HANGING OUT With A Gangster in Mozambique

Posted on January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by dev

I went to Mozambique in late 2018 and traveled around the country and it was as wild as it could possibly get. I went clubbing with an ex gangster and hanged out with him for 3 out of 7 days!

With an ex gangster and car hijacker in Maputo, Mozambique

My trip to Mozambique started as crazy as possible, when I met my local friend Henry in the city center of Maputo. I had walked around the city all day, and then Henry called me to pick me up at the beach side. Henry is a business owner with a big solar power company in Maputo, Mozambique. We had some Mozambican dinner and the best local Mozambican beer ever, and then we went straight to a night out in Maputo. Henry introduced me to his newest employee and friend in his transport company, an ex gangster and ex car hijacker, who now tried to change his life after a long time in prison, and was trying to get out on the right side. Pretty crazy to go out with a guy with that history, but I believe in the best in human, and if someone is nice to me, I’ll be nice to them! Period!

Crazy Time With Henry And His Friend

I had a crazy and good time with Henry and his gangster friend, but I must admit I wasn’t feeling totally relaxed at all times, because of the saying once a criminal, always a criminal! I let the guy take pictures with my phone and even hold some of my belongings and I was honestly a nerve wreck most of the time!

Stopped By Corrupt Police A Lot In Maputo

I was stopped 5 times by the corrupt police in Maputo on my solo walk around the city on my 1st day, and because I didn’t want to pay for anything, I wasted some time where they had to look in my bag and do some checks ups on me etc. Really annoying to be looked at like a money object from the police, when you just want to chill and hangout with the nice population here! It was crazy to see how my gangster friend handled these situation with the police. All the time he just gave them a little something, and then he was allowed to go. I found out it wasn’t only me who had to deal with situations like that with the police here in Mozambique, especially when the police fined my gangster friend, because they claimed he didn’t come when they ask him to come, even though I was there and saw it wasn’t true AT ALL what the police said! Henry told me the police make around $200 a month in salary, but a lot more with this hustling mentality!

Leaving Maputo To Explore Mozambique

Henry and I left Maputo and we left his gangster friend, and even though I liked him, it was a kind of a relieve to just be with Henry and to escape the corrupt police a bit in Maputo. We enjoyed the beach a lot and I especially loved to chill out in Macaneta and see some extremely beautiful beaches up on the coast!

Mozambique has a coastline stretching roughly 1,535 miles along the Indian Ocean and some very beautiful beaches! It was great to see another side of this country!

Would I Hang Out With A Gangster Again?

I learned a lot from hanging out for 3 days with a gangster in Mozambique. First of all I learned to not be too judgemental about other people with a certain past, because he was actually a nice guy, who had just made a lot of wrong decisions is his ‘previous life.’ I always have a certain skepticism about new people in new places until I get to know them, and I think it’s a good thing to have a bit of skepticism, because then you can only get a positive surprise. I surely had a really positive experience in Mozambique with Henry, with this ex-gangster and with the local population, and I learned that crime won’t benefit you in the long run and I hope this ex-gangster has learned the same thing. All the good people will want to do good, rather than do bad in the end. That’s the moral of the story and I have no problem with hanging out with people who have taken their punishment and who is now willing to change their life for the better.

What a Week In Mozambique

What a life lesson it was for me to come to Mozambique to meet the people I met here. I surely learned a lot and I hope to come back to Mozambique one day.

Gustav

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The Hunt For Wild Chimpanzees (Liberia)

Posted on June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 by dev

Dubbed as the Planet of the Apes, I traveled to the secretive “Monkey Island” in the Liberian jungle, but the hunt to find them wasn’t easy!

How To Find This Place?

I had talked a bit to my Dutch friend Bart about this place, but to be honest I had absolutely no clue how to get there at first. I just heard about the “Monkey Island”, and was a bit fascinated by the story of these aggressive laboratory monkeys living it up on the Liberian island.

What is said to be infected apes with a reputation for attacking invaders are apparently on their own private island in Africa. Going there sounds like something from a horror movie, right?! Anyway it sounded too cool for me to resist, and I always prefer to see animals in the wild and not in a circus or in most zoo’s, where they don’t belong.

Win-win situation!

Jumped on a motorbike with a man and his wife

No Tourist Attraction At All

I quickly found out this place wasn’t a tourist attraction and many people didn’t know the place I was asking for, but I took a shared taxi for around 1 hour south of Monrovia to a small city called Marshall and from there I jumped on a motorbike with a man and his wife. The man was complaining that I was moving too much in the 45 min motorbike drive, but I had his wife’s steel plate and fruits in my back, which caused a lot of pain!

Anyway, the pain shouldn’t stop me from making my way to the chimpanzees!

Corrupt Police Security Point

It’s incredible how much stuff can be on a small African motorbike, right?! I checked my phone and could see we were now close to the place, where the motorbike driver told me I could find a boat to the chimpanzees and right when I looked up from my phone a guy yelled: “HEY!” loudly.

I could see it was a security point and the 4 cops looked really sketchy.

I was sure they would try to get some money out of me. But I met them with a smile and a positive attitude, because I knew all my documents, vaccinations and visas were in order. After a little talk outside, I was taking into Officer Kanneh’s office and he asked me: “What are you doing here?”

I knew if I said I was going to look for the chimpanzees he would probably mention a fee for entrance, so I just said I was going to see the village here and walk around.

He said: “Ok I see. You didn’t know there were chimpanzees here?” I said: “No, are there really?” and looked very surprised.

Officer Kanneh said: “Yes. I can call a guy named Wacki, he know the chimpanzees and he can take you there for free.” I knew it wasn’t going to be free, but I just agreed and Officer Kanneh and his big security guard took me to the lake.

On which other continent would you see two police officers at an important security point just leave their job?

The Two Police Officers And Me Off On Motorbikes

We arrived to the place and it started to rain like crazy. We tried to call Wacki, but he didn’t take the phone. Out of a sudden someone found Wacki in the village and Wacki was very happy to see me and said he wanted to take me to the chimpanzees. But he said he would just go and change his outfit.

We waited for 20 minutes and Wacki didn’t come back.

Me and the corrupt police officers searching for Wacki

Where Is Wacki?

Now it was finally dry, so one of the guys said that we should go now to the “Monkey Island.”

I was sure the guy had coordinated it with Wacki, but I was a bit surprised, when I asked him 5 times about where Wacki was and I didn’t get any respond.

Officer Kanneh was there with us and said Wacki wasn’t here right now, but I could pay 15 dollars and then go with Mr. Mojo’s old fisher boat, instead of Wacki’s kayak.

I knew time was short, because it was raining heavily (it really does here in rain season), so I said let me talk to Mr. Mojo. First of all I told Mr. Mojo that I wanted Wacki to come with me, because he was the expert in the area. Mr. Mojo said it was impossible, because we couldn’t find Wacki. I could tell Mr. Mojo just wanted to benefit from the situation, instead of Wacki, and to be fair I could see this Mr. Mojo was focusing more on the money, whereas Wacki seemed like a really nice person with a big heart.

The Oral Agreement

I looked Mr. Mojo deep in the eyes before the ‘Chimpanzee Hunt’ and said: “I don’t want a boat tour. I want to see chimpanzees. When I’ve seen chimpanzees, I’ll pay you 15 dollars. Not before.”

It was a cheap price indeed, but it’s a lot of money for Liberian people and fuel prices are super cheap here.

He said: “Yes, that’s a deal” and we shaked each other hands. Everybody around us saw it.

From my experience when traveling Africa, it’s always super important to make clear agreements before you do something, otherwise there can sometimes be problems afterwards and you will have to cash out!

It turned out there were big problems here too later! Anyway..

I made sure all the other 20 Liberian guys who were circling around me heard it too, in case Mr. Mojo suddenly ran away from our oral agreement. I wanted to see chimpanzees and after I would pay.

The agreement was reached and I was ready to go with 5 Liberian guys in Mr. Mojo’s old fisher boat

We went out in the old fisher boat, which went from side to side. I’m glad I have Faroese fisherman blood, and even one of the Liberian guys went puking after 30 minutes. That boat was absolutely terrible! I thought it was going to tip over at times, but the water luckily got more quiet. But the weather didn’t.

Water got quiet, but then the rain was incoming!

We started to search for the chimpanzees in two nearby islands, but they were hiding. They had food in the morning, so a guy told us we should come back, when they were hungry again and then suddenly a crazy rainstorm hit us! We had to go back! No chimpanzees!

1.st Attempt – FAIL!

When I came back I could see Mr. Mojo was looking at us and we jumped up of the shaky boat, soaking wet and disappointed and went inside a small stone house. The 5 Liberian guys told Mr. Mojo we didn’t see any chimpanzees and Mr. Mojo then said:

“Ok. But I want my money now.”

I was shocked. 15 dollars is not a problem for me, but to change an agreement is a problem. We made an agreement 1,5 hours before in front of everybody and now Mr. Mojo changed his mind. Waow!

When I’m traveling in Africa I’m a man of principles and I stick to my agreements here, which is one of the reasons I rarely get scammed in Africa. so I reminded Mr. Mojo in a kind way about the agreement we made earlier about the fact that I would pay when I had seen chimpanzees.

Mr. Mojo Got Aggressive

Mr. Mojo went straight to my face and started to yell that he wanted his money now, and he started coming with several racist remark about me, calling me f*cking stupid white man and several other things I don’t want to wrtie, but I kept my calm and didn’t move one step, even though he was right up in my face and I just told him in a polite way.

“How can I be the stupid one? We had a deal?”

I wasn’t scared, because I knew I was right and I knew if he hit me one time, he wouldn’t stand a chance against me. The other guys took him away and told him to calm down, because they all heard the agreement we made. A guy in a yellow shirt came into the circle and that was THE GAME CHANGER!

Wacki And His Friend Were Back!

Wacki came back and he got really pissed off at Mr. Mojo.

Wacki told Mr. Mojo, he shouldn’t take me on his boat, while he was changing his outfit. Wacki apparently lived a little away from the village, and Wacki told Mr. Mojo he knew nothing about finding chimpanzees. Everybody loved Wacki in the little village, and Wacki told me: “Don’t worry my man, my friend will show you chimpanzees.”

After 30 min. of crazy discussions between Mr. Mojo and Wacki, Wacki convinced Mr. Mojo about his plans. I would pay the 15 dollars, when I had seen the chimpanzees and Wacki promised Mr. Mojo I would see them now at the 2. attempt with huge confidence. Wacki told me to go with his friend!

My man!

Everybody in the village had arrived to see our hefty discussions

2. Attempt! Now Or Never

We left the village in the old fisher boat again for a 2. try! Wacki’s friend was really confident, he was actually dancing on the boat and started to say all the names of the monkeys and said he had a great personal relationship with them. I couldn’t help but to smile a bit after some rough hours of discussions.

Our 2. try to find chimpanzees. Wacki’s best friend in the yellow shirt! Top guy

Would We Finally Find The Chimpanzees?

Wacki’s friend was shocked about where the guys had taken me at first, and it turned out Wacki’s friend was right.
Right when we went out to the first place on this boat trip, 3 Chimpanzees came out, when Wacki’s friend started yelling their names. Such a clever animal, no wonder why it’s the most human like animal in the World.

We found them!

The water was shallow at the beach, so we couldn’t really get close, because the chimps could get aggressive with me as a new person they didn’t know, but we went to the other side of the island and got pretty close, where the chimpanzees were in the trees and on the seashore. Wauw, this was it!

CHIMPANZEES! Such an amazing experience getting close to these aggressive, but cute guys

We were all very happy to see the chimpanzees, and even Wacki’s friend’s friend was amazed and was sneaking out his phone and took some nice photos!

Wacki’s friend’s friend was even more hyped than me and took a lot of pics! Awesome chimps!

I couldn’t thank Wacki and Wacki’s friend enough and I gave them a solid well-deserved tip for saving my ‘Chimpanzee Trip’ and then I gave the man his 15 dollars when I came back of course. Even though I was a little mad about his racist remarks and aggressiveness towards me, but I could understand his frustrations too. I just can’t help sticking to the agreements I make. That’s just natural for me.

A hectic, but amazing chimpanzee hunt! Would you do have done the same like me?

Gustav

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The Number 1 Thing About Bamako (Mali)

Posted on June 14, 2019June 14, 2019 by dev

Mali is currently not in a good state to say the least, and there was a big terrorist attack not far from where I was on my second day here, which was really sad, but there are still lots of positive things about the country and the capital, Bamako.

Mali Travel Advisory – US Government

The US Government has put a 4 on their travel advisory level, which is highest danger, which means do NOT travel to Mali at the moment, because there have been some really ugly incidents recently with kidnappings of Westerners, bombings, massacres and more..

The Capital Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali and is also the largest city with 2 million people. The place is near the famous Niger River. Located between the Sahara to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south, Bamako is very hot on average all year round with the hottest months being March, April, and May.

I wasn’t freezing during my time in Bamako! +40°C was the standard

Is Bamako All Bad And Dangerous?

No, Bamako is not all bad and dangerous. There are so many reasons to visit this city also. I agree it’s maybe not the best time to go to Bamako right now, but the capital still has a lot to offer.

Seydou, one of my new friends in Bamako, Mali

The People

Mali is the 4th poorest country in the world (UN Human Development Index). In Bamako and in Mali in general people is primarily Muslim, but there are also significant populations of Christians and animists. French is the official language and Bambara is the most widely spoken.

Women wear long skirts but arms, chests and heads are regularly exposed.

Colorful Malian ladies in a village outside of Bamako

Malians are poor and most people live for less than 1 dollar a day. No medical care, little to no access to education, weak infrastructure – But sometimes when you know the feeling of having nothing, that’s when you become more open-minded, wanting to share more with people..

I had the most from people who had the least to be fair!

Bamako might have people who wants to take advantage of you, but is also full of incredible kindness, hospitality and curiosity.

Two Malian guys chiling at a local market, Bamako

One thing I found interesting here was the fact that a lot of families practice polygamy. A man will live with 2-3 wives in a large compound, a hut or a small house with all their children. In Senegal it was 4 out of 10 men, who lived as polygamists and here probably around the same if not more.

The Sights

Bamako is a sprawling city through which the river Niger flows. On one end of the city is a hill formation (supposed to be an extinct volcano?) on which the President’s Palace is located. You start driving up the hill, you leave the hustle and bustle of the city, enter into green surroundings and the roads are great.

Bamako is not a knock out sightseeing city. There is no must see location, but I still found some very cool places here and even though it’s a large, noisy, crowded city, it has its charms.

*Monument* de l”Independance, Bamako, Mali

I really liked to see the crazy and colorfol Bamako City Center market. A great, vibrant and hectic experience, even though a bus smashed really hard into a car few meters away from me. Scary! The bus drove away right after leaving the car smashed and the car owner shocked and speechless. Not cool…

3 Best Sights In Bamako

My favorite places in Bamako to visit are: Monument de l”Independance, Bamako Grand Mosque and of course the obvious Bamako highlight, Le Campement.

Morning swim at Le Campement. So cool and you have it all by yourself!

The way to Le Campement was great, if you choose the bumpy, little used but well signposted road taking you through rural areas directly to the foot of the 3rd bridge. You’ll pass trough rarely visited villages, beautiful green countryside and have some excellent views over fields, canals and mountain side villages.

Having been all around the city of Bamako and the small neighborhoods, the city villages and their people are the real sights of this colorful city. In the suburbs you can see so many things, visit potters, blacksmiths, tailors and and colorful local markets or just grab a cup of tea and watch the daily life of a vibrant township pass by before your eyes. And if you stop for a look there, you will be met by big smiles and respect.

The Number 1 Thing About Bamako

It could have been the food, which is pretty amazing and cheap here, but IT’S NOT.

I like the Malian breakfast, which was a bit different to my oatmeal with raisins back in Denmark, I really liked the extremely cheap grilled meat sticks you can get on every street corner too and then ofc. the Timbuktu Toukassou. Yummy!

But food wasn’t what I liked the most about Bamako, even though it was up there among the best things. The thing I liked the most, and I actually can’t remember one capital city I’ve been to around the World, where this thing was so common and easy: Free motorbike rides.

Free Motorbike Rides (THE BEST THING)

I’ve done at least 30+ free motorbike rides during my time in Bamako.

I quickly found out the traffic here was really bad quiet early during my stay and there were so many people on their motorbikes, who drove past the queues of the cars easily. So what I usually did to beat the traffic was just jumping on random motorbikes. How in the world was that possible?

Crossed the Niger River several times a day. That was so easy to do!

It was so super easy here actually. I just pointed with my hand in which direction I was going to go, and the drivers then nodded if they were going that way, or showed with their hand they were going in another direction. I usually didn’t wait for more than 30 seconds before having a ride ready and no one did ever ask me for money after I said: “Merci beaucoup pour le voyage de mon ami.” / Thanks for the ride my friend.

People in Bamako loves to help you with a free ride

Excuse Moi?

My French is extremely limited, so don’t be afraid to do the same. It’s all about the attitude.

Even when I came back from hiking in Malian mountains several hours outside of Bamako, I had free rides, after our bus crashed down in the middle of nowhere, which by the way happens way too often in West Africa.. I even had some gifts on the free motor bikes in Bamako and a lot of appreciation. You probably wouldn’t get that in Bangkok, Manila or in any major European city. In these places most people would look strange at you or ask you to pay as much as possible, worst case even try to scam you.

In Bamako, it’s a different story.

– Gustav

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Travel Pictures Of Gustav

Posted on April 1, 2019August 26, 2019 by dev

Here are some random pictures from all over the world. One from each country/territory. I will add more here and there from new travels and adventures, so check back every now and then. Enjoy!

Albania