The shock at the vaccination office

On Wednesday I was in Harstad to do the final preparations involving vaccines and anti-malaria drugs. The cholera drinking vaccine, which I by the way enjoy quite a lot, was as expected no problem to get. However, when I asked for Malarone, the health personnel at the vaccination office told me that it was not allowed to give Malarone to long time travellers. For me it didn't make sense as I got it for 11 weeks the last time I travelled in Africa, and the she could tell me that the doctor must have made a big mistake. This whole thing was a shock, and I suddenly feel a lot more insecure.

I have to take Lariam for 14 weeks!!! 14 weeks!!! Oh my God, do you know about all the side effects? It must be the most dangerous drug you can take. I am quoting parts of the possible side effects from the appendix I got: "dizzyness, vomiting, abdominal pain, problems with balance, headaches, sleep disorders, change in blood, blood pressure and heart frequency, fainting, rash, itching, loss of hair, muscle cramps and pain, depressions, anxiety, loss of memory, dilussions, hallusinations, aggression, psycotic and paranoid reactions, tinnitus, getting tired, loss of appetite, fever, brain damage, reports of becoming suicidal".

At least you know why I have changed when I come back...

Some pictures from my last trip to Africa

As I am soon travelling to Africa again, I would like to share some of my pictures from my last trip in 2004. It was a nice trip, and I really miss some of the people I met while staying there for almost three months. Emiliah, Charlotte, Didier, Lamine, Theophilus, Kwaku, James, Abigail, Kofi, Samuel and Suzanne. I will always remember you, and I hope you know how much those beautiful days in Ghana and Burkina Faso meant to me. By the way, I was a much younger and more handsome guy 6 years ago...


Emiliah and her boyfriend:) + me obviously:



The beautiful city of Cape Coast. My third home and one of the places that is closest to my heart:



Nayac is giving me a performance in Ouagadougou:


A nice picture of my new friend Didier:


Didier is trying to teach me how to play the drums:



I hope I will be able to take some nice photos while travelling around East Africa, but can't promise you that I will be able to upload them during my trip...

Lots of hugs from Big Bear:)

I am getting nervous... why am I doing this?

For the first time since travelling to Vancouver in 2004, I am nervous... At that time I was nervous because it was my first travel since surviving the mugging in Venezuela when I was almost sure to be killed. This time I am not nervous at all because of the possibility to be a victim of a crime. I know that when I can survive a violent mugging in Venezuela, nothing bad will ever happen to me... except on a more personal level...

I also know, from travelling in West Africa, that the African people are the most friendly people you will ever meet on this planet we call Earth. I am trying to remember all the good things about Ghana and Burkina Faso, but at that time I was focusing so much on my Master Thesis in Geography, so I don't think I got as much out of the travelling as I could. Maybe I should have gone back to West Africa instead of experiencing totally new things in East Africa? I am right now listening to the amazing music of Ali Farka Toure. The late Malian guitar superstar. Trying to feel what I did six years ago. I listened a lot to Ali Farka while in Ghana, and had a dream about going to the dry Malian desert, with the historical cities of Djenne, Mopti and Tombouctou. Unfortunately the Malian Embassy in Ghana would use three days to give me a visa, and with a travel distance of two whole days I did not have time, so I ended up in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso instead. I am pretty sure that I will go back to West Africa sometime in the future anyway, so I will try to get back to why I am nervous...

I have much more travel experience now, than I did in 2004. However, most of that experience comes from travelling in regions that resembles the culture I come from. I have been to most of Eastern Europe the last couple of years, with the most extreme places being Montenegro and Moldova... Not really extreme? I am not saying that Malawi or Uganda will be extreme, but it will be very different. I don't feel like I am prepared. When would I have time to prepare myself? I guess I just have to do what I can the next two weeks, and hope that everything goes the way I would like it to go. During my travel I have to obtain at least 5 visas. Most of them will probably be quite easy to get, but it is a lot of bureaucracy. As if that is not enough, I have to find out where all of these embassies are. I have to find the Zambian Embassy in Malawi, the Tanzanian Embassy in Zambia, the Kenyan Embassy in Tanzania, the Ugandan Embassy in Kenya, and the Rwandan Embassy in Uganda. Will be a lot of work. And I am solely travelling by bus while in Africa. Don't want to take planes. Not good for the environment... I guess I will use at least one week on the bus during this summer. Well, I know for a fact that the buses in Africa had more space than those in Norway, so it should not be that uncomfotable.

Will I find hostels that are ok? I hope so, but I don't need high standards. The only important thing is that my camera and computer is safe. I have lived in a mud hut in Venezuela, and under not too good conditions in Africa before.

I don't really know why I am nervous, except for not feeling prepared. It is probably my fear of flying that gives me this feeling of not being ready to travel. I will now make the list of things I need to do before I go (thanks Camilla). I just hope I don't get too shocked to find out that I have more to do than I thought just one hour ago.

Welcome to my new blog

I guess this should have been written before the article I just posted, but who cares?

This is my new blog. A blog where I will update whoever wants to know more about my life. It is sometimes quite boring, but every now and then I do strange things, such as travelling to Africa. As some may know, I have a master's degree in Geography, and my interest in maps and stuff like that started way back in the early 80's. I have been to 41 countries, but most of them are obviously in Europe. I also have an interest in postcards. One of my strange hobbies is to collect them, so please send me a postcard when you're travelling somewhere. Some people say that I have a nice smile. Maybe I do? I just think I have a strange tendency to smile that I can't really explain, but a guess would be that it is because of all the good people that I meet. If you want to continue to read my stories, please bookmark this website:)

Øyvinds African Adventure

In only one week I will get my deserved summer vacation, and it will be nice to again be able to do whatever I want, but it is with mixed emotions that I am now finished with my second year at Soltun. It is nice to get a vacation, and we have nice weather these days so I know I will enjoy the coming weeks, but I will miss my students. We shared so many nice memories throughout the school year. I also got a friend who will be a life long friend. You know who you are:)

Well, I guess I have to tell a little bit more about my plans for the summer? Around the 2nd of June, I will go to Trondheim. Finally you may say? It has been almost a year since I was in Trondheim now. The city of big mustaches will always be in my heart, and if some higher powers wants me to, I will probably move back to Central Norway in the near future. I hope I can live at my sisters place, but if she's not in town, I guess some of my friends will make room for me. The 7th of June I go to Værnes to board a plane going to Amsterdam. I wish I didn't have a fear of flying, but the need for travelling outweighs my fear. From Amsterdam a plane will take me to Lilongwe. For those of you that do not know, Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi.

So, my firste couple of weeks in Africa will be spent in Malawi. The country with the big lake with most of the fish swimming around in aquariums all over the world. The country which is famously called "the warm heart of Africa". I hope I will be able to track down Thokozani while in Malawi, but if not I will probably have a good time anyway. I support SOS children villages in Lilongwe, and may go for a visit, I will definetely go to Zomba and Cape Maclear, and hope to have some time to go to Mt.Mulanje, but seriously doubt that I have time.

Due to some stupidity when planning the trip, I have to go to Zambia to obtain a visa for onward travelling into Tanzania. I hope to have a couple of nice days in Lusaka while waiting for my visa, and I already contacted Ephraim about meeting him. Don't know what else to do while in Zambia, as it is already far away from my initial travel route, but I have an open soul and heart.

Tanzania will be a country that I only travel through, but I may stop in Moshi to get a glimpse of Kilimanjaro. I didn't plan on going to Kenya at all, but after speaking to some people at the school, I kind of decided to go visit the childrens home Nuru, in Nairobi, in which two of the bps-classes did some volunteer work. We would like to improve the connections, and I may get some students from that place next year, so why not?

Uganda is the main goal of this trip. The diamond of Africa, and one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I will stay there approximately three weeks, with a short trip to Kigali in Rwanda also on the programme. Kampala should be an interesting enough place given the history of Idi Amin, but I also plan to go to Murchison Falls which is supposed to be the most powerful waterfall in Africa, and to Lake Bunyonyi which is supposed to be stunning. If I can afford it I may go on a mountain gorilla safari trek.

It will be an adventure, and I hope to meet many interesting and nice people, but it will also be very tough, as I am planning to travel long distances by bus. Some up to 36 hours...

The 21st of July I go back to Trondheim, and start on a short road trip down to Bergen to meet some old friends of mine (Hild and Steinar), and probably some new friends (Kristine and Lisa). I have only been to Bergen once and that was in 2007. I will bring my tent, and maybe do one night in Sogn og Fjordane as well. After Bergen, I go back to Trondheim to have some quiet days and do some shopping at Platekompaniet. I didn't plan the last three weeks of the summer, but those will probably be spent in Northern Norway. A week in Svolvær with a hike up Fløya, and the rest at Soltun...

So, now you're well informed about my plans and I promise to write a much more interesting article next time;)

Lots of hugs from Øyvind

I just decided to copy all my blog posts

...from the other blog, so that I have a back up :p

Bare for å fullføre interrailbloggen

Som dere sikkert har lagt merke til så er ikke bloggen oppdatert på lenge. Jeg mistet litt interessen og hadde det faktisk litt for bra da reisen nærmet seg slutten. Får prøve å huske hva som skjedde...

Vi satte oss på toget fra Istanbul til Sofia litt utpå dagen, egentlig skulle vi helt til Beograd, men det var ingen tog sopm gikk direkte dit. Som vanlig måtte vi ut av toget på grenseovergangen mellom Tyrkia og Bulgaria midt på natten, men det var en enkel sak denne gangen.

I Sofia fikk vi en ny utfordring. Vi måtte finne toget som gikk videre til Beograd. Ikke helt enkelt i et land som bruker kyrillisk skriftspråk. Vi gikk for det toget som gikk i retning det som lignet mest på Beograd. Det viste seg heldigvis å være korrekt.

I Beograd har jeg vært før, og jeg liker jernbanestasjonen like dårlig fortsatt. Vi kom oss på toget mot Budapest. Der delte vi kupé med to unge serbere som snakket greit engelsk. De skulle på festivalen i nord-Serbia som jeg ikke husker navnet på akkurat nå. De var veldig ok, men ble litt skremt over noen litt over kanten rasisitiske bemerkninger. Noe jeg tror kan skyldes alle de problemene det landet har vært gjennom de siste tjeu årene.

I Budapest fant vi et veldig alternativt hostel. Vi kom ekstremt tidlig på morgenen og bestemte oss for å gå fra jernbanestasjonen, så vi fikk utnyttet dagen til fulle. Det viste seg ganske snart at hostellet lå på andre siden av byen. Det var en slitsom tur for å si det mildt. Robert og jeg dro så på sightseeing i hans andre hjemland. Vi dro på et museum der vi fikk se mye av Ungarns nyere historie, med alle deres problemer under naziregimet og senere under kommunistregimet.

Et bygg som virkelig er imponerende i Budapest, er den fantastiske parlamentsbygningen. Den har neppe sin like noe sted i verden. Flott!

Tilbake på hostellet fant vi ut at den ene vi delte rom med var tysk og spilte i filmen Dorfpunks som kommer ut senere i år.

Neste morgen dro Robert til flyplassen, mens jeg satte meg på toget til Wien. I Wien orket jeg ikke være lenge. Ikke fordi Wien er en kjedelig by, snarere tvert i mot. Men jeg hadde veldig lyst å komme meg til Genova så fort som overhode mulig. Dro derfor til Innsbruck. Innsbruck er en nydelig liten by i østerriksk Tyrol. Der fikk jeg sett meg litt rundt før jeg dro videre til Genova (via Bologna).

Genova kjenner jeg like godt som min egen bukselomme. Har jo vært der tre ganger nå. Kom tidlig på morgenen, og gjorde som sist. Gikk fra jernbanestasjonen og opp den lange bakken til Ostello Genova. Hostellet er ikke så særlig imponerende, men lokaliseringen på toppen av Genova er rett og slett nydelig. Denne gangen delte jeg rom med mange forskjellige folk fra mange forskjellige land. Ble tidlig kjent med Mark fra Bristol. Vi hang rundt i Genova de neste dagene og snakket om hans problemer på kvinnefronten (valgte å holde mine problemer for meg selv...). Han mente at alt var så mye lettere i Italia, og jeg forsto egentlig aldri hvordan er som hadde så store problemer med selvtilliten hjemme i England kunne være så til de grader annerledes når han var utenlands. Interessant. Vi ble kjent med Tom fra USA, som var akkurat sånn som de fleste amerikanere jeg har møtt. Veldig åpen, men ekstremt overfladisk. Vi dro på byen i Genova og kjøpte Pizza Pesto. Er det noe de kan i Genova, så er det pesto. Etterpå dro vi på en bar som var ganske ubehagelig... Neste dag dro Tom og jeg på akvariumet i havnen. Det er Europas største. Har aldri likt akvarier. Kjipt å se på alle de fine fiskene som er sperret inne.

Etter Genova dro jeg hjemover. Stoppet mange steder på veien. I Zürich, Frankfurt, Mannheim og Hamburg. I Hamburg dro jeg på en liten sightseeing. Det var skikkelig drittvær. Er glad i Hamburg. Er en flott by. Jeg vet jeg drar tilbake dit om ikke så lenge, så jeg droppet å være der denne gangen. Værmeldingen var ikke akkurat positiv. Videre dro jeg til København og Malmö. I Malmö traff jeg en hyggelig indisk familie. Toget fra Malmö til Stockholm var den mest positive opplevelsen. Ble kjent med tre tyskere som skulle gå i Abisko nasjonalpark. Vi hadde en riktig så hyggelig tur. I tillegg traff vi en søt svensk jente som var fotostudent i hovedstaden.Vi hang litt sammen i Stockholm før jeg gikk for å booke tog til Östersund. Det gikk dessverre ikke. Svenskene er rare. Ikke mulig å stå på togene der. Jeg bestemte meg for at jeg ikke kunne vente i to dager og bestilte flybillett til Östersund. Der fikk jeg noen fine timer før jeg satte meg på toget til Trondheim. Endelig hjemme:)