It is early morning when we leave the campground and start driving north, towards Lake Malawi. When we reach Liwonde we look for some shade and have a look at our map. In concentration we are studying the map as to which route to take. South, to visit the mountain, North to the small lake just before Liwonde National Park or Lake Malawi. In my head I follow the different coloured lines on the paper before me.
The squaking of brakes pulls us out of our concentration. We both look over our schoulders towards the main road. Through the rows of trees we can just see a truck parked on the side of the road. It takes a few minutes before the smell of burned rubber reaches us at the restaurant. At that moment we know something is wrong. It is quiet, an eery silence hangs in the air when we reach the main road. A group of people has gathered on the side of the road and they stand very still, faces staring towards the asphalt. I approach them very slowly, but no one seems to notice me. Looking at the asphalt myself it tells me what has just happened. A middle aged man on a bicycle was hit and probably run over by the truck that is now parked on the side of the road. It wouldn’t have made a difference if there had been immediate help, as far as I can tell, it would have been too late anyway. A man in a grey uniform drapes a piece of fabric over the body with the help of some bystanders. A human life sometimes ends in seconds. It’s not something we are very familiar with, but this shakes us up very much. We both think back to a couple of weeks earlier when we witnessed another fatal road accident. We navigate around the main road and without talking about it we drive towards the lake where we find a nice spot at the beach. A few local guys are busy to get a trawl in on the shore line. They walk in a line and when they reach the end of the rope, they walk to the front again. It looks like a tough job and I can use the distraction. The men seem very pleased when I decide to join the rope pulling to get the heavy trawl out of the water. In the tent that night, the wind picks up so strongly that we decide to pack everything up in the middle of the night. We drive our car away from underneath the trees that sway dangerously, while dropping branches and fruits, and find shelter behind a building. We sleep in the car on the front and back seats the for remaining few hours. Very stiff from a bad night sleep and without having to pack anything up, we leave early. A small track leads us to Monkey Bay. Monkey Bay and Cape McClear are popular tourist destinations because of the unique bay that has a sunset over the lake.We find a beautiful campsite underneath a mango tree and swim with hundreds of tiny coloured fish called cichlids. In the evening we see small groups of men walking towards the lake where they scrub themselfves until they are almost white, from the soap obviously.
When we leave the Cape we run into a checkpoint very quickly. A young police officer stops us and sticks his head in through the car window. We talk a bit about nothing before he asks: “ and, what are you giving me? I can see you have 4 hats hanging in the car, you don’t need 4 hats, you can give me one.” I am taken a back by his straightforward approach and try to explain to him that we do need all those hats. I offer him a cigarette and after he tries to get a hat some more he gives up, takes another drag from his cigarette and lets us go. 24 September 2016I walk through the small alley of the village we just arrived in on my flimsy flipflops. In my pockets I have nothing more than a few kwachas. School has just finished and the children are hanging around the low school building and draw figures in the sand with their sticks. I kick the powdery black sand up with every step I take and I can see my feet turning the same colour very quickly. The further I walk, the more the houses are packed together and finally I walk into a tiny alley. It is clear that the residents have tried to create shade by putting pieces of colourful cloth and plastic in between the two rows of houses that flap loudly when the wind gets under them. It’s late in the afternoon and I’m looking for dinner ingredients. The houses, made of clay and home made bricks have little openings, where I can see their variety of goods. I take my time navigating slowly through the market until I reach a place where they sell vegetables. I buy a few tomatoes, a cabbage and some onions which they sell me for a Mzungu price (the Malawian word for white person). With everything loaded up in my backpack I easily find my way back to the place we are camping at.
Lake of Stars Festival
29 September 2016 It is early morning and we can see that it is getting busier along side the road. Little stalls, made out of bamboo are being built in quick succession next to each other. A long narrow beam blocks off the road. A lot of people squeeze past it, while others shout out instructions over the handheld devices. It is a day before the festival starts, but it is already very busy at the Chinteche Inn. We try to get our car on the festival itself, but that request is denied and we are only allowed on foot. Right behind each other we walk through the gate and immediately we can feel the festival vibe descending down upon us like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. After walking around for a bit, we find out where the central nerve system of the festival is located and before we know it we’re put to work and find ourselves behind one of the festival bars. For three days we enjoy the live bands and relaxed vibe, while also volunteering by selling the drink vouchers.
Lake of stars:
Lake of Stars Festival is an annual three-day international festival held on the shores of Lake Malawi, the third largest lake in Africa. The festival was started in 2004 and continues attracts over 3,000 attendees with musical acts from Africa some international known artists. The majority of Lake of Stars staff are volunteers and the majority of performers get little to no pay. Over $1.5 million is generated by the festival for the local economy.
It’s 5.30 in the morning when I pull down the zipper of the rooftop tent. A noisy, rattling sound follows, one of the main irritations of campers: tent zippers. It is a loud and unavoidable sound in the early morning. It is still dark and cold. I am wearing the same clothes as last night, and if I wouldn’t have had a down sleeping bag, I would’ve slept in them. Africa can be cold! In the evening it cools down from 30-40 degrees Celsius to about 5 degrees…We don’t speak to each other, in our routine we pack up the tent and throw the last things in the back of the car. The heater in the car blows hot air into the cabin. This seldom happens. I cannot remember the last time we had the heater on. We drive down a sandy drive way and onto the tar road. The car slowly heats up and our lights light up the road ahead. We are only one hour away from sunrise and on our way to the largest National Park in Namibia, Etosha. Just after sunrise we drive through the entrance of Etosha National Park. The tarmac disappears and we continue through sand and dust. Sand and dust is clearly the main soil here in Namibia. I’ve never tried to cover up all the cracks of car with tape before to prevent the dust from getting in. And also, I’ve never before wondered about the amount of dust cars can launch into the air by just driving. As the oncoming car, all you can do is wait until most of it has blown away. While I’m sitting in the car I get the feeling that something is looking at us. I slow down to get the chance to look around. Nothing….I turn my gaze back onto the road and speed up again. As soon as we’re back on our previous speed I get the same feeling again. I slow down again and look around. At that moment a large black rhino steps from the shadows of a fallen tree. My heart starts to beat faster and we are both leaning out of the car windows to get a good look at this magnificent animal: 2,5 tons of muscle, packed in a thick, almost impenetrable harness with a beautiful horn who waits for the temperatures to cool down in the shadow of a tree. That night we set up camp near one of waterholes. A large part of the evening we are hidden away near the waterhole and looking at all the different animals who tentatively stop by to have a drink after a hot day. I’m startled when a honey badger starts to make a racket just behind me while I was quietly watching the animals at the waterhole. The badger is not scared at all, but cautious nonetheless. He has four paws with large claws and it almost looks like they are too far from its body. It walks towards me when I point my head torch towards it. I jump sideways while it walks straight past me following a rocky track. It is a beautiful animal, black with a white belly. Their skin is very loose and when they are caught by a predator they are able to turn their bodies 360 degrees and counter attack. Their teeth are razor sharp and they have exceptional strength in their claws. The honey badger is the only animal who is resistant against snake poison. When it is bitten, it will simply go into a coma which it will get out of after a few hours.
My heart is beating so loudly that it must be heard. We’re lying in our rooftop tent on top of our Toyota Landcruiser. It is pitch black outside and since a couple of seconds it is completely silent as well. I am looking at the woman next to me who is now awake, she looks at me with her big blue eyes and brushes her long dark hair out of her sleepy face. I answer to her “what is going on” question is an unintelligible murmur, more to calm her down than that I actually have an answer. I stick my head underneath the sturdy and frozen canvas of the tent and stare into the darkness outside looking for a clue. Cold air brushes the side of the Toyota, the tent and my face. Vaguely, I smell burned sulphur and I notice that a load of micro-dust is being taken by the wind. It is dead quiet now, I can almost hear the dust descending on the car and I have to remind myself to breathe. Back in the tent she has managed to squeeze her long slim legs into her trousers and she’s putting on a sweater. It is clear that she has no intention to go back to sleep any time soon. A couple of days ago we started driving a 4wd route through the Aladaglar Mountains in Turkey. The Aladaglar Mountains are part of the Taurus Mountain Range that lies in the provinces Kayseri, Nigde and Adana in the Central Anatolia Region south-east of the more known Cappadocia. The Aladaglar Mountains are sometimes called the Anti-Taurus Mountains and have a surface of 545 square meter. We arrived early in the season and the park hadn’t officially opened yet when we drove through. Cold drizzly days are behind us, but the bright sun warmed up our vehicle earlier today. This area is known for its large differences in temperature, during the day it can get up to 30 degrees Celsius while it freezes at night and on the highest altitudes in the park the snow will stay all year round. We followed a route that led us to the highest peak of the Aladaglar: The Demirkazik with a height of 3756 meters. Tracks through the snow gave us the reinsurance that another car had followed this path recently. We plodded on until we reached a recently descended avalanche with haphazard pine trees poking out of it that covered the entire road ahead of us. We turned the vehicle around and found a beautiful camping spot just on the border of where the snow had started, but behind some rocks which still protected us against the elements.It is now very cold with bright stars against the dark sky. In the meantime, I have also put on all my clothes and wrapped in a thick down jacket I have just climbed down the narrow stairs of our rooftop tent and wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.A couple of minutes ago we were roughly woken up by a dull explosion close to our camping spot and I have decided to have a look outside. Slowly, I follow the tracks of our car around the large rock formation which we are camping behind, back to where we turned the car earlier. Besides a few rock climbers here and there, Aladaglar doesn’t get a lot of visitors, especially not in this season. There are some shepherd and nomads living in the vallies, but that is about it. Hidden behind some rocks I can now see what is going on. A group of young men with an old car and head torches are carrying pick-axes and shovels up the narrow paths. The receding snow and good weather the past few days attracted a small group of local gold diggers who illegally, by the light of their torches and the moon, try their luck to find some gold at night in this mineral-rich area.
In March 2017 we crossed the border between Sudan and Egypt. Although we surely had border crossings that took us longer to cross or were more unpleasant, we definitely categorize this crossing as one of the more complex ones on this journey. What makes it so difficult compared to all our previous border crossings are the different steps in the process. All those steps can come across as very unorganized and complex which they definitely are! Without the help and assistance of Overland Travelers who went before us this border crossing would have been a total nightmare. We used the information from http://myoverlandadventure.com/sudan-wadi-halfa-egypt-abu-simbel-qustul-border-crossing/ for this border crossing, but some steps/prices have changed over the past year, so here is an updated version on going South to North, including getting your Egyptian Visa on the border. Sudan BorderCosts:200 SDP Processing fees (50 pp + 100 for 1 car)160 SDP Government fee (80 pp)110 SDP Customs50 SDP Mazar (Fixer, used only to get the carnet stamped)Total: 520 SDP = 30 USD(SDP to USD Black Market rate at the time: 1USD – 17.5 SDP) The border gate opened around 9.00 am. We parked next to the Cafetaria and waited for the Immigration office to open. When we entered the building it is not really clear which counter does what, just start with the first one and let them show you which one is next.At the police office we did NOT have to pay anything, also we did NOT have to pay anything for the photocopies. Make sure they photocopy the following three times (1 for the police, 1 for customs and 1 for the Egyptian customs) :drivers passportdriving licensecarnet / carnet stampvehicle registrationCustoms document given to you when entering Sudan Customs:We used Mazar to get our Carnet stamped. (He said we could pay him whatever we wanted) We gave him all the documents while we had something to eat at the cafetaria. They checked our Chassis Nr, but did not inspect the inside of our cars. We drove out without any problems after this. Egypt BorderCosts:187 EGP Gate fee60 EGP health fee (30 pp)110 EGP Car check by Customs525 EGP Customs (Carnet Stamp)60 EGP license plates180 EGP insurance (1 month)10 EGP copies150 EGP ferry to Abu SimbelTotal: 1282 EGP = 71 USDWe got our visas for Egypt at the border: 25 USD visa pp 1. Gate fee and health fee:If you don’t have EGP they will allow you into the gate on foot to change money. Pay your gate fee, fill out the health card, pay the health fee and go through the gate. 2. Customs car check:We walked inside the x-ray building and walked into an office behind the X-ray machine to ask someone to check the car. They walked with us and checked the car, without having to get anything out. Just open everything and show them the things they want to have opened.If one of you want to go ahead to Immigration, just be aware that they will not let you through carrying bags (they should go though the X-Ray machine, but since there is usually a line, just take your passports/money in your pocket and go ahead). 3. Visas & Immigration:Getting your visa at the border:Go to the bank where you changed you money earlier (or do it at the same time, we just did not know this at the time) and pay for your visa. They will give you the visa sticker that goes into your passport.Immigration: Go to the Immigration office and fill in the entry form. Give it back to the officer together with your sticker and wait for them to process it. We got a visa for one month. TIP: There are two lines at immigration, male and female. The male one is usually very long, while the female one is way shorter. To all women: get both passports, stand in line, let your partner stand somewhere in sight and call him over when the immigration officers want to see him to check his passport photo. Since we were the only foreigners they gave us back our passports personally. (with the local people they will just hand out 25 passports at once by calling their names one by one). 4. Customs – Carnet de Passage:Hand in:Copies of passport, carnet, vehicle registration and driving license.CarnetDriver’s PassportThey will allow you to be in the country as long as your visa is valid for. If you buy your visa at the border, you get a standard 1 month (you can extend this), but they will also give you just 1 month for your car (also when you tell them you will extend your visa….).>>>>>>> Drive around the building <<<<<<< 5. License Plates:There is a photocopy office next to the License plate office.Make photocopies of:- Passport- Carnet- Vehicle registration- Driving license- Arabic form completed by customs- InsuranceHe will put everything in a folder which you take to the license plate office next door. The guy at the license plate office did not accept our Comesa nor our friend’s Alessie insurance for Africa. They would not issue us license plates without Egyptian insurance. The insurance office is across from the License Plate office. Make two copies of your insurance, one for the insurance guy and one for the license plate office. The guys in the office will then fill out all the forms, they keep the original insurance form (??) and give you the license plates. We made sure we made copies of the insurance form to take ourselves, but it just proves how much bullshit the insurance is….Attach the plates and go 🙂
Ferry:There are two ferries, leaving from two places close to each other. If you drive down the road to the ferry, all the way to end, there is a fork in the road. To the right is where the big ferry leaves, to the left is where the small ferry leaves. We took the small ferry as someone directed us to go there. Abu Simbel:Since the whole border crossing will certainly take you all day it is no more than logical than to spend the night at Abu Simbel. Also, you will not want to miss out of the Temple! Go there before 8.00 am at least, before all the tourist busses arrive from Aswan. We stayed at Eskaleh Hotel where they allowed to camp on the premises for 15 USD per night. There is no convoy any more from Abu Simbel to Aswan, but they will not allow you to drive to Aswan after 4pm.
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Healthy bread
You will need:
500g malted grain brown bread or wholemeal flour
350 ml lukewarm water
7g sachet of dried yeast
1½ tsp of salt
1 tsp vegetable oil or butter
Handful of additional ingredients like: mixed seed, linseed, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, raisins, or simply use muesli mix.
How to:
Mix the flour, the yeast and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in the additional ingredients if you want to use them. Make a dip in the centre of the flour and pour in almost 300ml of the lukewarm water. Now start working the dough. Mix in the remaining water if needed, until the mixture comes together as a soft, not too sticky, dough. Gather it into a ball with your hands. Knead for some minutes until it feels smooth and elastic, only adding the minimum of extra flour if necessary to prevent the dough from sticking.
Now, put the ball of dough back in the bowl or pan that you were using. Cover with a lid or a lightly wetted warm towel and leave for 20 to 45 mins until it is doubled in size. Timing will depend on the warmth of the surrounding environment.
Knead just 3-4 times to knock out any large air bubbles. Shape into a ball, and leave it on the side so you can fully grease the pan or loaf tin. Put the ball in the middle of the greased pan. Place the pan above (not directly above) gentle, evenly spread hot coals. Now put a few hot coals on the lid, also evenly spread. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes. Check that it does not burn. Done? You know so if you tap the bottom of the bread. It should be firm and sound hollow. Let it cool down wrapped in a dry towel.
Time:
Preparation: 15 Min
Dough rising: 20 – 45 Min
Bake: 30 – 45 Min
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Popcorn
You will need:
3-4 spoons of oil sunflower, coconut or peanut oil
1/4 cup popcorn kernels
large pot with lid
Suggested toppings:
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Spices like cumin, chili powder or others.
How to:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Use enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan, so adjust the amount according to the size of your pot. You can test your oil temperature by tossing in a few kernels and covering the pot. Once they pop, you’ll know your oil is hot enough to add the rest.
Add the rest of the popcorn in an even layer across the bottom of your pot.
Remove the pot from the heat source for 20 seconds to allow all of the kernels to come to the same temperature. Once 20 seconds have passed, return the pot to the heat and cover. Once the kernels are really popping, carefully move the pot back and forth across the burner to keep the kernels inside moving, so they don’t burn.
When the popping slows down and there are longer pauses between pops, remove the popcorn from the heat source and immediately transfer to a large bowl. If you leave it in the pot, it will burn. Add topping of your choice and serve while still hot.
Time:
10 minutes
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What do we use:
For both of these recipes we’re using a cast iron pan. The lid of this pan can also be used for baking bread as the ridged edges mean the coals won’t fall off, cooking the bread evenly.
To place the pan above the coals we are using a small steel tripod.
Not cooking above the fire? When we’re not cooking above the fire we’re using a MSR dragonfly. When using a MSR Dragonfly we advice you to use a MSR Dragonfly aftermarket silencing cap.
Menstruation is one of the most common and uniquely female experiences. Unfortunately, the reality is that around the world millions of girls and women struggle to manage their monthly periods. Unable to afford or access proper menstrual products, many girls and women rely on crude, improvised materials like scraps of old clothing, pieces of foam mattress, toilet paper, leaves, and banana fibers to manage their menstruation – all of which are unhygienic, ineffective, and uncomfortable. Faced with frequent, embarrassing leaks and a susceptibility to recurrent infections, the impact is that many girls and women experience their monthly period as something that prevents them from engaging in daily life – whether this is going to school or work, or carrying out their normal domestic responsibilities.
1 Out of 10 African schoolgirls skip school or drop out of school entirely due to a lack of menstrual products and poor access to proper sanitation, according to UNICEF. This critical unavailability of sanitary products in developing countries is a major barrier to education for girls of school-going age. The inability to effectively manage menstruation contributes to absences of up to 4-5 school days each month, equating to as much as 20% of the academic year intentionally skipped, simply due to menstruation. Eventually many of these girls drop out of school entirely, increasing their likelihood of teen pregnancy health complications and early marriage, and further limiting their future career and economic opportunities.
MilesAlongTheSea: During our travel through the more remote parts of Africa we came across a lot of, in our eyes, “small solvable problems, but unsolved” that would make a huge difference in daily lives. In Northern Namibia, Koakaland we got to meet and worked with over a 100 young school-going girls. Although the topic might be a little taboo to talk about, the problems are real. When we were in Uganda we visited AFRIpads; a social business that locally manufactures and globally supplies cost-effective, reusable menstrual pads. When we got the opportunity from AFRIpads to work together and change some lives we took it with both hands. Coming from Uganda, crossing Kenya in Ethiopia the first real opportunity came up: Tim & Kim Village in Gorgora, Ethiopia.
Tim & Kim Village is a social enterprise with the aim to help the local population in and around Gorgora. The village of Gorgora is a little off the beaten track and facing many challenges. Clean drinking water is hardly available, just like school materials, medical supplies and education could be improved.
MilesAlongTheSea, AFRIpads and Kim&Tim Village combined powers en set up a get together, which in Ethiopia goes hand in hand with a coffee ceremony: 3 strong well prepared espressos, made above a coal fire and sipped from a small cup, where we invited all the young local ladies to participate. With the help of Mebratu, a local, translator and active advocate for raising awareness for STD’s, HIV and the use of condoms, we started the demonstration. Helga explained how to use the AFRIpads with the help of the hand outs and booklets that AFRIpads provided. After the demonstration, the girls got the chance to feel the pads and ask questions if they wanted to. We hope this small support will help the women and girls break the barriers that menstruation creates in their lives and to helping them rise to their full potential. http://afripads.comhttp://www.timkimvillage.com
Just after sunrise we drive through the entrance of Etosha National Park. The tarmac disappears and we continue through sand and dust. Sand and dust is clearly the main soil here in Namibia. I’ve never tried to cover up all the cracks of car with tape before to prevent the dust from getting in. And also, I’ve never before wondered about the amount of dust cars can launch into the air by just driving. As the oncoming car, all you can do is wait until most of it has blown away. 
While I’m sitting in the car I get the feeling that something is looking at us. I slow down to get the chance to look around. Nothing….I turn my gaze back onto the road and speed up again. As soon as we’re back on our previous speed I get the same feeling again. I slow down again and look around. At that moment a large black rhino steps from the shadows of a fallen tree. My heart starts to beat faster and we are both leaning out of the car windows to get a good look at this magnificent animal: 2,5 tons of muscle, packed in a thick, almost impenetrable harness with a beautiful horn who waits for the temperatures to cool down in the shadow of a tree. That night we set up camp near one of waterholes. A large part of the evening we are hidden away near the waterhole and looking at all the different animals who tentatively stop by to have a drink after a hot day. I’m startled when a honey badger starts to make a racket just behind me while I was quietly watching the animals at the waterhole. The badger is not scared at all, but cautious nonetheless. He has four paws with large claws and it almost looks like they are too far from its body. It walks towards me when I point my head torch towards it. I jump sideways while it walks straight past me following a rocky track. It is a beautiful animal, black with a white belly. Their skin is very loose and when they are caught by a predator they are able to turn their bodies 360 degrees and counter attack. Their teeth are razor sharp and they have exceptional strength in their claws. The honey badger is the only animal who is resistant against snake poison. When it is bitten, it will simply go into a coma which it will get out of after a few hours. 
