StudentofBitcoin

Travel

Located in Mossel Bay South Africa, [Bitcoin Ekasi](https://bitcoinekasi.com/) aims to create a bitcoin circular economy within the township (a low socio-economic community) through an existing not-for-profit, The Surfer Kids, which empowers underprivileged children through surfing. 

'Ekasi' is a colloquial term derived from the Afrikaans word 'lokasie' referring to the vast slums that grew outside South African cities during Apartheid. Unemployment, crime, and poverty remain rife there. - [X post by Bitcoin Ekasi](https://x.com/BitcoinEkasi/status/1465771141822398469)

Surfer Kids runs a surf program 5 days a week with nearly 50 children from the local township. Their surf and skating center is an oasis for these children, a safe space to learn away from the community hardships. How does bitcoin fit into this? The coaches/leaders are paid in bitcoin, the children are rewarded for attendance, and local merchants, such as grocery stores and fast food vendors are on-boarded to accept bitcoin. This means the bitcoin accumulated by coaches and students can be spent with local vendors creating a flywheel effect for bitcoin to move around within the members of this township.

After the conference in Cape Town, over 20 attendees visited Bitcoin Ekasi to support the community. We visited the Ekasi Center, a literacy hub where kids are taught after school, and the Surfer Kids HQ, a recreation center (surf and skate) where relevant equipment is available. They are currently talking with the local municipality to build a larger community center to empower everyone, not just the children. 

One area of this township is plastered with logos of bitcoin organizations. Residents of these homes are compensated with bitcoin for having their exterior branded with a logo.  We rolled up our sleeves and painted our logo with the assistance of the community leader, Luthando. Although our logo has since changed, our proof of work remains. 

To encourage people to measure value in bitcoin, they are moving away from denominating prices in USD and adopting sats (smallest unit of bitcoin) as their standard. Bitcoin Ekasi is one example of how a community can be empowered to use bitcoin. Next time you hear negative news about bitcoin, remember the impact it has on marginalized communities worldwide.

You can donate to Bitcoin Ekasi [here](https://support.bitcoinekasi.com/).

![](https://m.stacker.news/62962)

![](https://m.stacker.news/62963)

Bitcoin Ekasi: Empowering Lives Through Sats

Did you know only  ~1000 mountain gorillas are left in the world?? These endangered mammals are found within the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo, with Uganda home to more than 60% of them.

We had the opportunity to visit the mountain gorillas using bitcoin! It was one of the main attractions that drew us to Uganda. Through conservation, some gorilla families have been habituated to limited human contact. They are gradually exposed to humans while maintaining their natural behaviours. Trackers work daily to monitor the well-being of each gorilla family, observe their behaviour patterns, and provide medical attention if required. The permits for this trek are not cheap, $750 in Uganda. Why? Strict limits enforce a maximum number of visitors daily to reduce impact on the national park.

Our gorilla experience started early morning at the park's visitor centre. Visitors are divided into small groups and assigned a gorilla family to track. Since gorillas share approximately 98% of human DNA, and are susceptible to our diseases, visitors are required to wear masks during the trek. A safe distance must be kept under the close supervision of the guides and the viewing time cannot exceed 60 minutes. 

Our tracker led us by following trail markers, and signs that included nests and faeces to locate our assigned family. Fortunately, we located our family within an hour while other groups trekked for 4 hours. We first came across not one but two silverback gorillas (mature male leader). One of them, the clear alpha! Two females and three babies made up this family of 7. Through the guidance of our tracker, we followed the gorillas, got close and observed for an hour. No cage, no chains. Nothing to hold these creatures back, it was an exhilarating experience to see them in their natural habitat. 

If you're sitting on some bitcoin, why not use it for an experience of a lifetime?

https://youtu.be/8DGm2fi0sNY

A Journey To Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas

The One Man Army in Botswana

In that case beer in Nairobi! Let me know the best way to get in touch.

I was told she has been dealing with a few non btc projects, wasn't able to meet or confirm this though so take it with a grain of salt.

LOL I double-checked as well before drafting the article to make sure I remembered our guide properly. Not sure if we'll be in Ghana soon. We are attending ABC in Nairobi this December. Will you be there?

Gridless: Sustainable Bitcoin Mining

We're going to be seeing more interest in this space as corporations and nation-states realize they can use energy to mine btc.

Yes, there's going to be a huge push for nation states to take up mining, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this soon!


You never know what to expect with the bitcoin community. During our stay in Botswana, I asked my friend if he knew anyone in Johannesburg. Fortunately, he did and connected us to Jabu who then coordinated a visit to a township (underdeveloped human settlement) near Soweto, Mohlakeng. The local community put together an itinerary to visit businesses that accepted bitcoin!

The day started with an interview at the local radio station. We've never been on the radio before! It was exciting to record in the studio and help explain the basics of this new type of digital money. We then visited a daycare run by an elderly woman, which shows that age is not a barrier to bitcoin. She's still learning and allows the community to use her daycare as a space for literacy sessions. Next, we met an apparel designer whose shop was filled with eclectic pieces made from recycled materials. He accepts bitcoin because it's easy and doesn't require permission from anyone else.

The visit to the math academy turned into a tutoring session. We reviewed the halving formula with one of the tutors who spent the next hour dissecting it and explaining his thoughts. They view bitcoin as mathematical money! Our last stop was a fast-food vendor who served sandwiches, burgers, and juice. The vendor was a jovial character who was open to pricing some of his items in satoshis, a level of maturity very few merchants have reached.

This community is a testament to what can be achieved when a few come together to foster change. The youth ([Thami](https://x.com/Thami_Phiri), [Ofentse](https://x.com/KeamoGodSun), [Retshepile](https://x.com/RetshepileTsat1) & Tumelo) deserve all the credit and I look forward to their continued growth!


![](https://m.stacker.news/61351)

Bitcoin Adoption in Mohlakeng: A Day of Discovery


![](https://m.stacker.news/60637)

We’ve had our fair share of conferences in Vegas during our corporate lives. This, however, was our first Bitcoin conference, and we were speakers! It hit differently. It was exciting to interact with individuals addressing a variety of issues:

Accessing bitcoin without the Internet - [Machankura](https://t.co/WhCmPPrH3W)

Leveraging wasted rural energy for mining - [Gridless](https://www.linkedin.com/company/gridless)

Helping vulnerable kids with a safe space to learn - [Bitcoin Ekasi](https://x.com/BitcoinEkasi)

Empowering women through literacy - [BITCOIN DADA](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dada_bitcoin)

Traveling the world using bitcoin - [Run with Bitcoin](https://x.com/RunwithBitcoin)

As someone vocal about bitcoin within my social circle, I can be seen as a little crazy. It was surreal to meet these dedicated and passionate humans. I guess I wasn't crazy after all. We left the conference inspired to continue on our path of building on bitcoin. 

Here are some quotes from the conference that resonated with us:

"Infinite ways to earn and spend" - [Femi Longe](https://x.com/femilongehttps://x.com/femilonge)(There are plenty of wallets and exchanges, let's focus on earning and spending)

"Africa is the last to get opportunities" - [Okin](https://x.com/OKIN_17)  (Enabling Africans with bitcoin as a monetary infrastructure is vital)

"Addiction ends in 2 ways: death of the person OR death of the habit" - [@vryfokkenou](https://x.com/vryfokkenou) (The addiction to money printing is real and can end in 2 ways.)

"Stack, spend and f*^king replace" - [@Rikki6ixx](https://x.com/Rikki6ixx)  (Don't HODL, SPEND YOUR SATS!)

Cape Town: Our First Bitcoin Conference

I was invited to tag along with a film crew heading to a [Gridless](https://gridlesscompute.com/) facility in Kenya earlier this year. An exciting opportunity to see how Bitcoin mining leverages renewable energy and supports rural communities.


Two hours from Nairobi is a town with a mini-grid powered by hydroelectric energy. The river flowing downstream is captured by generators, converted into electricity, and powers the community. The community only utilizes a portion of the energy produced, resulting in a large surplus wasted. Additionally, the demand constantly fluctuates: factories ramp up demand during the day, households require more in the evenings, and demand plummets at night.

This leaves the producer wasting energy that could be monetized otherwise. Enter Gridless! They use bitcoin miners to stabilize the mini-grid and smooth out energy demand. How? Any surplus energy at any given moment is directed to the bitcoin miners. If no surplus energy exists, the miners receive no power. The energy needs of the community come first!

If you don’t know what bitcoin miners are, a quick TLDR: they are machines that guess a combination of numbers to find a hash below a certain target value. Sound confusing? In simpler terms, the machines are rolling multiple dice, hoping for the right outcome. This results in a new block being added to the blockchain, and the miner is rewarded with bitcoin for their efforts.

Walking into the container filled with miners, you hear a loud buzzing noise similar to a large hornet’s nest. If you pay close attention, you’ll hear a symphony of miners turning on and off based on the energy available. Unlike traditional industrial systems that may require time to ramp up or down, bitcoin miners can be flipped on and off instantly. That means if only some energy is available, only some miners run. If more energy becomes available, more miners turn on.

A common misconception is that bitcoin uses too much energy. It consumes [0.21% of the world's energy](https://bitcoinminingcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/BMC-H1-2023-Presentation.pdf) production and 60% of it comes from [renewable sources](https://bitcoinminingcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/BMC-H1-2023-Presentation.pdf). This consumption increases the resilience and security of the network (an article for another day). 

Gridless continues similar work around Africa to capture excess energy produced by renewable means and stabilize local grids with an extremely flexible solution. It ensures that the energy produced for local communities will never go to waste and can be monetized through bitcoin mining.


https://youtu.be/YB2q0J65VDg

bitcoin

Bitcoin doesn’t get too much love from the media. The tune seems to have slightly changed since the launch of the ETF, now that there’s money to be made. I don’t see many discussions about the humans pushing this decentralized technology forward. Bitcoin has no CEO, sales, marketing, product, or support team. Its source code is open for anyone, to inspect, copy and propose changes. 15 years after its inception, the network grows stronger every day due to the efforts of individuals worldwide. They build products, share stories, educate, mine, and more. 

Here are some people who have directly impacted our journey, especially in Africa:

-Two early adopters who have consistently organized meetups for nearly 8 years
-A young graduate creating a circular economy, while also boot-trapping his tourism business
-An artist making bitcoin approachable to the masses through his love of music
-A family of five who opened their doors and showed us their way of living on a Bitcoin-standard
-A father who built a product that doesn't require the internet to use bitcoin
-An ex-military who is educating the community through the local languages
-An engineer who is setting the record straight on bitcoin mining

This is just a small sample of the thousands that continue to build using this open technology, which is deeply misunderstood. As literacy and adoption increase, more and more humans will jump on board. 

![](https://m.stacker.news/59074)

Humans of Bitcoin

![](https://m.stacker.news/58059)


We crossed into Botswana from Livingstone, Zambia. Did you know the border is the meeting point of four countries? Zimbabwe Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana. Thanks to the previous lodge that accepted bitcoin, we went on a safari at Chobe National Park, a highlight of our trip thus far. The opportunity to sit and stare at hundreds of animals. Elephants, giraffes, zebras, kudus, buffaloes, and the mighty lions! For all those HODLers (Hold On for Dear Life) out there, spend your 'sats' and experience them! We never imagined we'd be able to use bitcoin to see such magnificent creatures. 

Our main motive in Botswana was to visit the local community, Ola Bitcoin. Josh, its founder is single-handedly pushing the small community forward. He's onboarded a butcher, an arcade shop, a web designer, an eco-lodge, and a very nice barbershop. Funny enough we ended up on a double date at this salon and paid in bitcoin! Our wives got pedicures while we got our hair cut. We tipped three of their staff members in bitcoin and even interviewed their owner. The owner was skeptical about the government's stance on bitcoin yet was open to accepting it from his clients. Why? He saw value in its limited supply. Only 21 million.

Gaborone, the capital of Botswana was developed and not what we had expected. We learned that they are the [largest diamond producers](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/botswana-mining-minerals) in the world by value! Another surprising fact? They have more heads of cattle than they do people. With a population of [two and a half million](https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/botswana-population) people, the cattle account for almost [three million](https://www.bmc.bw/botswana-beef/)! The meat in this country was by far the highest quality meat we've had (a contentious topic with the neighboring Nambia).

Our bitcoin meetup here was a fun one. With only a handful of people in attendance, we discussed many topics and went in-depth when needed. Something difficult to do with a large group as you need to ensure everyone is following along well. This community is a testament that one person is all it takes to bring change. We expect this one-man army will continue to chip away slowly, but surely, to increase adoption!

South Africa is up next.

Cairo2Cape Articles
[Cairo to Cape Town: A Bitcoin Adventure](https://stacker.news/items/682996)
[The Dollar Dilemma in Egypt](https://stacker.news/items/688813)
[Ethiopia: The New Frontier For Bitcoin Mining](https://stacker.news/items/693427)
[Kenya: A Bitcoin Haven](https://stacker.news/items/694431)
[The Bitcoin Xmas Road Trip](https://stacker.news/items/696163)
[Juicy B: Sip, Learn & Pay with Bitcoin](https://stacker.news/items/700320)
[The Rwanda you didn't know](https://stacker.news/items/703495)
[The Musical Genius in Tanzania](https://stacker.news/items/713378)
[Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa](https://stacker.news/items/719009)
[Lusaka to Bitcoin Victoria Falls](https://stacker.news/items/724591)

Lusaka to Bitcoin Victoria Falls

The community is growing every day, they'll welcome you with open arms.

It means a lot! Will try to keep it coming and YESS Africa is going to surprise us all!!


![](https://m.stacker.news/57571)

Lusaka was a short stop as we headed towards Victoria Falls. Its infrastructure caught us off guard. Good roads, accessible amenities, and many malls. A stark contrast to Malawi, a neighboring country we had just visited. Entering one such mall in Lusaksa felt like we were back in Toronto. Driven by government, private, and foreign investment, Lusaka seemed to be miles ahead of other landlocked countries we had visited.

During our time in the city, we visited a restaurant that accepts bitcoin and hosts local bitcoin meet-ups. While interacting with the owner it was clear he viewed bitcoin as a competitive differentiator and an efficient easier form of payment acceptance. Since our meeting, he has increased his marketing efforts to raise awareness and inform his customers about bitcoin. 

Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya) is a major tourist attraction in Zambia, stretching nearly 1.7km! Due to recent droughts, the falls were no longer a blanket of water. Only certain sections had a steady flow, exposing the rock formations behind the water, an uncommon sight for visitors. 

The waterfalls aside, we were invited to speak at the Bitcoin community meetup, Bitcoin Victoria Falls. The founder of this community is American, who decided to kickstart the project during a recent visit to the area. It was the first time we had encountered a community founded by a foreigner who didn't live in the region. It shows that anyone can bring forth change regardless of where they live! Can't forget his co-founder and running mate, Humprey, a local who has helped progress their mission!

Our presentation topic? Bitcoin for Businesses. We discussed the basics of bitcoin, how it works, how to earn it, and most importantly, how to onboard merchants. It's great interacting with the local community to understand their challenges. Fortunately, this community has decent bitcoin penetration. The lodge where the meetup was held accepts bitcoin, including a taxi service, a tour operator, and a stationary provider. During our stay, we onboarded the bar and its servers within the lodge premises. The owners appreciated the speed at which they could settle payments and easily accept money from foreigners who may not have cash.

Did you know, that the Zambezi River which runs below Victoria Falls is world renowned for its white water rafting? We had the chance to experience it ourselves and pay with bitcoin! 

Botswana here we come.

Sources: 
Victoria Falls. Britannia. https://www.britannica.com/place/Victoria-Falls-waterfall-Zambia-Zimbabwe

Cairo2Cape Articles:
[Cairo to Cape Town: A Bitcoin Adventure](https://stacker.news/items/682996)
[The Dollar Dilemma in Egypt](https://stacker.news/items/688813)
[Ethiopia: The New Frontier For Bitcoin Mining](https://stacker.news/items/693427)
[Kenya: A Bitcoin Haven](https://stacker.news/items/694431)
[The Bitcoin Xmas Road Trip](https://stacker.news/items/696163)
[Juicy B: Sip, Learn & Pay with Bitcoin](https://stacker.news/items/700320)
[The Rwanda you didn't know](https://stacker.news/items/703495)
[The Musical Genius in Tanzania](https://stacker.news/items/713378)
[Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa](https://stacker.news/items/719009)


WHO CONTROL BITCOIN!?.

Graysatoshitz

Again, nothing to do with travel, please post in general territories. 

BLOCKCHAIN NODES

This has nothing to do with travel, please do not post content in this territory that does not align with its purpose. These posts will be moderated accordingly.