Africa Travel Information

The great white shark: a member of the "Big 7"

For the next few months, South Africa is obviously going to receive a lot of attention thanks to the forthcoming FIFA 2010 World cup in June. Without any doubt, the soccer tournament is in itself a great boost to South Africa tourism, and is expected to inject over 20 billion rand to the economy. But perhaps more importantly, it will help raise awareness of South Africa as a great African safari  destination.

In a previous post on South Africa, I mentioned wildlife as one of the greatest tourist attractions in South Africa. The country takes great pride in being the only African destination where you can see the big seven -the big five plus whales and sharks (more so the great white shark and the southern right whale). In addition to wildlife safaris, South Africa will always remain for a great travel destination for the following reasons:

• Adventure travel at its best: Whether you are a fan of extreme activities, or you are into more moderate adventures, you will surely have lots of fun in South Africa. Some of the activities you can engage in include abseiling off Table mountain, scuba diving at Sodwana Bay, shark cage diving at Dyer Island, rock climbing in Montagu and other places, trekking expeditions along the Garden Route, white water rafting, skydiving,  surfing, bungee jumping, etc. To put it simply, the range of adventures available to you in South Africa is arguably the best in Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy new year! First, to all readers of this African safari blog, my apologies for the prolonged absence and silence. I had several issues in my personal life to attend to, and they took longer than I thought they would. Nothing like the Tiger Woods story though .  (Despite his “mistake” I still think Woods is a great man, and I hope he will bounce back as an even better person).

A northern white rhino. Image from the rhino resource center http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/

While I was away, a lot has taken place in the Africa travel scene. Bill Gates once again visited Kenya on a philanthropic mission and a safari.

Also in Kenya, four of the eight remaining  northern white rhinos were introduced to ol-Pejeta conservancy in Laikipia to give them a chance to breed.  This is definitely good news to animal  conservationists if the plan succeeds. Not so the request by Tanzania and Zambia to be allowed a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles, a move opposed by Kenya and Rwanda.

Other Africa travel news that have made headlines include the crash of an Ethiopian Airline plane near Beirut, the trampling to death of two tourists by an elephant in Mt Kenya national park, and the closure of False bay beach in South Africa following a fatal shark  attack on a tourist from Zimbabwe.

Now that I am back to work, I hope to be able to regularly update this blog to be a meaningful information resource for your Africa travel plans. Alongside the usual informational travel articles, I will be covering events that I think you, my readers, may want to know about. The forthcoming Sauti za busara cultural festival in Zanzibar, the 2010 world cup in South Africa, are some examples of what I have in mind. Happy reading, and as always, I welcome your comments.

Uhuru peak, the highest point in Mt. Kilimanjaro

Despite being the highest mountain in Africa, and also the world’s highest free-standing mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro is reputedly an easy climb for any reasonably healthy person. Having made it to Uhuru peak sometime back, I too can attest to this fact, especially when I consider the fact that it was my first mountain climbing expedition. It was not very easy but it was extremely enjoyable.

Before the climb: Acclimatization
We were in a large group, all of us of above-average fitness. Before this, none of us had ever climbed a mountain higher than Kenya’s Mt Longonot. In preparation therefore, we had to undergo an acclimatization and mountain-climbing training regime at the Outward Bound Mountain School in Loitokitok, Kenya.

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The Great Wildebeest Migration

Besides several other good reasons, the Masai Mara game reserve remains the most preferred wildlife safari destination in Kenya chiefly because of the great wildebeest migration. This well-documented and dramatic natural event involves over one million wildebeest accompanied by a few other antelopes and hundreds of thousands of zebras.

Wildebeest crossing a river during the great migration. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Connochaetes_taurinus_-Wildebeest_crossing_river_-East_Africa.jpg).

Some of the most thrilling moments of the migration are when the animals cross the crocodile-infested Mara river. These are the moments most tourists hope to witness when they book their safari to the Mara around July and August. Unfortunately, the migration is a very spontaneous event and therefore it is very hard to precisely predict when the herds will arrive from Serengeti national. Sometimes they cross into the Mara as early as late June, other times as late as September. This year (2009), the first crossing was witnessed in the first week of July (see this news article).

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Africa is home to some of the world’s most popular wildlife, including the famous “big five”. Since wildlife safaris are among the top Africa holiday activities, you may find it helpful to know some fun facts about these big five animals.

The big five consist of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhinoceros. They were given this name, not because of their massive sizes, but because of how difficult and dangerous it was to hunt them down. In the earlier days when there were less restrictions on hunting, big game hunters considered it a great achievement to capture or kill one of these animals.

African Cape Buffalo

The huge upcurving horns give the African buffalo a real dangerous look

The African cape buffalo is a big and very intimidating cow-like animal with a dark-skin almost black in color. These ill-tempered animals are reputed to have killed so many trophy hunters, more than other animals did, hence their inclusion in the big five. During your safari in Africa, you will see large herds of buffaloes (as many as 2000 members) in the top game reserves in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Occasionally however, you may spot a solitary buffalo bull, an extremely dangerous and ill-tempered animal, especially if it is wounded.

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It is true that we all travel for different reasons, and our tastes and likes vary.  However, when coming for a holiday in Africa, I think there are some places you just have to visit, and some activities you must undertake to enjoy a complete African safari experience. I have compiled a list of what I consider the top ten holiday activities in Africa. You may not be able to do all of them during one visit, unless of course you have a lot of time. But with proper planning, you can cover aspects of all of them in at least two trips to Africa.

1. Wildlife safaris

An African lion: One of the most popular wild animal in Africa

If you have time for only one safari activity, then wildlife safaris are the obvious choice, especially if the closest you have ever come to an African wild animal is in a zoo. Among all African animals, the big five (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, and leopard) are the most popular, and perhaps most fascinating to observe. The experience of seeing them and other animals in their natural habitat is indeed very amazing. No wonder the word “African safari” is almost synonymous with wildlife safaris.

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