them tros tros) have slogans like this. Probably this is the only reason why I always arrived safely;)) Travelled north of Ghana to Mole National Park, walked with an Elephant, slept outside hearing an Elepant eating round the campsite (while I have been eaten up by moskitos), went to see some hippos, had lots of fun riding the buses and minibuses, crossed finally the border to Burkina Faso without any problems, missed the bus to Bobo, but people always find a way, so got a motorbike to the next town and then a 4 hours minibus ride to Bobo where I am now enjoying the relaxed town; could write so much more, but internet is terrible slow. Know that you are waiting for pics, but finding an internet cafe with usb facility plus a half good connection is a challenge;))

…this is the answer to every question about finding your way. And believe me: in most cases the things I look for are not straight ahead. Surprisingly you will find your way nevertheless…but don’t ask me why and how, this is Africa…
I am relaxing the weekend at Krokobite Beach (a backpackers and volunteers heaven, quite nice for some days but far too many young party guys…), tomorrow heading again back to Accra (through traffic jam) to get hopefully my Visa for Burkina Faso. Then I will try to find my way up north in Ghana.

After being hold up in a road block in Nigeria for more than an hour, finally after arguing, calling the police, paying 25000 Niaras for a license carrying a bin, using the radio on the truck and being allowed to take luggage with us we found a well hidden bush camping spot in the jungle. It took the locals almost two hours to find us and ask questions about what the hell we were doing there and how we could find this lonely spot on earth. Several kings and chiefs of villages came not that amused, irritated: white man I don’t understand you…but finally showing off. Later the police came, wearing of course machine guns, some of these guys a little drunk and insisting due to security reasons to take us to the police station…so we ended up camping in the courtyard of the police probably just for the entertainment of these bored police men…

The boarder crossing into Benin went without any problems, pace slowed down a bit in this skinny country and relaxing days on beaches followed as well asexploring the former Abomey Kingdom. The next skinny country Togo followed with its Voodoo tradition and decent camp grounds at Lake Togo and Mount Klotou. In Lome the police was not happy with the stamp in Steve’s driving licence…so we had another encounter with the police station, wasting time because we didn’t want to bribe them… Finally: Togo and Benin have fantastic ice cream, lots of hairdressers and a rich and very interesting cultural and historic background, though I should not forget to mention the slave trade history…
Meanwhile in Ghana, some last relaxing days with Drago on the beaches of Elmina…

Finally on the overland truck named Madge…I made my way to Abuja in Nigeria…
From the beautiful remote beach in Kribi we beat the dirty roads up to the north of Cameroon. Lots of bush camping, cooking, drinking and sleeping under the African stars…meeting so many friendly locals, all the time waving, being interested in what the hell we are doing camping in the “toilet of the cow”… lots of fun with the group I am travelling with…
Buying food at the markets every day… the highlight was buying two alive chicken, let them get killed at the market and plug them in the evening…
…seeing a lion in Yankari National Park, a beautiful male lion we had been looking for after seeing the footprints in the sand…and swimming in the hot springs, crystal clear…
Bribing the police in Douala to not get arrested out of the taxi and struggling at the boarder with my two passports having the visa and stamps for Cameroon in one and the visa for Nigeria in the other… not talking about not finding the right guy in the middle of nowhere to stamp the passports… this is Africa and I love it…
Tonight getting a slap up meal which will be fucking good… don’t ask me about my last sentence… have been told to learn proper English by all the Aussies, Kiwis and English guys on the tour…

As promised some news also in English;)
I had great fun New Years Eve: Nicole, working in the hotel I am staying, took me out for the traditional church, to her home and to a bar… Today I was invited for lunch at her house… so I had my first westafrican fish, a strange white thing wrapped in a leave, bad tasting red wine and lots of kids on my lap…
…tomorrow I will start my tour through Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana which means for sure less internet facilities… so dont worry and be patient to hear from me again:)

Nicole arbeitet hier im Hotel. Sie war entsetzt darueber, dass ich hier keinen kenne und fand es inakzeptabel mich allein zu lassen;) Also mit ihr auf das Motorcycle-Taxi, eine halsbrecherische Fahrt durch den Hoellenverkehr zur Kirche. Alle gehen hier in weiss in die Kirche an Silvester… Zweieinhalb Stunden singen, singen und die Kinder rennen alle durcheinander; die Haelfte der Menge steht oder sitzt schlafend vor der Kirche, da die ueberfuellt ist. Aber kein Problem, es gibt eine Live-Uebertragung auf Beamer an die Kirchenwand… Punkt 12 ist alles vorbei, alle schreien durcheinander. Zu Nicole nach Hause, mein erstes afrikanisches Kind hab ich gleich im Arm…die Kinder gehoeren hier sowieso allen: der Oma, der Tochter, der Schwester oder den Nachbarn… irgendwann wird das Baby der aeltesten Tochter uebergeben und wir gehen noch in einen Club mit Live-Musik… Heisse afrikanische Rhythmen und ich darf auch gleich die Kameruner auf der Buehne unterhalten…wohl als Dank dafuer, dass sie mich hier so herzlich empfangen…

Gestern Nuernberger Flughafen 5.50 Uhr: noch nie hab ich so viele Leute am Security Check gesehen; ich stehe und stehe… Erster Aufruf fuer den Swiss Flug nach Zuerich. Immer noch Schlange. Zweiter dringender Aufruf… ich werde dann doch nervoes und draengel mich vor… Die Sicherheitsleute ziehen mich raus, weil ich mein Schweizer Messer bloederweise im Handgepaeck hab… aber offensichtlich ist so ein Messer kein Sicherheitsproblem, auch spaeter fuer die Schweizer nicht…
Endlich am Gate, in den Bus… der Bus faehrt nicht, weil bei -18 Grad leider der Innenraum und einige Instrumente des Fliegers eingefroren sind, der muss jetzt erst mit einem externen Heizgeraet aufgetaut werden…
…Stunden spaeter in Douala aus dem Flieger: die schwuele Hitze erschlaegt mich, aber endlich endlich friere ich nicht mehr..
Gelbfieberkontrolle und Passkontrolle ohne Probleme, Gepaeck finden schon chaotischer; aber alles klappt und ich bin im Hostel angekommen…

Sitze zwischen tausend Kisten und die müssen heut noch zu Freunden auf den Dachboden… Ein bisschen Wohnung putzen und dann heute abend noch gute deutsche Hausmannskost…
…und morgen um 6.45 Uhr geht der Flieger nach Zürich und dann weiter nach Douala…

So, dies wird also mein Blog;) Werd jetzt mal ein bisschen üben gehen wie man das so macht mit dem bloggen…