Monday, January 25, 2010

Dugouts Commercialized!


I didn't think it could (or would) happen, but someone in Germany has turned dugout canoes into a modern business. A company called "Morokoro," which they say is a common word for the dugout in Africa, imports dugouts from Mozambique, selling and renting them in Germany.

They say:
The trees used for the construction of our mokoros are not derived from ruinous exploitation but from dead or diseased trees.
The tree trunk in its entirety is carved out with a hatchet. It takes two men ten days to complete this work. A 2.50 m long morokoro weighs approximately 30 kg.

Thanks to the materials and techniques used, the mokoros, when normally used, are virtually indestructible.
While the "virtually indestructible" bit is hard to swallow, the weight is reasonable and I admire the sustainable nature of their production. Boats start at 2,900 Euros, and rentals are 7 Euros/hour.

There's a huge photo gallery that's intriguing to explore, but unfortunately no captions or any information about the photos.

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