The Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber: The African Key

The Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber


Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

July 15th, 2006, Bamako, Mali

6:00 pm

On my search for the African key, I have discovered many new and interesting things. My trip to the pyramids, though was quite brief, due to my knowledge of the culture.

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

July 21st, 2006, In the Sahara Desert

7:00 am

I have had to leave Mali quickly, to my disappointment, I feel I have not learned enough about it, because of a sudden news that a most intriguing culture, called the Tuareg, had a clue to the Key. When I visited them, I learned of a boy, Adam Ilius is his name, who, (At nine years old! In their culture he wouldn't be old enough to wear a hat! In the burning sun. Not that I blame them for their traditions, but for a boy, in the heat of the desert, there should be some bending of rules.) crosses the desert in a caravan of camels with some few full grown men, on a rite of passage, a trading mission for salt, competing with heavy duty trucks. I was amazed at how brave and tough Mr. Ilius was for a young man of nine. As for a clue, the Tuareg knew, by word of mouth and rumors, that the Maasai of Kenya, know something about the key.

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

July 26th, 2006, N'Djamena, Chad

2:00 pm

After meeting with the Tuareg, I decided to continue my expedition east to Djibouti, where my men and I can stock up on food and get water, which is almost gone. I must remind myself and my men that we must adjust to the climate and resources, and not use and drink so much water. We had such liberties back in Wales, but not in the Sahara Desert. After that, we plan to head south to Kenya.

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

August 8th, 2006, Nairobi, Kenya

5:00 am

Tonight, I cannot sleep. I'm so excited at the prospect of a clue to the Key! I've learned many things about Kenya from our 3 days. Did I know Kenya had 41 MILLION people and 42 ethnic groups? No. Did I know that Collard Greens are called Sukuma Wiki? No. Did I know that Swahili is actually called Kiswahili? No. Did I know Kenya covers 224,961 square miles? Well, yes, thankfully, or else I'd turn in my degree in Geography, Culture AND Archeology!!!

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

August 9th, 2006, Traveling to the Reserve where the Maasai live

9:00 am

The savannas are beautiful here. Thank heaven I knew one fact the driver told me: Every Zebra's stripes are different. The other ones he told me, I didn't know. The Nyatiti is an 8-string lyre that an ethnic group called the Luo play. The Ngoma is a homemade drum made from cowhide and a hollowed out tree stump. Kenya is made up of 47 counties, and they all have their own government. The bright side though, is that at least I'm learning something. We're almost at the Maasai's village. The only thing I'm worried about is the language barrier between us. It was too expensive to hire an interpreter, so I hope all goes well.

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

The Diary of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

August 11th, 2006, Nairobi, Kenya

1:00 pm

What an exciting discovery!!! The Maasai gave me a riddle. I think it was wise of them, I certainly wouldn't just hand out sacred information to anybody off the street claiming to be chosen to find the Key, they'd have to prove their worth first. The Riddle: The Rains of Africa, a surprise. Surrounded in a sea of land, the tip, the bottom, the middle, the side. I have been studying it on our way back to camp. I believe it is referring to Lesotho, landlocked in South Africa. We will begin travel immediately.

Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Biography of Heinrich H. Finklegrouber

Heinrich H. (Heronimus) Finklegrouber was born in 1956, Berlin, Germany and at the age of six, moved to Cardiff, Wales. His parents, Albrecht and Minna-Kriefa Leiger, had three children, Heinrich, Rudolph, and Stefan (in order of age). Heinrich is an Archeologist, Geography Professor, Humanities Professor, Explorer and World Traveler. Ever since he heard the myth of the Seven Keys from an Aztec priest, on a vacation in Mexico, he has been searching for them with his six colleagues. He likes to write in a special gray-blue ink, that only the company Splotchinblot makes. Splotchinblot is run by a 106-year old (his name is Bobald Hickery but he goes by Bob) retired explorer, and Heinrich is good friends with him. To find out more about Splochinblot, go to splotchinblotweirdink.whales.com.

To Be Continued

Maya J.