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Burundi: Source du Nil

June 20, 2025

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.

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

“Dr Livingstone, I presume?”

Frankfurt: Paternoster

April 30, 2025

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

November 27, 2024

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.

North Dakota: ABM Sites

October 9, 2024

The MSR Pyramid
North Dakota is home an abandoned 1970s Anti-Ballistic Missile complex, originally intended to protect the US ICBM launch sites from incoming missiles. In theory, it was a de-escalation step, since the ability to protect the launch sites would give the US more time to stop and think if it spotted what seemed to be an incoming Soviet attack. Sadly Congress didn’t believe the system would actually work, and the Soviets probably didn’t either, so it was shut down in 1976.

Since I’ve visited three ICBM launch sites (the Titan Missile Museum, a Soviet SS-24 site and a Minuteman site) I decided it was time to look at the other side of things!

The main surviving relic is the imposing and mysterious “MSR Pyramid”, a giant phased array “Missile Site Radar”. Unfortunately it isn’t open for visits.

MSR Pyramid and cryptic ancillary structures

I also drove by RSL #3, one of the interceptor missile launch sites. That was also closed today, but apparently the owner does run tours in the summer months.

North Dakota: Fargo

August 15, 2024

I’m in Fargo, North Dakota, where I’ve been participating in Traditional Local Customs.

Yes, this is the actual wood chipper used for body disposal in the movie Fargo. Oh ya, you betcha! 🙂 It’s now the star attraction at the Fargo Visitor Center. You can bring your own body parts.

Update October 2024: I revisited the Fargo Visitor Center on another road trip. This time I invested in an official “Fargo Wood Chipper” Trapper Hat for extra verisimilitude.

North Dakota: Minuteman Museum

August 15, 2024

I’m in North Dakota, visiting the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site. It’s a real (retired) Minuteman control silo. It’s one of several Minuteman sites that were closed down under the START treaty ICBM limits.

A giant freight elevator takes you down 52 feet to the command level, then there is a 7 ton blast door leading into the armored command capsule, mounted on giant shock absorbers. The original command consoles are intact. Please don’t press any buttons.

It was fun to visit the launch controls, but, unlike with my visits to the Titan Missile Museum or the Pervomaisk SS24 museum, they don’t let you simulate a launch. But this one definitely scores extra credit for being a museum representative of the many still-active Minuteman Missile sites in the Mid-West, which are still very much alive, manned, and ready for service. Gulp.

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