… jumped on her bicycle and waved her parents and Kari GOODBYE. She was ready for the world …

Her heart directed her South towards Slovenia. On route, she stopped in Graz, where she met her young “old” friend Leo and spent some time with him and his family …

During the first weeks of her journey Karo took hardly any pictures. She was so focused with herself and her new environment and simply forgot to “preserve” all those impressions on her camera. Instead she stored it all in her memory. This picture is already from Slovenia, Maribor.

Slovenia was in fact the most difficult border to cross. Karo was extremely emotional, she knew, “NOW her real journey begins”. Now, she would be a foreigner, not knowing anybody and not speaking the language of its people …

Slovenia is an amazingly beautiful country. Pure and green vegetation, clean, inviting rivers, but also very mountainous. It was physically extremely demanding and Karo was mostly drenched in sweat pedalling up the beautiful mountains …

She also saw not so pleasant things (from her perspective), but because her Journey is about being real and true, she embraced the good and the bad …

After a few days in solitude and only a few and brief encounters with humans, Karo decided it’s time to socialize again. Thanks to the beautiful invention of “Warmshowers” a plattform which helps touring cyclists to connect with locals, Karo found this beautiful wooden cabin and its two friendly and beautiful owners, who were happy to invite Karo in …

it was an incredibly beautiful “homie” home. Karo felt so positive about this place and her company that she stayed for two days …

Marjan, Matjaz and their lovely kids, a traveller couple with a heart of gold …

After having been fully energized by Marjan and Matjaz’ delicious, home grown Slovenian food, Karo continued her journey South, passing through poppy fields and bear forests …

Since Karo had left Home, she has weatherwise been extremely lucky, lots of sunshine on her nose. Once in Croatia the weather god turned his back to Karo and sent her plenty of showers …

After having cycled a few days in pouring rain Karo felt she desperately needed a break. She was physically and mentally heavily absorbed. In Kutina, a small town in the center of Croatia, Karo was lucky. She fell into the hands of Kresimir, who not just shared his flat, but also his warm company and delicious food with Karo. She stayed for two days to fully recharge her batteries …

Strong and motivated, Karo waved Kresimir GOODBYE and headed towards Slavonski Brod, a Croatian town right at the border to Bosnia and Hercegovina …

In Slavonski Brod, Karo stayed for 10 days with a wood and metal artist. She helped mulching the garden …

guarding his three extremely energetic kids …

and ate huuuuuuuge amounts of mulberries. A fruit, which Karo didn’t know before, but won’t forget forever …

sooooooo yummyyyyy …

and very apparently not only Karo had a weakness for mulberries …

After 10 days in Slavonski Brod, Karo decided to cross into Bosnia and Hercegovina. After a few days of cycling the beautiful North with its many forests, Karo met Srjan and Hellen, a Bosnian-Swiss couple, who were living in a selfmade home, surrounded by a permaculture garden. A little paradise for Karo …

Hellen’s and Srjan’s adopted son Nico and a former streetchild was a lovely little fellow and became Karo’s running buddy …

Because Srjan and Hellen’s home was so beautiful and because they needed a helping hand on the farm, Karo stayed for a week. She even got her own little wooden cottage …

and her own bodyguard …

Do not underestimate the power of this fluffy, cute and hairy bundle. He was VERY kind to Karo, but very vicious to many others …

After a week with Srjan and Hellen, Karo continued to Banja Luka, Bosnia’s capital city. Here she met Daka (the guy with the closed eyes and the Hoola-Hoop Halo). His brother had arranged that Karo could stay with him. At first Daka was not too keen on hosting the unknown lady and her bike, but after he found out that they shared the same favourite author, the ice was broken. In fact, Daka and Karo tremendously enjoyed each other’s company. They enjoyed it so much that Karo stayed for a few days. Daka was like a male version of Karo, only better. He had initiated a whole lot of amazing projects in and around Banja Luka raising awareness for environmental and socio-economical challenges. Daka was (and still is) a true delight and inspiration for Karo. And the two fellows next to him, Lijena and Nils, Karo will introduce later. In their amazingness they deserve their own little chapter …

Because Karo and Daka had such a good time together and because they couldn’t stop philosophizing Daka decided to jump on his bike and escort Karo to the Croatian border …

Daka’s company was a blessing for Karo. Not just, because he is awesome, but also because being with a local Karo learnt so much more about the country, its culture and its people …

Daka and Karo cycled through the North-Western part of Bosnia. A naturally beautiful area, but with a very sad past. Lots of fighting during the Yugoslavian war took place in this area. Warning signs of still existing mine-fields have been a common sight. Daka and Karo had to be careful, where to put their tents …

Many of the houses they passed were full with bullet holes and empty. Many people who escaped the fighting never returned to their homes …

Difficult to imagine that this beautiful and peaceful land has such a tragic, not even long time ago, past …

The history is sad, but the present is astonishing. Daka and Karo found the most beautiful places for camping …

and bathing …

Streetdogs are a very common sight. This two cute fellows have been lucky that evening and filled their tummies on sardines and cookies …

it was almost hard to choose a spot for camping, because EVERYWHERE was perfect …

here …

or here …

After three days of cycling together, Daka and Karo hugged GOODBYE and Karo headed of to Croatia, where she ended up in a small village called Zdihovo …

In Zdihovo stayed with Francis and Ivana, an Italo-Croatian couple, who had a beautiful permaculture farm as well and needed a helping hand …

Francis and Ivana’s adorable youngsters …

Karo originally wanted to stay for a week with Francis and Ivana, but because she cut herself with a sickle and wasn’t able to walk for two days and only limped for a few more days, the one week became two weeks. But Karo didn’t mind at all. The house and its people was full of positive vibes and she really LOVED the place …

Once her leg was more or less fine, she jumped back on her bike and headed towards coast …

Karo was excited to see the coast AND to meet some of her friends, who were promised on the sign post …

“wooooooooow”, is what you feel in that moment, when you pedal through mainland for days and days on end and suddenly the horizon widens and you see this …

Karo cycled through Krk island, hopped to Rab island with a ferry and enjoyed it’s marvellous sunset …

Karo thoroughly enjoyed the Croatian coast and small fishing villages …

After island Rab, Karo hopped to Pag and was surprised to find an extremely hot place with nothing but stones and sand …

Pag turned out to be not quite Karo’s “thing”. Pag is known as a popular party destination. A place, where students from all over the world gather, get completely wasted and have sex with pretty much everything that moves … Hmmm, if Karo had known that before, she would have definitively avoided that place …

but apart from the completely “uncivilized” behaviour of civilized men (and women of course), after a few days Karo started to really appreciate the beautiful nothingness of Pag …

After Pag, Karo took another ferry and hopped back to the mainland, close to Zadar …

Here she camped in a beautiful olive orchard and lavender plantation. She still remembers this amazing scent in her nose. A pity that smells can’t be transfered through photography …

After Zadar, she continued to Nin, a beautiful small fishing village …

Karo really enjoyed her new life, her freedom …

if it was too hot during the day, she would jump into the ocean to refresh herself …

The fig season started and allowed Karo to freely fill her tummy, wherever she found a fig tree …

but Karo had competitors, also wild boars were after the sweet and tasty fruit. Luckily figs were in plenty …

She enjoyed gazing at the star filled sky from her tent and enjoyed night swims in the warm ocean. Everything was perfect …

One of the few downsides of Croatia’s coast, is it’s popularity, but of course, Karo was not the only one, who enjoyed Croatia and so she had to share with others …

Luckily not all places in Croatia are equally famous and crowded, like Kastel Luksic. A beautiful small town not far from Split …

In Kastel Luksic Karo heard of a place, where touring cyclists could spend a night in an empty flat. She was in good company …

From Kastel Luksic Karo went to Split …

and she enjoyed another marvellous sunset …

and another one …

The island fever struck her again and so she hopped to Korcula …

an extremely beautiful and comparatively quiet island with many mountains though …

Korcula, a beautiful little town …

and interesting street art. This one reminds of the Vukovar massacre. A massacre that took place during the Yugoslavian war and in which 300 civilians and prisoners of war have been killed by militia in a small North-Eastern Croatian border town, close to Serbia, called “VUKOVAR” …

after having spent a few days on Korcula, Karo went back to the mainland …

it was hard to imagine that so many of this beautiful, peaceful villages have been center of war and crime not many years ago …

Nature is the best retreat for Karo, especially when she wonders about the stupidity of humans and why they so often are so mean and hurtful to each other …

Sights like this, calm and peaceful nature are the best “therapy” for Karo …

In Ston, Karo was surprised to find something which looked to her like “a Chinese wall”. She always thought that would be in China … but “maybe” she thought “they got the idea from Ston and duplicated it, since that wouldn’t be the FIRST time” …

but that was not the only thing she learnt from Ston …

Karo pitched her tent in a quiet, peaceful place not far from Ston …

She really enjoyed that view from her tent …

Karo spent a few hours in the incredibly beautiful, but far too crowded city of Dubrovnik …

then she went South again, heading to Montenegro. A few kilometers from the Montenegrin border, Karo saw this inviting sign …

in the middle of nowhere a lonely Croatian man decided to open his house and garden for passing travellers. Karo found many super interesting travellers there. The evening filled her with plenty inspiration …

Karo fell in love with the unique tall and slim shape of cypress trees decorating most of Croatia’s Southern coastline …

In Montenegro Karo found Kari again, who was already busy building their nest …

Kari and Karo spent 10 days on a nudist (yes, that’s right) Eco Camp, where they helped the owners with all sorts of things (receiving guests, cooking, building tents, gardening, cleaning). It was an enriching experience, because the place was full of enormously interesting people …

People like Hannah, who has been travelling for years with her little dog in her rebuilt mobile Home, a super cosy Van. So much inspiration for Karo …

Each guest to the campsite was welcomed to leave a painting behind. Of course, Karo painted a sheep …

After 10 days, Karo had to say GOODBYE to the ECOcamp AND which was actually much more sad, she had to say GOODBYE to Kari, who flew back to Austria. And Karo jumped back on her bike and headed back to Bosnia and Hercegovina …

She didn’t cycle far and had not even crossed the border, when she met Nina …

a lovely, energetic German cyclist, who was on her way back to Germany after having been in Greece. A beautiful soul and tough young lady …

Since Nina and Karo were heading towards the same direction, they decided to go together and enjoyed each others company …

One evening, the universe painted this beautiful picture for them …

Once back in Bosnia-Hercegovina the traces of the war were apparent again. Just by looking at the houses it is evident that Bosnia-Hercegovina has been one of the centers of the Yugoslavian war …

After having spent 3 days together, Nina continued cycling North, while Karo went inland, North-East, where she stopped at the beautiful Kravice waterfalls …

and Medugorje, a very popular Christian pilgrim destination Karo really wanted to visit. Unfortunately Karo was rather negatively surprised, Medugorje turned out to be rather a center of commerce than a spiritual oasis …

and so she continued to Mostar, one of Bosnia-Hercegovina’s biggest cities …

There she found a very cosy hostel, which shared one of her life perspective’s …

Mostar turned out to be a positive surprised. A beautiful old town, where you would still feel the presence of the former rulers and “long gone” Ottomans …

an interesting, but rather sad fact about Mostar is the still ongoing (voluntary) separation of its inhabitants. On the left side of river Neretva you would find the Serbian-Orthodox inhabitants and on the right side (with all the minarets) you would find the Muslim population. Once again we learn from history, that we don’t learn from history!

but besides it’s ethnical and/or religious challenges, it remains an outstandingly beautiful city …

Luckily, when it comes to sweets and coffee ethnical or religious differences are erased. They are equally loved by EVERYONE … 🙂

After Mostar, Karo went to Blagaj, a small town in Hercegovina, where she found this pretty Derwish monastery nestled into a high rock wall …

Karo was on her way to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina’s capital city. From Blagaj she cycled along the extraordinarily beautiful Neretva river. A few kilometers from a town called Konjic a handsome young man passed Karo with his car. He stopped, smiled at her and gave her a big bag of figs, walnuts and apples …

The handsome young man, Nedzad, and Karo met again in Konjic, where he invited her to an amazing dinner. Karo was so touched by Nedzad’s enormous, unconditional kindness …

But Nedzad was not the only one in Konjic, who deeply touched Karo’s soul. Looking for accommodation Karo found a pretty hostel. Its proud owner, Orhan received her with arms wide open and after seeing her bike and hearing her story he refused to take any money from her. Not just that, the next day he organized a full day river rafting with Karo. They had so much fun and the whole trip was absolutely mind-blowing …

That little splash on the water is Karo having jumped from a rock … Because Karo spent 3 days in Konjic, a town she never planned to travel to and she left truly enriched with amazing memories and 3 amazing new friends …

In Sarajevo Karo mainly visited war memorials and historical sites like “Tunel Spasa” a hidden tunnel underneath the airstrip of Sarajevo’s airport. From 1993 to 1995 the tunnel was basically the lifeline of the city, bringing food and medical aid to the capital which was besieged by the Serbian army …

the tunnel from inside …

This pretty bridge in Sarajevo, is the very bridge on which Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary has been assassinated in 1914. Unfortunately, many more dead bodies would follow since that event triggered the beginning of the First World War …

Cementaries and graves everywhere in Sarajevo. Karo had never seen so many cementaries in her life …

After having spent a few days in Sarajevo mainly focussing on its sad past, Karo felt it was time for nature. It was time again for a retreat to forget about human destructiveness towards his own kind …

Karo went to Sutjeska National park, where she hiked for a few days …

and met new friends …

Karo loves to be on top of a mountain, the best place to realize how small we all are and to find gratitude for one’s existence …

a heart shaped lake … LOVE is everywhere! 🙂

When the hiking expedition came to an end, Karo crossed into Montenegro, which literally means “the black mountain” and indeed Karo found a LOT of mountains in Montenegro …

lots of up- and downhills for Karo …

a country with magnificent scenery …

She stayed a few days in Pluzine, a small town in North-Eastern Montenegro, where a whole town had to be resettled for the making of Montenegro’s biggest man-made lake …

By building a dam for a hydro-electric power plant, river Piva gradually created “Lake Pluzine”. If the water level is low, you can walk through relicts of the old town …

this house, has not yet been fully swallowed by the river …

It was a beautiful, but spooky lake at the same time …

in Montenegro, Karo also came across her first dangerous wildlife, a nose-horned viper, Europe’s most venomous snake …

Karo loved the distinctive wooden houses so many Montenegrins build and choose to be their home …

more typical wooden houses and Montenegro’s number one car: a white Golf GTI. It seems everybody in Montenegro was driving that car …

in Pluzine Karo met Nils and Lijena again. The Ukrainian couple she had met in Bosnia before. Nils and Lijena left the Ukraine many years ago and are travelling around the world in search for a new home. Since Montenegro is so small they decided to discover it by foot. An extraordinarily fascinating couple, with outstanding integrity and a pure and golden heart …

They were so HAPPY to see Karo again, that they all celebrated with a bar of white BELGIAN chocolate … WHAT a treat!!! 🙂

After a few days with Nils and Lijena, Karo continued her Journey towards Durmitor National Park. To reach there, Karo had to climb the highest mountain pass of the whole country. It was incredibly exhausting, but Karo made it to the plateau …

and was rewarded with immensely beautiful scenery …

and found a basketball ground in the middle of nowhere on 2000m altitude! A little weird, found Karo …

Durmitor National Park is one of Montenegro’s richest assets …

a must see for nature lovers and adventurers …

The good thing about uphills is the very fact, that there is a downhill on the other side. And so Karo enjoyed a really long downhill, speed-tears of joy running down her face. Then she reached the beautiful Tara Bridge …

The next few days she cycled alongside Tara river to Biogradska National Park …

of course, many more ups- and downhills followed …

in Biogradska National Park she found lots of yummy mushrooms …

and a new friend, who accompagnied Karo for a full day during her hike through the forest …

one of the hiking routes led her to this beautiful alpine pasture …

in one of the farms, she got served the most delicious homemade foods …

She jumped in the freezing waters of Biogradska Lake …

and really enjoyed the peace and silence of nature …

Then Karo headed towards Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital. On route she found a “Chinese camp” obviously busy mining something. Karo was surprised about Chinese mining presence in the middle of Montenegro’s nowhere …

Instead of figs, blackberries were in season then and Karo could fill her tummy with those yummy, sweet treats from heaven …

Again, the route from North-Eastern Montenegro to Podgorica was not the easiest, many mountains to climb …

in Podgorica, Karo was hosted by Giovanni and his family. A bit scary at first sight, the family turned out to be really lovely and kind-hearted. Being a vegetarian it was just a bit tricky to find something edible on the table, which was filled with all different types of sausages, meat and sheep head …

Climbing up the hill to Cetinje on her quest to overview the legendary bay of Kotor, Karo met this inquisitive Bosnian motorcyclist who found Karo on the side of the road eating blackberries. He found her absolutely crazy and offered to take her up the hill with his bike instead. Karo remained stubborn. In the end, they had a really good chat and were eating blackberries together … 🙂

The legendary bay of Kotor, unfortunately covered in mist …

Karo found she had spent enough time in Montenegro and was ready for a new country …

and so she headed towards Albania and through marvellous landscapes …

so much beauty, Karo almost forgot to pedal …

in Virpazar, the last town in Montenegro, Karo met Benjamin, a swiss touring cyclist, who gave her plenty adivce for Albania …

Alongside the beautiful Skadar lake she crossed into Albania …

She immediately noticed a big difference between the Europe she has been to and another Europe in Albania, but she immediately LOVED it …

In Shkodra Karo stayed in a pretty hostel with an even prettier garden full of amazing fruits. It was so beautiful that Karo stayed for a full week to help Mikel, the happy owner …

Mikel, a “masterpiece” of Albanianism and a true delight, not just for Karo, but the whole world …

Mikel treated Karo like a princess, but Tia was OF COURSE the queen of the house …

Mikel told Karo to discover the marvellous Valbona valley and hike in its beautiful mountains. So, she left Shkodra and headed off to Valbona …

on route, she met this cute duck family. Ducks always manage to make Karo incredibly happy …

Since there was no road from Shkodra to the Valbona valley, Karo hopped on a ferry …

and enjoyed a beautiful, scenic ride along Komani river …

After a beautiful river ride and an exhausting climb along the Valbona valley, she finally reached the small village. Here she found a couple of Albania’s famous bunkers …

Those bunkers, which look like little mushrooms are scattered all over Albania. They are relicts from Albania’s difficult past. Their former communist dictator, Enver Hoxha, was feared of foreign invasion so ordered those bunkers to be built. About 173.000 bunkers have been built between 1960 and 1980. Needless to say, this enormous expenditure had a serious effect on Albania’s national budget …

Karo enjoyed a couple of days of beautiful hiking …

and relaxing in beautiful Valbona …

it felt a bit like being home, in the Austrian Alps …

After Valbona, Karo decided to do a little exursion into the Kosovo …

close to the border of the Kosovo, she met this lovely group of inquisitive road workers …

They were so amazed about Karo’s journey, that they invited her for a stop-over coffee with their family. Luckily, one of them spoke English …

In Junik, a small town in Kosovo, Karo met this lovely family. Actually, she first met the “head of the house” in a little park, where she was having a break. Since it was getting late, he noticed that Karo needed a place to stay and invited her to stay with him and his family. Karo experienced incredible hospitality and is still touched by the kindness of those people …

After having been in Peje and Pristina, but not having found much there, Karo went to Prizren, a beautiful small town in Kosovo’s South …

After 5 days in Kosovo, Karo pedalled back to Albania …

and enjoyed it’s amazing scenery …

It was very hard for Karo to communicate in Albania since most of the young and educated people have left the country and the older ones or less educated didn’t know any English. Nevertheless, Karo fell in love with Albania, its peculiarity, its authenticity, its pureness, its honesty …

Karo cycled through the Eastern highlands of Albania. The roads were getting worse …

Sometimes Karo wasn’t sure if she was actually still on a road …

One day, close to Stebleve, a tiny Albanian mountain village, Karo met Metje and Enver, an Albanian farmer couple, who were harvesting potatoes in the fields. When Metje saw Karo on her bike, her mother instincts must have carried her away. With “hands and feet” (she didn’t speak English) she asked, where Karo was going to spend the night. It was getting dark and a thunderstorm was approaching. When Karo formed a little tent with her hands, Metje heavily protested and almost dragged Karo to their little farm house …

Metje and Enver or “Mama e Baba albansko” as she calls them now, have been so incredible kind to Karo, that Karo’s eyes always fill with tears of joy when she thinks of them. This two amazing people were far from being rich, but they wanted to share everything with their new daughter …

Because the thunderstorm lasted for two days, Karo spent two tremendously enriching days with Mama and Baba albansko. They couldn’t speak English and Karo couldn’t speak Albanian, but they found a way to communicate without words and created a long lasting bond between them. Karo is still (1,5 years later) in regular contact with them and she knows, one day she will be back …

Karo still has the distinctive smell of mountain tea in her nose, which was boiling on the stove, in front of which they gathered because it was the only warm place in their humble home …

it was by far, the most touching and heart-warming encounter Karo had on her trip and she will never ever forget again …

After having waved Metje and Enver GOODBYE, Karo continued to the beautiful Lake Ohrid …

Several people have recommended her to go there and it turned out to be good advice: a magnificent lake of outstanding beauty …

and the bunkers again, the most peculiar “landmark” Albania is known for …

a bunker from inside …

Karo spent a night in Lin, a beautiful fishing village on the shore of Lake Ohrid …

overlooking the beautiful lake. On the other shores lies Macedonia …

Karo continued South to Korce, where she met Matthias …

Matthias, a German touring cyclist, was on his way to Greece. Matthias and Karo cycled for two days together, before he crossed into Greece …

Karo stayed in Albania and continued enjoying her marvellous surrounding …

In Kosine, a small Albanian village, Karo was hosted by Erlet and his Mum. That very night Karo experienced her first earthquake …

Karo found, she had had enough mountains and decided to go back to the coast …

In Ksamil, a hidden gem of Europe’s coastline, Karo relaxed her tired legs …

after that, she hopped on a ferry and headed off to Greece …

It turned out that Greece has a LOT of mountains as well and so Karo kept pushing her tiny legs …

Having arrived in Greece, Karo immediately noticed she was back in the EU. Good roads, pretty houses and complaining people, but the nature was marvellous …

Pluto, Karo’s first bodyguard in Greece. He guarded Karo and her little tent the entire night and followed Karo several kilometers on her bicycle. It was heart-breaking …

an Oyster farm in Lefkada …

On Lefkada peninsula, Karo met Trevor. Trevor lives in a small Greek mountain village called Kalamitsi. He was born in the UK, but had spent the last 20 years in Greece. He did not just host Karo for a few days, he also showed her the most exciting places of his new home. Karo really enjoyed Trevor’s company, his kind heart and warm personality …

After staying 2 days with Trevor, Karo was fully energized again to climb the various mountains, which stood in between her and her next destination …

many tempting beehives all along the way. Karo loves Greek mountain honey, but didn’t dare to disturb the tiny, busy fellows …

She tremendously enjoyed the sound of goat bells in the Greek and Albanian highlands. A very meditative sound …

She found the most amazing camping spots all along the coast …

and she really fell in love with Greece’s outstandingly beautiful coastline. I mean, look at THAT!

In a small village close to Akrata on the Peloponnesus, she met Bessy and Ioannis, who became over the next few weeks Karo’s Greek parents. Ioannis found Karo outside his summerhouse, while she was having a little break. Curious about her bike and her heavy load he invited her in, where she became witness of true Greek hospitality …

Karo continued to Akrata, where a very happy Kari was waiting for her …

Kari and Karo spent one week in Akrata before Kari went back to Austria and Karo continued her Journey. Cycling gradually became more difficult since it was getting colder and colder. It was November by now and camping on high altitude became more and more challenging. She wasn’t physically and mentally prepared for frozen water bottles and toes in the mornings. As beautiful as the mountains were, she decided to stick closer to the warmer coast …

The beautiful Dome in Patra …

On her way to Sefalonia, a Greek island, Karo passed lots of greenhouse plantations. All sorts of fruits and veggies were growing there for the European market. Even more interesting were the little shacks made of wood, ironsheets or plastic film, which were built next to the greenhouse tunnels. It turned out to be the accommodation of the workers. Most of them from Bangladesh or India. Sometimes, Karo met so many of them on the road, that she thought she would be on another continent. Many of the workers, have a very sad story to tell. The price of our “cheap” vegetables and fruits in our supermarkets is actually high. Those people, who work most of the time illegally for a few Euros a day, are paying an extraordinarily high price for our convenience. Karo was sad again. She decided to be a vegetarian to reduce suffering in the world, but apparently also fruits and veggies have their past, which is often sad and brutal …

Karo stayed one week on the island of Sefalonia with an interesting, but a little too egocentric Greek, who decided to live without money. At his place she also found Alex, a lovely Austrian, who volunteered as well. Karo was supposed to harvest olives, but she didn’t and so she got quickly tired of the place and decided to go somewhere else …

Karo felt it was time to settle somewhere for a few weeks, to have time for herself and to write about the past months …

Thanks to a Greek friend, whom she met along the way, Karo found the perfect place in Kryoneri, a small fishing village on mainland Greece …

It was a perfect, peaceful and relaxing environment …

She could see and hear the sea from the window and terrace of her little home …

She was harvesting olives with an Albanian couple, who was living in the same village …

and Karo got the possibilty to see and learn how olive oil is being processed. An exciting experience for the olive loving Karo …

the delicious, healthy “green gold” …

Karo couldn’t believe HOW physically demanding the harvest was. She only helped for a few hours, but her hands were full of blisters …

Nothing goes to waste! After the harvest, the cut branches of the olive trees are munched by sheep. Apparently they absolutely love the juicy and rich leaves …

such a POWERFUL fruit …

Although her hands were still sore, Karo went for another harvest. This time, she endured for two days …

and that was her payment … 🙂

Karo also met a few new friends in her little village …

Some, like Jessy, joined her regularly on her jogging tours …

Kryoneri was the best place for Karo to reflect on her past months and to write about it …

Karo also often went and visited Mesolonghi, a beautiful and small town surrounded by an even more beautiful lagoon …

Lucky Karo was many times invited for delicious, authentic Greek food. The best restaurant in the whole area just around the corner …

Fotis, the man who knows how to live, became Karo’s best friend. He is an amazing character and Karo spent most of her lunches with him and his mother …

Fotis and Karo also went to the Meteora monasteries together. The impressive, architectural masterpieces are found in the very heart of Greece …

During the Ottoman invasion, monks feared of being forced to another religion and therefore they decided to build their monasteries on top of mountain peaks, where access was limited to ropes and winches …

amazing to see, what man is capable of doing to defend his belief …

Karo spent 4 weeks in her little fishing village. After that she decided to go to Athens …

The only 230 km between Kryoneri and Athens turned out to be incredibly challenging for Karo, for two reasons: The first reason was the high climb to the Oracle of Delphi, which she desperately wanted to visit …

and the second reason was the cold. On top of the mountains Karo would find snow. Being outdoor pretty much all the time, Karo had to admit to herself that the last 100 km were pure torture …

but once she arrived at the Oracle of Delphi all her frustration and pain had vanished …

The Oracle of Delphi is an ancient sanctuary, which has been visited by people to seek advice and to ask for their fate and future. The answers were provided by the Pythia, a priestess, who communicated with the Greek gods and godesses. So, they say! Today there are still lots of visitors, tourists, who are not seeking for advice or answers to their fate, but who are interested in taking pictures and walking around at this well preserved ancient, sacred site …

Although Karo is usually not a fan of museums, she must admit that she was truly amazed by the Oracle of Delphi, the museum as well as the historical site …

Karo was not surprised that the Greek God’s chose Delphi to be their sanctuary. Embedded in beautiful mountains, the place radiates spirituality …

Finally Karo arrived in Athens …

where her parents were already waiting. They have decided to come and see their only daughter, since she didn’t want to come and see them in Austria …

They went to the famous Acropolis …

Karo’s Mum and Dad resumed that the historical site hadn’t changed much. The stones were still the same, as they were during their first visit, during their honeymoon 30 years back. The only difference was that they now were with their 28 year old daughter. That was the only indicaton that time had passed A LOT …

Christmas in Athens …

After Christmas, Karo and her parents took a ferry to Crete …

to discover the beautiful gem in the Mediterranean Sea …

it was truly picturesque …

Crete’s endless olive orchards …

They went to the Crete mountains and found plenty of snow …

and made the best of it! What could be better than building a snowcat?

They went hiking …

enjoyed beautiful scenery …

more beautiful scenery …

and they became witness of the extraordinarily warm Crete hospitality …

a beautiful Crete mountain village …

and a very happy Mum …

They explored Heraklion, Crete’s capital …

and found some beautiful, but thoughtful street art broaching the issue of the current refugee “crisis” …

Yes, Karo and her parents fully enjoyed and embraced Crete …

Unfortunately, time had come to say GOODBYE again. Back in Athens Karo hugged her parents GOODBYE, not knowing when she would see them again. They went back to Austria and Karo remained in Athens …

where she stayed with Bessy and Ioannis, her Greek parents, who treated Karo like their own daughter …

Ioannis always says “Greece is the place, where democracy was born and where it died”. On the picture above you see its “grave”, the Greek parliament …

Karo’s new home for another week, the room of Bessy’s and Ioannis’ only “real” daughter Meni, who lives and works in Edinborough. Bessy and Ioannis were happy that finally there was LIFE in the room again … 🙂

December 2016/January 2017 was the coldest winter Greece had experiences in 30 years …

Karo really didn’t feel like spending her nights outside in her tent in such conditions. She knew she could, if she wanted, but being in a house with a proper roof in front of a simple fire place currently felt so much better. Karo had to face it, she had to make a decision. She either had to stay in Athens for a few months until the arrival of spring or she had to change the continent …

The universe had mercy on Karo and sent her an answer. It sent an answer through Karo’s old friend, Raymond, who asked Karo if she would be interested in joining him on his annual charity trip to Tanzania. Karo said GOODBYE to her Greek parents, packed her bike in a box and flew to Tanzania …

15 years ago Raymond and two of his colleagues founded PRF (poverty relief foundation). An organization which funds well for villages in Tanzania’s Lake Region. Since 2005 PRF provided funds for 200 wells. Each one of them serves a community of 2.000 to 5.000 people. 2008 Karo and Ray were both in Tanzania and accidentally ran into each other. Since then, the two are good friends and Karo got gradually involved in the charity. Since 2013 she had the opportunity to join Ray on his annual monitoring trips to Tanzania, to see if the projects have been implemented and to see possible new sites for building wells …

Access to clean water still remains one of Tanzania’s biggest challenges, especially in rural areas …

The daily walks to a well or waterhole is usually a task done by women and children …

A new well is being digged. What Karo really likes about PRF is the fact, that the organization ONLY provides the money for the wells, everything else (construction, management, maintenance) is done by locals …

Karo and Ray spent 2 weeks in and around Biharamulo area, a Tanzanian province close to Lake Victoria, where they met many super friendly and hospitable people …

Sometimes it is a bit difficult to understand and accept some of their customs, like the transport of animals …

This inquisitve herd of Ankole cows met us at a waterhole …

Usually the 2 week trip to Tanzania is used to see the new wells, which have been funded the year before, to see how and if they work and to see possible new sites. Sites, to which villages invite us to have a look at their current water source and to ask PRF for funds for a well. Above you see the current waterhole of a certain village in Tanzania …

and here is another one …

and another one … For Karo it is always really hard to imagine that people are able to drink this kind of water without getting terribly sick …

another waterhole … Interestingly, most of the waterholes are actually not puddles from rainwater, but underground sources. This makes digging wells comparatively easy …

another waterhole …

and another one …

mud-huts, typical Tanzanian village housing, which have actually excellent insulation properties for the hot summer months …

a happy Tanzanian family enjoying lunch together …

an added classroom to a local school …

village meeting to which PRF has been invited …

an informal gold mine in Tanzania; Karo has no idea how that excavater managed to get, where it is now and how it will ever get back …

After two weeks charity work, Ray flew back to the UK and Karo went to Dar es Salaam, where she stayed with Simi, a young “old” friend of Karo, getting ready for her journey …

She also met Anthony, another very good friend of hers. In fact, Anthony was the one, who guided Karo out of the city and waved her GOODBYE, when she embarked on her cycling expedition through Africa …

Thanks to the availability and rich diversity of fruits in Tanzania, Karo started fully energized …

Karo’s first day on the bike was an absolute nightmare: it was extremely hot and humid, dusty, hectic traffic, narrow roads in bed condition and she even had a little accident, but apart from a bleeding knee nothing really bad happened. To be honest, on the first day of her cycling in Tanzania, Karo was about to give up …

Luckily, she didn’t and gave the next day another chance …

it was already a lot better, but Karo was still not fully in her cycling mood …

Luckily, on the 3rd day, things changed. After an exhausting day of climbing lots of hills, which Karo didn’t expect, Karo rested underneath a tree, where she was found by Faraja. Faraja, a young and kind Tanzanian woman invited Karo to her home. Since Karo was resting under a tree, she could as well rest in her house, so thought Faraja. Faraja stays together with her parents, her several kids and some other kids, who don’t have any other place to stay in a simple brick house in a small village called Ngiloli …

After a while Faraja and some kids started to prepare a meal. Guests in Tanzania always have to have a meal, otherwise the reputation of the host is in danger. There Karo was, in the middle of those amazing people, who hardly had enough for themselves, but were eager to share the little they had with Karo. Karo was so touched by Faraja’s hospitality and kindness …

This beautiful experience brought back Karo’s motivation and spirit for her journey. She was eager to explore more of this beautiful country and to meet more of its amazing people …

She notized and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery around her …

and she saw plenty of her favourite trees: the baobab! What a beautiful giant …

underneath the baobab Karo met this inquisitive, lovely lady, who was curious why a white lady was hugging a baobab tree …

another day she found rest in a cheap guesthouse. “Baraka” on her side, Karo has decided to finally name her precious, loyal aluminium horse and faithful friend …

In Igunga, a small trading center about 800 km from Dar es Salaam, she met Grace and her two friends, who were very interested in the “Mzungu” (Swahili for white man/women) on the bike. For the next months “Mzungu” was the most frequent word Karo heard …

Karo really enjoyed meeting and being with locals, but she also enjoyed the quiet moments of solitude …

After having cycled 1.100 km in 10 days in a row. Karo arrived super exhausted in Bariadi, where she met her good friend Justus, a secondary school teacher. Karo spent about a week with Justus, relaxing her mind and muscles …

Justus with his class …

How beautiful it is to watch the rain from the inside of a house … The message of this sentence is probably only understood by people who regularly camp …

Justus and Karo visited Hellen, one of the strongest and most impressive women Karo knows …

After having spent a full week with Justus, Karo headed of to Butiama, the birthplace of Tanzania’s first president, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, a socialist leader and humanist and one of Karo’s role models and inspirational figures. Karo wanted to visit Butiama because she wanted to visit the Nyerere museum to find out more about her idol. In Butiama Karo was hosted by Madaraka, a very interesting, humble and kind Tanzanian. She spent two days with him and only on the second day she realized that the man, who hosts her is Julius Kambarage Nyerere’s son. Humble like his father, he didn’t even find it worth mentioning …

Monkeys stalking Karo and Karo stalking monkeys in front of the window of her room in Butiama …

After having had this amazing encounter with Madaraka Nyerere, Karo headed North towards Kenya. On her way she crossed the legendary Mara river …

Before she crossed into Kenya, she visited Anthony and his family …

She learnt that cattle are a very important asset for the Kuria tribe, the tribe, which inhabits Mara region …

Karo enjoyed a beautiful sunrise on the way to the field …

Arrived at the field, Karo joined the early morning activity of ploughing …

Typical Kuria way of storing grain …

One afternoon, Karo and Anthony went on a walk to Mara river, where they met those lovely and busy farmers …

The beautiful and fertile Mara plains, highly in demand by its surrounding people …

Karo is always amazed by the beautiful colours of African soil …

An exhausted Anthony after a long walk to Mara river. As a “real man” he never went anywhere without his machete …

On their walk back to Anthony’s home they met a few cows enjoying fresh water from a stream …

They passed typical Kuria homesteads …

In the evening Anthony and Karo visited Werema, who was busy getting his dinner fire ready …

In front of Werema’s house, where he stays with his wife and SIX children …

After six days Karo hugged Anthony and his lovely family GOODBYE and headed to Kenya …

Karo has been tremendously blessed by the weather god. Although it was officially rain season in Eastern Africa, Karo only enjoyed sunshine on her nose, during the days she was cycling …

On her 4th day in Kenya, Karo met a group of six motorcyclists, who were having a lunchbreak next to the road. Curious about this crazy lady alone on her bicycle they invited Karo to join them. The six men, were all born in Africa (from Indian origin), but all of them are living in the UK or Canada now. They were on a holiday trip riding their bikes from Kampala to Dar es Salaam. The six guys invited Karo to spend her day with them and because they were so lovely and had so much fun Karo agreed and Baraka was put on the roof of their Back-up car …

A few days later, Karo was of course back on her bike, Karo arrived at Lake Naivasha …

A beautiful lake with beautiful surrounding fauna in Western Kenya …

She went to Hell’s Gate Nationalpark, the only National Park in Kenya, where people are allowed to cycle …

She saw plenty of wildlife …

and walked in the beautiful gorge, which was, for the one’s who are interested, one of the film locations for the 1st Tomb Raider movie …

She also learnt that the king’s rock in “The Lion king” was inspired by the very rock seen on the picture reaching towards sky …

After Hell’s gate National Park, she continued to Eldoret, where she stayed in a little ironsheet shack …

Her hosts, Hillary and Joseph, were two marathon runners. Eldoret is home of some of the most famous former and present marathon runners of Kenya and the whole world (since Kenya is the leading nation in that sport). In fact, the whole town is crazy about running. Almost everybody without job engages in marathon running, in hope to get out of poverty. For Karo it was immensely interesting to stay with two runners and to get a feeling about the lives they were living. Joseph and Hillary possessed hardly anything, but their running shoes and a hell lot of determination …

After Eldoret, Karo continued to Nyange Naitiri in the Kenyan bush …

There she found Kevin, a good friend she knew from her time in Vienna …

Karo spent a few days with Kevin and his adorable family …

After a few days in Nyange Naitiri it was time to leave again and because Kevin wanted to spend a bit more time with Karo, he insisted to give her ride on his motorbike to the next tar road …

Baraka got a ride as well …

After having spent 2 weeks in Kenya, Karo found it was time to cross into Uganda …

Where she went to Jinja and visited the source of river Nile …

In Jinja, Karo was hosted by Hellen, an adorable Ugandan lady, who welcomed Karo with arms wide open …

and she filled Karo’s tummy with delicious Ugandan food …

A few days later, Karo arrived in Kampala, where she stayed in a very luxurious apartement. Nelson, a very good Kenyan friend of Karo organized this stay for her …

Karo felt so bad watching this construction workers from her luxury apartment. The scaffolding was really shaky, they were working on the 7th floor and had neither shoes, nor a helmet …

After having cycled about 2.500 km in Africa, Karo found Baraka deserved a little treat at the car wash …

Heading South to the Ugandan town of Masaka, Karo crossed the Equator (again) …

In Kitengesa, a small village 15 km from Masaka, Karo stayed with her amazing friend George, an incredibly adorable man, Karo hadn’t seen for long time …

George has a little farm, where he is staying with his wife Olivia and his two kids …

George’s lovely wife Olivia and their son Trevor …

Trevor was very unhappy of receiving a wash in front of Karo …

Karo became friends with George’s friendly watchdogs …

and she enjoyed the simple, but super tasty and healthy farm food: beans, sweet potatoes and Matooke (cooking bananas, the staple food of the majority of Ugandans)

Matooke-Banana tree with fruits …

Sugar cane, East Africa’s candy for the poor, which is very good and actually a lot better than real candy …

fermented coffee beans drying in the sun …

Coffee beans in their original state …

After having spent a few days with George and his family, Karo left Kitengesa and continued to Kambuga, a little village in South-Western Uganda, close to the Congolese border …

Here she met Darius, another very very good friend of Karo, whom she hadn’t seen for years. Darius is living here with his wife and daughter …

Karo spent a few exciting days in Kambuga. Darius was very eager to show Karo everything, which was happening in his little village. Here, they discovered a local “distillery” …

A very happy Darius showed Karo how to make Banana brew “Pombe”, a terrible tasting drink …

These villagers were squeezing bananas with their legs for more banana brew …

Banana brew during fermentation …

The unpatient Darius couldn’t resist and needed to taste the unfinished product. Needless to say, he soon needed a toilet. That day Karo became a real expert in local brews and distilleries. A pity she actually doesn’t drink alcohol (anymore) …

Darius and Karo also spent a lot of time hiking the beautiful hills of Kambuga …

An extraordinarily beautiful area of Uganda, covered in Banana plantations …

Alosius, an adorable boy from Darius’ neighbourhood took a particular liking in Karo and gifted Karo with this delicious Jackfruit, which they enjoyed together. What a super sweet boy …

It has been long time since Karo enjoyed this sticky, but mouthwateringly tasty fruit …

Karo loves watching chicken. She always has a chuckle about their cute and funny behaviour. In Kambuga she felt really sorry for their decreased freedom. Because Kambuga was facing a serious drought with crops hardly growing, Kambuga’s chicken were sentenced with leg irons to prevent them from digging out the few seeds and plants which were left in the ground …

She learnt how to traditionally cook Matooke (in banana leaves) with the three stone system and fire wood …

Another day, Darius, one of his friends and Karo went on a cycling expedition …

everybody was very excited …

They climbed several hills from which they enjoyed an amazing view …

and then arrived at this marvellous waterfall in the middle of nowhere …

Somebody was really exhausted …

but Darius was lucky, a big portion of “Kalo” a rich millet porridge brought back his energy and he was ready for the return …

Karo also had the chance to celebrate Good Friday in Kambuga and experienced a very interesting custom. Each villager carried his/her own cross from the village to the church …

After several exciting days with Darius, it was time to say GOODBYE. Karo decided to go back to Tanzania. A few days later, she entered her beloved 2nd Home and visited Kayanga, a little village in North-Western Tanzania, where many years ago she had spent six months volunteering …

When a totally exhausted Karo reached Kayanga, which is on a mountain plateau, she realized that she had cycled EXACTLY 11.111 km since she left her Home in Austria …

In Kayanga, Karo stayed with Father Hans, a missionary from Upper Austria, whom Karo knew from long time ago. A wonderful man, who has done incredibly much for his Tanzanian community …

Leaving Kayanga, Karo enjoyed a loooooong downhill …

She headed towards Bukoba now. Along the way she got surprised by a heavy rain shower. Luckily she found shelter and those lovely people, who were surprised as well, not by the rain, but by the “Mzungu” on a bicycle …

Karo loved the beautiful, fertile plains around Bukoba …

After Bukoba, Karo headed South towards Biharamulo, the area of Tanzania, where the charity work is taking place …

On route, she stopped in Kyebitembe, where she knocked on the door of these two priests, who immediately invited her in …

and pampered her with sweet potatoes, Mchicha (a type of Spinach) and chickpeas …

A few days later, Karo stopped at a small immigration office in Ushirombo asking for accommodation and got invited by Salum, who is meanwhile a very good friend of Karo …

After Karo had finished her tour around Lake Victoria, visiting many of her “old” friends in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, she decided to continue to Cape Town. It was just like that. She woke up one morning and said to herself “I’ll go to Cape Town!” and that’s what she did, but first she had to cross Tanzania and a few other countries …

Ugali (maize porridge) and ocra boosted her energy …

She kept meeting smiling faces and curious Beings …

and made more new friends …

she enjoyed her freedom and the wind in her hair …

When she reached Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital city, in the middle of nowhere …

She was hosted by Andrew and his family. A very interesting man, who teaches Peace Studies at the University of Dodoma. Karo really enjoyed Andrew’s company and their long, profound discussions …

South of Dodoma, Karo pedalled through the land of Baobabs. A heaven for Karo …

being a thinly populated part of the country, Karo enjoyed her solitude …

and some funny street signs. This one, must have been from China …

the colour of the soil changed every few kilometers.: white, orange, beige, red …

Karo was amazed …

Tanzania is so beautiful …

She pedalled and pedalled and pedalled until she reached Iringa …

and its bizarre, but astonishing sandstone formations …

In Iringa, Karo was hosted by Juma …

and his adorable wife Aisha …

they had the cutest baby Karo had ever seen …

After Iringa, Karo continued towards Mafinga, the area of Tanzania, where most of the timber is being produced …

Pine forests and trucks with pine trees everywhere …

She passed a beautiful Mangrove swamp …

which unfortunately gradually disappears because of the expansion of the timber industry and new pine plantations …

Karo noticed many dead pythons on the road …

She pedalled and pedalled and pedalled until she reached the beautiful mountain town of …

Mbeya …

When Karo entered Mbeya town, a crazy woman decided to pull Karo from her bike as she was passing by. A weird scenario, but everybody who witnessed the scene came to help Karo and were annoyed with the lady …

Karo spent a few days in Mbeya, where she was hosted by Lina and Leonie, two lovely German volunteers …

In Mbeya Karo did a few excursions through the mountains …

it was a lot easier to climb hills without luggage …

Karo felt so “light”, it felt like flying up the mountains …

She enjoyed the quiet mountain villages …

and loved the beautiful view she had on Mbeya …

rich, black, fertile soils, Mbeya is the potato capital of Tanzania …

no worries about Karo’s heart then …

Leaving Mbeya, Karo enjoyed a long downhill to Tunduma, the border to Zambia …

Once in Zambia, she was pleased to hear that many people, were still speaking Swahili …

Zambia was beautiful, but it turned out to be much more monotonous. This landscape followed Karo for several hundred kilometers, but it was flat, flat, flat, which was pure joy for Karo …

Each time a sad moment for Karo: lots of charcoal for sale along the road, an environmental disaster in progress! Zambia’s poor inhabitants are chopping down their rich forests to earn a few “Kwacha” (Zambian currency). Needless to say, there is NO reforestation. A vicious circle: trees gone –> rain and fertile soil gone –> crops gone –> HUNGER!

Every now and then Karo stayed in a local guesthouse to get a shower and charge her phone …

In one Zambian village Karo saw a rubbish bin, the first one since 4 months. Karo was extremely happy …

Because locals had told Karo to avoid the road from Mpika to Serenje, because of banditry, she asked Lugobard for a lift. What a lovely man …

While Karo enjoyed the drivers cabin, Baraka enjoyed the wind and the fresh air on the back of the truck. Lugobard was transporting lime from Dar es Salaam to Ndola …

Zambia was covered in flowers …

From Kapiri Mposhi, in the center of the country, Zambia started to change. It was becoming more and more “organized” or “European” as Karo would say (and that is not necessarily a compliment). Karo saw lots of irrigation systems, commercial farms and shopping malls! Karo didn’t know by then that she had entered a different kind of Africa. Southern Africa differed much from East Africa …

In Lusaka, Karo decided to treat herself with a delayed Easter present …

In a cosy backpackers in Lusaka, she found George. Finally someone she could cuddle again. Karo loves cuddling …

Karo also met this funny and lovely group of motorcyclists from AUSTRIA (what a surprise) and USA! They started from Cape Town and were on their way to Cairo. When they heard about Karo’s plans they hooked her up with their Capetonian friends and that’s where Karo eventually stayed once she had arrived in Cape Town …

no figs and blackberries in Zambia, but monkey fingers, a delicious treat straight from the bush …

Lots of puff adders on the road (most of them dead). A very dangerous snake, who releases venom that causes the rottening of flesh. Once bitten the venom can only be stopped by removing the affected flesh and thus a bite often means the amputation of the affected limb …

Close to the border to Botswana Karo met some familiar faces. Having been on the main road for weeks, lots of truck drivers had passed Karo several times and often stopped for a small chat to hear about her progress …

Flat, flat, flat … easy pedalling for Karo …

In order to cross into Botswana Karo had to hop on a ferry crossing Chobe river …

Having been warned by locals and the entire staff of the immigration office that it is not wise to continue cycling in this part of the country, Karo decided to ask Knowledge, a Zimbabwean truck driver, for a lift from Kasane to Nata. A stretch of 300 km through the Kasane, Kazuma and Sibuyu Forest Reserve. Apparently the area is heavily populated by elephants and lions …

Karo thought they were all exaggerating, but because she promised her parents and Kari to take local advice serious, she got comfortable in the driver’s cabin of the truck. Because Knowledge her driver had to settle some custom issues of his load, they had to stay for another day at the border. Knowledge turned out to be a really good company and Karo was glad that her lift gave her the opportunity of getting to know this adorable man and his story.

Karo and Knowledge spent the night in Kasane town, whilst their load was still at the border control post. Knowledge was worried because he transported maize bran and he knew elephants like that stuff and would most likely visit the border control post at night to snack on his load. Karo thought he was joking …

it turned out, that he was telling the truth. In the morning Karo saw clear evidence that elephants are smart and sneaky beings. They already knew where to go at night for an easy snack. Luckily, Knowledge didn’t transport citrus fruits … Apparently, elephants are crazy about citrus fruits and most drivers refuse to transport citrus through the Forest Reserve because elephants would even go for a moving truck, if it carries their favourite snack …

Once Karo and Knowledge were moving out of Kasane town, the elephant safari began! It was amazing, seriously, Karo had never seen so many elephants in her life and she was so glad she could look at them from the window of a truck and not from her tiny bicycle …

Botswana’s open grasslands …

A semi-arid country, Botswana was a completely new environment for Karo …

Being a very thinly populated country (only 1.9 million people in a country twice as big as Germany) Karo found not many cars on the road, but plenty of trucks transporting all types of minerals (copper, iron, zinc, etc.) from inland Africa to the South African coast …

a beautiful sunsrise watched from Karo’s tent …

Botswana was perfect for wild camping …

Karo passed Serowe and paid a visit to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary …

where she saw plenty of zebras …

Serowe, is the royal city of Botswana, the very place, where their 1st president, Seretse Khama, has been born. He is another one of Karo’s African heroes. An outstanding man, whose main aim was to overcome racial segregation, fight for equality and the freedom of his people and he was one of the few African presidents, who succeeded in his plans without any form of violence. He was married to an English woman, Ruth Williams. Karo highly recommends to watch the movie “A United Kingdom”. A movie which portrays the beautiful TRUE love and life story, of a black and white couple, whose Love for each other was not excepted by either side of their own people …

After Serowe, Karo continued to Palapye …

Palapye is home of one of the biggest coal mines of the country. Karo found, the coal mining area looked like a moon landscape …

and because there is so much coal in Palapye, the government decided a few years ago to build THE ONLY electricity plant of Botswana in Palapye. It was supposed to provide electricity for the whole country. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned (Karo is not sure whether this comes as a surprise). Having been built by Chinese the quality of the whole construction is rather poor and until now, the plant produces only a quarter of its actual capacity. Thus, until now, Botswana has to buy most of its electricity from neighbouring South Africa, while paying back loans to China for an investment that only costs, but brings nothing in return …

In Palapye Karo has been hosted by Steffen, a German engineer, who worked at the electricity plant and that is why Karo learnt so much about it. Karo and Steffen met accidentally in Palapye town and because he was so excited to find a young European lady with a bicycle in his small town, he couldn’t resist inviting her to his place, where she could stay for AS LONG as she wanted. An offer Karo could not refuse ….

Karo spent 3 days with Steffen, who was an excellent guide and showed her everything Palapye had to offer and that was actually a lot more than Karo thought …

Karo is very grateful that Steffen found her. He was such an amazing host and treated Karo like a princess …

After this exciting encounter Karo continued South-West towards Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city, and enjoyed beautiful grassland all along the way …

One thing she noticed were the (for African standards) comparatively good-looking government houses, which Karo found in almost every settlement. They provide accommodation for teachers, government officials, hospital staff and everybody else, who was working for the government. It was clear by now, the government of Botswana, unlike so many other African governments, really cares for its people. It is by the way one of the few African countries, where its people have the right and access to many social standards, which we spoilt Europeans so often take for granted: like free education (for excellent students even University), free health care, pensions for retirement and each citizen has the right for a free plot, to build his house …

Botswana’s fauna really fascinated Karo. It looked very unspectacular at first sight, but once Karo had spent a few days in the country, she really had time to acknowledge the beauty of it …

Water!!!! 🙂 Water in a riverbed was a very rare sight, since most of Botswana’s rivers are dry for most of the year and only carry water for a few hours or days during the rain season. Water is by the way the most treasured and acknowledged element in Botswana. Everybody is aware of its life giving significance. The currency of Botswana reflects on the importance of water, as it is called the “Pula” and the “Thebe”, which means “Rain” and “Drops” …

Karo also noticed that a lot of things in Botswana (bins, trees, stones, houses, etc) were painted in the colours of their national flag, which (by the way) represents the importance of water (blue) and the “racial” harmony amongst its people (black and white)! Karo finds that very cute …

Every now and then cars stopped next to Karo, curious about the traveller and her story. It seemed to be a rare sight, to find a single cyclist on the road …

Cows, goats, sheep, horses, donkeys were for most of the days Karo’s main company. The lucky animals are free to roam the entire country. Fences are a rare sight (apart from the big cattle fence, which runs through the entire country – from East to West in northern Botswana – which was built to separate cattle from buffalos and therefore to protect the cattle from BSE) Otherwise the country is basically fenceless. For the cars this is obviously a potential danger and indeed, car accidents caused by domestic animals are a frequent cause of death on Botswana’s road …

another painted stone …

This national heroes (the statues are found in Gaborone) are the three founding fathers of the nation. When hostilities broke out between the Tswana people of Bechuanaland (former name of Botswana) and other tribes from Southern Africa migrating into Bechuanaland, those three gentlemen (Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I) travelled to the UK to ask for help. The UK assisted in making Bechuanaland one of its Protectorates and therefore settling the dispute without any kind of violence. Karo loves pacifists and is truly impressed by their achievement …

In Gaborone, Karo was hosted by Sam and her friends. Karo had no idea, that it hadn’t been the last time to meet the super interesting and fascinating woman and tattoo artist …

Flat, flat, flat! Karo moved almost like a lightning …

obviously Karo had to stop for this pretty lady …

and more friends along the road …

After having spent only two weeks in Botswana, Karo reached the border to South Africa …

and immediately fell in love with the South African “landmark” of the country side: Wind pumps. They were not only very pretty, but also very practical. Karo would soon learn their benefits: where there is a wind pump, there is water (and therefore the possibility of a cooling and cleaning bath) …

The very 1st day in South Africa, Karo fell into the hands of Deon, an extraordinarily big-hearted man …

when she asked him, if he knew a place, where she could put her tent, he came up with something better and invited her to stay in his luxury lodge …

with a super comfy king-sized bed. Karo was soooo happy that the universe had sent her this angel … 🙂

the next morning she enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from the terrace of “her” luxurious lodge …

the beauty of South Africa’s (and Botswana’s) grasslands struck Karo deeply …

Deon adviced Karo not to do any wild camping in South Africa. He found, for a white woman on her own it would be an unnecessary risk. Instead he recommended to simply ask farmers along the way, if Karo could camp in the security of their compound. And that was, what Karo did in South Africa …

and it turned out that Deon’s advice was PHENOMENAL. In Vryburg, Karo knocked on Charlize’s door and asked to put her little camp in her compound …

She refused and brought her to their guestroom instead …

She spent 3 days with Charlize and her husband Owen, who had a cattle farm in North-Eastern province. Amazing people …

Karo met so many angels on her way, she could hardly keep up with giving her thanks to the universe …

In Kimberley, an SA city, Karo stopped at the Big Hole …

a big water-filled crater, from the former diamond digging activities in Kimberley …

She learnt a lot about diamonds …

Although Karo doesn’t fancy to possess one of those precious, pretty, shining, little stones, she must admit that she found their story extremely interesting …

But diamonds were not the only beautiful thing, Kimberley had to offer …

Karo was touched by the beauty of this colourful sunset …

The lake around Kimberley is known for its flamingo colony …

Karo was amused, horses always reacted extremely curious and friendly on Baraka and her …

in Petrusburg, Karo stayed with Dewald and his adorable family …

Besides being a lawyer he farmed “salt” …

and Peca nuts. A delicious nut, Karo had not tasted before …

Although Karo had an amazing time in South Africa, she had to admit that so far, she had only been in touch with the white farming community. Although Apartheid (the racial segragation of South Africans) had officially ended 1994, it seemed to be still very present. In each town Karo passed, she woud find a rich area (mainly populated by whites) and a poor area “Township” (inhabitated by the black community). Of course, there were exceptions, but to be honest, not very often …

A prickly pear plantation, but because South Africa is FULL of fences Karo had unfortunately no access to it …

In Bloemfontein, one of the three SA capitals, Karo stayed with Hasie and Hermine …

The retired couple decided to move to a security complex after they have been attacked and robbed on their farm. Karo was glad, that they offered her a place to stay, but in fact, she also felt like a prisoner. Security guards and cameras were everywhere, there was a huge wall and fence around the whole complex and the only access to the complex was through a fingerprint system. Karo soon realized, you are either rich or poor in SA and if you are rich, you have to spent a lot of money to secure yourself and your possessions. Needless to say, Karo finds that fact very sad and scary …

the beautiful countryside cheered her up again …

although even the countryside with all its fences and warnings, at times annoyed Karo …

How can a nation be so incredibly divided? On the one hand, she heard the most terrible stories of crime, violence and hate. There was so much fear from the one’s who have towards the have-nots. On the other hand she experienced such amazing hospitality, people with incredible kind hearts …

Like Thea and Johnny, another farmer couple, who opened their door and hearts when Karo asked for shelter …

Karo had arrived in SA, when it was winter at the Southern Hemisphere. She never expected that she would ever freeze in Africa, but she actually really did …

so she would often stop for a cup of tea to warm her fingers …

She was surrounded by mountain ranges and felt an enormous climate difference during days and nights …

She would usually start cycling fairly late, since the mornings were biting cold …

One other thing Karo noticed and had (until then) not been used to, was the hunting culture of South Africans. Almost each farm house she entered, was decorated with dead animals. Something which Karo finds quite scary …

but she agreed on other things …

When Karo crossed the equator in Uganda she briefly chatted to a guy from SA, who was excited to hear that Karo was on her way to Cape Town. “If you ever make it to SA, please stop at my home in Queenstown. My family owns a hunting lodge and you are welcome to stay there for as long as you want to relax your bones!” he said and that was, where Karo was heading to. Karo was on her way to Queenstown …

a very particular, but beautiful landscape …

Finally, she arrived at Maweni Lodge …

and Errington, the South African Karo met in Uganda, kept his promise …

She was staying with him and his family for a week and utterly enjoyed it …

She enjoyed the walks in the beautiful bushland and surrounding mountains, observing the different species of animals on the farm (zebras, giraffes, all types of antelopes, warthogs, etc.) and she really enjoyed Errington’s and his family’s company. They were all soooo good to her …

Karo was amazed by the size and beauty of the Aloe Vera plants …

And Karo even saw an old bushmen painting on the rocks of the Maweni mountains …

Maweni by foot has a lot to offer …

Errington’s lovely family …

South Africa’s most famous snack “Biltong”, air-dried meat …

South Africa’s 2nd famous snack “rusks”, crispy cookie-like “things”, which people usually dip in tea or coffee to soften them. Karo’s favourite in SA …

Errington, his daughter Alice and Karo also went for a trip to their summer house on the coast …

It was sooooo good to feel the sand between the toes and to smell the salty sea air …

Kasouga, a little paradise on the Indian Ocean, was marvellous …

After having spent 10 days with Errington and his family Karo jumped back on her bike and pedalled off towards Cape Town …

along the famous and legendary Garden Route …

She stayed with Johnny and Jenny, who were milk farmers …

and who proudly showed Karo around on their HUGE farm of 6.000 cows …

They also introduced her to some very cute baby cows …

The landscape on the Garden Route had completely changed, suddenly everything was green and lush again …

Karo was really glad to be in SA. Before coming here, she was actually a bit scared. She had heard so many negative things about this country, but NOW she thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there are downsides, but TRUTH BE TOLD, never had she met so MANY amazing and helpful people on her journey, than in SA …

she crossed the beautiful Storm River gorge …

and enjoyed the smell and sight of Fynbos, a particular type of vegetation, which is only found on the Cape of South Africa …

a whole new world for Karo …

She also passed majestic indigenous forests in Nature’s Valley …

In Sedgefield, a gem on the Garden Route, she stayed with Alwyn and his family …

She met plenty of sheep along the way, which always ALWAYS always make Karo very happy …

She stayed with Yvonne and Andre in Swellendam, who treated her like their own daughter, …

She went to Cape Agulhas …

the most Southern tip of Africa …

where she actually met two Austrians, Matthias a young “old” friend and his colleague Wolfgang. They were both on a business trip to SA and decided to meet Karo. Karo was so happy to see some familiar faces …

On the road again, Karo passed beautiful “fields” of Aloe Vera …

She visited Hermanus, which turned out to be the most beautiful place. Karo is still amazed by the beauty of Hermanus’ coastline! Breathtaking …

In Hermanus she stayed with Marise and Maartin, another couple, who touched Karo deeply due to their hospitality …

After beautiful Hermanus Karo continued to Kleinmond, passing astonishing fields decorated with Protea flowers, the queen of the Fynbos species and not without reason South Africa’s national flower …

such a beauty …

In Kleinmond Karo was hosted by Marius, one of the most interesting men, Karo had ever met. Being a very deep and spiritual Being Karo tremendously enjoyed his warm company and their touching conversations. Besides her amazing host, Kleinmond was a beautiful little perl on the ocean. Karo had to stay for another day …

Karo passed the stunning Kogelberg Reserve …

and the inviting and clean Palmiet river …

She tremendously enjoyed the beautiful False Bay, which she saw from the probably most scenic route Karo ever had cycled on …

and finally after months on her bicycle, she could see Table mountain in the far distance. She was close to her chosen destination: CAPE TOWN …

Karo spent a week in Bellville, a city within the city of Cape Town. She stayed with a beautiful family of keen motorcyclists. If you remember, Karo got their contact from her Austrian motorcyclist friends, who Karo met in Lusaka. From Bellville Karo discovered Cape Town and its surroundings …

She went to the African penguin colony in Simon’s Town …

One of Karo’s favourite animals …

She visited the colourful beach houses of Muizenberg with her new friends …

She went to Robben island, where Nelson Mandela has been imprisoned for 27 years. 27 years!!!!!! That is almost Karo’s entire life …

Karo is a really big fan of Nelson Mandela. A true humanist, especially during and after his time in prison. Forgiving 27 years of imprisonment is certainly something only a man with peace in his heart is able to do … BRAVO, Madiba!

in front of Nelson Mandela’s cell, where he studied Afrikaans (the language of his “enemy”, did his exercise, and made peace with the world and himself …

She enjoyed a beautiful sunset over Simon’s Town …

She cycled (slowly because of the turtles) through the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve …

and OF COURSE, visited the Cape of Good Hope …

The stunning view on Cape of Good Hope! Karo did a lot of things during her week long stay with her lovely Capetonian hosts, but she really felt, there was so much more to see and she wanted to discover everything. Nevertheless, what she wanted even more, was to see Kari again and they agreed to meet in Zambia. Therefore Karo decided to leave her bike in Cape Town, spend an amazing month with her beloved friend and then come back to Cape Town to continue her journey to? …

After 9 months of not seeing each other Kari and Karo are finally back together, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe …

Kari and Karo visited the astonishing and famous Victoria Falls, the largest water falls in the world (by length, not amount of water) …

Marvellous …

Breathtaking …

Kari and Karo really enjoyed the beauty of the falls, but to be completely honest, they could have enjoyed it even more on a “clear” day. Unfortunately, their friendsheep was a bit “cloudy” that day, like the mist from the dashing water on the falls itself. The night before Karo and Kari had to share a few things, which happened during the last months and some of those things caused plenty of disappointment, frustration and anger between the two. In any case, Kari and Karo have never been good at fighting and so they dealt with their drama in a fairly reasonable way and continued enjoying their valuable time together …

After a few days at Victoria Falls, Kari and Karo walked across the border to Zambia. Luckily they could see flowers again …

Kari and Karo hugged a giant Baobab …

and enjoyed the simple, but yummy Zambian cuisine …

they walked to Livingstone …

and from Livingstone they organized a Safari into Chobe National Park in Botswana …

where they saw plenty of beautiful wildlife …

two Impala bucks fighting for a girl …

what a handsome giant … luckily, Kari and Karo didn’t carry any citrus fruits …

the beautiful landscape of Chope National Park …

After an amazing time in Chobe, Kari and Karo took the bus to Lusaka and cuddled George again …

A few days later, Kari and Karo bought two cheap bicycles from the street and cycled to Lake Kariba, Zambia’s biggest Lake …

They enjoyed the tremendously beautiful sunsets on the lake …

After that little adventure on 2 wheels, Kari and Karo went to the heart of Zambia, Kapiri Mposhi, where they jumped on the TAZARA train to Dar es Salaam …

The train ride lasted 2,5 days and was absolutely amazing. Moving extremely slow, Kari and Karo had plenty of time observing Zambian and Tanzanian life from the window of their train …

They bought plenty of food from local street vendors …

and enjoyed the beautiful and ever changing landscapes …

After 2,5 days Kari and Karo reached Dar es Salaam …

Karo really enjoyed showing Kari “her” city …

They went to the beach …

strolled along the seashore …

tried all kinds of different street foods …

ate mountains of delicious fruits …

drank coconut water …

tasted “Pweza”, octopus Swahili style …

munched Tanzania’s staple food “Ugali” (maize porridge) …

ate Karo’s favourite dish “Pilau”, an Indian influenced rice delicacy with lots of Love and spices …

they bought even more fruits …

and more … It might not look like that, but Kari and Karo also did other things than eating. After a few days in Dar es Salaam, they took the plane to Biharamulo …

it was time again for PRF and the charity work …

It was very important for Kari and Karo to share this experience together …

Seeing the desperate water situation of Tanzanian villagers was especially touching for Kari, who had never experienced that before …

After one week in Biharamulo, Kari went back to Austria and Karo stayed in Biharamulo …

Now she was watching the sunsets alone again …

Well, she was of course not alone, there were many happy and friendly people around her …

in some of the visited villages, where PRF provided a well, the villagers provided a little gift for them …

no, that was not a gift, that is just a resting Ankole cow with impressive horns …

During the past months Karo had learnt a lot of things, but THIS was probably the most important …

After two weeks in Biharamulo, Karo had to go back to Dar es Salaam to catch her flight to Cape Town …

such a pretty little fellow …

Because Karo didn’t want to take the loooooong exhausting bus to Dar, she asked John for a lift in his truck. Karo had met John a few months before when she was cycling through Tanzania. He had passed her a few times with his truck and because he was a really nice guy, she kept in touch with him. And now, he drove her back to Dar es Salaam …

The drive took 2 days and so Karo had plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful scenery from her window …

They were driving the same route, Karo cycled some months ago. It was fascinating how different everything looked and how fast everything passed by …

it took Karo 2 weeks, what John’s truck took 2 days …

but finally she was back in Dar es Salaam …

Karo was exhausted. So many things were happening very fast during the past weeks. Karo was not used to that speed anymore. She was looking forward to see Baraka again and to continue her journey in “her” speed. She took a long, relaxing bath and got ready for Cape Town …

Back in CT, Karo decided to continue her journey towards Namibia …

On her way out of CT, she met Chris, an adorable and charming cyclist, who accompagnied Karo for a few kilometers. It was actually a brief encounter with a long lasting effect. By then, none of the two knew that they would see each other again and become very very good friends …

Finally Karo is back in her tent. She had already missed it desperately …

Keen for new challenges, Karo chose a very mountainous route out of Cape Town …

She was rewarded with stunning views …

and she knew with every uphill there comes a downhill …

she passed through wineyards …

From Ceres she fought her way through serpentines and reached the small town of “Op die Berg”, a suitable name finds Karo …

While she was pedalling up towards “Op die Berg” a car stopped next to her. A friendly smiling man and his pretty daughters were interested in Karo’s journey and invited her to stay at their campsite a few kilometers away …

It was probably the most beautiful campsite Karo has ever been. She was so amazed about the beauty of this place and the entire family, who hosted her …

Karo was so happy to be back on the road again, to experience all those amazing things …

even if the road is sometimes a bit dangerous. Her journey is worth the risk …

Karo stopped at the famous Tankwa Padstall, she knew it was the last chance for refilling her water bottles before …

she disappeared in the nothingness of the Tankwa Karoo …

For a few days Karo didn’t see much, but sand, dust and stones …

Indeed, a harsh environment, but Karo found it incredibly beautiful …

Every year in May several thousand people gather in the Tankwa Karoo for the “Africa Burn” event …

An event, where people would built the most amazing wooden sculptures …

and then burn it to ashes …

After having visited the “Africa Burn” location and wondering a bit about its concept, Karo continued her journey through nothingness …

and she really wondered WHY people would build fences here? …

She reached the dry riverbed of the “Doring” and saw lush green vegetation and trees again and was very happy …

Apart from the heat Karo really struggled on the heavily corrugated road. An absolute nightmare and Karo cycled roughly 7km/h …

How beautiful it was to find friendly, encouraging people all along the road …

Also Baraka demanded his breaks …

After the incredibly exhausting journey through the Tankwa Karoo, Karo enjoyed a long and steep downhill at the Vanrhynsdorp Pass …

In the middle of nowhere, Karo found this amazing little oasis …

a place, where Karo’s spirits skyrocketed …

During a very stormy night Karo found shelter in the house of a cheerful and friendly farm worker …

Most other nights she would stay in her precious, mobile home …

Maghrieta, the water angel! By now Karo was in the Northern Cape, a beautiful part of SA, but very dry and thinly populated. It was increasingly difficult to get access to water and Karo needed to start planning ahead. On that day, Karo was lucky that she found Maghrieta, who refilled Karo’s water bottles and invited her to a delicious breakfast …

Karo was enjoying the wide nothingness …

nothingness everywhere …

This probably looks akward, but it was one of the most beautiful gifts Karo had received in the desert: while Karo was refilling her water bottles at a petrol station, somebody left a frozen water bottle on her bike. Having ICE COLD water in the desert with close to 40°C is nothing else, but pure HAPPINESS … Whoever it was, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

After the hottest day of Karo’s entire journey a completely exhausted and overheated Karo reached the Orange river …

Apparently the heat also had an effect on Karo’s camera. Just like her, it started seeing colours, which were actually not there …

The absolutely stunning and beautiful Orange River at 41°C …

Karo was “in heat”, full of LOVE and COLOURS …

That night she spent on a cute, little campsite …

and enjoyed the company of her big Afrikaaner bodyguards …

And she treated herself with something, she didn’t have for a long time! She wanted to be fully energized for her next big chapter: Namibia …

Namibia was just on the other side of the Orange river …

It was hot, hot, hot and Karo was surprised to find grapes growing next to the road! How could ANYthing grow here?

There was absolutely NOTHING but sand and heat and grapes …

She passed a little settlement of shacks made of ironsheet and reed. They were the houses of the workers, who worked in the wineyards. The heat and a wave of bad smell from urine and faeces hit Karo. She found it hard to believe, that people were able to live under those circumstances. It was really terrible …

For a whole day, Karo did not see a single tree. She felt so exhausted, the sun was burning on her face, her drinking water was almost boiling and there was no shade. There was nothing, were she could escape the brutal strength of the sun. It had 43°C and Karo wondered if she would survive Namibia. She knew it was going to be tough and hot, but that day nearly drove Karo to her physical and mental limits …

Finally, she found some shade and was HAPPY like never before …

She decided to continue along the Orange river. Besides being beautiful and scenic it was practical. Karo knew that along the Orange river she would at least have the possibility to dive into water, when the heat was getting unbearable …

In the beautiful Richtersveld National Park along the Orange river …

The more she moved North, the more the temperature dropped. It was still really hot, but at least it was below 40°C …

Karo was now heading to Lüderitz, a pretty, little town on the Atlantic ocean …

but first she had to go through 130 km of desert …

Nothing else, but desert …

Beautiful nothingness …

10 km out of Lüderitz she passed the “ghost town” Kolmanskop, a former diamond mining town, which is now taken back by the desert …

Lüderitz was a particular place …

Founded by Germans in 1883, the German influence until now is overwhelming. A lot of the street names and names of the buildings are German …

Karo found it an immensely beautiful little town, very unique with its colourful houses, quiet but sympathetic atmosphere …

She wondered whether the “Turnhalle” is still in use …

She visited the beautiful church …

Lüderitz was without doubt worth visiting, but Karo really wondered, WHY on Earth the Germans decided to build a town in the middle of the Namib desert. For many years, the only access to Lüderitz was the sea and that’s how the Germans actually arrived. Today there is a road as well, which goes straight through the Namib desert. The next small settlement 130 km away. Apart from the harsh desert, Lüderitz is known for its brutal winds, which are loved by kite-surfers, but feared and disliked by everybody else. Apart from fish and oysters everything has to be brought to Lüderitz. There is absolutely nothing growing. Luckily, the Germans also discovered an underground lake in the desert, which is Lüderitz’ source of water. Karo really wondered WHY someone would start a settlement out here, unless that someone is a challenge-seeking adventurer or a quiet-seeking eremit, but the answer was somewhere else. The water around Lüderitz is rich in fish and on shore there were huge amounts of guano (dung from seabirds), which during that time, was a highly wanted ressource. From the guano nothing is left, the ressources have been depleted, but it wouldn’t be of interest anymore anyhow, since synthetic fertilizers have been invented. But that’s not everything. That was only how Lüderitz started. The real boom came a few years later, when diamonds were found …

The beautiful often wind struck Lüderitz Bay …

While Karo was sweating in the glooming desert, she was freezing in Lüderitz. The cold Atlantic ocean and the winds created a totally different climate …

She learnt a lot of new things …

She also learnt that looooong before the Germans arrived to Lüderitz, Bartholomäus Diaz, had already set foot on Lüderitz …

Unlike the Germans he didn’t want to settle here, as we know he was a traveller and so he just used it as a stop-over …

Karo thoroughly enjoyed the sharp contrast between coast and desert, a particularity Namibia is famous and loved for …

After a few days in Lüderitz, Karo continued her journey and camped in this abandonned house in the desert …

Karo was now on her way to Sesriem, where she would see the majestic dunes of the Namib desert. Cycling in Namibia was very tough: the heat, the gravel roads, hardly any shade and very long distances from settlement to settlement, thus it was hard to get water and food. But the good thing was, that Namibia attracts lots of tourists and most of them discover the country in a 4×4 vehicle. Those tourists turned out to be Karo’s biggest asset in Namibia’s harsh South. Many times she would get water, food, advice and encouragement from them. This lovely Dutch couple helped Karo with water and a snapshot of their detailled map …

Karo was particularly interested in Lodges, campsites, petrol stations, for they all meant access to WATER …

A TREEEEEE! Karo was so HAPPY with each tree she saw …

This lovely Danish couple helped Karo with water and chocolate cookies! She first thought the desert was playing tricks on her mind and that it was a mirage, but it turned out to be real …

as challenging as it was, the beauty of Namibia’s harsh, barren land and its colours was so worth it …

A cattle farm! Karo really wondered WHAT those animals were eating …

All along the desert, she would also see the beautiful and absolutely fascinating Oryx antelope. A desert antelope, which is well equipped for its environment and can live completely without water. The water they need, they can entirely extract from the plants they eat. They have a particular cooling-system in their nose, which allows them to endure extreme heat. The size and weight of a horse, they are quite big and with long, straight and spear-sharp horns, they are well equipped to defend themselves, when they are threatened. In fact, it is an antelope, which is widely known for its immense beauty, but if threatened, they can be very dangerous with their lethal weapons! Karo was absolutely fascinated by these animals, but this one on the picture turned out to be not her friend …

When Karo passed this Oryx bull, he attacked. Karo was lucky, in a very unlucky situation. Luckily it had targeted her bags and therefore only pierced her backpack and not her, but the scary encounter wasn’t over. Karo remained calm, since she knew that is the only way he would let go of her and indeed he stopped his attack, but he didn’t move from her side. Karo had to wait and hope that a car would come and chase away the angry and ill-tempered Oryx bull …

She was lucky! Gerald and Gerhard, two German tourists, found Karo underneath her bike with the Oryx in her back. They understood and helped …

Karo was extremely lucky, apart from a few bruises she wasn’t hurt at all, but to be honest, she had enough of cycling for that day and asked Gerald and Gerhard for a lift to Sesriem …

The Oryx seemed to be extremely angry since he not only attacked Karo, but also Gerhard and Gerald’s car …

Karo still finds them extremely beautiful, but she really really really doesn’t want to be close to them …

Karo thought Oryx warn signs would be more appropriate …

This was the impressive communal nest of social weavers …

Karo spent a few days in Sesriem, where she tremendously enjoyed the stunning dunes, the colours of the desert, the night skys, the sunsets and where she had time to calm down from her scary encounter with her still favourite antelope …

After a few days in Sesriem, she decided to visit the coast again, but via a detour through Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. Again, all along her journey she met amazing, encouraging and helpful humans …

Eventually, she arrived in Walvis Bay, a town on the Atlantic coast with Namibia’s biggest harbour. Walvis Bay is surrounded by sand …

But there was not only sand! Again, Karo was lucky, she could stay in this beautiful green oasis, the flamingo cottages, the most beautiful part of the town …

Karo was hosted by Bryan and Linda, who had a big heart for touring cyclists. An outstanding couple, who treated Karo like part of her family. Best of all, she could stay for as long as she wanted …

It turned out, that Bryan and Linda were not the only angels in town. This beautiful soul would become Karo’s Namibian mother. Karo and Caroline spent a lot of time together and shared their hearts and souls …

Karo thoroughly enjoyed Walvis Bay and its surrounding, not just because she met those warm-hearted, loving and caring Humans, but also because there was so much to see, like baby seals at Pelican point …

a seal colony enjoying the sunset …

relicts from the past …

a jackal on the watch for baby seals …

After having tremendously enjoyed Walvis Bay, Karo went to Swakopmund, the actual tourist capital of Namibia …

she found more seals …

and she enjoyed the funny wind-shaped trees …

She continued North along the coast …

and met Amore and Cecile on her way to Henties Bay. The adorable couple invited her for breakfast and it turned out, that it was not the last time they would see each other …

The beauty about cycling next to the coast was the coolness from the Atlantic ocean. The downside was the wind, of course, most of the time from the wrong direction …

Having arrived in Henties Bay, Karo headed inland again. The heat increased and shade was scarce …

She was on her way to the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain …

but in between Karo and her next destination, there was still a lot of nothingness …

A tree, a bird, a flower, those simple things would make Karo extremely HAPPY. They really made her day …

Finally, the Brandberg massif was very near …

The Brandberg is not only Namibia’s highest mountain, but also a famous place to visit and enjoy art from thousands of years ago …

Bushmen paintings decorate the rock walls of the Brandberg …

After the hardship through the immensely beautiful desert, Karo found it was time for a little treat. She was now in the small town of Uis …

In Uis Karo met several very interesting people and some of them would really have a big and long-lasting impact on her …

In Uis, Karo met Jodi, Viktor and Gil, 3 fascinating human beings. Jodi, is a Namibian gemstone digger and he kindly opened his home and hosted Viktor, Gil and Karo and showed them everything in and around Uis. Viktor is, just like Karo, a touring cyclist and just like Karo he is from Austria. To be precise, he was born in Russia, but when he was 8 years old him and his mum moved to St. Pölten, Austria. This small city is about 50 km from Karo’s Home and funny enough Viktor also left home in summer 2016. Since then, he was on the road. It was a very happy and funny coincidence that Karo and Viktor, both touring cyclists from Lower Austria met in this tiny little town of Uis that day. Gil, was a traveller from Israel and he particularly fascinated Karo …

Uis used to be a tin mining town, but since the prices for tin dropped drastically the mine is closed and most of the people in Uis are without jobs. Nevertheless, the old mine is a beautiful place to visit …

overlooking Uis from a massive sand dune …

This harmless looking plant is a variety of the Euphorbia species and highly poisonous. Jodi told us that in 1986, 26 people died because of eating meat, which has been barbecued with the branches of the Euphorbia plant. They didn’t even eat the plant itself. The smoke of the plant, which grilled the meat was enough to eradicate two entire football teams and Jodi, Viktor, Gil and Karo visited their graves …

Viktor is such an amazing character. He had lots and lots of stories to tell. He was like a story-fountain and Karo could hardly keep up listening to him because there was so much information. Nevertheless, Viktor was really adorable and Karo found his achievement quite amazing. When Viktor reached Gabon, his savings were finished, but he moved on. Since several months he was travelling with empty pockets and entirely lived from other people’s help. A true character …

And that was Gil, preparing Bedouin bread “Libe” in the Namibian sand …

After Karo had spent 2 days in Uis, she felt it was time to move on and so thought Gil. He asked Karo if she wanted to join him in his 4×4 and discover Namibia’s dry river beds …

Having been fascinated by this young man’s sparkling aura since the very 1st day she saw him, Karo couldn’t resist. Baraka was carefully placed on the roof of the car and Gil and Karo headed of into the stunning world of dry river beds …

During most of the journey Gil used riverbeds as their roads. It was so adventurous and Karo felt so peaceful, connected and happy. She was so grateful that Gil opened this new world to her …

The scenery varied all the time, but because they were in a riverbed the fauna was actually really amazing, from lush green, to colourful flowers and sometimes they even found water …

and not only that! Gil and Karo also found something very big, which is actually rare to find …

they followed their big footsteps …

and they found the extremely rare Namibian Desert Elephant …

They were soooooo happy …

and observed the beautiful giants from the top of a rock …

They also found the particular looking Welwitschia plant, which is endemic to the Namib desert. It is named after the Austrian botanist Welwitsch, who discovered the plant in 1859. The Welwitschia consists of only two leaves and although it might not look like that, but some of the plants are as old as 500 years …

After having discovered so many amazing things Gil and Karo prepared the ash-baked Bedouin bread again, which tasted unbelievably delicious …

nothing better than watching the flames of campfire after a long day in the desert …

Gil and Karo spent 4 days in the desert, then they went to Cape Cross, Namibia’s biggest seal colony …

Karo is glad that smell is not transfered on pictures. She really loved the seals, but the smell was so terrible, that Karo was about to throw up: fish, faeces, corpses …

After this beautiful excursion to the sea, Gil and Karo went back to the riverbeds of the desert …

Gil and Karo spent a very peaceful and quiet time together and Karo found it so beautiful and touching to share all this beauty with someone, who equally appreciated this beauty …

HAPPINESS is best, when shared!

the beautiful quiver trees, one of Namibia’s outstanding “landmarks” …

After a 6 day riverbed trip (+ the excursion to Cape Cross) Gil and Karo went to Henties Bay, where they met Jodi and Viktor again …

🙂

While Gil stayed in Swakopmund on the coast, Karo went back to Windhoek …

the famous “Christuskirche” in Windhoek! Karo was very excited to be back in Windhoek because she awaited a beloved visitor …

Kari was back in Africa and this time with his bike …

Kari and Karo spent a few days in Windhoek roaming around the streets …

and enjoying the beautiful, amazing sunsets …

Then it was time for pedalling …

Unfortunately for Kari and Karo the first few days were a bit wet, but of course that was very fortunate for Namibia, since it really needed the rain …

Because of the bad weather a farmer family had pity on the two cyclists and invited them to their house …

where Kari and Karo would find the most amazing animals …

so many Beings for cuddling …

even two tame Cheetahs …

When the sky cleared, it was time to get back on the saddle …

it was the 23rd December when Kari and Karo pitched their tent somewhere in the fields of nowhere. They actually wanted to be hidden, but they have been discovered by the childred of landowners, but instead of being angry with the squatters, they invited them to their house …

Kari and Karo had an amazingly delicious Christmas breakfast with the Penwood family and as if that wouldn’t have been enough, they also went on a game drive with them and showed Kari and Karo the beautiful wildlife on their farm. It was the best Christmas gift EVER …

LOVE birds …

the gracious Roan antelope …

Kari and Karo continued their journey to the Waterberg Plateau Park. They wanted to spent Christmas there. Along the way, they saw some magnificient and huge termite hills …

some of them with a very weird shape …

Once in the Waterberg Plateau Park they wandered around in the fascinating and huge Aloe Vera “forest” …

and they discovered super cute wildlife …

After two days in Waterberg, they decided to go to the coast. Not new for Karo, but Kari had a longing to see the sea …

They fully enjoyed the outdoors and the most beautiful sunsets together …

On their way to the coast, they decided to take a little detour to the Spitzkoppe, Namibia’s most famous mountain and rock formation …

The difficult and heavily corrugated road to the Spitzkoppe would drive Kari to his mental limits and amused Karo 😉 …

Karo found, it was definitively WORTH it …

They visited the rock paintings of the Bushmen …

and camped surrounded by the most fascinating landscape …

After having utterly enjoyed the outstanding beauty of the Spitzkoppe, Kari and Karo continued to the coast … through nothingness …

peanut butter, honey, salt and rice cookies, the BEST energy boost for exhausted cyclists …

130 km of headwind on the 31st December …

Kari and Karo spent New Year on a quite unattractive campsite in Henties Bay, but it didn’t matter! They were so exhausted that they fell asleep at 10pm and celebrated New Year in the morning after …

From Henties Bay, Kari and Karo went to Swakopmund …

70 km of headwind …

Finally, Karo and a very annoyed Kari (by the headwind and not Karo) arrived in Swakopmund …

They spent a few days in Swakopmund …

mainly relaxing …

eating in pretty, colourful restaurants …

enjoying the beautiful colours of the desert …

climbing dunes …

and “making” new friends …

Kari and Karo also visited Caroline, Karo’s Namibian Mum in Walvis Bay and parked their bicycles there. It was time to go back to Windhoek again (by train) because Karo was getting MORE visitors …

Karo’s Mum and Dad arrived in Windhoek on 7th January 2018 …

bringing loads of homemade Christmas cookies! Karo’s HAPPINESS is complete …

After one day in Windhoek, Karo’s parents, Kari and Karo rented a 4×4. They were ready for a roadtrip! Karo was especially excited to feel Namibian roads from the comfy seat of a car …

Their 1st stop was Günther. Karo had met Günther a few weeks ago when she was cycling from Sesriem to Windhoek and passed his coffee shop in the desert. That’s right, Günther has a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere, where absolutely nobody would expect a coffee shop. And it’s not just A coffee shop, it is THE coffee shop. Günther has been one of Karo’s most beautiful encounters. Whatever he does, he does it with incredibly much LOVE and that is what Karo loved so much about him and that is WHY she had to introduce Günther to her family …

Enjoying stories, cookies and Austrian Schnapps around the campfire …

After the stop-over at Günther’s, Karo’s parents, Kari and Karo continued to Sesriem, where they would climb the dunes of the Namib …

The impressive Namib dunes …

an ocean of sand …

Dead valley in the Namib desert …

After the 4 had spent 2 days enjoying the dunes of Sossusvlei in Sesriem, they continued to Walvis Bay …

where they watched flamingos …

and Pelicans …

On 12th January Kari and Karo faced a sad moment. It was time to say GOODBYE. Kari’s holiday was coming to an end and he had to go back to his old life in Austria. Kari and Karo had spent 4 beautiful and amazing weeks together, but they knew it was time to let each other go in different directions and so they separated and set each other free …

Karo and her parents continued to Cape Cross, where Karo’s Mum and Dad really thrived. They utterly enjoyed the seals and didn’t mind the smell at all …

After Cape Cross, they continued to Twyfelfontein, to study the drawings of the Bushmen …

hard to believe that they were several thousand years old …

Karo’s Mum and Dad enjoying their roof-top tent …

and Karo enjoyed her tent together with her little bodyguard …

Then they continued to Etosha National Park …

it was burning hot …

a little nap during the mid day sun …

not just for the animals …

Karo fell in love with the outstanding look of the Makalani palm trees …

It was so much easier to drive than to cycle on those sandy, corrugated roads! What a surprise!

Marble mining around Karibib …

After 2 weeks discovering Namibia by car, Karo and her parents drove back to Windhoek …

Unfortunately, it was time to say GOODBYE again! Karo wondered WHERE and WHEN she would embrace them again …

It was time to get back to Baraka, who was waiting for Karo in Walvis Bay. Although Karo utterly enjoyed spending time with her parents and Kari, she was really glad to continue her cycling …

a sweet memory, Christmas cake from Karo’s Mum …

Karo was heading straight through the desert. A stretch of 250km without settlements, farms, guesthouses. Her only source of water would be cars, if she was lucky. It was the longest stretch of complete nothingness for Karo, but she was really looking forward to it …

She carried 16 litres of water. She knew that would help her for AT LEAST two days …

In addition to the heat and gravel road, the route was not an easy one. Several mountain passes would await her …

like the Kuiseb Pass …

In her solitude she started paying attention to funny things, like a pothole that looked to her like the African continent …

Cycling through the desert was like a cure for Karo …

So many things had happened during the past weeks and now she had time for herself and to reflect on the past events! She was full of gratitude and happiness …

After 250 km of nothingness she was happy to find a farm. Its friendly caretakers happily refilled Karo’s water bottles …

Karo was on her way to Namibia’s highest mountain pass, the Gamsberg, which you see in the distance …

Karo was mentally saying GOODBYE to the Namib desert, since she was now reaching its edge. Karo had such a good time in the Namib and hopes to be back some day …

When Karo reached the Gamsberg pass, she was mentally prepared for the worst. She had already heard about its difficulty …

and indeed it was tough, it was super tough, but Karo kept pedalling …

and pedalling …

and at the end she reached the top and enjoyed an extraordinarily beautiful view! In addition, she knew, with every up-hill … (you already know by now) 😉

This little “mushroom” on the picture is the communal nest of social weavers again. They seemed to like building their nests on power poles … risky little fellows!

She enjoyed a marvellous downhill on the other side of the Gamsberg pass and literally flew to …

Wella’s Home, where she pitched her little tent and rested her tired legs …

The next day, Karo continued to Günther, the beautiful soul with the coffee shop in the desert …

and because Günther is such a fascinating man and because Karo so much enjoyed their beautiful conversations about pretty much EVERYTHING, Karo stayed for a few days …

that is Günther’s sun-kitchen, in which he bakes the most amazing cupcakes …

and here live the happy girls, who provide the eggs for the cupcakes …

After hugging Günther GOODBYE, Karo wanted to see two other familiar faces again …

but first, there was some more nothingness to conquer …

She had to be quick, the rain was approaching …

but luckily Karo made it! Karo made it to Amore and Cecile’s veggie farm in the desert. She had met the adorable couple about a month ago at the Atlantic coast …

They lived in the middle of nowhere, embedded in beautiful scenery of bush and stones …

They grew their own food, generated their own electricity and had their own water. They basically lived off the grid! Karo absolutely loved it …

and she absolutely loved their dog, who would always join Karo on her walks …

and she was walking around a lot …

because there was so much beautiful to see …

and there was so much to do …

Desert tomatoes for Windhoek …

Karo also prepared some snacks for the road …

happy sun-dried local tomatoes …

Amore and Cecile even had their own river dam. At that time it was empty, but that was soon to be changed …

Because Amore and Cecile were so incredibly nice to Karo and because they liked each other really a lot, Karo spent a whole week with them …

Karo was even lucky enough to experience the rare event of rain in the desert. The rain season was about to start …

Amore and Cecile’s grandchildren and some of Karo’s sheep friends …

Their son Tiaan in the process of doing, what almost every “Afrikaaner” almost always does –> having a “braai” (it’s like Barbecue, but actually more than that). A braai in South Africa and Namibia, is not just grilling meat, it is an institution, centuries old …

During my stay with Amore and Cecile everybody was eagerly awaiting the rain. It was already delayed and the farm bitterly needed water. Luckily one evening, it started. It started and got such immense power, that it even destroyed the roof …

within few hours, the dry riverbed was flooded and the dam completely full. Karo was astonished and amazed and she learnt, from now on she would not camp in riverbeds anymore …

After a week with Amore and Cecile, Karo decided to continue towards Botswana. Yes, she had already been there, but she wanted to discover more of the country’s hidden treasures. She found, she hadn’t seen enough on her previous trip …

Since the rain season officially started, Karo prefered to sleep indoors, when she had a chance …

This lovely family, caretakers of a farm on the edge of the Kalahari, luckily opened their door for Karo …

making friends …

The vegetation was getting more and more “lush” …

Whenever the sky indicated another shower, Karo was looking for shelter …

that day she found one in Api and Elke’s home …

Karo had meanwhile arrived in the Kalahari desert …

She stayed with Heni for a day, a friendly cattle farmer close to Leonardville and then she said GOODBYE to Namibia …

The first thing Karo utterly enjoyed in Botswana were the funny and extremely hard working dung beatles …

and the 1st encounter with humans was an equally enjoyable one. Lucky, a SA truck driver, was very much interested in and fascinated about Karo’s journey and even gave her a little gift for the road …

a chocolate bar … 🙂

Karo found those TRUE words written on Emmy’s walls …

Emmy, an American Peace Corps volunteer, hosted Karo during her first night in Botswana. Karo tremendously enjoyed the company of this lovely, wise and incredibly sympathetic young soul. Karo was so happy that the universe guided her to Emmy, because Emmy was also the one, who made Karo’s entire Botswana expedition an easy piece of cake, since she hooked Karo up with all her friends and peers, scattered in the country …

another animal attack, but this time more gentle than the oryx …

Karo enjoyed the peacefulness of the Hananahi Valley …

watched the meditative campire …

and made new friends …

When she woke up, she noticed plenty of vultures orbitting her. She wasn’t dead, just resting …

Karo was now on her way to Botswana’s most spectacular place, the Okavango Delta …

and more rain was waiting for her …

that night, Karo camped at a veterinary control post. Locals adviced her to stop camping in the bush in the northern part of the country. She was adviced to rather camp near settlements. The reason: Botswana is basically one big National Park and wildlife was everywhere, including big wildlife, like elephants, buffalos and lions. Thus, since animals avoid people, it was safer to camp near people. There was no guarantee that an elephant wouldn’t accidentally step on Karo’s tent at night, if she was somewhere in the bush and so Karo followed the local advice …

Flat, flat, flat and tarmac road! Karo moved like a lightning …

Karo was super fast, but OF COURSE, she had still time to make friends …

About 50 km from Maun, the entry point to the Okavanago Delta, Karo stayed with Gavin and Nicky. Gavin is a close friend of Errington (with whom Karo stayed in SA) and that was how Karo got to know them. Gavin, Nicky and their 9 dogs were living in the middle of Botswana’s bush. Karo absolutely loved the place …

and she absolutely loved Truffles, one of the 9 doggies …

Karo and Truffles enjoyed a few walks on the farm together looking for elephants …

After spending 2 days with Gavin and Nicky, Karo reached the Okavango Delta. Since Baraka wouldn’t have been a big help in the swampy lands of the Delta, Karo decided to take a Mokoro instead. A Mokoro is a small wooden canoe, which the indigenous people of the Delta use as their transport …

Karo saw beautiful waterlilies …

The flora and fauna of the Delta was astonishing. She couldn’t believe how green and humid everything was. Hadn’t she just been in the desert?

Karo and her lovely guide stopped on one of the islands in the Delta, parked their Mokoro and discovered the island by foot …

Karo’s beloved baobab tree again …

and the Makalani palms! It was heaven on Earth …

the Mokoro waiting for more adventure …

That night, Karo and Duma camped on the island. Karo was very excited …

Besides seeing plenty of giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, Lechwe antelopes, baffulos and baboos, they also found this cute little fellow …

After 2 exciting days on the small island in the Okavango Delta, Karo went back to Maun, where she was planning her next adventure …

She felt like discovering the Delta by air …

and so she hopped in that little thing …

the view of the Okavango Delta by air was absolutely breathtaking …

An amazing wonder of nature …

Karo was so grateful to witness the beauty of this African gem …

Back on solid ground, Karo met Karin and Beni from Switzerland. They were touring with their little and cosy mobile home through Africa. They had started in Durban and were on their way to Cairo. Karo really enjoyed their brief encounter and hopes to see them again on the road …

Karo stayed a few more days in Maun, where she was hosted by Mathias, an American Peace Corps volunteer. An interesting and very adorable young man and Karo was grateful that he shared his home with her …

After her exciting time in the Okavango Delta, Karo decided to continue to Gaborone. There was somebody she wanted to see …

Compared to Namibia, cycling in Botswana seemed so easy. The roads were in perfect condition, it was flat and although it was a thinly populated country, access to water was very easy. There was only one downside, which was actually also an upside …

Lots of wildlife! On the one hand Karo was really keen on seeing wild animals, on the other hand (to be quite frank) she was a bit scared. She knew that animals usually don’t attack if they don’t feel threatened, but since her encounter with the ill-tempered Oryx, she also knew, that even if it doesn’t happen very often, it does happen …

Karo always made sure that she didn’t carry any of those fruits with her, acacia seeds, besides citrus fruits, elephants favourite dish …

In the little town of Rakops, Karo was invited to stay with John and his adorable family …

She even got her own little mud-hut …

John was a missionary, who had been living in Botswana for more than 20 years …

Karo was in Southern Botswana again, where she could place her little home pretty much everywhere …

Karo enjoyed her ride southwards, wind in her hair, sun on her nose and she really adored the sheep-shape clouds above her head …

Karo was lucky. March was Marula season, a delicious fruit after which the famous “Amarula” drink is named …

Karo really liked Botswana’s police officers. They were all extremely friendly to Karo and always curious about her Journey …

In the royal town of Serowe, she could spent a night at Colden’s place. Another warm- and open-hearted Peace Corps volunteer …

And then, Karo finally reached Gaborone, where she met Sam again, the super beautiful soul and talented tattoo artist, who hosted her a few months before. Karo stayed a few days with Sam and her tremendously amazing parents, Yvonne and John …

Karo was sleeping in the studio, which she really absolutely enjoyed. Karo loves art and being surrounded by it …

Karo left Gaborone enriched. She was enriched in having spent beautiful moments with a beautiful family and she was enriched in bodily art. Sam had left a little “note” on Karo’s left shoulder blade.

It was time to move on and that’s what Karo did. On her way South-West she passed Jwaneng, a big part of Botswana’s diamonds are found here. Diamonds are Botswana’s main income and its economy is highly dependent on them. Since this highly valued ressource is about to be depleted, Botswana has to find some other sectors to sustain their national budget. Currently their main focus is ECO tourism. Diamonds, cattle (a lot goes to the EU) and tourism are Botswana’s economic backbone …

In Sekoma, Karo stayed with Shakti, another Peace Corps Volunteer, who welcomed Karo with arms wide open …

Karo was now on her way BACK to South Africa. In the last few weeks a lot of things passed through Karo’s head. She really enjoyed her current life, but she also felt, she needed a break from her Journey. She loved it, but deep inside, she also felt that she needed to settle “somewhere” for a little while. She was mentally tired of constantly moving from one place to another. She felt, she needed a “HOME” to regain her mental strength. She was longing for waking up in the same bed every morning and seeing a familiar face every day. It might sound akward, but that was how she felt. Chris, the cyclist from Cape Town, whom she briefly met 6 months ago and with whom she was still in touch, offered her such a place. Karo felt immediately that this was a good man with a kind heart, a man, whom she could trust and that’s why she decided to go back to CT and settle in a new “home” …

Her last day in Botswana, Karo spent with Josh, another Peace Corps volunteer, who’s company Karo utterly enjoyed …

Karo had a good start into South Africa! Only 10 km after the border a beautiful SA couple stopped their car in front of Karo, handed her an ice-cold drink, said “WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA” and cruised of again! Karo was so amazed …

Cycling in the Northern Cape was a bit like Namibia and Karo felt very happy to be back in the desert …

she absolutely loved this street sign …

She crossed the already familiar and still insanely beautiful Orange river again …

studied local wisdom …

and art …

which she currently saw everywhere …

really everywhere …

She met new friends on the roadside …

She enjoyed her solitude in the barren land of the Northern Cape …

and she got plenty of gifts from passing drivers …

Close to Springbok, the capital of the Northern Cape, she camped underneath this beautiful quiver tree …

Close to Vanrhynsdorp, she stayed on a little campsite, where she met an evil miniature horse. This mean little thing had stolen a big pack of raisins from Karo’s bag, while she was having a shower. Karo was very angry, but practizing her mantra, she eventually made peace with him …

Cycling towards CT, Karo also passed Roiboos plantations. This healthy tea, had over the last months become her favourite beverage and is the very taste, which, to her, represents South Africa …

Finally, Karo reached Cape Town again, being welcomed by the mighty Table mountain …

The next two months Karo would spent with those two beautiful and happy souls: Chris and Beany …

Already on the 2nd day of Karo’s stay at Chris’ Home, Karo felt HOME. She felt so HOME that she started baking her mom’s bread, which was one of the things Karo terribly missed from HOME …

Karo loves making and growing her own food. She actually hates being dependent on supermarkets and generally doesn’t trust their quality. That is also the reason, why Karo is always so happy to find food outdoor. Chris didn’t have a garden, but he had olive trees and that made Karo extremely happy …

For the next 2 months Karo would every morning, when she opened her eyes, enjoy the SAME beautiful view …

For the next two months she would always smile, when she passes the cute squirrel warning sign …

or the one with the duck mom and its ducklings …

She was so happy to be back in beautiful Cape Town and that she got the chance to make this place one of her HOMES …

She utterly enjoyed the view on Table mountain …

and she made new friends …

Chris and Karo did a lot of things together on land and in the sea. Being a diving instructor he taught Karo diving and Karo is immensely grateful that Chris opened this whole new world to her: the underwater world! A whole universe for itself …

On land, they discovered the beautiful nature around Cape Town …

Karo was excited to see, smell and touch the beautiful Protea flower again …

Chris and Karo hiked the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve …

and enjoyed its tremendous beauty …

Chris showed her different parts of CT …

He pampered her with all kinds of delicacies …

And they climbed Table mountain together, where they met this little fellow …

and enjoyed the outstanding view from the top of the plateau …

Karo was really happy …

and they also had the chance to celebrate Chris’ birthday together …

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Chris!

Karo thought, it would be a good idea to bake the famous Austrian “black cherry cake” for the sweet-loving Chris … indeed, he liked it very much …

They went to the misty, but beautiful West Coast National Park …

and enjoyed the cool breeze from the Atlantic …

the beauty of sea life …

and the wide open horizon …

Karo felt deeply grounded …

They hiked in the beautiful Fynbos vegetation …

and discovered a handsome ostrich with his ladies …

They enjoyed exploring the underwater world together (Karo does unfortunately not have any pictures of that) …

AND they utterly enjoyed watching the Big Bang Theory together laughing with all their heart. It was Chris’ and Karo’s favourite evening ritual … 🙂

2 months quickly passed and Karo had to say GOODBYE to her HOME in Cape Town, a sad moment! Karo felt it was time to be on the road again, but because her visa for South Africa was expiring in 2 weeks, she had to get a lift to Durban. From there, she would make it to the border in time. Karo didn’t mind not cycled the whole route since she had done most of it already a few months before. Chris offered to take her. Karo was and still is amazed and speechless. Chris offered to drive her 2.000 km through his country. That’s how much he loves Karo and Karo is incredibly grateful for that. In the past 2 months Chris truly had become like a father to her …

Instead of going straight to Durban, Chris and Karo 1st went to the majestic Drakensberg mountains to do some hiking …

and some swimming in the freeeeeeezing mountain streams …

the landscape was breathtaking …

and overwhelming …

and the nights were cold, but open fire warmed their toes …

After 2 days Drakensberg, Chris and Karo continued to Durban and suddenly the moment had arrived to say GOODBYE! It was really not easy …

Karo cycled along the coastline of KwaZulu-Natal and she enjoyed the completely different landscape to the Cape. It looked very tropical …

In St. Lucia Karo fell in the hands of Elfie …

who invited Karo to stay in her tree house …

it was so amazing …

Elfie had passed Karo on the road, stopped and chatted to her: “You look interesting and you have to stay in my treehouse tonight …” that was, what Elfie basically said and Karo couldn’t refuse …

Elfie turned out to be absolutely phenomenal, such a beautiful, loving and caring soul and Karo was so glad that they met each other. Elfie toured with Karo in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park …

where they met plenty of beautiful creatures. Some bigger, …

some smaller …

Elfie also organized for Karo a boattrip on St. Lucia lake, which is filled with thousands of hippos …

They look quite clumsy, cute and harmless, but in actual fact hippos are responsible for most of human deaths caused by wild animals, in Africa (apart from mosquitoes who transmit malaria) …

The boat trip was absolutely breathtaking …

in general the wildlife in and around St. Lucia was stunning …

2 days before Karo’s South African visa expired, some South Africans, who were unhappy with the government, decided to attack, plunder and burn trucks on the N2 road between Mtubatuba and Mkhuze. To stop the violence the police closed the road and of course, that was the very road Karo was supposed to take, if she still wanted to reach the border before her visa expired. All alternative routes would have meant a detour of several days. Karo scratched her head, when she got the news, she actually thought it was a joke …

But it wasn’t and Elfie with her big heart, helped Karo out of her misery. Baraka was put behind Elfie’s car and off they went to the border on the long alternative route …

Karo crossed into Swaziland and there Baraka and her celebrated 25.000 km together …

Because Swaziland is so small, Karo did unfortunately not spend much time in the lovely, tiny kingdom. It took her only two days to cross, but the little she saw, she really liked. Swaziland seemed to be a very “sweet” country since Karo saw endless plantations of sugar cane …

Luckily, no lions and elephants were crossing, when Karo cycled through …

And then suddenly Karo found herself in Mozambique. When she stopped at a little restaurant she found those two outstanding, warm-hearted and adorable humans: Ibrahim and Maria. When they heard that Karo was looking for a place to camp, they immediately invited her to their house, which turned out to be …

a villa in the middle of nowhere. Karo really didn’t expect that. She spent 2 days with Maria and Ibrahim and it turned out, that it was not the last time they would meet each other. By now, the two humans with a heart of gold are Karo’s Mozambican parents. Besides her REAL parents, Karo gathered along her journey also Albanian, Greek and Mozambican parents, as well as a Namibian mother and a Ugandan and South African father. It should be clear by now, Karo is blessed with bliss …

After saying GOODBYE to Ibrahim and Maria, Karo pedalled towards Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, where she met two friendly cyclists, who guided her through the unknown urban jungle …

Ageu, one of the two friendly cyclists …

After 1 day in Maputo, Karo headed north, where she spent the night at the secure compound of a butchery. She was in company with a group of friendly workers, who were happy that they could help the white lady on the bicycle …

The next day Karo pedalled off to Xai-Xai, a famous beach town. Karo was just about to check-in at a backpackers when she met …

Gina, Paula, Aiden and Brett, a lovely family from Cape Town, who were on holiday in Xai-Xai. After hearing Karo’s story, they insisted Karo should, together with them, stay in their spacious holiday house. Karo couldn’t refuse and it was good that she didn’t because this family was truly amazing …

Karo spent 3 days with the adorable Capetonians and really enjoyed the beautiful and quiet beach of Xai-Xai …

what a beautiful part of the world …

Karo’s lovely hosts were not the only humans Karo met in Xai-Xai, for whom Karo would find a place in her little heart. Danique, Gerardt, Lucet, Werner and Tenile were another SA family, who spent their holiday in Xai-Xai. The two families and Karo would spend a lot of time and beautiful moments with each other. In a very short time they managed to create unforgettable moments and Karo is so grateful that their paths had crossed and wondered when they will meet again …

Beautiful people and beautiful nature, what else does a heart need?

Besides enjoying beautiful nature and the company of beautiful people, Karo also really enjoyed the pure, healthy and natural food of Mozambique: cashewnuts …

pineapples …

tangarines, which Karo got as a gift from two really cute, little boys …

This lovely group of ladies welcomed Karo into their home, when Karo asked for a place to pitch her tent. Although Karo didn’t speak Portuguese and they didn’t speak English, Karo would spent an amazing, soul-touching, and heartwarming evening with her adorable hosts …

Once the sun had set, they would all gather around the fireplace …

The girls were busy with cooking …

or entertaining the babies …

It was the 1st time Karo had “Matapa” a traditional Mozambican dish made from cassava leaves, coco- and cashewnuts. It was really yummy …

a cup of tea followed …

Karo really utterly enjoyed her colourful company …

the kitchen during the day …

Karo really loved the typical Mozambican houses made of reed …

She reached Inhambane, a beautiful, historical town on the coast …

She went through forests of coconut palms …

and finally reached her new home in Tofo, a beautiful, little village on the Indian ocean, where Karo would leave Baraka …

while she headed to Europe …

That’s right, after 1,5 years of Africa, Karo was going back to Europe because she had THREE really good reasons for that …

Sorry, no pictures from Karo’s 2 weeks break in Europe. At least not yet. It was a very powerful time for her and she utterly LOVED every bit of it, but for now she will not write about it. NOT because it didn’t matter – NOT AT ALL – it REALLY MATTERED for Karo. She is grateful for all the beautiful people she met and who shared time with her. Many of them were very special Humans from Karo’s past and others she didn’t know before … THANK YOU ALL! Nevertheless, after two weeks of European summer, it was time for Karo to go back to her African winter …

After a far too long flight, Karo was back “HOME” and her current Home was Mozambique …

She reached Tofo, a beautiful little village, where she left Baraka and where she decided to stay for a month to write about her Journey …

Tofo, has once been a tiny and quiet fishing village, but over the last years it attracted more and more tourists: Diving, surfing, whale sharks, humpback whales …. lots of reasons to come to Tofo …

Luckily, though a tourist spot in designated parts, Tofo kept its authenticity and if you stay for a longer period of time, you know where to go for peace and quiet and to avoid the noisy party people …

Karo rented a little room in the outskirts of the village …

She stayed with those two amazing people: Ricardo and Aline, a Colombian-Brazilian couple who has been living in Tofo for about two years. Karo really loved her time with them. Two passionate and beautiful HUMANS with true traveler spirit and good hearts. Karo is so grateful that the two shared their home and hearts with Karo …

But Ricardo and Aline weren’t Karo’s only housemates … meet Frida and Jack. Two of the most amazing dog personalities Karo ever met …

The mornings and evenings Karo mainly spent on the terrace of their house, enjoying sunrises and sunsets and a beautiful sea view …

She loved walking around the beach, observing the daily routine of Mozambican fishermen …

Karo spent incredibly much time on the beach … five minutes from her home … she could listen to the calming voice of the waves and enjoy the fresh sea breeze …

Tofo’s beaches are absolutely stunning …

and the numerous palm trees are the perfect decoration for the pretty village setting …

Karo spent hours just wondering along the beach … enjoying THE MOMENT …

everything was fascinating for her …

everything had its own way of being beautiful …

Most of the time, Karo had the pretty, untouched beach almost entirely for her own …

It was so PEACEFUL and she was extremely grateful for that …

and Karo was certainly not the only one who enjoyed beach walks …

or “being” walked …

This – by the way – is “little” Meia, who will (by now) most likely not be little anymore …

absolutely amazing …

but of course, Karo did not just enjoy herself on the beach, she also made others enjoy herself … stroking session on the beach 🙂

Frida is one of the funniest and most energetic dogs Karo ever met and they spent lots of time together. The coconut and carrot loving energy bundle is named after popular Frida Kahlo and that is probably where she got her spirits from …

and Jack is the “Buddha” of the house who remains ALWAYS calm, even if Meia, the annoying (but cute) little being next to him drives him to his limits …

yeah … Jack, the peacemaker deserved lots of massages for his splendid efforts …

Karo’s and Frida’s favorite snack …

the two shared plenty of those snacks and lucky enough, they had plenty of supply in their own garden …

But Karo did not ONLY relax and write when she was in Tofo. With such an amazing opportunity in front of her nose, she had to discover Tofo not just on land, but also in the waters. She went diving, surfing, whale watching …

and kayaking …

which was great fun and good workout for her arms and upper body … 😉

It was stunning to kayak through the beautiful Mangrove forests of Barra Beach …

Every year from June to September humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the Mozambican channel to give birth in the warmer waters of the Indian ocean …

Amazing creatures and it was true, while Karo was staying in Tofo she saw plenty of humpback whales splashing close to shore and although she even saw them from the balcony of her new home, Karo went for an official whale watching trip by boat … Such beautiful, graceful Beings …

She also went diving …

and saw plenty of pretty and colorful fish …

including this funny puffer fish …

But Karo was not only amazed about the beauty of the beaches, waters and animals … She also crossed path with amazing human beings, such as Thomas and Anna. Two fascinating Humans, who are currently teaching German in Lisbon and who give Karo a very good reason for visiting Portugal …

and Armando … As a secondary school student he spent his holidays in Tofo working for his uncle, selling island trips to tourists. Of course, Karo met him on the beach and unlike the other “beachboys” she quickly had a liking for Armando. Most likely because he had a very honest smile and sparkling eyes AND maybe also because he had a passion for cycling … 😉

Karo and Armando became really good friends and was of course introduced to his whole family who shared pretty much everything with Karo …

their clothes …

their food …

their work … peeling/cracking groundnuts in that particular case …

They also shared their coconuts …

which they harvested fresh from the trees …

in an amazingly acrobatic performance …

Karo really shared amazing moments …

with beautiful people … pure, simple, GOOD …

Armando and his family leave in Barra, another famous Mozambican beach destination …

equally magical …

equally beautiful …

Karo really had an absolutely AMAZING time in Tofo …

with its lovely, cuddly animals …

with its lovely people …