I hadn’t been to Madrid before and the city has always been a mystery to me. How could one of the most notorious maritime empires have been governed from a landlocked place like this? The geographic location seemed unappealing — no harbor, no impressive mount-range serving as backdrop, not even a noteworthy river flowing through. …
Category Archives: Travel
Iberia Impressions: Euskal Herria (Basque Country) [en]
After visiting Biarritz on the French side of Basque Country, I finally arrived in Spain and on the Iberian peninsula. Donostia (San Sebastian) First stop was in Donostia, a city famous for it’s surf beaches, like Zurriola. It’s located by a river mouth and two bays. In the middle, there’s a small hill raising from …
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Iberia Impressions: In Transit through France [en]
I’ve already written way too much about my recent Interrail surf-trip to Spain and Portugal. So this time let my just dump some photos from the places that I came through. Let’s start with my journey through France… Paris Two days stop-over. Always liked La Defense and the modern stuff (we don’t have much of …
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The Gotchas of Railroad-Safety [en]
They say trains are one of the safest modes of transportation. And while I can think of several horrific train crashes in the past, I generally believe it’s true. But now I’m wondering about all the small things that could go wrong? How common are they? On my last surf-trip, I witnessed this small incident …
Interrail — was it worth it? [en]
I wanted to avoid flying during my surf-trip to Iberia, so I only used trains and buses instead. My trip took me from my home in Germany through France, Spain, Portugal, and back. Altogether this went really well. I was impressed by the punctuality and comfort of French TGVs and Spanish Renfe long-distance trains. In …
Iberia Surf Diary [en]
With a short stopover in France, I’ve been traveling through Spain and Portugal from mid-September to late October. Main objective was to get to know surf-spots along the Atlantic coast and surf as much as possible. Here I’ve collected my surfing experiences. Mostly to learn from it for future endeavors. E.g. what spots and what …
Zanzibar Kite & Surf [en]
The plan for the second half of my Tanzania trip was to go to Zanzibar and do some kite surfing and surfing. Or, let me be less ambiguous and use the more unwieldy term “wave surfing” for the latter. I had almost a month of time for getting as much as possible of both. In …
Zanzibar Pets [en]
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 …
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 …