town

Ribeira Brava, Madeira

Nova Sintra

The capital of Brava Island is Nova Sintra, sitting about 500 metres above Furna down at the seashore. A winding road leads up to Nova Sintra which takes no more than ten or twelve minutes, but you come to a totally different world. Where Furna is hot, humid and rocky, Nova Sintra is green, humid, but a lot cooler as it spreads out over a plateau on the edge of the Brava highland. Everything is small on that island with a maximum diameter of 11 km, and so is the capital. The beautiful Sobrado houses are grouped around central Praça Eugénio Tavares, a square named after the islands most famous son, the poet Eugénio Tavares who has been very important for Cape Verdean literature and music. Continue…

Nova Sintra ist die Hauptstadt von Brava und thront etwa 500 Meter über Furna unten an der Küste. Eine Straße führt in zahlreichen Serpentinen hinauf nach Nova Sintra, was nicht länger als zehn oder zwölf Minuten dauert, aber letztendlich kommt man in eine völlig andere Welt. Wo Furna heiß, schwül und felsig ist, ist Nova Sintra grün, schwül, aber bedeutend kühler, was an der Lage auf einem Plateau am Rande des Hochlands liegt. Auf einer Insel mit höchstens elf Kilometern Durchmesser ist alles klein, auch die Hauptstadt. Die herrlichen Sobrado-Häuser sind um den zentralen Platz Praça Eugénio Tavares gruppiert, der nach dem berühmtesten Sohn der Insel, dem Poeten Eugénio Tavares, benannt wurde, der für die kapverdische Literatur und Musik von größter Bedeutung ist. Weiterlesen…

Vohemar (Iharana)

Vohemar, also referred to as Iharana, is the northernmost town in Madagascar’s north-eastern SAVA region. It is located right at the Indian ocean and vast Iharana bay which is subjected to the tides. Historically, Vohemar seems to be one of Madagascar´s oldest settlements, if not the oldest, where Swahili merchants installed a port for trading as early as in the 13th century. Today, Vohemar has between 20.000 and 30.000 inhabitants who make it a lively little town hoping for a better future and many visitors. Because over the course of the last at least five years, the Chinese have constructed a new road connecting Vohemar at the east coast with Ambilobe at the National Road RN 6 in the west, replacing one of the most feared dirt roads of the island. In the past, it could have taken three or even more days to reach Vohemar from Ambilobe, which is now reduced to a couple of hours. That said, SAVA region is no longer isolated from the rest of the country. Continue…

Transit town – Durchfahrtsstadt

Madagascar/Madagaskar
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Gulu Crystal Hotel

Fort Portal

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Fort Portal the second. We´ve been in Fort Portal five years ago, and we´ve really liked it. Back then, it had its nickname “Fort Pothole” for a good reason but besides that, it was a nice, well-developed town amidst a montane region with a lot of coffee and tea plantations. Neighbouring Rwenzori mountains are the reason why it rains a lot in and around Fort Portal, the nearly black volcanic soil is very fertile, and because of its altitude of 1.525 m, the climate in town is moderate with cool nights. I call it German weather. Weiterlesen →

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The Q-Files: An old town we once knew