Map of Libya in North Africa

I know, this is a travel blog, with a goal of informing and educating people on matters pertaining the Africa travel industry. I have very little expertise on economic and political affairs to write about such matters in detail in this platform. But occasionally, some political events warrant a comment. The death of Muammar Gaddafi is one such event.

I was watching some video footages of the event on youtube, and was left with a sickening feeling in my stomach. I mean, this man has been the Libyan President for over 40 years. Yes, he may have been a dictator, a despot, and all other bad adjectives we can use to describe bad leaders. But he was the face of that nation. Also he must have had some few positives, as some people have pointed out.

In my view, it was very barbaric to treat him the way he was treated. To see what I am talking about, go to youtube then go to /watch?v=oR8v00pfglg and /watch?NR=1&v=6HlG7nEAryE (I choose not to embed the videos in this post).

Probably Gaddafi deserved to die because of the way he had treated other people, but that is a moral/ethical question, depending on your convictions. But even the worst criminal amongst us deserves some dignity.

I remember reading somewhere in Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War“ that when you corner your enemy, you should at least leave him a small escape route, presumably to keep his dignity intact. From the comments in the videos, I have also learnt about how Alexander the Great treated his enemy Darius III when he found him dying – offering him water and promising him a decent burial. Here’s a link that mentions that story.

That, in my opinion, is what the Libyan rebels should have done – allow Gaddafi to save some face. If for no other reason, because he was their leader for a very long time. One or two clean shots in the head would have done the job. Kicking his dead body, and other embarrasing things, was not nice.

Is Libya going to be a better place because of Gaddafi’s death? Maybe, maybe not, time will tell. Should world leaders celebrate Gaddafi’s fall with so much gusto? I don’t think so. There’s a Swahili proverb that goes “Ukiona cha mwenzako chanyolewa, tia chako maji”.

Map of Kenya

This post is prompted by the latest Kenya travel advisory issued by the UK and France governments.

A Brief Background to these latest travel warnings
Early last month (September 11, 2011), an armed gang raided an exclusive tourist resort in Lamu, killed a British tourist, and abducted his wife. See the full story in the Daily Nation.

Three weeks later, in October 1, 2011, another gang kidnapped a 66 year old French woman from her private home in Manda Island in Lamu. You can see this story too in both the Standard and the Daily Nation.

The minister for tourism, Najib Balala, has since then assured Kenya tourism stakeholders that the government has put measures in place to ensure such incidents do to occur again. Too late perhaps, coz the harm has already been done.

Under such circumstances therefore, the travel warnings about Kenya are somehow justified. And to be fair, the advisories only advise against traveling to Lamu and the region near the Kenya-Somali border. But I know safety is an important consideration for many people planning to come to Kenya, whether on a safari holiday or a business trip. So, is it safe to travel to Kenya?

As a Kenyan resident, I’d confidently state that yes, Kenya is still a very safe destination. However the most objective way to address the issue is by looking at some of the commonly identified security threats and concerns in Kenya.
• Terrorism
This is considered Kenya’s biggest security threat, mostly because of al-Shabaab and similar groups from the neighboring Somalia. In this day and age however, no place in the world can really claim to be entirely safe from terrorism. Terrorists can strike anywhere, and without warning. The porous Kenya-Somali border may make Kenya look particularly vulnerable, but the government security agencies have so far been doing a good job preventing attacks.

Update October 18, 2011: About five days ago, al-Shabaab struck again, this time kidnapping two Spanish doctors who work with Medecin sans Frontieres at the Dadaab refugee camp. See the full story on BBC. The Kenyan government viewed that as a declaration of war by al-Shabaab, and has now decided to take the battle to al Shabaab’s turf. As I write this, the Kenya Defence Forces have already started an offensive deep into Somalia territory, targeting al Shabaab strongholds.

NB: Daadab is in Garissa, near the Kenya – Somali border. It is  quite far from Kenya’s main tourism circuit. So far, apart from the two earlier incidents in Lamu and Manda, the main tourist areas remain safe. Kenyan security agencies have become even more vigilant to reduce the chances of terrorist acts and to ensure the safety of both the citizens and the visitors/tourists.

In the recent past, Kenya has had two major terrorist attacks: the US embassy bombing of 1998, and the Kikambala bombing of 2002. These served as wake-up calls for the Kenyan government to take strong counter-terrorism measures. Today therefore, you can be as safe from terrorism in Kenya as in the US, UK, and most other western countries.

• Political Unrest and Riots
The 2007-2008 post-election violence remains one of the darkest moments in Kenya’s history. In those days it was indeed quite unsafe to travel to the country as a foreigner. In my opinion, the biggest cause for that violence was the heightened tribalism and ethnic tensions that started in 2005, coupled with a few other historical facts that are too complex to discuss in one post. However, the violence taught us a very bitter lesson, and I don’t think we are willing to go down that road again.

At the moment therefore, Kenya has a calm political environment. The likelihood of highly-charged political rallies and riots is almost nil. Next year, 2012, will however be an election year. There will definitely be some heightened political temperatures because of the stakes involved, but I can bet my last coin it will still be peaceful. We, the “ordinary Kenyans”, learnt our lessons well in 2007-2008. Even the political leaders are aware that anyone who attempts to incite people to violence will be commiting political suicide. So, yes, it will still be safe to travel to Kenya even in 2012.

• Crime
Nairobi and other major Kenyan cities have relatively high crime rates, with armed robberies, kidnappings, and carjackings being common. However these crimes are mostly indiscriminate in that they do not specifically target tourists or foreigners, but rather anyone who happens to be at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, just like in most other cities of the world. You should therefore follow the same safety precautions that you follow in the cities in your home country. You know the rules:

• Avoid walking alone at night in isolated places (e.g. beaches) and unsafe streets in the cities
• If driving at night, close your car windows, and lock all the doors. Unless you really have to, do not stop your car at the side of the road.
• Leave your valuables in a locked safe place when taking a walk/going to public places, especially at night.
• etc. etc. mostly common sense

If you have never considered traveling to Uganda before, read this post to discover why you should. Henry Morton Stanley and Sir Winston Churchill were not crazy to refer to Uganda as the pearl of Africa.

1. Gorilla trekking and other primates safaris

A mountain gorilla in Uganda. Image Source: Fiver Löcker at Wikimedia commons

Have you ever watched the 1998 movie Mighty Joe Young? Or the Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Did you find them interesting? Of course, being movies, they have several exaggerations, but they well capture our (human’s) fascination with chimpanzees, gorillas, and other apes, considered our close relatives. What better way could there possibly be to satisfy this fascination, than tracking these primates in their natural habitat.

Gorilla trekking is without doubt the number one tourist attraction in Uganda. The country is home to one of the world’s largest population of mountain gorillas, the biggest of all apes. Every year, thousands of visitors travel to Uganda just to observe these mighty apes in their true home in the wild. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the most popular gorilla trekking destination in Uganda. Generally though, gorillas are also found in the Virunga mountains forest region, which transverses the Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo borders.

Be warned however, gorilla trekking is not an easy exercise. Most often, you will have to trek for two hours or more in dense forest terrain before sighting the first troop of gorillas. You therefore need to be healthy and reasonably fit to undertake this activity. The Uganda government restricts the numbers of people allowed to go tracking gorillas at any one time. As a result, gorilla trekking permits are in very high demand. To stand a good chance therefore, you should purchase your permit from a reputable tour operator at least three months before your intended date of travel.

You can find more information about mountain gorillas at the African Wildlife Foundation website. For some great gorilla trekking packages, visit the real adventures website here

Besides gorillas, other primates you can see in Uganda include chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, mangabeys, baboons, and many more monkey species.

2. Beautiful scenery and stunningly amazing landscape

Scenic Uganda landscape at Kabale area. Image source: Edirisa in Wikimedia Commons

In the book My African journey, Sir Winston Churchill describes Uganda as a scarcely describable beautiful garden. You may think that this has changed much since the time Churchill wrote that in 1908. But even today, Uganda still retains its amazing scenic beauty, one that very few other African countries can rival. Read this first hand experience of an independent traveler in Uganda if you think I’m bluffing.

Some of the beautiful places you must visit in Uganda include the spectacular Murchison falls, Lake Bunyonyi and its many tiny islands, Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria, the Kabale and Kisoro areas, the Kidepo valley national park in the Karamoja region, Mount Elgon near the Kenyan border, the snow-capped Rwenzori mountains – also known as the mountains of the moon, and Queen Elizabeth national park among others. Simply put, Uganda’s majestic rivers, green rolling mountains, and other natural features are the perfect setting for the most exhilarating scenic tours in Africa.

3. Spectacular African wildlife safaris

A tree-climbing lion at Ishasha region in Queen Elizabeth National Park of Uganda. Image source: Cody Pope at Wikimedia commons..

You have probably heard of the tree-climbing lions of Lake Manyara national park in Tanzania. But did you know that you can find the same in Uganda? The Ishasha plains of the Queen Elizabeth national park is the place to be to witness this.

In fact, you can see all of the big five African animals in Uganda. The Murchison Falls, Kidepo valley, and Queen Elizabeth national parks are among the best destinations for wildlife safaris in Uganda. They all have four of the big five, rhinos being the exception, plus an array of several other African animals. Like in other Africa destinations, leopards may be harder to spot in the wild because of their elusive and nocturnal nature.

There was a time when there were plenty of rhinos all over Uganda. However, the poaching menace, plus civil wars, led to their near extinction in the country. Today, the Ziwa Rhino Sanctaury is the only place you are assured of seeing rhinos in Uganda.

Of course, you cannot compare Uganda to Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, or South Africa when talking about wildlife safaris. But the country does offer a unique experience that you will not find elsewhere. You will find both the cape buffalo and the smaller forest buffalos, the savanna elephants and the smaller forest elephants, and hundreds of other animal species. You can also go on a chimpanzee tracking safari at the Kibale forest national park.

4. Great Opportunities for adventure sports and travel

The Nile, the longest river in Africa and in the world, has its source in Uganda. If you love extreme sports and adventure, the white Nile presents you some of the most exhilarating adventure opportunities. Popular adventure activities in Uganda include kayaking (from class II to class VI), white water rafting, and bungee jumping, all in the white Nile. You can also go sport fishing in Lake Victoria and at the foot of the Murchison Falls.

Owing to its hilly terrain, Uganda also has many excellent hiking and trekking trails, among them Mt. Elgon. You can even go mountain climbing in the snow-capped Ruwenzori mountains. Compared to the more famous Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Mt Kenya (Kenya), the mountains of the moon are less crowded with other tourists, yet they are just as challenging.

5. Rich African cultural heritage
Like several other African countries, Uganda has a very rich historical and cultural heritage. The most prominent destination for cultural travel in Uganda is the Kabaka trail.

The Kabaka is the king of the Baganda kingdom, a kingdom that dates back to the 14th century. The kingdom is still intact today, and its members practise some of the cultural and traditional rituals that have been passed down several generations. The Kabaka trail is that region in Uganda that preserves the history of the Baganda people. Some of the sites in this trail include the Naggalabi Buddo coronation site, Katereke royal prison, Ssezibwa falls, the Wamala tombs, and the popular tombs at Kasubi, the only UNESCO cultural world heritage site in Uganda.

How To Book Uganda Holiday Packages
The Africaguide.com offers some great holiday packages for Uganda. Click here to see and book some of them.

This is the second part of a run-down of ten of the most attractive places in Marrakech. They’re in no particular order, so don’t forget to check out part one!

6. Djemma el Fna (Jemaa el Fna)

A place of both beautiful sights and sounds, any respectable Marrakech tours have to include a stop here. At night, it is populated by musicians, dancers and story tellers; by day, you can expect to see snake charmers and people with monkeys.

Djema El Fna in Marrakech, Morocco. Image courtesy of srte at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sr1/)

You should also find stalls there at any time of the day, selling all kinds of stuff – so you can get a bite to eat while you are watching any of the shows, among the most exciting things to do when on holiday in Marrakech. Just remember to pay to watch them.

7. Marrakech Souks

This is a very colourful place – literally, as well as metaphorically. It is basically the main market place of Marrakech, where you can purchase almost anything – food, clothes, cutlery… you get the gist. Try your best to haggle for good prices – though, in my experience, you will probably still end up paying more for goods here than a native would. Those seeking mainly shopping-oriented Marrakech holidays should make this place their first port of call.

8. Saadian Tombs

These date from the time of sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (reigned 1578-1603), but were only discovered in 1917 after being left untouched for centuries. Befitting the name, you can find the graves of about sixty members of the Saadi royal dynasty that ruled Morocco in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The real visual delights here are in the Italian Carrara marble monuments and the gorgeous decoration of the tombs.

9. El Badi Palace

This building, originally constructed in 1578, these days lies in ruins, and is clearly more accustomed to housing stray cats than Moroccan royalty. However, it isn’t difficult to imagine how truly majestic it must have looked prior to being torn apart by Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail. It remains one of the most fascinating Marrakech historical sites, and exploring it remains one of the most riveting things to do in Marrakech.

10. Koutoubia Mosque

Though named after the booksellers market previously located here, it is fair to say that this, one of the most imposing Marrakech landmarks, is much more aesthetically pleasing than any pile of books. In fact, the minaret of the mosque has often been likened to the Eiffel Tower in Paris – and, like that monument, it looks even more beautiful when lit at night. Getting a photo of yourself and your fellow travellers in front of this is one of the truly essential things to do in Marrakech.

This is a guest post by Dave Clough who writes for lowcostholidays.com.

For travel enthusiasts, you may be happy to know that Southern Sudan provides you an incredibly rich experience, one that rivals or even surpasses other more established African destinations like Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, etc. This is despite the country’s prolonged civil war with its northern neighbor in the recent past. To this, add the fact that country is virtually a virgin destination, and you get a perfect reason for traveling to Southern Sudan now.

Here are 5 good reasons you should start planning your trip to Southern Sudan today.

• An Incomparable Africa Wildlife Experience: Picture hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and other large mammals moving as one huge herd across the plains as they migrate in search of pasture and water. What comes to mind? The Serengeti and Masai Mara, right?

Well, you are in for a surprise. Experts were shocked to “discover” in the Buma region of Southern Sudan, what they termed as “the largest migration of large mammals on planet earth“, one that is “more spectacular than other migrations on the African continent“.  And that’s not all: Southern Sudan has several game reserves that host plenty of elephants, lions, buffaloes, giraffes, and many other animal species plus an amazingly rich bird-life.

You need evidence? See the video below.

• An Unrivaled Cultural Heritage: Many of us already know about the rich culture of the Masai of Kenya and Tanzania, and the Zulu of South Africa. Now, meet the Dinka of Southern Sudan. Do you remember the 1980′s NBA superstar Manute Bol? The Seven feet, seven inches tall giant? He was a Dinka by tribe. The Dinka are considered the tallest tribe in Africa, alongside the Tutsi of Rwanda. Of course, their height is not their only distinguishing trait. The Dinka have a very vibrant culture, with some rituals, e.g. stick fighting, tattooing, facial marking and scarring, dating thousands of years.

Southern Sudan is also home to more than 60 other African tribes, each with equally interesting cultures and traditions.

• Plenty of Adventure Travel Opportunities: Think white water rafting, sport fishing, trekking, felucca tours, and much more. You can do all this in Southern Sudan, thanks to the presence of the White Nile. The White Nile in Southern Sudan has some few good spots for both flat water and wild water rafting and kayaking.

• Unique Historical Sites: Some of the most famous historical sites in Southern Sudan include King George’s house, which at one point housed the British King during during World War I;  the famous Tamarind tree, the resting point for the great British explorer, Sir Samuel Baker, as he explored the source of the Nile; Diem Zubair, which was one of the biggest slave markets during the slave trade; and the mausoleum of the late Dr. John Garang, SPLA commander.

• Magical Scenic Sites: The White Nile in itself offers plenty of beautiful scenery including waterfalls and rapids. There are many other beautiful sites in Southern Sudan besides those in the Nile. Some of the interesting ones include the Imatong mountains, Fulla Rapids, and the Sudd region, also known as “Lake No” because it is completely covered by water hyacinth, making it completely impossible to navigate.

Here, I draw upon my own experience of holidays in Marrakech in this two part series dedicated to some of the most visually gorgeous Marrakech attractions to see during Marrakech holidays. In no particular order, here are ten Marrakech must-see’s.

1. El Bahia Palace

Apparently, the name of this palace, built between 1894 and 1900, translates to ‘palace of the beautiful’ – and it certainly lives up to its name. Sadly, you won’t find Monica Bellucci here, at one of the premier Marrakech landmarks, but you will see plenty of water features, stucco panels, tiled floors, smooth arches, an eight-hectare garden surrounding the palace, plus a lot more. Just be sure to employ a guide, so that you don’t get lost.

2. Ali ben Youssef Medersa and Mosque

As Marrakech historical sites go, the Medersa, a former Islamic college, really does offer one of the most amazing feasts for the eyes with its plentiful art and architecture. You will, for instance, see plenty of carved cedarwood and colourful zellij tiles in the courtyard, while the interior of the prayer hall is covered in pine cone and palm motifs.

The Mosque, another of the truly significant Marrakech heritage sites, is similarly worth a look, though it is only open to Muslims.

3. Majorelle Garden

Majorelle Garden in Marrakech. Photo by Luc Viatour (http://www.lucnix.be/)

You can expect a slightly higher entrance fee here than with many Marrakech attractions, but trust me – it’s worth it! The sheer variety of plants on display, many of which you probably never would have seen before, is truly awe-inspiring.

You will probably never see so many different types of cactus plants in the same place ever again in your entire life. You should definitely arrive early, however, as the crowds appearing later can be annoying during any Marrakech holidays.

4. Museum of Islamic Art

You will see a lot to marvel here even before you get inside the thing. Not only is it based in the lovely Majorelle Garden (see above), it is based in a house quite unlike any in the city, boasting as it does a blue and yellow colour scheme and ornate windows. The exhibits themselves, many dating back hundreds of years, include carpets, jewellery, paintings and pottery, making the Museum of Islamic Art one of the most intriguing Marrakech heritage sites to visit during Marrakech tours.

5. Atlas Mountains

Though you will need to embark on an hour’s drive to see these up close, they can nonetheless be seen from several places in Marrakech, since they hover in the sky above the city’s pink defensive walls. The entire mountain range spans about 1,500 miles through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, but only the High Atlas subrange, often coated in snow during the winter months, is visible from Marrakech.

This is a guest post by Dave Clough who writes for lowcostholidays.com.

The only other sub-Sahara Africa countries ranking higher than Gambia are Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Cape Verde, and Botswana.

And, no, the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report is not just one of those economic reports that seem out of touch with the reality on the ground. The report considers several practical metrics, among them the human, cultural, and natural resources; the tourism business environment and infrastructure; and the countries’ travel and tourism regulatory framework. Several reputable organizations, among them the world tourism organization, contribute towards compiling the report.

For the Gambia to rank this high therefore, it must have something special don’t you think?

So what’s there to see in Gambia?
In one word, plenty. You can enjoy a very vibrant rural African culture, a luxury holiday in the country’s magnificent beaches, scenic landscapes, an incredible birdwatching experience, amazing wildlife and nature reserves, plus an unrivaled African hospitality.

• The Gambia beaches

One of The Gambia's Beautiful Beaches

The beaches are undoubtedly Gambia’s biggest tourist attraction, especially for visitors from the UK and other European countries. The Gambian shoreline stretches only about 80 km on the Atlantic ocean coast, yet is adorned by several beautiful beaches.

Most of the popular beaches are situated in the Northern coast, a region that also hosts several tourist-class hotels and resorts. You can not find a cheaper beach holiday destination in Africa than in Gambia.

With their warm temperatures and at least 8 hours of sunshine most times of the year, the Gambian beaches are indeed excellent destinations for a tropical beach holiday. They are a cheap alternative to their more famous counterparts in places like Seychelles, South Africa, Zanzibar, and Kenya.

• Gambia African culture
Like in most other African countries, there are several ethnic groups in Gambia. The largest of these tribes are the Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and Jola. All the Gambian tribes coexist in harmony across the entire country. You will not find one region that is inhabited solely by one tribe. This has resulted into a vibrant national culture with influences from all the tribes. No surprise therefore that most Gambians talk at least two local languages, plus English, the official language.

Traditional wrestling matches are among the entertaining cultural festivals you should see in Gambia. You can catch some wrestling action in Serekunda, the largest city in Gambia. Other cultural activities worth seeing include the religious festivities and rites of passage ceremonies like naming ceremonies, circumcision ceremonies, and weddings. Naturally, traditional music and dancing are at the center of these festivities.

• Wildlife Safaris and Birdwatching Excursions
While you will not see any of the African “big five” in Gambia, you can still enjoy a great wildlife experience. Kiang West National Park, the largest game reserve in Gambia, offers you an incredible gamewatching experience. Some of the wild animals found here include: wild cats (serval cats and caracals), several antelope species (e.g bushbucks, common duikers), spotted hyena, warthog, waterbucks, West African manatee, colobus monkeys, Nile crocodile, several large snakes (e.g royal pythons, African pythons, spitting cobra, etc), West African sitatunga, pygmy hippopotamus, plus many more.

There are also over 500 bird species in Gambia, making it a birdwatching haven.

• Natural Features and Scenic landscapes
Gambia’s most important land feature is the River Gambia, which flows over 1000 km from Guinea, through Senegal into the Gambia. The river stretches across the whole length of the country, before draining its waters in the Atlantic ocean near Banjul, Gambia’s capital city.

A boat trip upstream the navigable part of River Gambia is a great way of discovering inland Gambia. Along the way, you will have a nice birdwatching experience, plus a chance to visit the chimpanzee rehabilitation project.

How to Travel to Gambia
From Europe, the best way to get to Gambia is to take a cheap charter flight to Banjul. You can also take a scheduled flight from Brussels with Brussels Airlines. Gambia is about a six-hour flight from most airports in Western Europe. Considering that the country is on the GMT time zone, visitors from Western Europe experience little or no jet lag.

If you are coming from the US, you can take a direct flight to Dakar in Senegal, then take a connecting flight to Banjul in the Gambia. Alternatively, you could book a connecting flight through Europe, then take a chartered flight to Banjul.

Tunisia is a true gem of North Africa travel, even though an unsung one. Nestled between Algeria and Libya, two of the largest countries in Africa, Tunisia is one country you can easily ignore in any map of Africa. Yet it offers you a great holiday experience that very few other African destinations can match.

Nature and history are the two key ingredients to Tunisia’s attractiveness. Its location at the Mediterranean sea has gifted it with incredibly beautiful beaches, where you can enjoy the perfect sun-and-sand beach holiday. When you venture just a few kilometers from the coast, you will get into the expansive Sahara desert, whose amazing landscapes you can explore atop the back of a camel.

After you have had enough of the beaches and desert landscapes, you can tour the many historical sites in Tunisia. Carthage is one of these. This ancient city-state was the capital of the Phoenician civilization. The city was situated just North of present day Tunis.

It was from Carthage that Hannibal, the great conqueror, launched his almost successful conquest of the Roman empire. From its early days, Carthage and Tunisia have been under the control of different great civilizations, among them the Greeks, Romans, and the Arabs. Today, there are several monuments from this rich past, which you should visit during your trip to Tunisia.

Below are pictures of 11 of the greatest sites you must visit in Tunisia. To book a holiday to Tunisia, I recommend you take a look at these great Tunisia holiday packages at the RealAdventures.com website.

1. El Djem
An ancient Roman town that today hosts several relics from the Roman empire

A panoramic view of the Roman amphitheater at el-Djem. Image source: Wikimedia commons

2. The Ruins of Carthage
Once the capital of the Phoenician civilization, this ancient city was destroyed (and later rebuilt) by the Romans around 146BC. Most of the ruins remaining today are those of the Roman Carthage, which was destroyed by the Arabs in the 7th century AD.

The Ruins of the city of Carthage. Images source: Wikimedia commons

3. Dougga
Another ancient Roman city that has gained the UNESCO world heritage status for being “the best preserved example of an Africo-Roman town in North Africa”.

The ancient theatre at Dougga. Image credit: Wikimedia commons.

At the floor of the ancient theater in Dougga. Image by Gordontour at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordontour/).

4. Grand Erg Oriental
A large field of sand dunes stretching for about 600Km from Algeria to Tunisia.

Grand Erg Oriental in the Sahara Desert. Image from Wikimedia commons.

5. Djerba Island
North Africa’s largest island, renowned for its beautiful sunsets and pristine beaches. It also has its fair share of archaeological sites.

Fort Djerba in Djerba Island, Tunisia. Image source: Wikimedia commons.

6. Sidi Bou Saïd
An almost picture-perfect small town with most of its buildings having whitewashed walls and blue windows and doors. The villa in the  photo below is just one of the many beautiful blue and white buildings in Sidi Bou Said. Image by Craig Macintosh.

A Villa at Sidi Bou Said

7. Sousse
A tourist resort city with a beautiful sea front with fine sandy beaches. Its Medina is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Aerial View of Part of the Medina of Sousse. Image credits: Dalbera at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/

8. Bulla Regia
Formerly, an ancient Roman city, now an archaeological site most renowned for underground villas with many fine mosaics.

Mosaic from the House of Amphitrite in Bulla Regia. Image credit: Wikimedia commons

9. Hammamet
One of the most popular destinations in Tunisia because of its beaches, and its suitability for water sports.

Part of the beach front at Hammamet, in Tunisia. Image credit: Marianone at Flickr: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianone/)

10. Bardo Museum in Tunis
This museum has a collection of many antiquities from Tunisia’s history from the time of the Greek civilization, to the modern days

Carthage Room at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Image credit: Wikimedia commons.

11. Cap Bon
A spectacular peninsula lying between the Gulf of Tunis and the Gulf of Hammamet. Some people refer to it as “the garden of Tunisia”

Cap Bon Peninsula in Tunisia. Image credit: Wikimedia commons.

It is still important to continue monitoring the situation before making your holiday arrangements, but I remain optimistic the situation will get back to normal very quickly. If you plan to travel to Egypt any time soon, I recommend that you take a look at some of these great Egypt holiday packages at the Africaguide website.

The Great Pyramid at Giza. One of Egypt's key attractions

At the time I am writing this post, the news about the ongoing street protests in Alexandria, Cairo, Aswan and other cities in Egypt is almost stale news. Global news websites like CNN have covered the two-weeks old political unrest in great detail.

The political implications of the protests aside, the tourism industry is turning out to be the biggest loser so far. Just yesterday, Thomas Cook announced that the Egyptian and Tunisian protests will cost them about £20million. This is as a result of booking cancellations and emergency evacuation.

Consider the fact that Thomas Cook is just one of the several hundred travel agents that organize holidays to Egypt. Compared to Thomas Cook, most other travel agents may be smaller, but their combined total volume of business is obviously very big. I am not an expert in economics, but logic (twisted perhaps) tells me that if all agents are facing cancellations of similar magnitude, Egypt has already lost tens of billions of dollars in tourism revenue in these two weeks.

From the travel industry point-of-view, the unrest could not have come at a worse time. This is supposed to be peak season for Egyptian tourism, because of winter in Europe and other western nations. Now tourists are forced to go to alternative destinations, to Egypt’s loss.

Obviously most governments are not going to lift the Egypt travel alerts they have issued any time soon, Canada, The UK and the US for example. Already, there are reports that hotels are sending most of their workers on open-ended unpaid leave. See this report for example. This at a time when the resorts should be enjoying almost 100% occupany.

Will the the Egypt travel industry bounce back?

For sure it will. It may take some time, but not very long I believe. Tourism contributes more than 10% of Egypt’s gross domestic product. What’s more, the political unrest is affecting other sectors of the economy too. It is for this reason that I believe that the Egyptian government and people will resolve the impasse sooner rather than later.

When Kenya was faced with post-election violence in 2008, the tourism industry was most affected. Three years later, we have fully recovered. The recovery process will definitely be much faster for Egypt; No other country can offer the kind of attractions you find in Egypt. Unlike in Kenya’s example, tourists cannot go anywhere else to see the valley of the kings for example, or the great pyramids of Giza. As soon as the political situation improves, tourists will come back to Egypt in large numbers.

Should You Cancel Your Egypt Holiday Plans?
This depends on how soon you scheduled your holiday. If you were to travel in February for example, you may have little choice but to cancel, or postpone the trip. However, if you were to travel, say, in October, it may be too early to cancel now. You should monitor what is happening there. Things are likely to improve before then. Remember, no other African destination offers you the experience you will enjoy on a vacation in Egypt.

I was a bit lazy to do a full write-up about this, so I decided to create a simple video instead. It ended up taking more than two hours.

This is my first ever attempt at creating a video, so just pardon any traces of amateurism. The next videos will obviously be better. I hope you enjoy this one. Feel free to leave your comments here or at youtube.