The Nelson Mandela Bridge

This is not like the ordinary bridge you see in town but a masterpiece of architecture by the day but when night falls, it is a magical bacon that lights the sky.

Am on my way to the hotel from the airport in Johannesburg and the cab driver is kind enough to enlighten me about the city.

The distance to the Lamunu hotel takes about 30 minutes during which he points to me one of the tallest buildings in Johannesburg which is a 52 story building that stands out from the rest and you definitely cannot miss it.

It is past 1.00 a.m Kenyan time and the city is blooming with an array of different shapes, sizes and colours of assorted lighting- it’s like shining stars that have been strategically put, it’s a thrilling sight during the city.

The Nelson Mandela Bridge is one such spectacular piece that stands out from them all. This is one of the new uncovered landmarks in the Gauteng province in Johannesburg. If you have a camera you do not want to miss out the beautiful night transformation.

The bridge is located at the heart of downtown Johannesburg which is a gleaming apex in the city centre. The area is part of a massive rejuvenated drive filled with cultural and historic significant sites. Nelson Mandela Bridge is the channel for all traffic to and from the area.

The bridge is about 284 metres long starting from the Jam Smuts Avenue and connecting Braamfontein to Newtown giving shade to 40 railways line, it is an alluring site to remember and appreciate.

The bridge has two lanes of traffic with a bicycle and two pedestrians lanes, I could not help to notice  couples  holding hands and others stopping to pose for pictures, the bridge has a memorable site that you really want to carry with you.

It is worth taking a walk at the bridge as you enjoy the incredible array of art work on buildings that are within the vicinity of the bridge, it provides a perfect view point.

The bridge was officially opened by none other than the African icon Nelson Mandela and it cost a whopping R 38 million (Ksh570 million).

According to Engineering news report, this incredibly appealing piece of art took two years to be constructed including putting in place large pots that can hold and support the bridge from any stress. The bridge, the report says is supported on the largest pot bearing which has been designed to accommodate the large temperature movements of the bridge.

In fact the Nelson Mandela Bridge was voted the most outstanding civil engineering project in 2003 by the South African Institute of Civil Engineering.

The Johannesburg Tourism Company, chairman Aggrey Klaaste was once quoted in South African media as saying that the Nelson Mandela Bridge is not your ordinary bridge and Nelson Mandela is no ordinary man.

After the official opening, many believe that of all the roads, buildings or stadiums made after the first South African president, Nelson Mandela, this bridge stands out to be the most befitting tribute to this great man.

So next time you are in Johannesburg, take an evening walk an experience this magical beauty that has now become one of a kind attraction site.

An afternoon at the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam

Sanssouci is a beautiful palace that takes you back to the Europe history about German’s King Frederick the Great.

It is a state of the art palace that has ancient antics and located at the old town of Potsdam in Brandenburg state in Germany. It has won the hearts of many who travel from all over Europe to get a glimpse of the explicit life of the king.

Apart from some furniture that have been added, everything else at the Sanssouci Palace including the decors is still standing to date.

The palace is closely linked with the  personality of  King Frederick the Great and it’s a place art lovers will appreciate.

A tour inside the tightly guarded and well maintained palace gives you a clear understanding of the great king’s, as he was commonly referred, love for music and artistic.

Sanssouci palace was built from 1746 and completed in 1747 and as Renate Jung, a historian said during our tour to the palace, the king had the roman castle in mind when he gave directions on building up the palace.

Sanssouci is small, with the principal block being a narrow single-storey of just ten rooms, including a service passage and staff rooms behind them.

It was however not the residence of the King  but a place where he sought refuge from his busy schedule. Sanssouci which in french means ‘no worries’ is said to have been the king’s favorite get away which he often visited  during summer between April to October.

His recurring theme and requirement was for a house with close connections between its style and free nature. The principal rooms, lit by tall slender windows, face south over the vineyard garden.

There’s so much history behind the beautiful artifacts on the walls and interestingly each of the ten rooms have decorations based on different themes, even the colour has a meaning, significance and a story to tell.

The outstanding part of the Palace is a breathtaking, beautiful park with vineyard terraces and beautiful flower gardens.

The numerous water falls and made dam is home to an array of fish and ducks that play in the water as if dancing to the tunes of the birds. It is such a breath taking scenic that truly accelerates the wonders of nature and how biodiversity plays an important role and how each of them is intertwined.

The park also has a runway of trees beautifully and systematically running on a one meter stretch in various places within the park.

Sanssouci Palace’s park has a very rich history, there is even an oak tree that is as old as 300 years and another 160  years and still a beauty in the park.

In the park east of the palace stands on the site of a former greenhouse, where Frederick raised tropical fruit. At one part of the park is a  Picture Gallery museum where the king is the oldest extant museum built for a ruler in Germany. Like the palace itself, it is a long, low building, dominated by a central domed bow of three bays

Adventure at the famous Spreewald in Germany

Spreewald is a very unique place in German and one that the citizens take pride in because it is a unique landscape.

Our journey started at 10.00 a.m since we had to take a one and half hour train then quickly jump to another train for 20 minutes before beauty opened up.

Brandenburg was our destination, the Spreewald or Spree forest which is situated 100 km south-east of Berlin has a reservoir that offers a three hour boat tour that is both exciting and educative.

It gives some incite into the history of the Germans and you can still see very unique houses that date back in 1922, still standing and very beautiful. In their 200 year-old houses, the customs and handicrafts of many days have still been kept alive.

Apparently this is a place that was  not destroyed during the World War and this is  probably why many still throng this quiet and peaceful town to enjoy nature and the calm atmosphere.

The adventure is fulfilling as you also get to enjoy site seeing into the remote parts of German that are densely populated. There are big agriculture farms and huge wind power systems located in these areas. It’s a long journey that pays off with all these   attractions along the way.

Our boat trip guide, Stefan Sahling said the Spreewald is a biosphere reserve which has been recognized by the United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1991.

You can find about 18,000 animals, flowers and plants species, the forest is known for its traditional irrigation system which consists of more than 200 small channels.

During the weekends and  holidays, visitors get to explore the Spreewald in one of the typical small boats, the punts of that area.

At around 75 km long and up to15 km wide, it forms a long stretch of marshland and countless waterways criss-cross this glacial valley covered with forests and meadows where the river Spree becomes a sort of inland delta.

The Spree Forest was created around 20,000 years ago after the last ice age, when the river Spree was transformed into a labyrinth of almost 1,000 km of small rivers.

Many places offer traditional punting trips through this watery labyrinth which has attracted visitors/tourists.

The numerous little island farmsteads in this rural set up are linked by large and small watercourses.

The 474 km square biosphere reserve has made it possible to preserve this remarkable landscape with its delicate network of waterways, fields, meadows and copses for the common benefit of man and nature.

Visitors who wish to discover the Spree Forest are advised to hire a canoe or paddle boat, or they can simply explore the region on one of the many walks and cycle trails.

“ When traveling in your own boat, we recommend that you take a good map and compass with you, however tour packages and waterway maps are available from all boat hire centers,” said Sahling.

Residents residing in the heart of the Spree Forest also use the waterways to get to and from work or the shops.

An afternoon at the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam

Sanssouci is a beautiful palace that takes you back to the Europe history about German’s King Frederick the Great.

It is a state of the art palace that has ancient antics and located at the old town of Potsdam in Brandenburg state in Germany take pride in. It has won the hearts of many who travel from all over Europe to get a glimpse of the explicit life of the king.

Apart from some furniture that have been added, everything else at the Sanssouci Palace including the decors is still standing to date.

The palace is closely linked with the  personality of  King Frederick the Great and it’s a place art lovers will appreciate.

A tour inside the tightly guarded and well maintained palace gives you a clear understanding of the great king’s, as he was commonly referred, love for music and artistic.

Sanssouci palace was built from 1746 and completed in 1747 and as Renate Jung, a historian said during our tour to the palace, the king had the roman castle in mind when he gave directions on building up the palace.

Sanssouci is small, with the principal block being a narrow single-storey of just ten rooms, including a service passage and staff rooms behind them.

It was however not the residence of the King  but a place where he sought refuge from his busy schedule. Sanssouci which in french means ‘no worries’ is said to have been the king’s favorite get away which he often visited  during summer between April to October.

His recurring theme and requirement was for a house with close connections between its style and free nature. The principal rooms, lit by tall slender windows, face south over the vineyard garden.

There’s so much history behind the beautiful artifacts on the walls and interestingly each of the ten rooms have decorations based on different themes, even the colour has a meaning, significance and a story to tell.

The outstanding part of the Palace is a breathtaking, beautiful park with vineyard terraces and beautiful flower gardens.

The numerous water falls and made dam is home to an array of fish and ducks that play in the water as if dancing to the tunes of the birds. It is such a breath taking scenic that truly accelerates the wonders of nature and how biodiversity plays an important role and how each of them is intertwined.

The park also has a runway of trees beautifully and systematically running on a one meter stretch in various places within the park.

Sanssouci Palace’s park has a very rich history, there is even an oak tree that is as old as 300 years and another 160  years and still a beauty in the park.

In the park east of the palace stands on the site of a former greenhouse, where Frederick raised tropical fruit. At one part of the park is a  Picture Gallery museum where the king is the oldest extant museum built for a ruler in Germany. Like the palace itself, it is a long, low building, dominated by a central domed bow of three bays.

Whats in for Kenya in Durban?

There is hope for Kenya but it has nothing to do with the country’s efforts or action, developed countries have the last word.

Industrialized countries who have the funds and manpower to support developing countries have a very influential role in determining if Kenya stands to benefit or not. The decision is entirely on their hands and there is very little we can do to influence this.

Kenya is currently fighting food shortages, food prices and a severe drought in parts of the upper Eastern and Northern regions.

According to recent reports from the government, the country is in dire need of food relief to feed more than 3.5 million people by September.

The government is also grappling with seeking for alternative renewable sources of energy such as wind or solar power to reduce dependency on forests for charcoal or firewood, hence reduce deforestation.

However, investing in such projects calls for huge amounts of money which the government cannot meet.

So for those who think the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Durban has little or nothing to do with putting food on the table, think again, this is worth paying attention.

The Green Climate Fund is a platform for Kenya to address some of the problems but the question of whether Kenya will carry home anything good from Durban is far fetched.

Nevertheless we can only chew what we can and concentrate on what is really relevant to us, the Green Climate Fund.

The Green Fund was proposed during the Conference of Parties (COP) 16 Copenhagen meeting, where it was agreed that a Copenhagen Green Climate Fund be established to support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation, including Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation REDD + , adaptation, capacity building, technology development and transfers.

REDD+ is a country’s efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, foster conservation, sustainable management of  forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

While acknowledging that mitigating climate change is crucial, adaptation is equally relevant and of importance to many Kenyans bearing in mind that over 80 percent depend on farming directly or indirectly.

Even as awareness is created to farmers on adaptation, technology transfer comes in handy and this more or less comes with finances which many are not able to afford.

Therefore if countries agree on a firm establishment of the Green Climate Fund in Durban, this will be a plus for the country.

There is hope for Durban if enough developed countries adopt this and decide to stay with the Kyoto Protocol and fulfill its second commitment period starting 2013.

Durban is very significant for Kenya as one environment activists put it, climate change hurts and hits the poor hard, majority of whom are women and this triggers down to the social ladder. It is therefore important for women to engage and fight for their lives in the climate talks because even a temperature rise of 2C would cause devastation not only to crops and farms but also to families.

The Carnival of Cultures

Imagine dancing to the tune of Isikuti (Luhya dance), Ohangla (Luo dance) or Mugithi (Kikuyu dance) and this time not in Carnivore restaurant where the usual community events are held, but along the  streets of Nairobi where everyone including children can participate and learn one or two things about the diverse cultures in Kenya?

This would be a step forward towards uniting people and bringing peace amongst the 42 tribes in the country especially now when we are headed for the 2012 general elections and as the country grapples with tribalism.

Besides, our people take pride in their different traditional values and norms, and showcasing this to Kenyans and the rest of the world could be a platform to keep traditions alive.

Well, Kenya can definitely borrow a leaf from the Berlin 2011 Carnival of Cultures that was commemorated on the Sunday of Pentecost.

This is a four day open-air festival with exotic food and drinks, concerts, performances and parties which has been celebrated for the last 15 years.

Normally, the colorful highlight of the festivity is the street parade, where performers in authentic costumes, elaborately decorated floats and musicians from over 70 different countries dance through the streets of Berlin.

This year, more than 4,800 participants, organized in about 96 groups changed Kreuzberg street into a sea of  colours and ideas with more than 700,000 visitors and onlookers celebrating the city’s diversity.

According to Werkstatt der Kulturen, who are the initiators and organizers of the Carnival of Cultures, the event is a combined art form that embraces many aspects of artistic expressions and due to the global migration currents, it is multifaceted and of mixed styles.

The street procession focus on the cultural richness of Berlin and also highlights the often hidden treasures of its international cultural scene, questioning everyday life and politics.

Berlin is home to more than 450,000 people from around the world and the Carnival of Cultures pays tribute to the ethnic diversity and the peaceful coexistence of its different cultures.

With the summer heat blazing the city, visitors were treated to a perfect afternoon of fun and dance.

The event kicked off at 3.00 p.m with visitors and onlookers ready with their cameras and from the Drum Kitchen in Berlin, to the Mano River Multi Cultural band to the Ghanaian- Our Culture Our Pride group, the colorful, electrifying and enchanting performers and entertainers did not disappoint the crowd.

The street was soaked up with the samba rhythms, Brazilian drummers, Angolan singers, Korean culture groups, artistic larger than life puppets and a bit of the salsa and Irish dances. There was also hip hop and the rock tunes for the young generation and it blended well with the traditional and old-school music.

“ The Carnival of Cultures is open to everybody and all forms of cultural expression. The event is regarded as a platform for a proud expression of hybrid cultural identities containing traditional and competently elements. In addition, it attracts and brings together all age groups, professional artists/amateurs and people from all walks of life,” the organizers stated.

Environmental course

Each year the carnival of cultures gears towards creating the festival as environmental friendly as possible and during the four day event, all traders must use reusable dishes with visitors paying a deposit on it in support of the ‘Viva con Agua’ a project which pays tribute for clean drinking water in developing countries. With the donation, the project finances potable water projects around the world.

The competition

To encourage and attract performers, the organizers put a prize for the best group and this probably explains the increases in the number of participants each year.

The artistic quality of the group presentations has been stimulated and increased by the introduction of a competition during the parade in 1999. Prizes are awarded to the best carnival groups, floats and youth groups and  this has encouraged the development of all aspects of carnival.

The city governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit and Professor Maria Bohmer, the Commissioner
for Migration, Refugees and Integration are patrons of the event.

Summer in Berlin

It’s summer in Berlin and even though there are showers of rains once in a while, this is the perfect time to tour the city.

While people in Nairobi are working themselves out to buy or have big and flashy cars, the Berliners are laying back on the wheels and instead using bicycles or motorbikes as their means of transportation, very environmental friendly, so to say.

To them it is much faster to get to the destination as you enjoy the weather.

It is such a beautiful and organized city and apart from the language barrier for those who do not speak German, the city offers a lot in terms of ancient architect and history.

Berliners pretty much enjoy and appreciate what they have and spend the better part of the weekends touring the city. There are so many festives to enjoy as you take pictures of the vast architecture in the city.

A particular place that is of interest to many and a must visit is the Brandenburg gate. The gate is one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany and it is located west of the city center, more so, it is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered.

Having suffered considerable damage in World War II the Brandenburg gate was fully restored and today it is regarded as one of Europe’s most famous landmarks. This is a historical scenary that attracts many people and festives are often held at this particular place.

You also get to see the Berlin Radio Tower which is said to be the tallest building in the city of Berlin. It is 146 meter tall and there is a restaurant at a height of about 52 meters and an open air observation deck at 121 meters long.

It has a unique feature in that it stands on a large porcelain insulators right from the ground. It was built between 1924 and 1926 and it has become a major tourist attraction site, where visitors can enjoy a meal as they look over the beautiful city.

The World Time Clock is another known and common site of attraction in Berlin, it was constructed in 1969 and has become a popular meeting point.

The clock features a revolving cylinder with the world’s 24 time zones bearing the names of major cities in each zone and is constructed in a such a way that enables the current time in each zone to be read.

This was the place where lovers from the East side and those from the West came to meet and have a good time together during the war since they could not cross over to either side freely.

It is very easy to move within the city either by bus which could take you 10 to 20 minutes depending on your destination, or the trains that take a shorter time.

Coming from a developing country, you notice the organized mode of transport in Berlin. This only makes your tour or stay easier and fun but it is important to carry a geographical map of the city with you always as this helps in tracing what train to take, the next destination or location.

Berlin’s history has left the city with a highly array of architecture and buildings that are now a main attraction.