Håvar Bauck Håvar Bauck

Entrepreneur - globetrotter - world citizen

  • About me
    • A brief story of my life
    • About this blog
    • Get in touch
    • Spellings and misspellings of my name
  • Pictures
    • Kenya
    • Zanzibar
    • Mozambique
    • Democratic Republic of Congo
    • Ethiopia
    • Nigeria
    • Senegal
    • Egypt
    • Tunisia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Oman
    • Norway
    • Sweden
    • Estonia
    • Poland
    • Spain
    • Greece
    • China
    • India
    • Sri Lanka
  • Videos
  • In the news
  • Get in touch

About Me

About Me

Travel

Travel

Pictures

Pictures

Business

Business

In the news

In the news
Kenya Election - Uhuru Kenyatta + William Ruto

2017 – Election fever as Kenya votes

in Uncategorized on 2017-08-08 2020-07-06 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Throughout most of 2017, Kenya has been in an election fever mode. Being here while it happens, is a peculiar experience, as all activity grinds to a standstill, while all eyes are on the campaigning….

Read More

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) – future hub for Africa?

in Business Travel on 2017-07-15 2021-01-25 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

JKIA in an advantageous position When Kenya (or the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, to be precise) finally gained the coveted Category One status in February, it was a game-changer. With Kenya Airways recently obtaining air…

Read More

Lunatic Express

Lunatic Express – New life as a tourist attraction?

in Business Travel on 2017-07-08 2020-07-06 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Lunatic Express – The Railway that Built a Country Kenya is doubtlessly the only country in history to have been built around a railway line. When construction on the “Lunatic Express” (its official name being…

Read More

Uber vs the Kenyan taxi apps

Uber, and the taxi app revolution in Kenya

in Business on 2017-06-26 2020-07-06 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

It all started with Uber.. When Uber launched in Nairobi, in January 2015, few imagined the impact they would have on how people move around.  Taking a taxi in Nairobi used to be a dreadful…

Read More

AfroChic Diani Beach Hotel

AfroChic Diani – a hidden gem!

in Travel on 2017-06-11 2020-06-12 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Diani, in South Coast offers a far less congested option compared to the crowded beaches in Nyali, north of Mombasa. While Diani has a couple of mass tourism “machines”, there is also a number of small,…

Read More

Diani Beach

Diani – Tourism in Kenya Coming of Age

in Travel on 2017-06-10 2020-06-14 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Diani is in the South Coast of Kenya. This generally means anything south of Mombasa. Here, you will find a less crowded alternative to the tourism machinery of the North Coast. Getting to the South…

Read More

Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant Diani

Ali Barbour’s Cave Restaurant

in Travel on 2017-06-07 2020-06-20 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

A thrilling cave restaurant in the South Coast of Kenya It had been 10 years since our last visit to Ali Barbour’s Cave Restaurant. Back then, in 2007, the place was a hidden, romantic, and…

Read More

Thika Road, a gemstone of Kenya's infrastructure

The rise and rise of Kenya’s infrastructure

in Business on 2016-09-25 2020-06-14 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Kenya – Africa’s infrastructure powerhouse Kenya’s ongoing infrastructure boom started with former President Mwai Kibaki.  Grand projects like Thika Road, and the Northern, Eastern and Southern Bypasses in Nairobi, ushered in a national sense of yes-we-can. This has…

Read More

Police corruption in Africa

Police corruption in Africa

in Uncategorized on 2016-09-25 2021-01-26 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Police corruption exists in all countries. In some places, the vice is more prevalent than elsewhere, though. While all African countries have their fair share of dirty cops, the phenomenon manifests itself in quite different…

Read More

Kitagata Hot Springs

Kitagata Hot Springs

in Travel on 2016-08-05 2020-06-13 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Kitagata – a very local attraction in Western Uganda Located about an hour’s drive from Mbarara in Western Uganda, the Kitagata Hot Springs are an important local attraction of the region. I say “local”, because…

Read More

Gwalior Fort - Spectacularly situated above the city

Gwalior – far off the beaten track

in Travel on 2016-07-23 2021-01-24 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Gwalior – a spectacular site where you are likely to be the only tourist Gwalior is about as far off the beaten track as a tourist can get in India. Few travelers have this city…

Read More

Obama

Obama in Kenya – State visit or second coming of Christ?

in Uncategorized on 2015-07-24 2020-06-23 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Kenya ecstatic about Obama’s great “homecoming” When I first moved to Kenya in 2002, the then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama was already a name in the news, before 90% of Americans had even heard about…

Read More

Tourism in Kenya

Kenya’s tourism sector: a shot in the arm.. and one in the foot!

in Travel on 2015-07-02 2020-07-06 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

As tourism gets a long needed reprieve, new e-visa rules snap defeat from the jaws of victory! On June 18th, the British government finally eased the travel advisory on most of the Coast region in…

Read More

Kenya1

Kenya – Ready for take-off

in Business on 2015-06-30 2020-06-12 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

The resilience of Kenya’s economy surprises even the harshest pessimists On September 17th and 18th 2013, an IMF held conference in Nairobi in praise of the economic environment in Kenya. Throughout the country, a tangible…

Read More

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

JKIA – secrets of a frequent traveler

in Travel on 2015-06-23 2020-06-24 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Seven points to remember when traveling via JKIA Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi is undoubtedly one of the most modern and efficient airports in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recently expanded with the new Terminal 1A, the old parts of…

Read More

GoK

Immigration Dept: Analogue relics in a digital government

in Technology on 2013-12-07 2020-01-19 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Upon getting elected, President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to bring “digital government” to Kenya. A key ambition is to bring government service delivery online, eliminating paper trails and endless queuing. The bigger vision is to use…

Read More

dsc 9769

Al-Andalus and September 11th

in Travel on 2013-09-11 2020-06-24 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Al-Andalus, Al Qaeda, and the historic symbolism of September 11th It has been 12 years since the tragic events of September 11th 2001. By striking at the heart of one of the greatest cities of…

Read More

Nigeria Police Logo

Nigerian Police: Armed Beggars in Uniforms!

in Uncategorized on 2013-08-11 2020-06-20 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Nigeria is a fascinating country with a lot of potential. The country is much better than its reputation. The Nigeria Police is, if anything worse though! Constant harassment by the people who are supposed to…

Read More

JKIA Arrivals hall after the fire (exterior)

Fire at JKIA – stuck trying to get to Nairobi

in Travel on 2013-08-10 2020-07-06 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

All was set for my trip to Nairobi and JKIA, my suitcases were packed. I had set the alarm, ready to leave Lagos early the next morning. As always, I was looking forward to being…

Read More

Lagoon, Nigeria. Ikoyi and Victoria Island

Lagos – Life in an African mega-city

in Travel on 2013-08-04 2020-06-13 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Lagos is, by far, the biggest city in Sub-saharan Africa. With its 10+ million inhabitants, it eclipses Johannesburg, Nairobi and Addis Ababa, and is second only to Cairo. It is one of the fastest-growing cities on…

Read More

Old and New Zambian Kwacha

Zambia’s new currency

in Business on 2013-07-14 2021-01-25 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

New Kwacha – same look – three zeros less Being back in Lusaka after almost 10 months felt really good. After all the travelling there last year, it is a country that I had really…

Read More

A bronze statue in Benin City

Benin City – Sleepy former capital city of a defunct kingdom

in Travel on 2013-06-30 2020-06-30 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Cities that have been around for a long time have an “atmosphere of old civilization” that you simply don’t find in younger cities. Even if the old buildings are gone, there is something that you…

Read More

Abeokuta1

Abeokuta

in Travel on 2013-06-20 2020-06-24 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Abeokuta, the former capital city of one of the few internationally recognised pre-colonial states in Africa – the Egba Government – and current capital of Ogun State, is less than an hours drive away from…

Read More

Nigeria: No cards, please

Lagos – Cash is still king!

in Business Technology on 2013-05-06 2020-06-30 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Having relocated from Nairobi to Lagos in January 2013, I have settled down, and gotten more or less used to living here. Apartment, car, driver, etc., are already in place, and I dare commend my own…

Read More

Lusaka

Lusaka – a guide to wining and dining!

in Travel on 2012-08-15 2021-01-25 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email 0

Wining, dining and clubbing in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city Another business trip to a new place. That’s how my I got my initial contact with Zambia in mid April this year (2012). During my first…

Read More

← Older Posts
Newer Posts →

About me

Håvar Bauck I am a traveltech entrepreneur, world citizen and relentless globetrotter. Originally from Norway, I have found myself on the African continent for most of the time since 2002. Since 2014, I have been busy disrupting the travel and hospitality industry in the world's Emerging Markets more

Tags

Africa beach Beach Restaurant Breivik Bureaucracy Cash cashless payments clubs Coast Constitution Customs DHL Diani Beach Emirates Entrepreneurship HotelOnline Hotels India JKIA July 22nd Kenya Kenya Airways Kyoto Energy Lagos Malindi mobile Mombasa Mumbai Nairobi Nigeria Oslo Pictures Police Restaurants Shopping South Coast Sri Lanka Startup Swahili Terrorism tourism Vacation visa Watamu Zambia

Categories

  • Business (31)
  • In the news (36)
  • Op-eds and Articles (5)
  • Photos (19)
  • Technology (7)
  • Travel (56)
  • Uncategorized (18)
  • Videos (4)