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And The Wind Laughed
“And the wind laughed, and the wind laughed through the trees… Come with me I’m going back, I’m going back to East Africa.” (Phil Collins) The Giraffe Centre is a wildlife conservation facility located in Lang’ata near Nairobi, Kenya. It was established to protect the vulnerable Rothschild giraffe, that is…
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A Giant Leap On African Soil
Finally I would set foot on this fascinating continent. A small step for me, a giant leap for me as well. Africa welcomed me in the best way possible. For the second time I was flying by business class after getting an upgrade, but this time even with a window…
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The World In A Few Days
I got a sunburn because I walked under the hot desert sun in Dubai, I got wet because walked through rain and permanent humidity in Hong Kong, and I didn’t sleep one night. Raindrops kept falling on my head… First cold rain in Munich and Frankfurt, then warm rain in…
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Towards The Desert Sun
At places like Babylon and Dubai people tried to reach the sky, and still the desert sun remains high above. The Burj Khalifa, previously known as Burj Dubai, was built from 2004 till 2009 and opened in 2010. Some of the steel used in the building originated from the Palace…
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From Dreams To Mixed Reality
I came with dreams and left with a mixed reality. The United States are, to put it diplomatically, controversial. On the one side they were founded with values like democracy and freedom, on the other side those are not only questionable domestically but are being taken away from other countries…
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What Is Worth More
“’Is money so important for your people?’ [Winnetou] asked after the pause. ‘Yes, everything turns around money,’ I admitted. ‘Is it… why you joined the land-grabbers [railway construction]?’ he asked with long pauses as if every word had caused him pain. ‘In our world everybody says that happiness is about…
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The Sea-Wet Rock
Out there at the coast of southern China are a group of islands and a peninsula which British seafarers found suitable to colonialise when they arrived there in the 19th century. At that time a small fishermen’s village, it soon grew to a town, then a city, and since the…
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Harbour From Both Sides
“Hong Kong was chosen by the Englishmen as the location of their settlement with the kind of insight that’s typical for the British. The island on which northern side it is located is mountainous and has a circumference of about eighteen till twenty English miles. Its position has the advantage…
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The Eternal City
May the sky fall on the eternal city, it would just enhance the beauty. Empires come and go, and yes, still nowadays, but this city remains. The Roman Empire with Rome as capital ended in the year 476 CE but its remains can still be seen. After that year only…
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The Fragrance Of The Winter Harbour
Hong Kong in winter has a special character. The subtropical humidity is almost gone, it just shows itself in the form of fog. It is actually the best time of the year for visiting the Fragrant Harbour if you are not a fan of heat. The area of the arts…
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Down Under
As if the world wants to promote itself. Flying over the northern coast of Australia. The blue planet is sometimes really just that. The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world’s most famous and distinctive buildings,…
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Jet Airliner
Germanwings Flight 9525 in the year 2015 was not the first time that a pilot, in this case the first officer, deliberately crashed a plane. It happened before, for example in December 1997. SilkAir Flight 185 suddenly nose-dived into a river in Sumatra, Indonesia. The cause of the crash as…
