September 15, 2004
The end of a long journey
RSA July 1984 It was nearly five in the morning and I longed for a cell to sleep in. I managed to convince the chief that I was dead tired and was finally taken to a room upstairs. I had...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:28 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 13, 2004
A night at the precinct
RSA July 1984 After about a week in Jo'burg I felt alright and ready to continue. It was difficult to find a spot to hitchhike, the highways leading out of town were dangerous....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:24 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 12, 2004
Dying of Embarrassment
RSA July 1984 This is perhaps the closest I have come to spending a night in hell. The story is written from memory (my mother never got to know about it) so my recall of the exact locations, names and...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 06:22 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 11, 2004
Scout Camp
Botswana, July 1984 Lusaka was expensive and I soon hit the road again, heading via the Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe (you guessed it, the notes are lost) into Botswana. Hitchiking wasn't easy here as most vehicles were full to...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:20 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 09, 2004
Visiting a Friend
Zambia, July 1984 The journey into the heart of Zambia was completed in another train which waited for us a short way from the border. I shared a compartment with three cheerful Zambians and a man from Zaïre. One of...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 04:17 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 08, 2004
TAZARA
TAZARA, July 1984 A brief, firm handshake, a heart-felt goodbye and I left Hamed and friends behind. Yet again I experienced this weird turmoil of emotions--choking yet prickly anticipatory--I get when leaving a place and embarking on a new adventure....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:14 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
Winding up Business in Dar
Tanzania, July 1984 We landed directly on the beach at Bagamoyo. Perhaps the ship was operated by smugglers. In the past Bagamoyo, roughly translated as "here I leave my heart behind", was a harbour from where the Arabs shipped slaves...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 02:12 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 06, 2004
Paradise Island
Zanzibar, June 1984 Riek and I took a bus to explore the interior of the island. We trundled past coconut groves, banana plantations and green fields of yams, manioc and sugar cane. Big breadfruit trees grew by the roadside....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:09 PM |
Read Comments (0)
September 05, 2004
Id al-Fitr on the Spice Island
Tanzania, June 1984 The Indian owner of the ship was a scoundrel who had hopelessly overloaded the vessel. At least he too had been on board. He refunded the price of the tickets and hopefully resolved to be a better...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 11:05 AM |
Read Comments (0)
September 02, 2004
Peril at Sea
(a shorter, edited version of this has appeared as a Boots story) Tanzania, June 1984 I awoke to the gentle flapping of my tent plane and the rolling of waves on the beach. Still groggy I crawled out onto the...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 10:58 AM |
Read Comments (0)
September 01, 2004
Shifty types
Tanzania, June 1984 I had been trying to get a ship to Zanzibar for three days and still not managed to secure a ticket. For the third time in as many days I walked to the Zanzibar Shipping Company, a...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 11:55 PM |
Read Comments (0)
Running into my teacher
Tanzania, June 1984 Dar es Salaam sprawled endlessly, dirty and flat. I walked the streets until dawn without finding a place to stay. Eventually, I reached the city centre and walked around a corner where I collided with a young...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 11:07 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 31, 2004
Third class travel to Dar
Tanzania, June 1984 Dodoma is Tanzania's wine country. Here the sickly red wine which is served in every bar in Tanzania is produced. That morning on the market I tried the tiny blue grapes and found to my surprise that...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:02 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 29, 2004
Elephant encounter
Tanzania, June 1984 In the area around the Ngorongoro Crater we once again encountered Massai herding their cattle. Suddenly the cars left the road and Knut, the Danish driver, told me that the geologists wanted to take a look at...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:02 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 28, 2004
The "get-away"
Tanzania, June 1984 The landrover destined for Arusha had not arrived but a white VW van was parked at the entrance so I asked the driver where he was going. "Ngorongoro Crater," he said: "but the landrover to Arusha is...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:57 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 26, 2004
Under arrest (again)
Tanzania, June 1984 I went back to the Tourism Office to pay my outstanding park fees and hostel bill, cursing that the money would have been more use for a trip to Kigoma. I returned to the hostel for a...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 04:55 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 23, 2004
Buffalo encounter
Tanzania, June 1984 I was smoking a pipe at the bar in the lodge, concentrating on my Swahili phrase book and occassionally looking out over the plain beneath where a group of baboons and a few warthogs had gathered by...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:52 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 22, 2004
Night-drive through the Serengeti
Tanzania 1984 We had undertaken the long drive to Mwanza to collect spare parts for the park's fleet of jeeps and landrovers. The transaction had been supervised by a Swiss woman who was living on an island in Lake Victoria....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 07:50 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 21, 2004
The big migration
Tanzania 1984 Two days later I had an excuse to re-visit A to return a pair of sandals he had lent me to allow my feet to heal. I waited for three quarters of an hour before he finally rose...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:47 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 20, 2004
Into the Serengeti
Tanzania 1984 It seemed to grow even colder. I began to wish that I had packed a whoolen sweater or a thick coat. The hills were shrouded in a thick mist and the long grass was clammy and wet. I...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 12:44 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 19, 2004
Ngorongoro's wild nightlife
Tanzania 1984 It was late. The damp cold outside had kept me in the lodge longer than intended. The nice receptionist who had mentioned a cheap room that morning wasn't there and while his colleague invited me for a cup...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 07:40 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 18, 2004
The greatest Zoo on Earth
Tanzania 1984 We drove down into what is in effect the biggest zoo on Earth. From the top of the crater there was no sign of the extraordinary wildlife in the pan below. We drove down steep slopes, past primordial...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 04:38 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 17, 2004
Sneaking a Safari
Tanzania 1984 Arusha -- from one large and dirty town I had come to another. I did not intend to stay long. When we asked for a room at the YMCA I noticed that Tanzania was expensive, even when paying...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:36 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 16, 2004
Cross-country Rally
Kenya 1984 After a week in Nairobi it was time to leave -- before I forgot what continent I was supposed to be in. I was drawn to the sea. At first I had wanted to avoid the tourist resort...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 12:33 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 15, 2004
Chewing the cud
Kenya 1984 The border crossing into Kenya was entirely without incident. That is worth a remark. The train from Kampala crossed the equator early in the morning. Judging from the view, I found that hard to believe. We were rattling...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:02 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 14, 2004
First Class
Uganda, 1984 There was a station in Kasese. The town was well developed with paved roads, electricity and a daily train to Kampala scheduled for four in the afternoon. I had 610 Ugandan shillings and hoped to get a...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 06:06 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 12, 2004
The King of Gruff
Uganda, 1984 I found a cheap room in a Somali-run hostel and met fellow travellers: two black Amerikans who I had met briefly in Bangui and a Sudanese man who immediately offered me tea. But although I spoke to...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 07:02 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 11, 2004
100 km trek (3) - The Ruwenzori mountains
Zaïre 1984 I awoke at dawn to the rustling of two rats running across the beams above my head. One nearly fell but caught itself -- just. I was up to an early start to cover as much distance as...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:58 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 10, 2004
100 km trek (2) - the enchanted stream
Zaïre, 1984 I spent the night on the floor of the hut, rolled into my tent. There was just about room. When I woke up the first rays of the sun had just begun to filter through the roof. Through...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 02:55 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 09, 2004
The 100 km trek (1) - the gold-digger camp
Zaïre, 1984 The quickest and easiest to the Ugandan border was via Beni where I hoped to meet Sophie and Roland again or else find another lift in direction Kenya. I left the house of the good doctors in Mambasa...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:50 PM |
Read Comments (0)
August 08, 2004
Giant snails and giant grubs in Kisangani (notes)
Zaïre, 1984 Notes from 10 days in Kisangani: On the Market I bought two giant land snails ("more protein in each than a steak!"), declined the offer of a wriggling grub the size of my forearm and found a kind...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 10:43 PM |
Read Comments (0)
Into Zaïre
Zaïre 1984 For once there was no hassle with emigration. A cop pointed the way to the river where a few dug-outs bobbed in the water. Next to them, some men were sitting drinking beer under a couple of straw...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 09:44 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 29, 2004
A Narrow Escape
There was no mentionof the following story in the typed-up journal and I am pretty certain that I never told my mother about it. Siggi was real enough but I have no idea where we split. I know for a...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 06:24 PM |
Read Comments (0)
Bangassou
RCA, March 1984 At least my luggage problems were solved, the rucksack was now about the right weight and there was ample room for all my stuff....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:22 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 27, 2004
Bangui-Boubari rip-off?
RCA, March 1984 My backpack was still too heavy when Siggi and I finally left Bangui on the 9th of April. We headed out to a checkpoint at the outskirts where every vehicle had to stop. A small settlement...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:19 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 25, 2004
A Nest of Thieves
RCA, Febuary1984 Central Bangui had the feel of a small French provincial town with a roundabout in the middle. We were diving around it, somewhat confused as to what direction to take, when a whistle shrilled. Startled, we stopped...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 02:14 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 23, 2004
The End of the Road - going solo
RCA, March 1984 That evening the sky was covered with leaden clouds and there was an ominous grumbling in the distance. "We are going to get rain," I said to Reinhold. "That is impossible," he said: "it might look...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:11 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 19, 2004
The Valley of Eden
--Not the story I have published on BootsNall earlier, that was written from memory. This is taken from my recently recovered notes: Central African Republic, March 1984 Later that day we came to a large village but there was no...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 12:06 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 18, 2004
Stalking hippos
Central African Republic, Febuary1984 We drove into the night. Our headlights fingered across shrubs and gnarled tree stumps which formed ghostly shadows in the dark. The air was still and oppressive, as if we were already in the jungle....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:48 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 17, 2004
How not to cross a border (1)
Central African Republic, Febuary1984 We travelled across the hot dusty savannah of the Western Sudan, following the railway from Kosti through El Obeid to Nyala and Oum Dafog at the border to the Cetral African Republic. We did not...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:00 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 16, 2004
The quest for the camel market of Omdurman
Khartoum, January1984 On the day of our planned departure, the sky over Dongola was grey and the streets were hazy. A sandstorm was blowing a dusty mist from the desert. Siggi refused to drive in these conditions. Gerd stopped...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:06 PM |
Read Comments (0)
July 01, 2004
Under "Arrest"
Sudan 1984 On that day we set a new distance record of three kilometres. We arrived at a large village with a police station where we would have to register according to the law, a custom which has its...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 08:59 PM |
Read Comments (0)
June 29, 2004
Camels and Scorpions
Sudan 1984 Next day, we delegated four people to go and check out the area while the rest of the group boiled up hundreds of litres of water. We wallowed in soap and water, soaking everything: the lorry, our...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 12:09 AM |
Read Comments (0)
June 28, 2004
Desert Crossing (Part 2)
Egypt, New Year's Eve 1983 Here in the desert I often felt at one with nature -- when not engaged in the quarrels and bickering that increasingly took hold among the group, all day and often into the night. On...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 12:18 AM |
Read Comments (0)
June 27, 2004
Desert Crossing (Part 1)
Egypt, Christmas 1983 In a quiet bend about 20 km from el Kharga, we left the road and our big lorry started to grind through the sand like a caterpillar truck. The others made considerably faster progress -- the jeeps...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 03:34 PM |
Read Comments (0)
June 26, 2004
Preparations for the Desert
Egypt 1983 I had my work cut out with washing, cleaning and cooking. After doing the chores, I spent an uneventful day on the campsite, writing and continuing with the endless reparirs on my trousers which I had been patching...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 04:12 PM |
Read Comments (0)
June 24, 2004
The Birthday of the Prophet
Egypt 1983 The sun was setting by the time we approached Asswan. The broad band of the Nile streched before us once more. Feluccas with white triangular sails were cruising on the river. I the middle was the beautifully illuminated...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 01:30 PM |
Read Comments (0)
June 23, 2004
Between the Desert and the Deep Blue Sea
Egypt 1983 After four days in Cairo and a fleeting visit to the pyramids where we failed to penetrate the throng of touts, faux-guides and camel pedlars holding our truck under siege, we turned towards the Red Sea. The...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 05:24 PM |
Read Comments (0)
Cairo Culture Shock
Egypt 1983 An innocent abroad... We drove through the outskirts of Cairo looking for somewhere to stay. The road was a dirt-track of compacted clay running along a muddy stream with piles of rubbish scattered alongside. We had to watch...Read this update
Posted by Denni at 06:58 AM |
Read Comments (0)
June 22, 2004
Postcards from the Road
01/12/1983 Munich: After a freezing afternoon's drive in our (open-top) lorry, we arrived in Aschaffenburg with a two hour delay to find the hostel-warden away on a pub crawl and the door firmly locked. So we continued on to Munich....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 07:35 PM |
Read Comments (0)
June 21, 2004
The African Journal
On this day twenty years ago, I ran into one of my future teachers in Dar-es-Salam. This was during my first big journey, from Cairo to Capetown....Read this update
Posted by Denni at 07:54 PM |
Read Comments (0)