The Wandering Scot

An occasional travel journal

  • South Sudan: Traditional Local Customs

    I’m in Juba, South Sudan.  There aren’t really many tourist sights in South Sudan, but it’s been interesting to see the local culture.  Even although the country is desperately poor, it has managed to reach #1 in at least one area, Transparency International’s Corruption Index!

    The most serious alleged corruption is high-level, supposedly around oil and also some entirely undeclared and officially non-existent gold mining. But at a lower level I did get several opportunities to witness Traditional Local Customs. At a street stop, several charming police ladies politely asked us “for some water” and after some joking back and forth, my guide reluctantly coughed up a few dollars to placate their thirst. At a major checkpoint, a policeman demanded to see my passport and then wouldn’t return it until my guide gave him a few dollars. All this happened completely out in the open for all to see.

    No photos of course. My guide warned me that the police like to seize smart-alec smart-phones and then demand quite large sums for their return.

    I’ve encountered small scale corruption before, but it is generally much more discreet. My guide was surprisingly philosophical about it. Neither the police nor other government officials have been paid for a year, “so of course they have to fend for themselves”. Oh dear.

    One photo from South Sudan: a wrecked passenger ferry on the Nile. It’s been stuck there for at least a decade, as there are no funds and no motivation to remove it.

  • Eritrea: Art Deco Gas Station

    I’m visiting Eritrea, a small African country which rivals North Korea for isolation and eccentricity.

    The capital Asmara boasts some good Futurist buildings from the Italian colonial era, earning it UNESCO World Heritage status.  The most famous is the Fiat Tagliero Building, a quirky Art Deco petrol station in the shape of an airplane, with aggressively cantilevered wings.

  • Madagascar: Pugnacious Tenrec

    I’m in Andasibe, Madagascar.  I’ve seen various lemurs, chameleons, geckos, etc, but my favorite animal so far was a tiny baby tenrec.

    It had bright yellow spines on its head and a blackish body.  We had inadvertently cornered it against a stone wall, with no easy escape.  So, despite being only about 3 inches long, it decided to try to intimidate us. It lunged and feinted menacingly with its spiky head and made it clear that any stupid monkeys that tried to mess with it would get a handful of spines.

    Suitably chastened we backed off. It then resumed its stroll. With perhaps a hint of a swagger.

    Googling later, it turns out to have been a Lowland Streaked Tenrec. They are noted for being pugnacious and if we hadn’t backed off it would have probably escalated to a charge-attack and head-butted us. Not surprisingly, local predators avoid them.

  • Mauritius: Dodo Quest

    I’m on Mauritius, where I successfully hunted down a dodo!

    It was a very fine dodo.  It waggled its little wings and cawed gently at me.


    Yes, it’s true, the Mauritius Natural History Museum has a very charming animatronic dodo.  🙂

    Perhaps more to the point, they also have the only “complete” dodo skeleton, which has pride of place in their Dodo Gallery.

  • Burundi: Source du Nil


    I successfully made it to the Source of the Nile!

    Well, OK, there are many sources of the Nile, but the people of Burundi confidently assert that their Source du Nil spring is the southernmost source that eventually flows into the Nile.  And, just to remove any doubt, it comes complete with an actual pyramid.  Ha!

    The spring itself now emerges from a small pipe a little below the monument, before starting a very long journey North.

    Later, back in Bujumbura, I successfully discovered the spot where the explorer Stanley successfully discovered Dr Livingstone.

    “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”

  • Frankfurt: Paternoster

    If you find yourself with some free time in Frankfurt, I recommend hunting down one of their paternosters, a kind of continuously moving step-on-step-off elevator.  They are a fine cheap amusement!

    This time, I snuck in to the library at the University of Frankfurt to visit their two paternosters.  These seem to be much beloved by the students.  There are lots of warnings, including that you shouldn’t ride over the top, which I’m sure all the students take very seriously. 😊

    P.S. If you do visit, please be discreet.  The library staff quietly tolerate the occasional joy riding visitor, but they would probably have to close off access if there were too many, which would be sad.

    P.P.S. Riding over the top is (sadly) less exciting than it first sounds.  The paternoster consists of little cabins hanging from a chain and it is designed so that the cabins stay vertical while going over the top or around the bottom.  Not that I’d know, of course.

  • India: Bengal Tiger

    I’m visiting the Bandhavgarh National Park, in Madhya Pradesh, India.  The park is famous for its tigers.  There’s a good chance you’ll see one over the course of a multi-day visit, but of course there’s no guarantee.

    My first full-day safari was a washout.  And it looked like my second morning was going to be a blank also.  But at the last minute my guide got an alert from a colleague on his cell phone and we whizzed over, to find a full-size adult male Bengal Tiger sitting calmly by the side of the road.

    He was an extremely polite tiger.  He posed graciously for photos for a few minutes, showed off his tonsils in a wide yawn and then ambled off.  Hurrah!

    Sadly he didn’t actually try to eat me, but you can’t have everything.

     

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