Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter Six)
PART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORYPART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORY
CHAPTER SIX
GOING TO HELL AND ARRIVING IN PARADISE
I had been paddling for two days and I was getting tired. I had fallen on the ice-covered deck of the barge back in Usti and had badly hurt my shoulder. It ached now. After covering only twenty kilometers in a day and a half, I decided to walk the last sixty kilometers to Prague. I got the kayak out of the water and began to walk with it for the last leg of this part of my journey.
Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter Seven)
PART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORYPART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORY
CHAPTER SEVEN
WAKING UP TO A FROZEN RIVER
I decided to take a rest before continuing on my journey to Austria. I dragged my kayak out of the Vltava River and up into the pine forest. Meanwhile, the temperature continued to drop. I saw that it was 25 degrees below zero when I checked! It was like back home in the north of Sweden!
I started a fire and gathered wood for the night. Nevertheless, I didn’t get much sleep. When dawn finally broke, I dragged the kayak through the forest once again, this time to return to the river. It had frozen solid overnight!
Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter Eight)
PART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORYPART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORY
CHAPTER EIGHT
GETTING A BIT OF FROSTBITE
The dome of the Esztergom Cathedral was no longer green; it was white. When I left Prague, everything was white—the scenery was covered with a meter of snow, the tree branches were white and gently curved down in respect to Mother Earth.
Only the Danube was snowless. Thankfully.
On the radio they said that Hungary was experiencing the worst snowstorm in 40 years. I glided past Budapest and allowed the kayak to be spun round and round in the river’s weak current.
Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter Nine)
PART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORYPART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORY
CHAPTER NINE
SEEING THE EFFECTS OF THE YUGOSLAV WARS
The only sign that I had reached the Yugoslavian border were the two seemingly uninhabited houses on either side of the river. I suppose that was the border guard, but I didn’t see any living soul around.
Later in the afternoon, I reached some settlements. On the right side was the community Batina. I saw a Yugoslavian flag on the left side of the river. In hopes of finding a border guard, I headed to shore, where I landed the kayak.
Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter Ten)
PART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORYPART TWO: THE REST OF THE STORY
CHAPTER TEN
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
After my experience in Belgrade, I decided to take myself back home to Sweden and leave the kayak someplace safe in Yugoslavia. I could pretty quickly scrape up the money to return to my kayak and continue the journey when I got back in Sweden.
I put the kayak under lock and key at a hotel in Novi Sad and kissed her goodbye.
“Take care of yourself, girl. I’ll be back.”
My 2013 Season in Malpelo
This is my second year working in Malpelo. I really have come to like this place! It is far away and one of the most remote and isolated dive destinations in the world. The Malpelo season this year was even sharkier than last year. In my 3 months of being here I have had 4 bait balls, encounters with the unique congregations of hundreds (up to 500!) of silky sharks that are almost all females… I don’t know why.
Why are the silkies so spread out? —Malpelo 17.06.2013
Because of recent illegal fishing?
The silky sharks can now be seen in both the north and the south. They are more spread out. We are speculating why. We can see fresh hooks in the mouth of some. And three days ago we had a fishing boat not farther than 2 nautical miles from here.
Hitchhiking from Sweden to Africa (Chapter Two)
A LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Africa. The next day, I hitchhiked on. I stopped in British-colony Gibraltar. When I saw a ferry that went to Morocco, I thought, Africa! I decided to head in that direction, thinking it would be fun to see another continent. Anyway, the ferry was cheap.
Hitchhiking from Sweden to Africa (Chapter Three)
HUGGING A GOAT IN THE SAHARA
Algeria. I decided to head east. After Morocco, there is Algeria. I thought, Ok! With an excited smile, I crossed the border.
I came into the city of Oran, the capital of rai music. It sounds like Arabic reggae. They sing about life, love, and in my taste, just damn good music. Some of the artists playing on the cassette tapes that I managed to get ahold of back then are very famous today, like Cheb Khaled.
Hitchhiking from Sweden to Africa (Chapter Four)
AN INDELIBLE MARK ON MY SOUL
Libya. It took eight days to get to the oasis of Djanet. Here, we could at least wash off the dust from the goat shit that had dusted up not only our bodies but our faces, nostrils, and ears. A few more days later, we made it to the border checkpoint. A no-man’s land spanning 30 kilometers (19 miles) separated Algeria and Libya. On the Algerian side, I was warmly welcomed by soldiers who gave me cigarettes and Coca-Cola. They told me that they hadn’t seen a European in the two years that they had been there. The outpost was only a cargo container. How on earth did they manage to get it there in the middle of the cold Sahara…?
On the Libyan side, I was registered by an old gentleman who spelled my name in Arabic based on how I pronounced it. Upon entering Libya, I was immediately arrested by a mustachioed man dressed in an air force uniform.