No need for Safari, on Zanzibar the animals come visit you. Like the gangs of red colubuses, who made a big spectacle at Ebb & Flow Apartments in Paje several times: Or this blue monkey (or maybe Zanzibar Sykes’ monkey?) who came to Papaya Guesthouse in Nungwi to play with the local dog: The Sudan …
Author Archives: michael
Zanzibar Sun Dhowner [en]
I’m on my way home to Munich now, currently sitting at DAR and waiting for my flight. I’ve spent the past month in Zanzibar (specifically Unguja), but I’ve been too lazy to post about it. Let’s fix that… And let’s start with the sunset trip to the mangroves of Chwaka Bay, which I joined with …
Tanzania Safari [en]
Ok, I’ve posted way too much about Climbing Kilimanjaro recently. My next tourist activity was a Safari, but let’s make this one shorter and focus on the photos. Fun facts: Safari originally means voyage in Kiswahili. Simba means lion. Hakuna matata roughly means no worries. Being driven around in a vehicle all day and staring …
Climbing Kilimanjaro — Pole Pole [en]
You’ll hear “pole pole” a lot on a Kilimanjaro climb — and frankly anywhere in Tanzania. It means “slowly, slowly” in Kiswahili, but could be more loosely translated as “take it easy”, “relax”, or “don’t rush”. The latter is key to a successful Kilimanjaro climb. Especially, if you’re not super athletic and/or accustomed to high …
Small Money in Tanzania [en]
One thing that stands out here in Tanzania (yupp, I’m still here, greetings from Zanzibar!) is the huge wealth gap. Tourists can easily pay European prices at restaurants and hotels. Wealthy locals drive big SUVs and own generous houses (and other real estate). But many Tanzanians live in tremendously poor conditions, especially in rural areas. …
Usambara Mountains [en]
After two weeks, I’ve left Kigamboni behind (for now) and started to travel north-west. First stop: Usambara mountains. A friend recommended a good guide, Subira from Kigamboni-Eco-Cultural Tours. She is native to the Usambara region, and you can reach her via phone/WhatsApp at +255627944103 or via email at kigamboniecoculturaltours@gmail.com. Here’s some of our impressions… Bus …
Kite Kigamboni [en]
I’ve brought my kite equipment to Tanzania, so I can do some kiting over on Zanzibar in a couple of weeks. Originally I didn’t plan to kite on the mainland. But when visiting the beach in Kigamboni, I was happy to realize that it was somewhat windy. I didn’t see any other kiters or wind …
Africa! [en]
I’m gonna be in Tanzania for the next few weeks. This is my first time in Sub-Saharan Afrika. Let’s hope that I don’t turn into this mamafat guy. I’ve arrived almost 2 weeks ago and I’ve been staying with a friend in Kigamboni. That’s a suburb of Dar es Salaam, but separated from the city …
Fall of Civilizations [en]
A while ago, the YouTube algorithm suggested an episode of the Fall of Civilizations podcast. Not exactly sure why, because I rarely watch history topics online. (I do sometimes read up on history topics on Wikipedia, so maybe that’s why? Although I cannot see any obvious 3rd-party tracking code on Wikipedia.) Even more rarely do …
DIN vs Denkmalschutz [en]
The most German thing I’ve seen in a while: The stairs are closed, because the steps do not comply to the DIN standard.But they cannot be reconstructed, because they are under a preservation order. That’s almost as German as Stackenblochen, but probably more authentic.