Four weeks, four countries, and countless unforgettable experiences. My journey through Eastern Africa, one of the poorest regions of the world, was nothing short of an adventure. From the bustling streets of one city to the serene landscapes of another, I immersed myself in the vibrant cultures and diverse communities of this incredible continent. Join me as I take you on a journey through the heart of Africa.
After 20 hours and several flights from Hamburg to Amsterdam to Nairobi to Victoria Falls, one my best friends, Dennis, and I finally arrived in Zimbabwe, where our trip through eastern Africa started. We didn’t even leave the security area of the airport and we were already in the middle of our first adventure. “Hello, sir. Your visa is not valid. You have to pay again, otherwise, you’ll have to go back to the plane and leave Zimbabwe!” Well, after a couple of minutes of discussing, the 50 bucks went straight into the pocket of the Immigration Officer. After we left the security area, we complained about it at the service desk. 90 minutes later, some people led us back into the security area to clarify the situation. We had to take off our shoes at the security check but kept our bags – safety first! After that, we found ourselves in a hidden room in the security area of the Victoria Falls Airport, together with a bunch of immigration officers. Never mind, we didn’t get the money back, but the whole situation was quite worth 50 bucks, to be honest.
So, we finally entered Zimbabwe and went straight to our hotel for the first night. We were glad that the organization we booked our tour with for the upcoming three weeks offered us a free pre-night. Thanks for that! Nothing was booked, and we had to pay for ourselves, but at least they had a room for us. By the way, Zimbabwe is known for its natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. With a population of over 14 million people, it’s home to a diverse array of ethnic groups and languages. The country’s economy is largely driven by agriculture, mining, and tourism, with attractions like Victoria Falls and the Great Zimbabwe ruins drawing visitors from around the world.
Did I say Victoria Falls? On our Day 1, we went straight to this extraordinary natural wonder formed by the mighty Zambezi River. The falls are considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and are known for their incredible size and beauty. The falls stretch for over 1.7 kilometers and reach a height of over 100 meters. The spray from the falls can be seen from miles away, and the sound of the water crashing down is truly awe-inspiring.
On Day 2, we walked around the Victoria Falls area and made our way to the Victoria Falls Bridge. The bridge serves as a link between Zimbabwe and Zambia, as the Victoria Falls are the border between these two countries. The bridge is also famous for bungee jumping. I struggled with myself for about 1.5 hours, deciding whether or not to take the leap. I really wanted to do it, but I was also scared of the possibility of dying. Today, I am super proud that I overcame my fear and took the jump. From the moment I made the decision to the moment of the jump, I became less nervous, especially because of the guy who prepared me. He made me feel safe and reassured me that he knew what he was doing. 5,4,3,2,1… Go! 112 meters of freefall! It was a breathtaking experience to jump from a bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe with an incredible view of the Victoria Falls gorge, and something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
In the evening, we met the group of people we were going to spend the next 21 days with. People from all over the world had come together to do this trip through Africa: Aussies, Norwegians, Germans, Canadians, Irish people, and some from the United States! As we were about to camp most of the time, we received some instructions about the tent and about our Lando, the truck we were going to drive with.
Day 3 started at 5:30 am. We prepared our breakfast, took down the tent, and got ready to start the drive. After a few minutes of driving, we reached the border to Zambia: the next stamp in our passports! On that day, we had a long drive through Zambia. The country is home to almost 20 million people and over 73 ethnic groups, each with their own unique culture and language. The economy of Zambia is largely driven by mining, particularly copper mining, which accounts for a significant portion of the country’s export revenue. As we drove through Zambia for hours, I realized my imagination of the country was totally wrong. I expected a flat, barren, and arid landscape, but in reality, it was all green, with many hills and mountains. Along with the natural beauty, we drove through many small to big villages. Hundreds of people gathered outside, walking next to the streets, trying to sell groceries. Once we stopped to buy some lunch, we had some communication issues with the grumpy cashier who didn’t understand that we wanted to pay by phone instead of the credit card itself, but we managed to make it work. It touched me a lot when we saw how happy she was to see that we paid by phone, and her mood directly changed as she mentioned that she had never seen something like that before! In the evening we arrived at our campsite near Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Before going to sleep we watched some Premier League Football (Arsenal vs. ManUnited) together with some locals in a bar.
As mentioned before, our camp was near Lusaka, which is known for terrible traffic jams in the morning. As we were supposed to drive for a long time on Day 4 as well, we had to be earlier than the other drivers. That fact woke us up at 3:15 am. It was massively raining while we had to take down the tent and put all the stuff into our Lando. At 5 am, we started the 15-hour drive to South Luangwa, but giraffes and zebras didn’t let us go as they covered the way out of the campsite. It was a long day, but the beautiful landscape was worth sitting inside the Lando for 15 hours. As people were walking on and next to the streets, walking is obviously the main form of mobility in Zambia. We arrived in South Luangwa in the northwest of Zambia very late, and as it was raining a lot on the last night, the tents were wet and smelly. Good night!
On Day 5, a dream of mine came true. My first game drive or safari started at 6 am in the South Luangwa National Park. It was an incredible experience, and I will remember that day for the rest of my life as it was the first time for me to see all these animals in the free nature. I could not ask for more as we were able to see lions, leopards, zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos, impalas, and crocs. And when everything was great, a couple of minutes after the leopard was 5 meters away from our car and right in front of the hippos, the engine of the car stopped working. I thought it was a joke of the ranger when he asked me and two other guys to jump out of the car and start to push it, but it was not. I didn’t feel comfortable, but it’s part of that adventure. At least another car came to “rescue” us. On our way back to the campsite, we frightened an elephant bull, so he kind of attacked us to protect himself. By the way, I thought elephants are always together as a herd, but I learned that male elephants separate themselves to walk alone. Back in the campsite after the morning game drive, we were relaxing in the pool as the last day’s driving was tough, and people finally had the chance to get to know each other better. Later that day, we started our second game drive, the night game drive. It was great as well, and the rangers found lion cubs, so we were driving super close to the small cute babies together with their moms. The situation reminded me 100% of the movie Lion King, but when the lion looked me straight into the eyes, I realized again that the female lions are the hunting leaders of the lion’s herd. It was a scary moment, and I could barely breathe or move. As well, we were able to see a drinking giraffe which is super rare, as they normally don’t drink when other creatures are there. Why? Have you ever imagined a drinking giraffe? Check it out in the pictures below. It’s kind of uncomfortable and tough for them to drink in that unusual position. Because of that they wouldn’t be able to run away or protect themselves if something attacked them.
While driving through the nature with free wild animals, I started to think about how people would have to handle dangerous animals. First of all, in the jeep, it’s not a problem as they realize the car as one creature which makes uncomfortable noises. But if you are outside the car, our Lando driver who used to be a ranger as well told us, the main thing is that you don’t move at all. If you are sure that you will make it to a car safely, of course, you should run, but otherwise, don’t move. If there is a tree behind you, you can slowly walk backwards behind the tree. If there is no tree, you should become the tree. The logic is quite easy, something that does not move, is not scared, and when it’s not smelling and looking like food for the dangerous animals as well, they better don’t attack. Good luck, and thank me after!
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling super relaxed on Day 6. The group had a good vibe that morning while the locals were pulling our Lando through the submerged roads. Once we arrived on the main street, we were on our way to Chipata, a city close to the border with Malawi. I realized I can’t get enough of the landscape and truly enjoyed the drive and looking out the window. When we arrived at the campsite, the group started to drink a lot, play games, and have fun until 1:30 am. Unfortunately, we had to wake up again at 4:45 am.
While I was trying to catch my phone and push the snooze button, I realized that my sleeping bag was quite wet as it was raining again. I started to complain about the quality of the tents while we were taking down the tent. But as I always try to find positive things, I realized that we started to optimize ourselves and become faster in building up and taking down the tents. I really didn’t enjoy these wet nights, but they are part of the adventure as well! After a short drive, we arrived at the border between Zambia and Malawi to add another stamp to our passports. Day 7 was also the day I officially became an Irish citizen as the officials at the border put Ireland as my nationality. We were the only group at the border and expected to proceed fast, but it took 2 hours to finally enter Malawi. To be honest, I never heard about that country before we started to plan our trip to Eastern Africa. Malawi is a small and landlocked country with a population of around 19 million people. One of the poorest countries of the world. Agriculture is the main industry in Malawi, with tobacco and tea being the primary exports. The country also has a rich cultural heritage, with traditional dance, music, and art still thriving in many parts of the country. On that day, we had to drive through the whole country, and the beauty of the landscape continued. Our lunch stop was a non-operating filling station in the middle of nowhere in Malawi where we cooked and had lunch. While we were there, more and more locals came by and stared at us. We gave them our leftovers and continued our ride. The deeper we went into Malawi, the more people were walking on and next to the streets. The whole drive, I was greeting the waving kids, and I really enjoyed seeing their joy! Finally, we arrived at our campsite in Kande Beach, at Lake Malawi, also known as the Lake of the Stars, as the lights on the fishermen’s boats look like stars at night.
Day 8 was super special to me. The day already started relaxed as we upgraded from our tent to a beach house at this location. After we left our room in the morning, I was impressed by the beauty of Lake Malawi, as we arrived in the darkness the previous day. We decided not to join the group for a walk and spent our time on the beach instead. We arranged ourselves a ball and played. After a while, a bunch of local kids stared at us. It was obvious that they wanted to join, and we did not hesitate to invite them. I lost my sense of time, but I guess we played football, water ball, and volleyball with them for 1.5 hours and had a great time together with them. Afterwards, we decided to walk to the nearby village and visited a kindergarten. Right after we left the campsite, a group of locals joined our walk and talked to us about everything in perfect English, which surprised me. They asked us about our lives in Europe because they could not just google how Hamburg, Oslo, London looked like and talked about their lives. When we were on our way back, there were a lot of school kids around. At one moment, a small girl took my hand, and we talked a bit. Then she started to grab something out of her bag. She was proudly showing me that she got the best possible grade in a math test. She was super cute! In front of the campsite, the guys who joined our walk invited us to play the Malawi Bao Game with them and tried to sell some stuff to us. I really enjoyed it and decided to buy something from Carlo. I asked him how much of the money he would get, and he answered that he was getting half of it. I was curious about what he was planning to do with the money, and I am not sure what I expected, but his answer touched me a lot. “I have to walk to the school for 8 km, so it takes a lot of time. My parents don’t let me, and I have to work at the field. So I am going to use the money for the bus to go to school. It will save me a lot of time, so I can work and study.” Later that day, we had dinner at one of the locals’ houses who invited us. After dinner, the kids from that community sang for us and danced with us. Sincerely, I can say that this day is one of the best days in my life so far.
A couple of years ago, I considered sponsoring a kid in Africa. I wasn’t very passionate about it and not very motivated to inform myself about the different possibilities. Malawi, and especially Kande Beach, triggered me a lot to finally show some action on that idea. I was close to sponsoring a child from the community we visited. But I was questioning that idea, as I thought, how would the other kids react if one of their friends gets sponsored, and they don’t? So I researched some organizations and decided to sponsor a kid in Malawi via Plan International. In this sponsorship, the sponsored kid represents a community, and the donation will help everybody who is living there. I liked that idea and didn’t have to think twice. Besides that, I still want to support the community in Kande Beach we visited and will send donations in kind once a year. Therefore, I kindly ask everybody if you have some stuff you could donate, which could be useful for a community that is dependent on donations, please reach out to me for a short chat. I really would appreciate that.
On Day 9, we left Kande Beach to go to Chitimba, another village in the north of Malawi and still at the Lake Malawi. Since we arrived early, we had some time to enjoy the beach and play some volleyball. The next day, Day 10, I woke up at 5 am to join a small group of people going for a 24 km hike. It was exhausting, but the nature was very beautiful! In the afternoon, we played some cards, volleyball, and waterball with some local kids again. Malawi is called the Warm Heart of Africa due to its friendly people, and after a couple of days in this beautiful country, I can 100% confirm that. I never experienced more friendly people than in Malawi!
The next days were not very spectacular: on Day 11 we left Malawi and entered Tanzania, a very diverse country with a population of over 60 million people. Our destination was Iringa where we had a beautiful dinner. The next day, Day 12, we were driving from Iringa to Dar es Salaam. Most people think that Dar es Salaam is the capital of Tanzania, but it’s not. The capital is Dodoma, and Dar es Salaam is the most important financial metropolis. We spent the whole day on the bus, and I was suffering because it was hot, and I didn’t have enough water and food with me. At 03:15 pm, we placed a bet on the arrival time. My bet was 08:30 pm, and we arrived at 08:24 pm. I won a drink from every attendee, and today, I am still waiting for some of them! The campsite in Dar es Salaam was quite nice, next to the ocean, and with a pool table. We spent almost the whole night awake until we had to start Day 13 at 03:45 am. The group was super tired but also very hyped because we were about to go to Zanzibar! Therefore, we used the ferry between Dar es Salaam and Stone Town, which was super crowded. Once we arrived on Zanzibar, we first visited a spice farm before arriving at our hotel in Jambiani because we left the Lando and the tents behind in Dar es Salaam. We really deserved a touch of luxury after 2 weeks in the tents, so we enjoyed the beach, pool, and cocktails a lot! At night, we celebrated the birthday of one person in the group!
Day 14 started with me spending time on the toilet from 4 am to 8 am. I guess it was the ice in the cocktails, and it wasn’t just me who suffered from some stomachache! I really thought I couldn’t enjoy that day, but surprisingly at 11 am, I had my next cocktail from the pool bar! It was a quite relaxed day with some Norwegian language class: nul [0], én [1], to [2], tre [3], fire [4], fem [5], seks [6], sju [7], åtte [8], ni [9], ti [10].
On Day 15, we were about to leave Jambiani and that luxurious beach resort to go to Stone Town, the main city of Zanzibar. Before that, some of us went on a sailing trip with a local boat. It was quite nice and beautiful because of the different colors of the water, the sun, and a bit of music. The snorkeling part was not that special, but we had some backflip lessons from a Canadian. When it was time to go back to the hotel, we had to row for around 30 minutes as there was no wind to lead us – but we made it! After we arrived in Stone Town later that day, I was surprised by the beauty of the city! I always thought that the white beaches of Zanzibar are the highlights there, but for me, it’s Stone Town with its narrow streets, small cafes and shops, and nice restaurants! We walked from the center to the harbor front, where a big local food court was, and we danced with the locals and let a boy place his monkey on our heads!
Still in Stone Town, I went on a trip to Prison Island on Day 16, which is only recommended if you like turtles as this is the only interesting thing there. Back in Stone Town, we went to a bar and spent the whole night together with a bunch of people from the group. We had a great time eating, drinking, and dancing! On that night we decided to meet again at Oktoberfest 2024 and in Akon City (Senegal) 2026!
After a long night and lots of partying, we left Zanzibar on Day 17 by plane to Arusha. Upon arrival at Arusha, which was more like a bus station than an airport, we went to our next campsite. On our way, I realized that the landscape looked like what I had expected for the first time: mostly flat and dry. When we arrived at the campsite, we finally met our tents again. Long time no see! By the way, the name of the camp was Snake Park and it had some crocs. I wasn’t sure how comfortable I should feel when we arrived because the animals I am most scared of are snakes and crocodiles! That evening, I was kind of nervous because the next few days we would be spending in the Serengeti, which is another level of game drive or safari than in South Luangwa!
Early morning on Day 18, four different jeeps picked us up at the Snake Park to bring us to the Serengeti. The Serengeti is a vast savannah located in Tanzania and extends into Kenya. It’s home to one of the world’s most spectacular natural events, the Great Migration, where millions of wildebeest, zebras, and other grazing herbivores travel across the Serengeti in search of fresh pastures. The national park is also home to an incredible diversity of wildlife, including the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo. It was a 6-hour drive, including an African massage due to the bad street conditions to get there. When we arrived, it was raining and cloudy, and the drivers were not very motivated. I was tired and we didn’t see many animals, so I became a bit disappointed. A highlight on our first day there was the jeep which was stuck and we had to push it forward. That night we spent in the middle of the Serengeti, with all the animal noises and a great feeling.
On Day 19, we left the camp before sunrise for another game drive and with a lot of hope that this day would be better than the previous one. And it was! The Serengeti National Park has a size of about 14,763 square meters, which was the reason why we didn’t see that spectacular things the first day. It’s not easy for the rangers to find all the animals the people want to see. But when Abi, our ranger, called out “hunting time” things changed. No worries, he doesn’t mean hunting in the sense of hunting, more in the sense of finding. He doesn’t even have something for self-protection on the car – only his experience. From that moment, it was a stunning experience! We were standing under a pregnant female lion who was relaxing in the tree, we saw a lion couple relaxing, and a group of 3 lion brothers playing around in the flat grass. There was a leopard in the tree, thousands of zebras, giraffes, buffalos, elephants, hyenas, and two cheetahs having lunch together with a dead baby wildebeest.
In the afternoon, we left Serengeti to go to the Ngorongoro Crater. It is a massive volcanic caldera and is considered one of the largest intact calderas in the world. The name is derived from the Maasai language, which is spoken by the Maasai people who have traditionally inhabited the area. “Ngoro Ngoro” means “the gift of life” or “the place where life is nurtured” in Maasai. The name was given to the crater due to the fertile soils and abundance of water in the area, which support a diverse array of plant and animal life. The crater is home to a variety of wildlife and, due to its unique ecosystem, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our campsite was on the rim of the crater, where we had some drinks. When we were ready to sleep and went to our tents, we realized that a group of buffalos were roaming around the camp. Sweet dreams!
Before sunrise on Day 20, we left the camp to go down into the crater. When we arrived, the view was incredible and breathtaking because the landscape was incomparable. The crater is 21×19 km in size, so we saw a lot of animals, and the highlights were a lion having his impala breakfast and, finally, the rhino! Bucket List Entry 4: See the Big Five = Check! After that, we could go back to the Snake Park where our Lando and the tents were waiting for us! At night, we celebrated the birthday of our Lando driver and talked about our trip’s highlights as it was the last evening together as a group.
The next morning, after not having slept yet, it was time to say goodbye to all the people we had a great time with. The goodbye was kind of intense as we shared all these great experiences. I definitely want to highlight Jas and Josh from Adelaide in this context as your company made this trip even more special! Can’t wait to see you guys again! Then it was time: the Lando left for Nairobi where the tour officially ends. Dennis and I stayed at Snake Park because we were not finished yet with Tanzania! Ten more days to go, including the most challenging activity of our lives so far. Just be patient and read more about it in my next post!