By Peter Oldenburger
Dancing at the North Pole, camping on a beach in Cameroon or swimming at the beach in San Francisco. Gunter Sanders’ desire to travel began at the beginning of his student days. “The opportunity arose to visit the former Yugoslavia with a group of fellow students,” said the 79-year-old.
With that the spell was broken. After the fall of the wall, he enjoyed river trips in the Soviet Union – on the Lena, the Ob and the Yennisei. He made it to the Far East as early as the 1970s. First to Ceylon, today Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hong Kong, also South Korea and Japan.
Günter Sanders (2nd from right) in front of a yurt in Mongolia Photo: © Parvets
He has seen all the countries and islands in Central and South America, he has even hiked in the Falkland Islands. “You weren’t allowed to leave the marked paths because mines were buried everywhere after the war,” says the maths teacher.
His best experience, however, was the dance at the North Pole, where he had come from Narvik in Norway with 60 travelers from all over the world. Dancing is Günter Sanders’ second passion.
Another is the souvenirs from his travels. It was difficult for him to get a wooden mask from Ceylon through customs control at the airport.
Günter Sander’s absolute highlight: dancing with a tour group at the North Pole Photo: © Parvets
According to his records he has managed over 190 countries worldwide. Exceptions are Iraq, Afghanistan or Tasmania. “I traveled to Europe late, the distance gave me more freedom,” says Sanders, citing Antarctica as an example.
When asked where he would like to live outside of Berlin, he quickly replies: “I think San Francisco is wonderful” and looks at a drawing of him at Fisherman’s Wharf, a dream destination for many world travelers.