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Tak3r auf Weltreise

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    Tak3r auf Weltreise

    Hey!

    Seit Oktober 2014 bin ich auf Weltreise, es geht auf alle Kontinente und auch in etwas exotischere Gebiete wie Antarktika oder Mongolia. Den Auftakt macht Kanada und danach fliege ich weiter nach Zentral und Südamerika, eine Weltkarte mit meiner groben Route findet ihr hier.

    Über meine Facebook Seite gibt es alle Updates, ansonsten hier schon einmal die ersten Berichte mit Bildern. Werde den Thread hier regelmäßig updaten und hoffe es gefällt! :)

    Live #01, East Coast Trail in Newfoundland (Canada)




    Live #02, East Coast Trail in Newfoundland (Canada)




    Live #03, Gros Morne & Corner Brook in Newfoundland (Canada)




    Live #04, Cape Breton National Park, Nova Scotia (Canada)




    Live #05, Halifax – Lunenburg – Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia (Canada)




    LG
    Chris

    #2
    Region: Africa, Tanzania
    Travel time: 2012, June 15th to June 19th
    Picture Gallery: Link




    "Right where you are," our guide says, "is where the man died in the landslide." I look at him in utter disbelieve and continue slogging through the alpine desert, 4.000 meters above the African plain. Climbing to Mt. Kilimanjaro's snowy summit is a once in a lifetime experience for some and the start of a mountaineering career for others. I'm not sure which group I belong to just yet, but I will certainly share my experiences on the world's highest free standing mountain.

    June 15th, 2012 - Frankfurt to Nairobi

    It's Friday evening and I am on Condor Flight DE5264 from Frankfurt to Nairobi, Kenya. Christoph is sitting next to me, struggling with the comfort and narrowness of our seats just like myself. We've known each other for two years and have become good friends with similar interests. One of them is traveling and we are currently on our way to Africa in order to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I'm looking over the main aisle to the other side of the airplane, where Christoph' friends, Moritz and Simon, are already sleeping. Certainly a good idea, as we will be on plane for the night and arrive in Nairobi at 5:10 in the morning.

    Spoiler: 


    Restless thoughts about our route are keeping me awake. At 5,895 meters, Uhuru Peak is the highest point on Kilimanjaro. No technical climbing is involved in scaling it, but the high elevation can not be underestimated and only 41% reach the summit according to the Kilimanjaro National Park. I could not prepare for the trip, but am confident in my solid base condition, which leaves the AMS (acute mountain sickness) as the only real threat. Eventually, my mind settles and I doze off in economy class discomfort.


    June 16th, 2012 - Nairobi to Moshi

    The plane begins to descend and the beeping of the please-fasten-your-seatbelt alarm wakes me up. It is nearly 5AM and we are just on time. I get up and walk towards the exit of the plane and surprisingly, only my buddies and a handful of strangers are leaving the plane in Nairobi, as the rest keeps on sleeping on their way to the final destination. My eyes don't like the fact that I left my contact lenses in during the flight and I'm still pretty tired. We grab our bags, pay the transit visa ($20) and walk to the waiting area outside.

    Moritz provides some anti mosquito repellant for us and we only need to put it on today, as we will be too high for them when we start the hike tomorrow morning. The airport in Nairobi is not very nice and after three hours of waiting, the shuttle bus finally arrives. We get inside and try to rest on the most uncomfortable seats I've ever used - too bad we will be in here for the next seven hours!

    I'm looking outside the window and it does not take long to realize that I'm in a Third World Country. People and especially young children have a look in their eyes which is hard to describe. They seem lost and not able to change their life for the better, almost like they've given up on themselves. We leave them behind and drive towards Arusha, which is a rather big city of about half a million people. There are a couple of mountains on our way to Moshi, but it takes a while until we can finally catch a glimpse of Kibo.

    Spoiler: 


    The driver drops us off at the Weru Weru River Lodge, which belongs to our Operator Ahsante Tours. We receive a warm welcome and one of the employees updates us about the current European Football Championship scores and it's looking pretty good for Germany! Our rooms are good, we have a pool and some sunshine left, so we are getting right into i.! Some overpriced beer and pizza rounds up the day and it's time to get some sleep and rest for the upcoming hike.

    June 17th, 2012 - Lemosho Glades (2100m) to Big Tree Camp (2750m)

    I wake up at 7AM and could not sleep very well due to Christoph's unrelenting snoring. There is nothing he can do about it, but I'll try to find another person to spend the upcoming nights with :-) We get down to the reception area to meet our guides, Nelson and King William of Kili. They are both very nice persons and I can't image having better guides for the trip. I even got a high-quality pair of gloves from Nelson - mine are apparently not good enough for the cold summit night. We also have time to catch up with Jessie from New York, he is on his own and will join us.

    Spoiler: 


    We leave Moshi (910m) and drive west for two hours to reach the Londorossi Park Gate (2100m). All of our luggage has been weighed to determine how many porters we need before we continue to Lemosho Glades (2100m). This is the actual starting point of the beautiful 56km Lemosho route. It will take us six days to get to the top, as we are adding one extra day for better acclimatization. Our 4x4 jeep can't continue through the mud, so we get out and walk the rest to Lemosho Glades. Everyone looks very motivated as we begin to walk into the foggy rain forest...

    Our destination for today is Big Tree Camp (2750m), also known as Mti Mkubwa in Swahili, the official language in Tanzania. We are entering the second climate zone on the mountain (five in total) and it's not easy to climb the steep muddy paths due to the rainfalls in the last days. Nelson tells us that this part is actually one of the hardest in bad weather. There are not many animals around and it is rather quiet, except for the sounds of the Black-and-white colobus and blue monkeys. King William is making sure that we keep a slow pace throughout and it takes us nearly three hours to reach the Camp.

    Spoiler: 


    The camp is already set up from our porters, who passed us earlier while carrying about 25-30kg each. They are doing an incredible job and try to get promoted to a guide someday. Everyone here needs to start as a porter and only the ones who can speak English will have a chance for a better job. I walk around the campsite and notice the toilets - a hole in the ground surrounded by some walls. Not really looking forward to use these! We gather in our dining tent and patiently wait for the first big meal of the day; turns out that our cook is incredible, as he made us some very delicious chicken with potatoes and vegetables.


    June 18th, 2012 - Big Tree Camp (2750m) to Shira 2 (3840m)

    Our waiter(!) wakes me up and hands me a nice hot cup of tea. Jessie is sharing the tent with me now, but I could still not sleep this night thanks to the Dolby-surround snore theater around us. The porters provide us with some water to clean ourselves and some purified water to fill up the 3-litre camel backs. We enjoy breakfast, pack up our stuff and then begin the walk to the next camp: Shira 2. We decided to skip Shira 1 and take this long 15km day in the beginning, in order to have an extra day for better acclimatization at Karanga camp.

    Spoiler: 


    The path looks very similar to yesterday's and we are constantly climbing up, being happy about the great weather, as more and more sun shines through the trees the higher we get. After about 50 minutes, we reach the top of the forest and get a good view on our surroundings. Nelson makes us aware that we are entering the moorland climate zone and it is great to have a change of scenery again. The sun is really strong now and we are constantly getting passed by porters.

    Spoiler: 


    We descend a bit again and reach a nice spot to take a break. Some french guys pass us without any porters, they carry everything on their own and just have a guide with them. I think I could do it as well, but since it's my first time in this altitude, I decided to take the easy way to make sure I reach the top :-) We take some pictures and continue climbing up, only to finally see what we were all waiting for: Kilimanjaro is showing up in the distance and he looks damn far away still!

    The hike continues for about half an hour before we reach Shira 1 camp. We stop for another break and just enjoy sleeping in the sun for a short while. Turns out that this was a bad idea, as I can already feel the first sun burns coming up, especially on the back of my legs. I decide to cover up most of my body from now on, even if the sun is still out strong. The hike starts to get more demanding the further we go on, but eventually we reach our destination with a slight headache.

    Spoiler: 


    As usual, we first need to sign up in at one of the huts with our name, nationality and signature. This needs to be done each day and the data is used for official statistics including date, name, nationality and operator. I notice that it is significantly colder already at 3840m and put on some extra layers, as well as my hat. We are already above the clouds and I stay out to enjoy the great views before heading back to get dinner. We are all freezing in the tent while waiting for hopefully yet another great meal. This is gonna be a very cold night...

    June 19th, 2012 - Shira 2 (3840m) to Lava Tower (4630m) to Barranco camp (3950m)

    I'm blessed with hot tea again - definitely a must-have right now, as last night was one of the coldest I ever experienced. Our sleeping bags only have a comfort temperature of +4 °C and I would not exactly categorize the sleeping mats as comfortable. We get popcorn soup for breakfast again and I'm so sick of it, the cucumber soup is way better.. My body is a wreck, four sleepless nights and a lack of appetite are taken their tolls, but this won't break my will to reach the summit, as my mental health stays strong.

    Spoiler: 


    A long walk through the warm alpine desert is ahead of us and our crew celebrates the famous Kilimanjaro Song, singing and dancing for us before we start this difficult day:

    Jambo! (Hello!)
    Jambo Bwana!
    Habari gani (How are you?)
    Mzuri Sana (Very fine)
    Wageni! (Foreigners)
    Mwakaribishwa (You are welcome)
    Kilimanjaro
    Hakuna Matata (There are no worries)

    Tembea pole pole (Walk slow, slow)
    Hakuna matata
    Utafika salama (Come safe)
    Hakuna matata
    Kunywa maji mengi (Drink plenty of water)
    Hakuna matata
    Great performance by the guys (and the porter girl!), the rhythm of this song will stick in our heads for sure. I make sure that my jacket is protecting me from both the wind and the sun as we head towards Lava Tower (4630m). Hour after hour walking on rocky paths without any vegetation or animal life is passing, and my stomach is giving me a very hard time. The headache is getting stronger as well, definitely a result of the high altitude. I can spot people in the distance as they are walking on the Machame route, which will unite with ours very soon. We finally arrive at the Tower after 6 long hours.

    Spoiler: 


    Our guide Nelson suggest some extra-fun by climbing the Tower before we get together for lunch. "It is a very easy climb", he says and it would only take him 15 minutes to get up and down again. We look at each other and decide to accept his offer. I'm the last one in our group and the climb is not exactly easy for me in my current state, nevertheless all of us make it back safely and the great views on the Western Breach and down a 60m vertical cliff were amazing!

    The uttering bad feeling in my stomach is getting worse as we are leaving the Tower behind us. Heading into a valley, I can see the first Senecio kilimanjari - a unique and bizarre plant that only exists in this part of the world. I notice a weird feeling in my throat and then suddenly scream out "STOP!", seconds before throwing up in the serpentine curve next to me. "Are you OK?", Christoph asks and hands me some tissues. "Feeling much better now, thanks.", I reply and continue walking with renewed energy after dropping all the bad stuff in my body.

    Spoiler: 




    I can finally enjoy the ongoing walk and my release could have not come at a better time, as we are entering the final path down to the camp. The immense Western Wall of Kilimanjaro is constantly present to my left, while tons of huge Senecio kilimanjari are showing up along the way - just incredible! I can see the camp already and King William explains that this day was very important for our acclimatization, as we were climbing very high today while staying in a camp 700m lower than the Lava Tower.

    This is the end of the first half of my Kilimanjaro Report. The second one will follow next friday!

    Kommentar


      #3
      Region: Africa, Tanzania
      Travel time: 2012, June 20th to June 23th
      Picture Gallery: Link




      "This night will be very cold on the summit, expect -20°C", Nelson warns us and we fill up our camel backs with hot tea water, even though we know that this won't help much in six hours when we hopefully get close to the summit. We check our head torches and off we go into the night, following all the other lights in front of us. King William shouts out "Pole, Pole!" (Slow, Slow!) but in reality, we actually have a reasonable speed and pass one group after the other.

      Welcome to the second half of my Kilimanjaro Report, click here to read the first one.

      June 20th, 2012 - Barranco camp (3950m) to Karanga camp (3963m)

      A feel of joy surrounds me this morning, realizing that I was sleeping for a complete night finally. Unfortunately, Christoph and Jessie are not able to share these feelings, as they are both suffering from nausea now. "Today will be an easy day and you will have time to recover for the summit night", Nelson encourages them and we are really glad for this extra day on the mountain. I look up to the imposing Barranco Wall and it seems like a tough climb, lot's of porters and hikers are already queuing up in this narrow and extremely steep section.

      Spoiler: 


      Turns out that the wall is not as tough as it looks, using my hands to stabilize from time to time, it is a fairly easy walk. The porters are not impressed either, as they are basically running up there with all their luggage. Well, we know that they are beasts by now :-) We reach the top of the wall after 45 minutes and enjoy the superb view on Kilimanjaro. "Ahh you like it ya?", King William of Kili says while looking at the sky, "you will have an even better view on him tomorrow." Speaking of the King, he is an incredible funny person, who will most definitely bring a smile on your face after a couple of seconds talking to him. He got his Nickname by guiding a blind man up to the top with his long term partner Nelson.

      Spoiler: 


      We arrive at Karanga camp after crossing a valley, which contains the last water supply on the way to the summit. The sun is gone and the camp covered in a thick fog. Some crows are also present here and the place has a very creepy atmosphere now. The "toilets" are actually smelling so bad, one would actually be better off looking for another place to take care of his business. It's also freezing cold, but I still decide that it is time for a complete body wash before we head into the final stage, so get undressed and clean myself with the cold water. Totally refreshed now, I start to read my book and wait for dinner.


      June 21th, 2012 - Karanga camp (3963m) to Barafu camp (4550m)

      Yesterday's fog vanished away and we have a clear view on Kilimanjaro. There are lots of clouds in the distance though, blocking the sight on Mt. Meru (4565m). I was actually looking forward to this day and am disappointed now, as I can barely spot the mountain. We begin the 6km hike and the landscape looks familiar - lot's of lose rocks and a great views on Kilimanjaro, as we are heading to it's east side. My headache is gone and I'm feeling pretty good in general, Christoph and Jessie are also getting better as well, so everything is set for the big showdown!

      Spoiler: 


      Arriving at our base camp for the summit night after four hours, Nelson explains that it got its name from the cold weather conditions up here on 4,550 meters, as Barafu is translated to "ice". The tents are already set up between two huge stone walls and we see the peaks Kibo and Mawenzi. Suddenly, the complete camp is starting to scream and laugh, turning it into an open air theater with a great atmosphere. I look up and can't believe my eyes - a tent from another tour operator is actually flying above us like a kite, quickly disappearing behind a wall after a couple of seconds. "The wind is very strong here because of the surrounding peaks", Nelson says, "they will send out some people to pick it up again".

      Spoiler: 


      Our guides lead us to the path that we will use to climb the summit this night, it is important to see the terrain now while it is still bright. We climb up a couple of hundred meters and then sit down to have our final briefing. I enjoy the view on the camp and mentally prepare myself for the upcoming challenge. We will now have two hours to rest before lunch is served and then another seven hours to sleep. Excitement is rising and I crawl into my sleeping bag, trying to catch some sleep and recover my energy.

      June 22th, 2012 - Barafu camp (4550m) to Uhuru Peak (5895m) to Millenium Camp (3820m)

      A severe pain in my hip wakes me up. I guess it was a bad idea to sleep on the side when only a thin sleeping mat separates me from the rocks underneath - but it was just so damn cold! I patiently wait for the tea to reach drinkable temperature and already begin to put on my summit gear: two pair of thick socks, long underpants (borrowed from Simon), two pants, two icebreaker merino wool shirts (150 & 260), one fleece and my weather proof jacket should do the deal in combination with my hat and the gloves I got from Nelson.

      "This night will be very cold on the summit, expect -20°C", Nelson warns us and we fill up our camel backs with hot tea water, even though we know that this won't help much in six hours when we hopefully get close to the summit. We check our head torches and off we go into the night, following all the other lights in front of us. King William shouts out "Pole, Pole!" (Slow, Slow!) but in reality, we actually have a reasonable speed and pass one group after the other.

      Spoiler: 


      Walking in this altitude with 50% less oxygen compared to sea level is different and I'm having a hard time to breath, but other than that I don't feel affected by it a lot. However, I have a pain in my stomach and begin to lose my sense of balance after two hours of walking. Definitely a sign of AMS. It becomes worse the higher we get and occasionally, I need to use my hands to stabilize myself. Nelson and King William are taking a close look at me and are always around to help me out if needed. I can barely see any stars in the sky, must be very cloudy up above.

      I keep on walking like a drunk guy and have to sit down to drink some water to recover on a regular basis. The water in my camel back already starts to freeze and it's getting hard to drink from it. We keep on passing group after group and it is a very tough and demanding walk, but eventually we reach Stella Point (5685m) around 5AM. Our guides provide us with hot tea and it is amazing to drink it now. I imagine to be very close to the summit now, but Nelson corrects that assumption as we have one more hour in front of us - Urgh!.

      The Video was supposed to be here. Unfortunately, I'm having some technical issues and will publish it another day.

      Entering a trance-like stage, I try hard to keep on walking in a straight line. It's also slowly getting brighter and finally King William announces that "Uhuru Peak is at the end of this path!". Bundling all my strength and energy, I rush towards the highest point in Africa (without falling!) as the first in our group. Only a handful of people are here already, we actually passed all other groups on our way up. The sun shows it's face through the clouds partly now, but the sight is still not good and it is strongly advised to descend again as soon as possible.

      Spoiler: 


      Despite the -20°C on the summit, I take off my gloves to start taking pictures and film the rest on their final stretch to the top. Being in my trance, I don't even realize how freaking cold my hands are as I am handling my camera for at least five minutes, before finally putting back on my gloves. I would like stay for some time, but the guides urge us to go down again. Christoph shows symptoms of AMS as well and we're not able to get back as quickly as Moritz and Simon, who've been in a top shape during the complete trip. They form a group with Jessie and Nelson, while we are taking things a bit slower.

      It takes a couple of breaks before I slowly receive me balance back. Things are moving way quicker now and I'm actually running down the rocky surface, hooked into King Williams arms so we can both stabilize each other. We have a perfect view on the Mawenzi Summit (5148m) on our left and now most of the clouds disappeared, too bad we had such a bad view on the summit. I could barely see any glaciers at all :-(

      Spoiler: 


      We reach Millenium Camp (3820m) six hours later after a break in the base camp, passing an altitude difference of 2,075 meters. In the evening, it's finally time to gather in the dining tent for the last time - I will not miss to sit on these small chairs, but I will definitely look back at all the great meals our cook prepared throughout our trip - he did an amazing job! Nelson and King William join us after the dinner and brief us about the appropriate way to tip the crew on the next day. It takes us 20 minutes to figure out a fair contribution before we retreat into our tents.


      June 23th, 2012 - Millenium Camp (3820m) to Mweka Gate (1980m)

      Everyone is in a good mood this morning and we talk about our achievement from last night. "You were having some problems over there Chris", Nelson proclaims, "but we noticed that you have a strong will and checked on your vital signs the whole time." I want to know how they did it exactly and King William explains: "We checked for any changes in the color of your eyes and tongue and let you walk in front of us to call your name. You reacted and did not throw up either, so everything was good." Interesting to hear! :-)

      Spoiler: 


      It's time to contribute the tips and we receive another performance of the Kilimanjaro song before we continue back to Mweka Gate (1980m), which is about five hours away. We contain a fast pace on the muddy surface and eventually decide to take things even faster by running down with our hiking poles. Moritz is filming with his Go Pro camera and it is certainly quite some fun to do speed up for a couple of minutes, eventually we are exhausted though and maintain a regular fast pace. We are now en route since nearly three hours and I ask our guides how long it would take. "About one hour from here", they reply and it sounds O.K. as we would have saved one hour. Turns out that the gate was just around the corner :-)

      Spoiler: 


      We register at the gate and decline any shoe-cleaning offers before getting into our 4x4 jeep to drive back to Moshi. We drop our stuff in the office of Ahsante Tours and continue straight on to the Glacier bar, which also belongs to the same company. A last dinner is supplied here and I'm having a delicious fish together with a Kilimanjaro Beer. Our guides give a last speech and hand over the certificates to proof that we made it to the top of Uhuru Peak.

      Today is also the quarter final game between Spain and France and we head to the glacier bar to watch it and finally drink lot's of beer - it's about time! King William joins us as well and it certainly a great way to end this fantastic week of great experiences. I would like to thank my fellow trekkers, guides and the rest of the team for an amazing time. Hakuna matata!

      Kommentar


        #4
        hast du auch reiseberichte bzgl südkorea und der nachbarländer?

        Kommentar


          #5
          berichte ma von deiner pufftour durch t-hailand

          Kommentar


            #6
            fand dein heutiges facebookvideo gut :) .

            Kommentar


              #7
              würde gerne ma nach Riad aber die einreise usw dauert alles , Oman ist auch endgeil

              Kommentar


                #8
                @Pep: Von der WCG 2003? Ne leider nicht, der Sued korea und China trip war auch mehr zum WC3 zocken und nebenher haben wir nur viel gegessen und getrunken, aber nicht wirklich die staedte erkundet als Touris.

                @fanb0y: Von Schweden meinst du? Das war ganz schoen Arbeit mit den Untertiteln!! Haette damals schon alles auf englisch machen sollen, aber auf deutsch mit der ex freundin kommt es fuer deutsche zumindest auf jeden Fall besser rum :D Wir hatten schon eine spezielle Beziehung, lol.. :)

                Kommentar


                  #9
                  Region: Africa & Tanzania
                  Travel time: 2012, June 24th to June 29th
                  Picture Gallery: Link



                  Jamaica accelerates the Jeep, heading straight towards yet another water hole in front of us. The vehicle roars up as it gets stuck in the hole, leaving us stranded in one of the most isolated parts of the northern Serengeti. Our guide calmly tells us to stay in the car while he gets help. "Don't you have a gun with you?", I ask. "No... I have god with me...", he says, and wanders out into the vast lion territory around us.

                  I wake up in the Weru Weru River Lodge after a very active week on Mount Kilimanjaro, looking forward to the upcoming days sitting in a 4x4 Jeep. I have never heard about our starting location Lake Manyara and constantly fail pronouncing the Ngorongoro Crater, which is supposed to be a real treat though! At least I am familiar with our final destination, the famous Serengeti. Eager to finally utilize the 600mm zoom of my new camera, I don't spend much time eating the lousy breakfast and quickly head outside to meet our waiting guide.

                  He looks at us in disbelief as he spots our luggage, which he somehow has to wrap up on the roof of the Jeep. Two German girls with the same itinerary got integrated into our group and we have to squeeze into the vehicle with a total of eight persons! Not a problem though, I soon get used to the limited space and time passes quickly as we have a lot to talk about. Our guide Jamaica turns out to be as cool as his name suggest, much in contrary to our silent cook.

                  Part One: Lake Manyara

                  We drive to our tour operator's office and store some of the luggage here. I don't have a lot with me and use the time to talk with the boss. "A tourist was killed by bandits two days ago in a Serengeti Camp." (Source), he says and explains that another assault is unlikely as the authorities would search for the bandits now. I feel neither lucky nor afraid and just want to begin the tour now! We start driving and soon find ourselves in the Lake Manyara National Park, parking next to a big elephant - it's finally time to start taking pictures :-)

                  Spoiler: 








                  Spotting elephants, baboons, hippos, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes and other animals is certainly a good start to our program, but I am sure that it will become way better in the following days. We are leaving the National Park after two and a half hours and examine our first camp site, very close to one of the major routes and not remote at all. Turns out we have some amazing tents and sleeping bags for cold temperatures - why didn't we have those during our Kilimanjaro trek? Our first dinner is served and Jamaica tells us about his previous Malaria Infections, while mosquitoes are constantly buzzing around us. We were safe on the mountain, but now it is time to use the Malerone pills with each dinner and put on the smelly repellent.


                  Part Two: Ngorongoro Conservation Area


                  The alarm rings at 8AM and we head out to get breakfast: toast, tea, sausages & scrambled eggs. I am not too excited about it - just reminds me a lot to our previous breakfasts. We have some extra time and decide to wander around the streets and check out the local market. The people here are used to have tourists around and either try to sell stuff or mind their own business. We start our journey and enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the highest density of wild life in Africa. Jamaica handles the entry regulations and we set up our tents at the rim of the crater before we drive down, passing some Maasai villages on the way.


                  Spoiler: 









                  I start spotting huge groups of wildebeests and zebras in this unreal beautiful location, the surrounding walls of the crater combined with all the wild life create a very special atmosphere. The zebras seem to have a good time too, resting their heads on other zebra's backs and scratching their tummy with a big rock. Hundred's of flamingos cover a big lake in the distance and Jamaica's trained eye constantly spots close-by animals, such as a lion couple chilling in the high grass. Certainly a first highlight so far!


                  Spoiler: 







                  We encounter two tired lion ladies after their hunt in the middle of the path and get so close that I could even touch them! Excitement rises as they get up to slightly change position, one of them putting her pawns against our front right wheel next to Jamaica, who is obviously enjoying the sight as well. More jeeps are coming in and we are now surrounded by 7 or 8 of them. Time to leave the scene after 45 minutes, hopefully we will encounter some rhinos as well!
                  Spoiler: 











                  Some hyenas enter the scene about 20 minutes later and they nervously look around while eating a dead wildebeest. I am getting very excited in anticipation of a possible lion coming in to witness a kill. But they are actually just running away from two other hyenas, while I record the complete action. Even though no fight is about to start, just the chasing part is really exciting and we are right in the middle! One of the hyenas carries the remains away, which basically are only the head and spine. Just a couple of minutes pass and a huge group of living wildebeest's are crossing the path in front of us. My mind wanders out imaging millions of them during the great migration in the Serengeti, sadly we are about a month too late for that...


                  Spoiler: 







                  We are leaving the crater again and pass more lions on the way out. The scenery now contains a lot of green plants and trees and it is just an amazing feeling to drive around here with the setting sun. I take some last pictures before we head towards the exit of the Ngorongoro crater, too bad this ends so quickly without seeing any rhinos :-(


                  Spoiler: 













                  Our camp is very busy tonight, offering shelter for at least ten individual groups from all over the world. I join some of them at the fireplace after dinner and we are singing songs together. Camp sites here have a very special atmosphere and I can hear sleeping lions for the first time tonight. It sounds like they are ten meters away, but in reality it could be miles. In any case, it's a great experience listening to sleeping lions... and time for me to do the same now.


                  Part Three: Serengeti

                  Another day of Safari action is about to begin and Jamaica drives very fast as usual, not caring at all about the bad state of the streets or the occasional holes in them :-) At least nobody in the Jeep can complain about a boring journey! We are getting closer to the Gate of the Serengeti and take a planned stop at the Olduvai Gorge, where the the earliest known human species, Homo habilis, were discovered. The Gorge offers a nice view but the small tour, or let's say the boring voice of guide, nearly makes me fall asleep in the middle of the day! I am able to get some nice shots in the area though, including those of a colorful Lizard.


                  Spoiler: 







                  We continue our journey and soon reach the Gate of the Serengeti. It is very hot this morning and we have to stay here for an hour to eat our lunch, which consists of the usual chicken/potato/sandwich/egg combination. As we are leaving the Gate into the huge Serengeti, I can quickly tell that the new environment is completely different to the previous ones. We are now already driving for 30 minutes without seeing anything special and the only thing that changes around us is the weather, turning from sunshine to a grey sky with first raining pouring down.

                  The car suddenly stops, just when I started to get a little bit disappointing after driving around for nearly an hour. I look around around and can't see anything! Jamaica quickly points to the left and I can finally spot something in the distance. "There are some cheetah's lying in the high grass". He really is an expert in his job and we are all very grateful to have him as our guide.

                  Everyone has his camera pointed into their direction now, as they are slowly getting closer to us. They look majestic and calm and it is a great experience to see them live! One of them is using a nearby tree to mark his territory and afterwards both of them are getting closer and closer. My heart starts to beat faster as this is the by far most exciting moment of the safari so far. The first cheetah is just 2 meters away from the car now, jumping over a little rill. The second one takes a close look at us before following his friend and they both wander off on the path, just in time for two incoming Jeeps.


                  Spoiler: 







                  Jamaica slowly drives back to follow the cheetahs and it just takes a little while until they start running away into the high grass. Luckily, we could observe them for nearly an hour - certainly the highlight of the Safari so far! We continue to drive further into the northern part of the Serengeti and spot a lot of zebras and the occasional hippos. The roads are very muddy from the rain now and we are actually stuck a few times, so far we always got away though by turning on the 4WD mode of our Jeep.

                  I spot some Jeeps gathering around a tree, unable to see what they are looking at yet. We are getting closer and it turns out to be a sleeping leopard in the tree! Too bad he is very tired and does not move at all, but at least we see one of them live! :-) This was also our last encounter with animals as it is pretty late and we have to head to our camp site.

                  The next morning starts sunny again and we encounter a lot of elephants on our way to the Serengeti Hippo Pool. This rather small pool is so packed with farting hippos that it really takes some discipline to stick around for some good shots. Definitely a fun situation to see all of them lying on top of each other and making funny noises - two of them are even kissing!


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                  Soon after our encounter at the Hippo Pool, we are forced to stop due to a flat tire - this just had to happen at some point! Jamaica tells us to "go play with the giraffes" while he and his cook change the tire by using some rocks to elevate the car, apparently the way it's done in Africa :-) It actually works quite well and we have the opportunity to take a close look at the curious giraffes around us before they eventually run away from us.

                  I really like the landscape in this area, getting closer to the Loliondo Part of the Serengeti in the North-East. We are heading towards Lake Natron and other tourists are more and more replaced by Masaai people, who live along the way in small villages. There are a lot of buffaloes, wildebeests and lions present in the area. The latter just seem to rest from their last meal as usual and are not all interested in performing a kill in front us - too bad! :-)


                  Spoiler: 





                  Time passes and there is not a lot to going on except for the usual animals we've seen on multiple occasions already. Jamaica accelerates the Jeep, heading straight towards yet another water hole in front of us. The vehicle suddenly roars up as it gets stuck in the hole, leaving us stranded in one of the most isolated parts of the Serengeti. Jamaica calmly tells us to stay in the car while he gets help. "Don't you have a gun with you?", I ask. "No... I have god with me...", he says, and wanders out into the vast lion territory around us. There is no cell phone reception here and we can just wait for him to come back with help... and hope that he will come back at all!

                  It's been 90 minutes now and there is no sign of Jamaica. What if he really got into trouble on his way? I'm not sure if he's been in a similar situation before, but it would not surprise me to be honest. However, there is no need to panic just yet, as he might have to walk some time find any sort of civilization and then come back to us. Nevertheless, we have to prepare for the worst and start collecting firewood to set up an emergency camp next to the car. We pile up some branches, use elephant dung and some newspaper to start the fire and wonder if we would really need to stay here. I am filming the whole scene and just a couple of seconds after the fire is set up, Jamaica is coming back with a big truck to rescue us :-)


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                  Watching the two guys who came back with Jamaica is really entertaining. They are trying to wrap a steel chain around the car just as it would be a rope... not sure if this will work out. They give it a shot and the chain does not hold up, leaving our car back in the hole. One more try seals the deal though and our car is free again. Jamaica hops in to drive it back and nearly gets stuck in the same hole again, just hilarious! (check out the video) It is pretty late now and the sun starts to set, so we will reach our camp site at night fall. Getting there, we spend no time setting up the tends while our guides get a fire going to prepare dinner. It is dark now and I can hear sleeping lions again, this time it's even louder and they must be very close.

                  The camp consists of two fenced off huts, usually to separate the cooks from the tourists. We stay in just one of them since no other people are around. The toilet facilities are actually really nice here, except for a bunch of bats flying into us when we walk in there for the first time :-) There is also a water tank next to our dining hut and our cook tells us that he was once standing next to a lion in the night while pouring out some water. I'm glad he told us this story after I was there to get some water for him and am really looking forward to use the toilet from now on! No encounters with lions happen though and we enjoy our dinner before heading back to the tents.


                  Spoiler: 





                  The next morning is sunny again and we pack up everything, still alive and breathing. One last group picture on the Jeep and off we go to Lake Natron; a remote, hot and dry area about five hours away in the north. It is really off the beaten track and does not maintain a lot of tourism, but offers some great landscapes and a perfect view on the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai. I am very excited to see the volcano and the Lake, but first we have to get there and the drive will be very long. About half way, we are forced to stop again due to another flat tire. We use the time to collect firewood for tonight in the nearby forest and soon head off again to Lake Natron.


                  Spoiler: 





                  Nightfall soon surrounds us as we pass Masaai walking from village to village. Spotting them on the street in utter darkness right before we pass them is a very creepy sight and I'm happy that we finally reached our camp after a long drive. Before we set up the tents again, it's time to put on an extra layer of mosquito repellant due to the close proximity of Lake Natron. We're having dinner at a big fireplace this time and hear loud screams in the distance. One of the Masaai explains that they are having some sort of ritual, but it sounds more like an orgy to me..

                  Jamaica joins us to explain the situation for the upcoming day. We can basically only do one out of three possible activities and need to decide which one it should be. Option 1: Take a walk to Lake Natron and see the flamingos up close. Option 2: Trek to a remote waterfall including a natural swimming pool. Option 3: Climb up the Volcano. My favorite is the last option but sadly we can't agree on this one in the team, so we decide to take a swim by the waterfall next morning.


                  Spoiler: 





                  A friendly yet very quiet Masaai is destined to be our leader on this wonderful morning and will guide us to the waterfalls. We leave the camp site and soon find ourselves walking next to a river, surrounded by some high cliffs. It's necessary to cross the river about five times and I nearly lose my flip flops on various occasions, but eventually we reach our destination: A picture perfect Waterfall coupled by a Rainbow.


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                  We spend about one hour swimming around the waterfall and film everything with our two GoPro cameras. The weather is perfect as well and I am very pleased with the way we end our Safari. Some Masaai children try to sell us their self made jewelery on our way back to the camp, luckily they focus on our two girls in the group :-)

                  Nothing happens on our long drive back to Moshi to our hotel, where we will meet up for some last drinks before continuing to Zanzibar the next morning. It's been a great experience and we had two lovely weeks in Tanzania, but now I'm also looking forward to relax on the beautiful beaches of Paje!

                  Don't forget to check out the 21 minute Video of this trip right here!

                  Kommentar


                    #10
                    Region: Europe, Sweden
                    Travel time: 2010, August 07th to August 14th
                    Picture Gallery: Link




                    Link zum Video

                    Sweden is a truly magnificent place for anyone who likes nature and camping. It offers beautiful landscapes, interesting cities and the freedom of setting up your tent in the nature on a legal basis. I set out to drive along the southern part of the country and will share my experiences in the following short report.

                    Exploring Sweden was high up on my To Do list after buying a new tent and other outdoor gear. Julia, my girlfriend at the time, joined me and we used her car to drive from Oldenburg to Malmö via Copenhagen. It took us seven hours and a never ending drive across the 8km long Øresund bridge to finally see the iconic Turning Torso of Malmö.

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                    We had lunch and started to drive around the city for a bit, without spending too much time. It was already quite late and we planned to stay in the tent for the first night, so finding a nice spot to set up the tent was the first priority. Malmö seemed to be rather less interesting anyway and leaving it behind was not hard.

                    Shortly after we left the city and headed into the country side, I spotted a path leading towards the sea in an inhabited area. We parked the car to check it out and left our big luggage in the trunk to avoid carrying it back again in case the spot wouldn't suit us. However, it turned out to be just great, as we discovered an old bunker close to the water on a wide open space of grass - the perfect location to set camp!

                    The sun was already setting when I finished and it was now time to make a fire for our dinner. I spent the following 30 minutes trying to achieve this task and all I could get was some light bursts with a lot of smoke... back to the drawing board or reading my outdoor book in this case :-) We ended up having lunch prepared in my camping cooker, as the branches were just a bit too wet and soon made ourselves at home in my one person tent for a good night's sleep.

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                    A growling MOOO sound woke me up at 6AM and we found ourselves surrounded by at least 15 cows, enjoying their breakfast grass around our tent. Curious and scared as they are, we had our fun with our unexpected visitors before leaving our first wild camping spot again - off to an interesting start! :-)

                    We headed up north to Gothenburg, parked our car in the center and started to walk around in the unpleasant rain. The first attraction we stumbled upon was the four-masted "Viking" ship, which anchored in the harbor and was very nice to look at. The Bohus Fortress was closed unfortunately and the rest of the rainy city did not really keep us any longer.

                    Leaving the city, it was time to find the next spot to sleep and it took us quite a while to do so this time. Driving from village to village on our way north east to the Vänern lake, we found ourselves in a race against time in order to make camp before night fall. We just couldn't find a suitable spot away from private houses this time!

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                    I kept looking out for good spots and eventually, somewhere near Trollhättan, discovered a boulder field next to a small stretch of grass and tree's on the outskirts of a village. We enjoyed a nice sunset from there before it started to rain once more. Julia was sick of it and decided to sleep in the car.

                    The rain became stronger and stronger, but I did not want to sleep in the car as I'm a lot taller than her and I just can't sleep well in cars in general. So I decided to set up the tent in the pouring rain, while more and more water was coming down from the now blackened sky. I told myself that I will eventually get into this situation again without a nearby car and decided to stick to my plan.

                    Having set up the tent, it took me another ten minutes to get rid of all the water inside. It was an unpleasant and sweaty situation at first and only after the tent was dry, I could finally relax and enjoy the sound of raindrops splashing against the tent. Listening to it always helps me to calm down and I could finally sleep.

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                    Julia had a good night's sleep in the car and we headed off to our next destination for a bit of hiking: Kinnekulle. It was still rainy while we drove on the narrow county side roads, but the mist in the air made up for some very atmospheric pictures this time as we passed several churches. We came across some typical old Swedish red wooden houses before reaching a camping spot directly at the Vänern, Sweden's largest lake.

                    The spot looked very good and we decided to come back in the evening to have some nice food and a shower after our hike. Kinnekulleleden was just a short drive away from here as well and we were unlucky with the weather as we reached the starting point of the 46km trek. The atmosphere was quiet nice, but the visibility horrible and we decided to head back to the car to set up the tent after we reached a big observation tower.

                    After days of rain, we were finally blessed with some sunshine while we continued our journey to the north east. Julia wanted to check out the university in Uppsala, one of the possible places for her to study in the future. It was indeed a very nice one and the city also had a nice flair to it, certainly a good place to dig into studies! We headed down south to finally reach our destination for the next few days: Stockholm.

                    Spoiler: 








                    Stockholm is an amazing city. Surrounded by the water of lake Mälaren and situated on 14 islands, it contains a lot of beautiful architecture, great museums and as you might have heard before: Some very good looking blond human beings :-) However, we couldn't discover it all just yet, as we didn't know where to sleep when we arrived in the city around 5PM. The tourist information provided us with some good tips and suggested to stay at the Bredängcamping spot in the west of the city.

                    The first target on the next day was the Vasa museum. It is built around the 17th century warship Vasa, which sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. The museum is very interactive and set up up on different levels around the ship. As you make your way up, it offers a lot of very interesting illustrations and models to tell the tragic story of how it was possible that it sunk just 2km away from the harbor. It is still my favorite museum until now in March 2013!

                    Another highlight of the city is the zoo / open air museum combination called Skansen. You are able to see some old traditional Swedish houses as well as a lot of animals such as reindeers and the famous monk at the same time! Very interesting and definitely worth a visit after the Vasa museum as it is located on the same island, Djurgården.

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                    Our last day in Stockholm slowly came to an end and we finished it up by taking a boat from the public transportation system. We were driving towards the east part of the city and had some nice views on the harbor sites, I don't think that the actual tourist boats offer much better views, so consider taking public transportation for a few euros if you can live without the commentary.

                    We got off the boat at a different station and walked to the Kaknäs tower to have (an expensive) dinner in the 170m high TV tower. Some balloons made up for a nice view on the otherwise not so spectacular aerial view of Stockholm. It was already dark while we waited for the bus to take us home to our tent at the Bredängcamping spot and we were really exhausted from the last days of sightseeing in the city.

                    Spoiler: 






                    We left Stockholm on Friday, the 13th (Hoho) on the way back to Germany. One more night of wild camping was ahead of us and again, we needed to make sure to find a nice location. The way down south west turned out to be gorgeous at stages and while we made several stops to find a proper location, Julia could just not make friends with all the buzzing mosquitoes around us :-)

                    Arriving at a village, I started to ask the locals if they knew any good areas to set up the tent. One of them was eventually providing us with the ultimate insider location tip, as he described a hidden path into the forest. We had to remove some chains in order to open a gate, which lead to a private property to someone who has not been in Sweden for over ten years and it lead us to the most awesome location directly at the Bolmen lake.

                    We were completely alone at this remote spot of the lake and no other signs of human beings could be seen. There was even a tiny little spot of sandy beach! I set up the tent, actually made a fire this time and we just enjoyed our last night in the nature - certainly one of my finest wild camping spots as of now! Reach out for me if you are in the area and I will try to find the exact spot of it, I guess the landlord will not get back any time soon :-)

                    Spoiler: 






                    We left Sweden and stopped in Copenhagen again to see the Little Mermaid, which was actually moved to a exhibition in China... bad timing ;-) There were still a lot of tourists around the low resolution screen that replaced the actual statue. Next, we walked to the Kastellet - one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe according to Wikipedia. It's a cool place to see very close to the Mermaid and certainly worth a visit.

                    This rounds up my trip to Sweden from 2010! Definitely keen to come back, next time will be a complete different trip in the polar regions of the Lapland though :-) Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the video, I just need to add some subtitles since it's in German.

                    Spoiler: 


                    Kommentar


                      #11
                      Kleines Live Update aus Applecross, morgen gehts zur Isle of Skye in Schottland mit perfetem Wetter! :)

                      Bilder von der ersten Woche Schottland!

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                        #12
                        bist du reiseführer oder angelguide wenn ja in schottland gibts dicke pikes

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                          #13
                          trink nen talisker für mich ;)

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                            #14
                            einfach nur episch, so neidisch

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                              #15
                              @atom: Sorry aber ich hab kein Wort verstanden :D

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