Barotseland & Zambezi floodplains – Barotseland & die Sambesi-Flutebene

The floodplains along Zambezi River in Zambia’s west are vast plains that get flooded for a few months every rainy season between April and June or July. Clusters of trees mark slightly higher ground, and those are the places the Lozi people use to build their small settlements. It is a remarkable fact that flooding […]

Ngonye Falls – Die Ngonye-Fälle

Driving from Mongu, the capital of Barotseland in western Zambia, on the well-developed M10, which runs parallel to Zambezi River on its eastern side, in south-eastern direction to Sesheke at the Namibian border, one passes the small town of Sioma halfway. South of Sioma, the bridge crosses Zambezi River from east to west, and between […]

Kariba dam wall – Die Kariba-Talsperre

A few kilometres east of Siavonga lies the Kariba dam wall with the road to Zimbabwe. The construction of the dam wall was planned in 1955 by the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, under the name of Central African Federation (CAF) a part of the Commonwealth. Preparation work started the same year. […]

Lake Kariba & Siavonga

Deep in the south of Zambia, Lake Kariba is situated as a result of staunching Zambezi River just downstream Victoria Falls. In 1958, the dam was finished, and the impounding of water in the lake commenced. Official opening took place in 1960, carried out by Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mum. It is not quite 100 […]

A Baobab forest – Im Baobab-Wald

On the way from Lusaka to Lake Kariba in southern Zambia, after you passed the city of Kafue, a well-developed industrial centre with huge textile producing and chemical ventures, the road is all beautiful serpentines down the Zambezi escarpment. The road goes on to the border with Zimbabwe at the border town of Chirundu, but […]

Lusaka

Zambia’s capital Lusaka with its 2,2 Million residents is one of those typical bland African capitals (or big cities) conceived on the drawing board, projected, artificial, thrown together. Despite the poverty in Zambia as well as the migration into the city, Lusaka comes across as a quite relaxed place. Where the towns of the Copperbelt […]

Vohemar (Iharana)

Vohemar, also referred to as Iharana, is the northernmost town in Madagascar’s north-eastern SAVA region. It is located right at the Indian ocean and vast Iharana bay which is subjected to the tides. Historically, Vohemar seems to be one of Madagascar´s oldest settlements, if not the oldest, where Swahili merchants installed a port for trading […]

Bobangira

If you are looking for a last unspoilt piece of paradise, it is unavoidable to come across Bobangira, even though there are only few people right now who know about that place. The local residents for sure, some expats, and a few adventurous travellers who came upon the name accidentally and were open enough to […]

Andapa

Andapa is the only of the four major towns in SAVA region to be situated away from the Indian ocean 100 km southwest of Sambava. It has around 30.000 inhabitants of whom 90% are farmers, mainly cultivating rice. The place is ideal for that because of its location at the eponymous basin to where all […]

Vola Maitso, Bemarivo river & Soavoanio Coconut plantation – Vola Maitso, der Bemarivo-Fluss und die Soavoanio Kokosnuss-Plantage

Vola Maitso is a cooperative of farmers growing and selling cocoa, vanilla, pepper, cloves, coconuts, and fruits in a picturesque landscape a few kilometres north of Sambava. They practice a sustainable form of agriculture, combining the cultivation of different plants in an ecological way – without chopping off trees till there is nothing left. Unfortunately, […]