Author: Chris & Carsten Stricker

Chris and Carsten Stricker CultureAndCream authors from Berlin Chris is the owner of a PR agency and Carsten works in the field of music management. We are both very busy and professonally, everyone is traveling a lot for themselves. In the meantime, we allways take our time on litte trips together, where the golf bgs should not be missing. Once a year we embark on a great multi-week adventure in places of the world that are still missing on our map. Let yourself be surprised!

Without Electricity in South Africa

Viele Stunden völlig ohne Strom zu sein und noch dazu in einem fremden Land, das kann man sich kaum vorstellen. Was Chris und Carsten Stricker während ihres zweimonatigen Remote-Aufenthalts in Südafrika erlebten, bezeichnen sie als Abenteuer – unplanbar, unfassbar, romantisch. Stromlos auf der Südhalbkugel. Als im Herbst letzten Jahres in Deutschland alle von der Energiekrise und dem rasanten Anstieg der Heiz- und Energiekosten sprachen, stand unser Entschluss fest: Wir flüchten irgendwo hin, wo es Sommer ist und arbeiten von dort aus. Unser Plan: Es sollte Südafrika werden. Die Flugverbindungen sind gut, das Land ist schön und die Lebenshaltungskosten im Vergleich zu Berlin recht günstig. Bei der Recherche nach einem entsprechenden, kleinen Haus wurden wir auch bald fündig. Als Destination, zumindest für den Hauptteil unseres Aufenthaltes, hatten wir Plettenberg Bay gewählt, eine Stadt an der Garden Route, der wunderschönen Ostküste Südafrikas. Geplant war, Januar und Februar dem grauen Berlin zu entfliehen. Zudem gibt es gegenüber Deutschland nur eine Stunde Zeitunterschied, was das Arbeiten ziemlich erleichtert. Bald hatten wir den Flug gebucht, das Haus gemietet und einen günstigen Leihwagen gefunden. Stromausfälle seit sieben Jahren So weit, so gut – bis wir zu ersten Mal mit unserem Vermieter in Plettenberg Bay sprachen, der uns darauf hinwies, dass die Elektrizität mehrmals am Tag abgedreht würde. Wir hatten nicht wirklich irgendetwas darüber in den Medien gehört, obwohl es schon seit sieben Jahren in ganz Südafrika regelmäßig zu Stromausfällen und Stromsperren von mehreren Stunden kommt. Eigentlich unfassbar für ein Land mit so viel Fläche, mit Sonne, Wind und Meer, das dementsprechend sehr wohl unabhängig von Braunkohle-Kraftwerken sein könnte. Diese fossile Ressource ist dort nämlich mit fast 90 Prozent die mit Abstand am meisten genutzte Energiequelle. Die Kraftwerke sind alt und marode, genau wie die Energie-Infrastruktur. Load Shedding per App Das ganze, also die planmässige, staatliche organisierte Stromabstellung nennt sich Load Shedding (zu Deutsch Lastabwurf). Der Lastabwurf wird verwendet, um eine Primärenergiequelle zu entlasten, wenn der Strombedarf größer ist, als diese liefern kann. Und dazu gibt es eine App, die dir täglich berichtet, wann du an deinem Aufenthaltsort am nächsten Tag keinen Strom haben wirst. Normalerweise passiert das dreimal am Tag zwischen drei und vier Stunden, manchmal auch länger. Also haben wir uns noch daheim in Berlin mit einer großen Powerbank ausgestattet, die bis zu zwei Stunden überbrücken kann und so zumindest die Laptops und Mobiltelefone in Betrieb hält. Dazu noch haben wir uns eine solarbetriebene Taschenlampe zugelegt.… weiterlesen

Remote in Scotland

Eighteen months without a change of scenery, two alpha dogs in their home office. Constantly in telephone- or video conferences; in meetings all of the time but not a single (business) trip. My wife and I felt like many others in last summer: we went a bit nuts. Some colleagues had shown us how to do it: remote work from other places seemed to work pretty well. So the decision was made: we’ll do it too! Flights to the Canaries or Balearics are out of the question. For a variety of reasons, we are currently trying to avoid flying. And we both have a soft spot for Scotland, having got married there almost 10 years ago. So we try to spend time in this beautiful country at least every two or three years. We like the Scots, their humour, openness and hospitality, love the landscape – and we both love our golf. By car from Berlin to Scotland So this plan came up: we’ll drive our car from Berlin to Amsterdam (with a stopover at my parents’ place in Northrhine-Westphalia), take the ferry to Newcastle and then go off to “Scotland’s Golf Coast”, to East Lothian, spending four weeks and practising our work/life balance in Scotland. Our plan worked out. The journey with the giant ferry “King Seaways” was an experience in itself. The ship is designed for 1300 guests, but there were only about 250 passengers on board. The boat is really tidy and well-maintained, the staff super motivated and friendly, also because they were happy that guests were travelling at all. Dinner in the only open restaurant on board was excellent, and the drinks in the bar afterwards were also exceptionally good. The ferry departs from Ijmuiden near Amsterdam in the late afternoon, and the boat docks in Newcastle at 9:00 the next morning. The standard cabins are clean and functional. I have never arrived at a holiday destination so relaxed and well rested. Despite the pandemic-related increased administrative procedure at enetering Great Britain, we were off the ship at 10:30 am and headed north along the beautiful English coast. A first stopover in the Harry Potter filming location, the village Alnwick gave us our first Full English Breakfast. Arrived at last! Then another 1.5 hours and we were there: in our cottage near Haddington, called Carfrae Farm. Our amazing landlords in Scotland, who run an organic farm, had their four cottages, each about 100 years old, freshly renovated and beautifully furnished – we felt right at home.… weiterlesen

River Havel: Orinoco Flow In Brandenburg

Corona forces us to rethink – precisely, traveling was influenced. Chris und Carsten Stricker from Berlin had actually planed a long-distance trip. This turned into a one week boats trip on the Havel. Here is their exciting and amusing report. Hi! It’s Chris & Carsten once more. Our original plan for 2020 was to travel to the States again, to lovely California. Those travel plans evaporated in March 2020 because of the worldwide Covid19 pandemic. So in May we made a decision “Pro Brandenburg”. We deperately needed to get out of our home offices and had always had the idea in the back of our minds to take a boat trip on the Havel or Müritz river. Now this was the ideal opportunity. Unfortunately, many people seemed to have a similar idea. So it took a few days until Chris finally found what we were looking for: the yacht charter “Marina Alter Hafen” in Mildenberg near Zehdenick. We could hardly believe that we were able to charter a Pedro Skiron 35 ship of almost 11 meters length and 9 tons (!) weight there – and we were even allowed to sail it! To be on the safe side, we went to the Ziegeleipark Mildenberg on a dreary weekend early May to have a look at the marina and ships. And we were more than positively surprised. On site we met a couple who had already chartered there several times and they too were completely enthusiastic about the ships and the services of that rental company. So we signed the necessary contracts and stared to look forward to our travel week end of June. The charter certificate in our pocket The charter agreement includes a three-hour introductory course in which you are familiarized with the basics of inland navigation and awarded with a “charter certificate”, with which you are then allowed to drive the boat for the rental period. The introduction itself was entertaining, a large part of the 3-hour course was dedicated to stories from the eventful past of the instructor, who has travelled and surfed all over the world and who was not short of anecdotes to tell. On to the practical part! Now it was time to steer a 9-ton ship. This also worked reasonably well, even the “reverse parking manoeuvre”, i.e. mooring, was successful at first try. So we spent the first evening in the old marina and had a delicious dinner in the restaurant there, before we lay down to rest in our new “motorhome on the water”.… weiterlesen

Morocco: From Atlas to Atlantic

This fascinating North African state is shaped by cultural influences of Berbers, Arabs and Europeans. Chris and Carsten Stricker wanted to explore it on their own. For their obligatory end-of-the-year-trip they grabbed a rentail car and drove 2.800 kilometers overland. Since there is a another long-distance trip looming in a couple of weeks (watch this space…) we didn’t go for a long-distance destination in 2019, but went for a medium haul. Four hours from Berlin to Marrakesh, followed by two weeks and a half and 2,800 kilometers by car. Over and around the majestic Atlas Mountains, to the west coast and back to this fascinating metropolis. All this “self-drive” – what is normal for us is by no means the standard in this region. Most of the tourists travel the country by coach or in small groups with a driver/guide – or (mostly) just stay in Agadir or Marrakech. But we find it more exciting to look around the country and follow our own travel plan. We like to decide spontaneously how long we want to stay in one place and where to go next. Morocco makes this very easy: The roads are – thanks to an ongoing governmental road construction program – pretty amazing. Hotels, riads and guesthouses are available at short notice – and this in most price categories and via the “usual suspects like booking.com, IEscape, SecretEscapes etc.. This northe african travel destination offers real “value for money” and exactly that mix of relaxation, exoticism and adventure which we are looking for. Here are our highlights at the four main locations of our trip as well as some tips. Marrakesh – between haste and silence To experience Marrakech by car can be a bit of a kick start. Especially when your alarm has woken you up at four in the morning. And when the flight took almost six hours instead of the planned four – thanks to a strike by French air traffic controllers. So off we go and jump in the (slightly run-down) rental car and out into hostile life – more precisely into the inner city traffic of Marrakech. Roundabouts non-stop, road marks don’t count and traffic rules are merely rough recommendations for moped drivers, battered taxis and donkey carts. The only thing you can do is go with the flow, keep your eyes open and of course: honk! as they all do. After only 30 minutes we arrive at our first domicile, the wonderful boutique hotel Dar Zemora.… weiterlesen

Namibia: 4000 Kilometres in Three Weeks

On the road in a vast and quiet land We had been looking forward to Namibia for quite some time. Two and a half times the size of Germany, but with only 2.3 million inhabitants. Peace and quiet! Namib, the oldest desert in the world. Cheetahs, elephants, antelopes and giraffes – a paradise for animal freaks like us. The Kalahari and Etosha Pan, places we had only seen in documentaries. But along with that, and much less glorious, Germany‘s colonial and industrial history. How do you approach such a country? We approached (of course) by plane with Qatar Airways and a stopover in Doha, one of the most modern airports in the world. What a contrast to Windhoek International which, in comparison, felt quite provincial and manageable, but unhurried as well. Off-road vehicles, a road-trip essential Prior to our trip, we had already rented the vehicle which was to be our transport for more than 4000 km over the course of the next three weeks. Four-wheel drive, off-road vehicles are an absolute must to traverse Namibia’s mostly unpaved roads. A lot of time is spent on gravel tracks so our tip is: Don’t be tempted to economise here – choose one of the larger, “high-legged” off-road vehicles. Unfortunately, we didn’t! Check out  for a good on-site Europacar service with a comprehensive insurance package. We spent the first two nights in Windhoek to getting acclimatised. 1650 meters above sea level and over 30°C. The first person we talked to on the street was a colorful Windhoek local who had spent much of his youth in East Berlin. He immediately identified us as tourists and hailed us in accent-free German with the pioneer greeting “Always ready!“ For us, coming from Munich and the Ruhr area, it was a rather bizarre experience and a first indication of how strongly Namibia, the former „German Southwest“, is connected to us and our recent history, both as a pre-First World War colony and a socialist partner country of the GDR. Our travel route Unlike many visitors who stay mostly in the Windhoek, Namib and Etosha triangle, we had planned a more comprehensive route which took us south to the South African border. Our adventure began with the 550 kilometres into the Kalahari, to the border of the Transfrontier Park and the country triangle of Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. Here we spent the night in the small chalets of the Kalahari Game Lodge.… weiterlesen

Traveling and Beauty are my passion.
More about me and cultureandcream

Subscribe to Culture & Cream.

    Yes I want to subscribe to the english version of CultureAndCreme's newsletter. (No worries, we only send once a month!)


    Explanations regarding through your consent accepted terms about success measurement, our use of MailChimp and your right of withdrawal, you can find in our Privacy Policy.

    Instagram.

    Pinterest.

    © 2020 Margit Rüdiger | Impressum | Privacy Agreement| Cookie Policy