Hello, I'm Johan (but you can call me Walvis - It means Whale). I share this account with my wife Jana. Jana is an occupational therapist (working with children with disabilities) and I'm a engineer/photographer/writer/teacher/data scientist :)

I am a big outdoor enthusiast and I spend a lot of my time practicing trail running, rock climbing, hiking and bodyboarding. Photography, especially adventure sports photography, is another one of my great passions. I love traveling and all things travel and so it is always a pleasure for me to get into contact with other travelers.

My wife, Jana, and I have done a lot of backpacking in the past but recently we discovered the beauty of travelling on bicycles. Last year (2021) we cycled 6000km from Cape Town (where we live) through Namibia to Angola. We are super excited to do some international traveling again so we are planning to cycle through Georgia, Armenia, Iran and Turkey this year.

We like couch surfing because it allows us to immerse ourselves in the cultures of the countries that we visit. We love eating foods from all over the world, hearing new languages, learning of different customs and traditions. All those things are what makes traveling so special and enriching and we really hope to meet like minded people along the way.

You can check out my Instagram feed to see a bit more about us, and my photos @a.whale.away

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I find that couch surfing is an extremely good platform if used for the right reasons. I sincerely hope that I am here for the right reasons because I have seen it being abused. For me it is purely purely about cultural exchange. Come/go with no expectations, just interact and experience.

Interests

Photography, Bodyboarding, Rock Climbing, Mountain Climbing, Trail Running and Hiking, Running, Kloofing (Canyoneering).

• photography
• running
• hiking
• mountaineering
• surfing
• trail running
• rock climbing
• bodyboarding
• canyoneering

Music, Movies, and Books

I love reading - mostly non fiction work. I have a thing for mountaineering and classic expedition/travel literature and I have a huge collection of detailed expedition accounts and mountain survival stories. Most people find this very boring but I can read all of them over and over again. Jana enjoys historical novels.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Last year (2021) we cycled 6000km from Cape Town to Angola.

Teach, Learn, Share

We spent 7 months in Latin America and during that time we learnt a fair bit of Spanish but now days, back at home were not getting to practice our Spanish any more so its slowly vanishing. We would therefore love to host more Spanish speaking travelers so that we can practice. Por favor, venga a mi casa.

FOOD! please teach us your local recipes. We can teach you everything we know about South African food. We love cooking and it will be cool to share meals together.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

South Africa