Africa Travel Information Blog

Information on African Safaris, Tourism and Travel

Africa Travel Information Blog - Information on African Safaris, Tourism and Travel

Mysterious, Bizzare and Interesting Places in Africa That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Many travel enthusiasts recognize Africa as a great destination for wildlife safaris, beach holidays, adventure travel, and other conventional forms of vacations. But not very many people are aware of the strange, weird, and unusual activities and destinations you can enjoy in Africa, especially if you are a lover of “off the beaten path” traveling.

Did you know for example that you can go on ghost hunting safaris in South Africa? You get to visit haunted places, see ghosts, and experience paranormal phenomena, among other things. You can find details about this and related tours at the mystery ghost bus tours website.

Below are what I consider to be the top five mysterious places in Africa. Of course this is one man’s opinion. If you know of other equally or more deserving places, let us know in the comments.
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Seven Cultural Festivals You Must See in Africa – Part 2

(This is the second of a 2-part series on Africa cultural festivals. Be sure to also read part 1)

5. Cape Town Jazz Festival – South Africa
I have argued here before that Cape Town is Africa’s greatest city. This can be attested to by the many awards and accolades the city keeps getting, the latest being the 2011 travellers choice for the top destination in the world.

Add to this a glamorous cultural event – the Cape Town International Jazz Festival – and the result is fireworks. Entering it’s 13th year in 2012, this event is the biggest of its kind in Africa, and on its way to being the greatest in the world too. Like in the past years, the line up this year is star-thudded, with many great artists from South Africa and the whole world. The 2012 event takes place on 30th and 31st March.

More details are available at the official website here.

 

6. Timkat 2012 – Lalibela and Gondar – Ethiopia 
This list would not be complete without an event from Ethiopia, a country I consider the cultural capital of Africa. With its rich historical and religious heritage, Ethiopia has several interesting cultural festivities throughout the year. Timkat is the most popular among these. Continue reading →

Seven Cultural And Religious Festivals That You Must See in Africa – Part 1

(This is the first of a two-part series. Read part two here)

The African culture is as diverse as the hundreds of ethnic groups (or tribes) and religions in the continent. Despite several misconceptions about Africa, no single culture can be identified as “the” true culture of Africa. Like in all other continents, the interaction between these different cultures has also led to the birth of newer cultures that transcend any particular tribe or religious group.

Many cultural festivals take place all over Africa all year round, but a few of them are more colorful and enjoyable than others. Today’s post highlights seven of what I consider the top must-see cultural events and festivities. If you know of a festival that ought to have made this list, please feel free to add your comments at the bottom of this page.

1. Annual Voodoo Festivals in Benin
Voodoo is a religion that many Westerners associate with secret practices and the occult, although its adherents say that this is a misconception. The religion is quite prevalent in West Africa, most notably in Benin. Continue reading →

Top 5 National Parks and Game Reserves in Africa

A safari to Africa, especially a first time visit, is never complete without viewing African wild animals in their natural habitat – the national parks and game reserves.  There are hundreds of wildlife reserves in Africa, each of which offers a unique safari experience.  Any pick of the top five is therefore a subjective judgement. In my opinion however, there are some reserves that stand out from the crowd, and provide an excellent game watching experience. These are South Africa’s Kruger national park, Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya, Zambia’s South Luangwa national park, Selous game reserve in Tanzania, and Etosha national park in Namibia.

1. Kruger National Park – South Africa
Perhaps this game reserve needs no introduction. Some of the most amazing African wildlife videos and pictures come from Kruger, for example the pictures of a leopard killing a crocodile and the battle at kruger video (below).
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5 Great Historical Sites You Must Visit in Africa

To many people familiar with the Africa travel industry, Egypt is, by far, the most preferred destination for archaeological tours and historical travel. The reason is obvious, no African country has as many interesting historical places as Egypt does.

If I were to include the sphinx, the pyramids, and all other monuments from the ancient Egyptian civilization in this article, they would take all the top ten spots. This previous post lists what I consider the top five must-see sites in Egypt. In a later post, I will hopefully expand the list to include all the other places in Egypt.

Outside of Egypt, there are several equally important places that you should plan to visit in Africa. And these are what I am focusing on in today’s post. Continue reading →

A Statement on The Death Of Muammar Gaddafi

Map of Libya

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).

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