Germany - Family, Friends and other Adventures

Today marks my 9^th month in Ghana. Time is flying! I often don’t realise it’s been weeks since I’ve last updated my blog. It’s a shame because all these little anecdotes happening day in and out get lost as at my age my memory unfortunately fails me a lot ;-) Something to work on!      
    Germany was amazing! It was great to get a full week of quality time with my family and for them to meet Rory and vice versa. I had seen my brother Alex and family last in April 2011 and it’s been even longer since I’ve seen the rest of the bunch. My niece Anna (6) has grown into a little princess, so adorable and beautiful. She will  get into her first year of school after the summer. My nephew Dominik (3.5) whom I have only seen once before at the tender age of 6 months is a real joy.
    The day we landed in Frankfurt the country was hit by summer! We couldn’t have timed it better. Apart from 1 day we had nothing but sunshine and very pleasant temperatures around 22-30 degrees. No complaints!
   The first day was spent with sightseeing and indulging on way too much food in Frankfurt. The following morning we took the scenic 2 hour train journey to Andernach to visit my brother Bjoern. The train follows a beautiful valley along the Rhine river with many castle’s and wine bergs either side. The same afternoon Rory made his dream of racing in a Formula car on the famous Nuerburgring come true. Although a lot of fun he reckons there’s a reason Formula 1 racers are typically short people. Those cars are not build for tall people. He is still trying to detangle his long legs. The next day was spent BBQ-ing with Bjoern’s family and my parents who had travelled up to meet us. How I’ve missed a good dirty BBQ!
    Having soaked up the sun, filled the bellies and reminisced about the good old days we took off to my brother Alex and his family for the remainder of the week. The entertainment programme foresaw sightseeing in Aachen, grown up boys playing with RC racing cars, more BBQs and getting Rory well into the German beer drinking culture.
    On Sunday we left by train to Cologne. The most imposing thing about Cologne is probably by far the Cathedral and although I have seen it so many times before I never get tired and am still in awe of this magnificent piece of architecture and craftsmanship. Rory was equally amazed to see it, especially since it is the first thing one gets to see when leaving the train station. We checked into our hotel and right away climbed one of its towers with something between 500 and 600 stairs *uff* We had a quick coffee and caught up with one of my closest friends from school - Melek and her daughter. In my opinion you haven’t been Cologne properly if you haven’t tried a Koelsch beer. Naturally I dragged Rory into the famous “Frueh” pub near the Cathedral. Tastes like juice and you could easily drink it like juice too. There lies the danger J
   Off to Berlin the next morning for the rest of the holiday – where else?! This time not only did we get to see the inside of clubs but also some decent cultural and touristy stuff. We went to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp just outside Berlin, we went on the Berlin Hi-Flyer (hot air balloon), rented bicycles and toured through Tiergarten, went to a Salvatore Dali exhibition, ate like Kings, did major motorbike and accessories shopping (oh dear credit card institute have mercy…) and of course met up with friends and made a heap of new friends. Awesome time altogether! We both didn’t feel much like returning to the Ghanaian bush this time but here we are and a few days later it isn’t actually all that bad anymore. Btw, my shopping included a heavy duty staple gun which means I should be able to work on the new foam and cover for Suzi’s seat soon. My behind will thank me. Stay tuned!
    The journey back to the jungle was a bit of an adventure. We had taken the motorbikes down to Accra before the break and of course we planned on riding them back from Accra to New Abirem. Rory had no luck with the battery of his KTM which caused a bit of a delay as he needed to buy a new one. Try and find the right one in Ghana! Seeing that we were running late and still had to show up for work the same day we got adventurous and tried a “shortcut”. It did turn out to be a shortcut but because my navigator decided rather on short notice to take a turn I ended up putting Suzi on the ground. Now I know how little I appreciate an audience when struggling to lift her off the ground. I didn’t manage on my own which frustrated me a lot. If I can’t even lift her without luggage strapped onto her!? Probably because of the “nerves” after having dropped Suzi, because of the bystanders and because of sweating like mad in my black (!) motorcycle trousers and jacket. However, this lifting business is something to practise! I know there are techniques and I better get them down quickly.
    We are planning on doing an off-road course and I actually got a nice package offer from ADA in South Africa. It would be training (1.5 days) followed by a tour from Johannesburg with border crossings into Swaziland and Mozambique with over night stays in a game reserve (total 8 days, incl. training). We both like the sounds of that but are currently a bit undecided. May have to postpone this to another break perhaps at the beginning of next year. Will keep you posted.
   Right… enjoy the usual selection of snaps. More to follow on FB.
Much love, Steffi

Frankfurt 

You can't do "Hessen" without having had some Apfelwein!

Frankfurt's old Opera

Andernach & Nürburgring 

Aachen, Family & Stuff 

  

Cologne

Berlin...

Projekt Grüner Daumen

As people around me will confirm I don't really have a 'green thumb' so here's the self inflicted challenge of growing 2 Oleander plants. It took 6 weeks for the branches to grow nice long roots. Darragh, a colleague of Rory's (who is actually from Barna, Galway) was so kind to get me a bucket full of top soil from site. Watch this space!    I got badly bitten by ants while doing this. Why they would go for my 'behind' of all places I don't know. The biggest and nastiest bite is about 1 EUR coin big. I spare you pictures of that ;-)
   More updates and news to follow soon.  

Click on images for a larger version

Bobs the Builderess

Exciting news from the Ghanaian jungle

   First of all a massive thank you to the legend that is Michael Ryan: The very special delivery of Bacon Tayto crisps has arrived and was accepted by the Irish as a peace offering for my shameful sin of (unknowingly) eating his last 2 cherished packs of Bacon Tayto crisps. Secondly my new set of radiators for Suzi is here. I am hoping to have her up and running again by Sunday. 3 months later… Yeay!

   Sadly but out of necessity I had to turn my back to the library and life as a volunteer. The gold mine will include accommodation for everyone working on site. The camps are currently being build and there is a huge pressure from Newmont - the operating company - to get these finished by the end of June. Newmont wants everyone currently living in rented accommodation to move into the camp on site as soon as it is finished (or let’s say inhabitable). There lies the problem. I wouldn’t be able to live on site with Rory unless I am employed and working on site myself. Renting our own place somewhere in the village is not an option. For safety reasons alone Rory’s employer wouldn’t allow it. The good news is, I was able to get a job on site with Group Five, a South African Construction Services Group in their Document Control department. It’s quite a change from SAP, not as stressful for example which surely isn’t a bad thing. Although that might change.

   The job itself is nothing fancy. Very basic admin type of work all around keeping drawings and transmittals in order and up to date for the engineers on site. Occasionally I’m helping the head of Health & Safety with some of his admin work and I am supporting with IT related issues. As Rory, I am now working Monday’s to Saturday’s (the sweet life of laziness is over). Both Rory and I see this as a foot into the industry. It’s a good opportunity for me to learn more about construction and gain experience and hopefully this should help to sell us as a package to a future employer should we decide to do this again. Should nothing come out of it, at least I get paid and the bike trip back to Europe is financed. Or perhaps I will have learned how to speak Afrikaans at the end of it. Who knows.

   The construction site is something else, it’s imposing. Even more so since I’ve never really been on a construction site of that scale (or ever?) unless I count the time when my parents built our house. Might I add, I was 7 years old then and easily impressed. I’ve checked with the bosses whether it would be cool to take snaps of the construction site and share them with friends. Got the green light so I must take some soon and give you an impression of what life on site is like. It’s kind of cool to finally be able to see what Rory has been talking about and explaining to me.

    It’s a shame I won’t be able to see the library opening its’ doors. I am not sure will it ever. The village has not been very supportive lately. Two families are arguing over the chief rights as one family claims to have been there forever and the other says they were there even longer but had been living abroad or something silly like that. As a result community decisions that would normally be made by the chiefs are no longer a simple matter of discussion. Sammy from BigStep is struggling bad financially. He hardly ever had money for Petrol as was and now his car has finally broken down. Because of this he has not been able to come to the village to push the project and settle the issues with the chiefs. Also he has been lacking support from the mother foundation in the Netherlands. Both financially as well as in terms of direction, which is disheartening.

    Very frustrating to see something potentially great, along with the work that has already gone into it, go down the drain. I will try my best and keep supporting Sammy’s efforts with BigStep Ghana where I can. For now there isn’t much I can do but hope that my boys at the library will continue on their own and manage somehow. Maybe someday a little shnoddy kid will actually reap the benefits and have access to study material it would otherwise never have had.

   On a different note. Despite our original plans we have made the decision to travel to Germany on our next break at the end of June/beginning July. We will spend a few nights at my brother Bjoerns’ and Alexs’ place and then spend the last week in Berlin (where else?!). About time Rory got to arm wrestle my brothers and meet the parents. Since Bjoern lives only a stone throw away from the Nuerburgring I’ve booked Rory into a Formula Racing Training. He is well excited as you can imagine.

   Big up to my buddy Dennis McHugh and his lady Marian who recently got married! Wish I could have been there with you for a boogie. Seen a few snaps. You guys look absolutely fabulous. Hope the day was as special as you wanted it to be and more.

   Daniel and Gudi made it back sound and safe from their amazing trip on a Royal Enfield through Nepal my sources tell me. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Good luck with the move also!

   That’s it from me for now. In the words of the infamous Mark Conlon: Keep it light, keep it bright, keep it gay.

Ciao

Storm before the rain

My new office - the container with the roof

 All office furniture was made by our own carpenters.
I've added the shelf to the original design. Stylish!

South Africa

*click on map for larger version*

Beautiful South Africa (SA) - 

   What a gorgeous, diverse and interesting country! After we had been given mixed advise and warnings by South Africans we ended up quite nervous about travelling to SA. In fact, I was that worried that I didn't bring my SLR camera in case we got mugged. 

   Of course going there I knew there are places best to be avoided and some cities are more renown for crime than others. Especially Johannesburg has imprinted in my head as a very dangerous place. But then, what country on earth doesn't have at least one of those? Think of "stab city" Limerick as example. While there were some unsettling images of poverty and a still very much apparent divide we didn't feel one minute unsafe throughout our entire stay in SA. They were no situations that required anything but common sense. 

   We have spend 2 amazing weeks in SA. Incredible Landscape, clean cities, super friendly people, amazing food (especially the fresh and tasty sea food at spot prizes), game that can be spotted in fields and reserves just off the main road... SA has blown us away!

   After arriving in Johannesburg, Rory organised a rental car while I was busy attending a 5hr appointment in Boksburg. I will get to this later... Both missions were successfully completed around midday which meant we were ready to hit the road. Destination: Anywhere but the city of Johannesburg. At this stage we were still suffering of paranoia although in saying that, I wouldn't want to spend more than the absolutely required time in Joburg.

   Our route took us right through the Free State with first over night stop in Kroonstad. Having travelled for more than 24 hrs we were delighted to find a beautiful guesthouse there. Falling into bed at 5 pm with just enough energy to appreciate the über-cosy feather duvets and pillows, we didn't wake up until the next morning. 

   Fully rested we continued our journey all the way to Cradock. Nothing but farmland along the route in all shades. From golden rye to never ending fields of sunflowers with little windmills every so often. Very beautiful to look at. En route we spend an hour passing through the Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve were we were rewarded with the sight of Zebra's, Buffalos, Ostriche's and other feathery creatures.

   Our target destination for the following day was Port Elizabeth via Addo Elephant Park. We got to see so many animals, it was amazing. On our way out of the park we suddenly came across a fully grown bull elephant who decided to take a stroll on the road. He passed a car ahead of us heading towards us. To paint the picture of just how imposing the situation was: We nearly peed our pants and I was too stunned to take a picture when the elephant reached our car out of fear it might set him off. He was less than a meter away from us. I feared he'd make us a permanent feature of the park by stomping the car to the ground. If we had the window down we could have probably touched him. Goose bumps! An absolute highlight of the holiday for us.

   In Port Elizabeth we enjoyed our first seafood orgy followed by many more during the remainder of the holiday and enjoyed a stroll at the beach. We also bought some African art work from one of the many street sellers. 

   We were blessed with the weather and it promised to be around 30 degrees the next day. Not too bad for autumn! Even better as we were headed for George with a planned stop at the sandy beach of Jeffrey's Bay. Made us think of our friends Shaun and Rozahn back in Ghana. The two of them recently got themselves a place there - now we know why. A lovely spot!

   A couple hours later we continued on to George where we spend the night in a quaint little hotel with thatch roof. From here we drove to Oudtshoorn in the Karoo where we went to see the Cango Caves and Cango Wildlife Ranch. While both were interesting we were sick of the tourist money machine and not being able to do things outside a herd of guided tourists. Hence we skipped the Ostrich farm as it would have been the exact same thing, except for the riding experience. I will have to go back to SA at some stage tho and make sure I get that experience in. I'm fascinated by these comical looking creatures. As a temporary substitute - until I get the real experience - I bought myself a pretty wallet made of Ostrich leather and ate an Ostrich burger. As close as it gets I suppose and tasty by the way.

   We had enough of driving and spent the remainder of the day in beautiful Mossel Bay. Wandering along the promenade it is clear where the name Mossel Bay comes from. We went for a brisk walk up the hill to the light house and were rewarded with a stunning views of the village, coastline and a dozen dolphins having fun with the waves. 

   Final destination: Cape Town. We love Cape Town. In fact, we love it that much that we're thinking of going there again soon. This city has it all. Beaches, numerous choices of leisure actvities, mountains and... the Bryceman - a friend of Rory's who used to live in Galway. It's been an absolute pleasure to get to know him. The perfect in-official tour guide as well if you're ever looking for one in Cape Town =) 
   Diving in a cage to the see the great white shark was another highlight and a bit of an adrenaline rush. "Bit" is probably understated. 
  Well, enough of my rant. All in all we had a fantastic time. Have a look at the snaps. Click on the images for a larger version.

   So long...

Giraffe's and Baboons spotted at the side of the road - how cool is that?

These guys are in deep s**t

Kudu herd crossing

Goose bumps

Port Elizabeth

Chilling at the beach

Cape Town

Come here fishy fishy...

  

Hanging out with the penguins at Boulders beach

About the Chinese Mafia and the Ghost in the attic

I've had a lot of blond moments lately I would have only loved to write about but it appears the Chinese mafia has hacked into our IP address at Purple Rocks. I am not able to access Google, YouTube or Blogger. Instead I am Bing'ing it these days and oh well... who needs YouTube at this low bandwidth anyway. Unless I use a dongle I am not able to access the Blog. Got hold of one today so I thought I'll share my most exciting moments of the past 4 weeks with you.

   Still haven't been able to go to the library which is a bit of a bummer. Suzi is still leaking and I really don't fancy damaging the engine. Hence I've been staying home. I have taken the rad off the bike. One of the mechanics here on compound - Piet, a friendly South African - has offered to check the leak out and see if he can weld it for me. My gut is telling me though that I should look into buying a replacement set. A reliable cooling system would really be a benefit considering I am planning to ride the bike back to Ireland at some stage =) I am already in Africa, so is my bike, it would be silly not to do this trip of a lifetime me thinks. Thankfully Rory has bought into the idea and is as excited about as I am. So the plan is, once this project is finished (which is probably around May 2013) to get on our bikes and ride all the way back to Ireland. 

   We are slowly stocking up on bibs and bobs for the trip. For example, we already got the bike to bike radio kit and I'm proud owner of really cool Coyote saddlebags by Giant Loop. My next purchase (highly recommended be fellow DRZ rider uncle Kev) will be a new seat by Seat Concepts. That way I am hoping I won't need to rest my aching behind on a ring cushion at the end of a long day in the saddle. Lots more to think of but it's a start. Most importantly though, I will have to make up my mind on the travel route, visa requirements and the likes. Exciting times! Thanks goodness we've got about a year to make it all happen.

   Apart from a disappointing Rugby match St. Patricks Day in Ghana was actually quite fun. We had brought a few cans of Guinness back over from Ireland and had saved them for the occasion. That same night we decided to mix with the locals and grab a few drinks at the only Hotel in the village. We met up with a few more Irish that have started working on the project in the past 1-2 months. At some stage it felt like I was in Taaffes Pub in Galway or at an Irish wedding with the not so sober lads singing all sorts of Irish songs out of the depth of their lungs. The Irish, you gotta love them! =)

   My hermit lifestyle these days has had a peak of excitement with the arrival of 2 Yoga home workout DVDs. I am actually looking forward to my daily attempts of exercising in the room. You see, it's time Suzi got fixed...

   Really looking forward to our next trip in the next couple weeks. We'll be off to South Africa. We will fly into Johannesburg, rent a car and travel all to the way to Capetown, with stops for sightseeing and fun things to do along the route. I am planning on riding an Ostrich (stay tuned for those pics... hahaha), getting into a diving cage to see the great white shark up close (hopefully not too close), swimming with penguins and climbing Table mountain just to name a few. Above all I am looking forward to decent food!!!  

   Until then I shall try and figure out what kind of animal has decided to creep me out at night and make the attic space it's permanent home. I'm hoping it's a Gecko and not a rat... 

Something's been bugging me

   I haven't been up to much in the last 2 weeks since we got back to Ghana. I caught myself a nasty and very persistent tummy bug which meant I couldn't really go to the library. Had to see the doctor eventually and today is the first day I've sort of got my appetite back. Maybe it's got something to do with these very tasty muffins baked by my friend Rozahn. You can't buy these over here. What a treat!
   Rory and I spent a few hours on the bikes again trying to get this radio kit wired. It wasn't as tricky in the end as we thought but I'd say being electrical savvy is a definite bonus. We have to fit the headphones and mics into our helmets yet. Should be no problem though. Can't wait to go for a spin and test the whole thing. 
   Unfortunately that spin might have to wait. One of the rads on my bike is leaking coolant at the moment. Total show stopper! A colleague of Rory's said I should be able to get Radweld in the neighbouring village. Let's hope so. I've also been trying to figure out what's wrong with my speedometer. It hasn't been working ever since the last puncture and besides not being able to read current speed it's messing with my overall mileage. I will need a new cable. Also looking into replacing the horn. That has never been working in the first place but somehow being here I feel the pressing need of being able to make myself heard and to get this sorted. Little by little I'm learning more about the make up of bikes and enjoying it. Ok, I've bored you enough with my bike antics I'd say. 
   We're definitely in the rainy season now. It's been hammering down pretty much every evening. If you think you've seen rain before, wait til you experience this kind of weather. Incredible thunder and lightning too. It makes me feel strangely alive and, also very happy to be indoors.
   There are 2 more Irish guys working on site now. Strange to hear a thick Cork accent all of sudden in the middle of Ghana.
   We had a 'lock in' on compound yesterday due to a large number of locals from all surrounding villages protesting and blocking several site entrances to the mine. We were told in Africa people sometimes end up getting killed at events like these - although unlikely to happen in Ghana. Hence the management announced a lock in and no one was allowed to leave the compound for safety reasons. It kinda messed with my lazy daily routine and most importantly I didn't get to sleep in as all of Lycopodiums staff was buzzing over this unexpected day off. It's good to look at the bright sight of things. It's all back to normal again today.
   Hope everyone is well.