europetoafrica – WANDER OUR WORLD

17. Januar 202122. Juli 2021

Capetonian views

Hello, Bonjour and Molweni from Cape Town where I live and work for two years. Due to the ongoing pandemic, I have arrived about 9 months later than planned. But I think all of us have realized by now that planning and COVID-19 are not much compatible.

View on the Marina Residential Apartments

By now I believe I am the queen of apartment hunting, I have seen lots and lots of apartments. It’s time to get one longterm rental now and I think I know which one I prefer, we will see if and how it will work out though as it seems as if COVID-19 is making up its own plans without me; again!

I found myself a gorgeous horse lease in Constantia, a lovely gelding, a former racing horse that loves jumping. We get along quite well so far and I am looking forward to get to know him better and to our dressage and jumping lessons.

The past days were either windy or very hot, proper summer days that I experienced here. During the days it could hit something in the 30 degrees celsius with a little wind breeze it was actually nice. Some of the evenings however the wind decided to pick up and do it’s own crazy dance! During one afternoon, I decided to have a look at the roof top bar on top of the Silo hotel but underestimated the wind. The views were stunning but my food was flying everywhere except into my stomach.

Due to the current pandemic you don’t need any reservation you can just show up, there will be plenty of free seats to choose from. Nevertheless, you should remember that there is a curfew in place so the last food order will only be considered before 6.30pm. I will surely go back once there is less wind to enjoy my food.

Table Mountain, Lion‘s Head and signal Hill from top of Silo hotel

My last week of holidays has started and I spent the time at the pool and in the gym as much as I could. I explored the waterfront and found the baby seals again. They are very sleepy and always lay around on one of the platforms. The parents are much more playful and I spent an afternoon just watching the adults catching fish and enjoying themselves in the harbor. I enjoyed my time at the stables and wanted to go on some hikes.

However, sometimes life has a different plan. The hiking didn’t happen. One morning I drove to Alphen trail in Constantia to meet a group of people that go hiking together 3 times per week. Before we wanted to start I collapsed unfortunately and found myself laying on the ground with lots of worried faces. Even a security guy was there with guns and a big dog. He took care of me until a friend came around to pick me up and drove me to the hospital. So, I checked out the South African hospital from the inside much earlier than I wanted. They took well care of me, did blood tests and heart tests and luckily didn’t find anything except of low blood pressure.

Views that hopefully won’t repeat themselves any time soon

After 2 hours, I came out of hospital with luckily only a bruised knee and hand, which I guess I must have fallen onto. I was very relieved I could go back home as during these COVID times I surely don’t want to be in hospital. Despite the ongoing pandemic I must admit the situation in this particular private hospital was not too concerning. Everything was kept clean, there were empty beds and no one waiting in the entrance hall. I am unsure how the rest of the rooms looked like but what I had seen was ok.

Since the incident, I enjoyed the views from my apartment during the last days of my holidays before my first working day in Cape Town will start.

My newest lessons learned in my new home town:

Cheeky birds – the seagulls will share your food plate with you even if you disagree,
No reservations needed – you can spontaneously get a seat at the roof top bar on top of Silo as not many people go out during COVID-19 times &
Early dinner – last order for a meal outside is before 6.30pm due to the current curfew, otherwise you must cook on your own!

Cheers to wandering the world and exploring my new home town – bye bye, salut and hamba kakuhle ∞

4. Juli 202019. Juli 2021

Africa and Europe parted by a little virus

Hello, Bonjour and Servus still from Germany, unfortunately I couldn’t move to Cape Town yet. Mid-March I applied for my working permit at the South African embassy and I was very close of stepping into a plane and move to the African continent. Just before this vicious little virus, called Corona, had made an appearance in Europe. However, I had some hope that the embassy would still work its way through my visa application, even when I read the statement by president C. Ramaphosa that no tourist visa shall be further worked on. By mid-May I received a big letter that I recognized to be from the embassy. It contained my passport but no visa, no other explanations, nothing. I checked my passport 10 times and more but still no visa that I could find. Such a dissapointing answer.

By now, I still haven’t received any other Information from the embassy, they finally opened up again but can’t tell me anything. So, I suppose once they will start working on visa applications the whole process will start again. This is really frustrating. But luckily I get to start my new job for the company in Cape Town from my home office here in Germany. This surely won’t be easy as I don’t know anyone from my team or any other colleagues. And how it looks like at the moment, it seems there won’t be any international flights to South Africa any time soon. With the embassy still not working on any visa applications, I am a bit clueless when this journey will actually start.

In the meantime what am I doing during these times when I am fully ready to go, longing for Africa but can’t fly to any of the countries I want to? Well, I started reading plenty of guiding and tracking books that explain specific features for typical African animals, their tracks, calls and even the different grasses growing in Southern Africa. Also, I am glad to be able to participate in the fun digital tracking games by James Varden from Ride Zimbabwe. Every now and then he is posting tracks that he has found in the bush with the question which animal belongs to the spoor. It surely is fun and a challenge trying to match the picture to one of the tracks in my books. Besides, I exchanged with Josephin on my Cape Town adventure on her podcast, which surely was lots of fun. You can listen to it on her Bushbaby podcast channel.

Guiding books for Southern Africa, recommended by FGASA

Giant Crowfoot from James‘ challenge, a grass growing in Zimbabwe

From James‘ tracking challenge, would you have guessed it right that this was
a genet?

Bushbaby podcast, if you long for Africa it’s a great opportunity to listen to some African stories

Furthermore, I thought this is actually a very good opportunity to donate money to the ones that are in need. This crisis hits all of us, but some are just way more affected than others as they struggled already before the crisis for their well-being. There is so much help needed and it’s never easy to decide which project, which organisation or which person you would like to support. However, it’s important that the money reaches the specific group you have chosen. That’s why I have decided to support the „My Beautiful Home“ project in Matopos, close to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. This is an annual competition aiming to encourage and reward the practice of decorating huts in the traditional way using natural pigments such as ash, coal and soil as a mean of highlighting and maintaining the art and culture of the area. From my volunteering time in Zimbabwe I know that Ride Zimbabwe is engaged in that project and supports the local community. So, if you have always wondered how you can contribute to conservation this might be your call! Any donation will be much appreciated and help the Ndebele people in Matabeleland. If you are interested, please let me know until end of July.

James from Ride Zimbabwe next to a local hut in Zimbabwe

And then, I also found a new way to travel through Africa, by cooking. The African kitchen has so much to offer and is really divers. I have tried already several dishes, such as Mbatata from Malawi, Sweet potato mash from Zimbabwe and Vipopo from Zanzibar. Mbatata is similar to baked minced meat with potatoes, a really delicious dish. The Vipopo however, wasn’t my favorite but I am sure it was probably the way I did it as I haven’t heard about it before.

My version of Mbatata, a recipe from Malawi

The outcome of my Vipopo version, a recipe from Zanzibar

Last but not least, it’s always good if you have some memories to dwell on. Hence the happier I am to have taken so many pictures from my travelling throughout Southern Africa that I can click through. The endless landscapes of Namibia never gets old, while I can still feel the beat of the elephant herd in the bushes when I drove through Moremi, this was definitely a highlight in Botswana. To feel the Victoria falls and see the sun setting behind the zambezi certainly is a must for Zimbabwe, while Hwange National Park shows you the true African wilderness. Hearing the hyena calls or the rumbling stomaches of the elephants next to your tiny tent will surely bring you closer to nature. I will never forget the feeling when I was sitting on my horse when I first spotted a big cat, a lioness with its teenage cubs. Unforgettable memories I am very thankful for.

Red dunes and last surviving trees in Sossusvlei, Namibia

Epic river banks of the Chobe river, Botswana

The mighty Victory Falls from the helikopter, Zimbabwe

Enjoying a beautiful sundowner in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Lovely scenery of Kruger National Park, South Africa

If you want to see more pictures of Southern Africa, check out my gallery – enjoy!

My newest lessons learned during the COVID-19 mess:

What’s going on – Confusion is the new normal;
Stocking up – Stay well connected with your neighbours, they might be the only ones providing you with toilet papers;
Hang on – One day you might have a visa, next day it’s being revoked.

Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives, let’s hope for some quick recovery from the COVID-19 – bye bye, salut and sala kahle ∞

22. März 2020

How to manage the visa struggle

Hello, Bonjour and Sawubona from my newest adventure of moving from Europe to South Africa, Cape Town. Corona virus is not a friendly helper, but that’s a whole different story. In this blog I want to focus on advices how to get a visa, which is already an interesting battle itself.

When deciding to leave a continent with family and friends that you know behind, you go through many stages; from being euphoric to worried to happy. And then it comes: the naughty visa application. Some say it’s worse than going to the dentist, some say it’s random and unfair, I say it’s a struggle to survive even if you think you might be prepared for it.

First things first, you have to find out which visa application form is the one you need to correctly fill out. This really is a bigger step than thought if you have no one with experience to tell you. Afterwards, you need to gather all documents and proofs demanded by the application form. Now this really is a masterpiece of its one, almost impossible if you don’t have any competent help and leading to lovely, time-consuming trips to the embassy. Most of the time you can’t rely on help of the employees of the embassy so make sure you got all your paperwork done correctly.

Every visa application process is different and it even differs from embassy to embassy for the same country. So here my advice if you want to survive the visa application process efficiently when applying for an intra-company work visa from Germany to South Africa, Cape Town:

Check out which embassy is the one you need to go to (Berlin for whole Germany except Bavaria. If you live in Bavaria, Munich is responsible for you).
Make sure the intra-company work visa is applicable for you. This should always be the case if your German employer sends you to Cape Town to a branch or subsidiary within the group and you don’t quit your job in Germany but will be re-employed after the expatriation time in South Africa.
Download the application form from the SA embassy website.
Get a folder ready for all documents to come.

Gather all documents mentioned in the visa application. This is:

passports from all nationalities you have,
copies of all your passports,
download and print the form DHA-1738 and fill it out,
biometric picture not older than 6 months,
a letter of the branch / affiliate in South Africa confirming the transfer and specifying whether your position is junior or senior. This needs to specify your new occupation and the relationship between your German employer and the one in South Africa. Documentary proof is likely to be asked, so better be already prepared with the registration documentation issued by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPS) for the South African company. Furthermore, a translated trade register excerpt for the German company will be needed. Most likely you will also be asked to present an organogram to show the relationship between the German and South African company, best to show as well your current and future position and how they are related,
a written undertaking by the South African company so ensure all points mentioned under this number in the application,
a plan developed by the South African company to transfer your skills to a local citizen incl. currently certified copies of their identity with their ID numbers. If you don’t present the original letters but copies that are sent to you via email, the HR person signing all those letters need to present a certified passport copy as well,
a confirmation of your German employer that you will be transferred to the South African company, mentioning the time period for your stay,
your original contract translated into English and certified by a sworn translator incl. an attached copy to it. As a back up take a copy of your original contract. Moreover, you need your original assignment letter or contract for your new position in South Africa,
original police clearance certificate,
a signed medical report as provided on the website of the embassy,
a signed radiological report as provided on the website of the embassy,
if you have children accompanying you, take a proof of parental responsibilities with you,
if a spouse is accompanying you, take your marriage certificate translated into English and certified by a sworn translator with you,
if you travel through a yellow fever country, take your vaccination proof with you,
proof of payment of the application fee 5 working days before your application in the embassy,
an A4-size envelope franked with the Express easy DHL online label (0,5kg).

Supplement documents potentially needed for no. 5

Make sure all HR departments from all countries involved, provide you the right documents. Check and check again bevor booking your transfer to the embassy. YOU need to go to the embassy and YOU will be the one who needs to go again if anything is missing. Keep that in mind.

Print your documents in good quality, the embassy won’t print anything for you.

If you think you got all the papers together and are ready for the application, check again if you really got it all correctly together before heading to the embassy. The one in Berlin opens at 9.00am every day but make sure to be there no later than 8.30am to avoid long waiting queues. Anyways you must be in the embassy before 11.30am or your application will not be processed that day and you need to come again. Keep also in mind that no visa application will be processed on Wednesday in Berlin.

So when you have finally arrived in the embassy and received a waiting number, be patient and just give a short prayer to god. This might raise your chances. Once it’s your turn you will need to hand over all documents you have gathered in the correct sequence as mentioned according to the application form, this is essential to have the employees‘ goodwill at least. Then you be patient and wait until your application is thoroughly checked and you are called again.

This now is the moment of truth, was all your preparation good enough or will you go back home and redo your homework more carefully again? Whatever will be missing or additionally required by the embassy is going to be highlighted, so hope for no highlights at all. If your application will go through immediately, count yourself as very much privileged and well organized while understanding the language of bureaucracy to the highest standard. Congratulations! Now you walk out the embassy and spoil yourself with some bubbles before a long period of patience, patience and patience.

Get your papers in order for the embassy

If you have to come again to the embassy, don’t worry this is the normal case. For the next time however, bring the same forms with you where the employer of the embassy has left the marks, highlights and information. Do not use a new version. This time when walking into the embassy, pray again that it will be all to the satisfaction of the embassy. If this will be the case, you can be happy and be patient as well. From now on it might take a while until you hold your visa in your hands – if no corona virus comes in between to make a perfect mess.

My newest lessons learned:

Rely on help – relocation agencies might know the interpretation of bureaucracy language or even a sworn translator,
You can’t check enough – not even your own helpers,
Be an early bird – arrive early at the embassy and wait patiently until they open in front of the gates.

Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives – bye bye, salut and sala kahle ∞

7. März 2020

Off to settle down in Mother City

Hello, Bonjour and Sawubona from a new adventure, that is already lining up at the horizon: I will move to another continent and start living and working in Cape Town, South Africa! It’s finally been settled and a new chapter will soon present other kinds of adventures to me. Everything is going to be quick now, if I manage to survive the visa process (see next blog with advices I wish someone could have given me beforehand). April will be the first month where my new home will be in the Rainbow Nation. Being basically addicted to Africa and its beautiful landscapes, this is a dream come true for me. I can still not believe how this all fits into perfect shape.

A year ago, I was packing bags and preparing myself for an unforgettable time in Zimbabwe, where I was volunteering in the bushlands of the private game reserve Cawston Wildlife Estate for three months.

Not even one and a half years ago, I got my bags ready for Cape Town, to spent amazing holidays in „Slaapstad“. It was there, where I started to fall in love with the city home to the iconic Table Mountain and framed by white beaches. It was then, when I thought „This is the city I want to work and spend my life“. But you know, I thought it was just one of these sentences you tell yourself, you shortly dream about, then you forget and move on with your real life. This time it was however bound to be different. This time my dream moved on and worked its way into my reality by mysterious and perfect ways. This time my dream changes my live!

Soon, I will start working for my German employer in South Africa, that sends me off to one of the most southern points, to Mother City and I am more than delighted. Sometimes, I just thank god for his ideas of paths for my live. Sometimes, I just can’t believe to be so very lucky to have a wonderful husband who made everything possible to join me into the Rainbow Nation. It still sounds like a surreal dream to me, that I will soon be living in Africa, in an extraordinary country, in between the famous moutain, the largest wine route and the wild ocean.

„Be prepared to fall in love“, was what I was told before I headed to Cape Town for my first time. „Be prepared to settle in“, is what I am looking for now. I do know it’s not going to be easy all times and it surely will be a huge change to live in a country with economical, political and historical challenges. But here I come loadshedding, and I am happy for that move. I can’t wait to live my African dream! Cape Town surely isn’t like the African bush I always long for and South Africa surely isn’t the same as the wild Zimbabwe. However, Mother City and the Rainbow Nation can offer landscapes equally beautiful and wildlife sightings equally adventurous as in the untouched ground of Zim. But also crime rates and offenses to a different level.

Be a warrior not a worrier!
Anonymous

So how best to prepare for a move from a safe country in Europe to an adventurous one in Africa?

Well, first to settle all important details with the employer;
Second, be patient, patient and patient;
Get the visa done and again be patient;
Then, get the household packed into plenty of little boxes;
Gather information about what can be imported, what is restricted and how much are the taxes on imported goods;
Fill in endless forms of never ending paper work;
And again, be patient, patient and patient;
Write a summary of all stock to be brought into South Africa (all for the lovely customs procedure).

My lessons learned:

Fight for your dreams – they will come true, eventually;
Don’t start worrying too early – it only takes away your peace and joy of today;
Survive the visa process – be prepared to spend plenty of joyful time in the embassy.

Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives – bye bye, salut and sala kahle ∞