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, Read More »
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 Read More »
11 Places You Must Visit in Tunisia
(NB: The recent political uprisings in Tunisia caused several governments to issue travel warnings for their citizens planning to travel to Tunisia. The situation has however improved greatly after the ousting of Read More »
Five Top Attractions You Must Visit in Egypt
Egypt is the top-most travel destination in Africa, thanks mostly to the many historical sites from the ancient days of the pharaohs. In today’s post, I highlight five of the most visited Read More »
Africa Travel: Best Kept Secrets
Among all popular travel destinations in the world, Africa is most renowned for the “safari” concept. The idea of an African safari is almost inseparable from game (wildlife) viewing and birdwatching. This Read More »
The Undiscovered Africa Travel Gems
NB: I originally posted the article below in qondio, a content website where people share lots of “intel” on various topics. I post as africantraveler at qondio.
The True Gems in Africa Travel
Maletsunyane falls near Semonkong in of Lesotho
In a previous post on Africa travel, I mentioned some of the most preferred Africa holiday destinations, among them Kenya, South Africa and Egypt. While these countries may be the favorite destinations among many travelers, their attractions are not necessarily superior to those in other less-traveled African countries. In fact, in my opinion, there are some countries that offer a more satisfying African safari experience, often with the added advantage of being less crowded. These include: Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique
Lesotho
This landlocked country is neighbored on all sides by South Africa. One of the things that make Lesotho a unique travel destination is its beautiful mountainous scenery. The entire country lies at over 1000 meters above sea level, and has arguably some of the best hiking trails in Africa. The traditional way of life of the Basotho is, to say the least, very fascinating. The best way to enjoy a holiday in this country is on horse back.
Zanzibar Sauti za Busara Music Festival 2010
Zanzibar Beach
If you are enthusiastic about the culture of the Swahili people of Eastern Africa, you may already know about the Sauti za Busara Music Festival in Zanzibar. This annual event showcases the best of East African music, especially Swahili music. Performing artists come from Zanzibar, mainland Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi, as well as from other African countries.
While taarab is arguably the most recognized genre of Swahili music, there are lots of other equally entertaining music varieties, all of which are performed at the festival. They include the kidumbak dances, traditional ngoma music, rumba, swahili mystical/religious music, bongo flava, and afro-fusion.
Sauti za busara is a big event, attracting thousands of East African residents and international visitors. For the residents, it is a great way to get entertained and celebrate culture. For the artists, Sauti za Busara provides a unique chance to interact with each other and share ideas. And for international tourists, it gives the rare opportunity to see the best of the Swahili culture in one place.
The carnival at Stone Town is one of the highlights of the event, setting a very friendly mood, followed by four days of music heaven in the Stone Town Old Fort. During that time, visitors also get to enjoy delicious Swahili foods. What better way is there to enjoy a beach holiday in one of Africa’s finest beach destinations.
You may find more information about the festival at its official website. If you have not yet made your Zanzibar hotel and flight reservation for this year’s event, it may be a bit late now. The festival has already started, and ends on the 16th of February. But be sure to attend next year’s event if your schedule allows.
Hotel Booking for Zanzibar
If you plan to travel to Zanzibar anytime soon, you may want visit the hotels combined reservation web site and book your hotel in Zanzibar.
Kenya Wildlife Translocation: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?
Elephants in Amboseli National Park. Mt Kilimanjaro is in the background. Image by Disdero in Wikimedia commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephants_Kili_2.jpg
I read a very interesting report in the Daily Nation today. The Kenya wildlife service (KWS) plans to trans-locate about 7,000 herbivores, mostly zebras and wildebeest, from some private ranches and game reserves in Kenya to the Amboseli national park. Apparently, following last year’s drought in Amboseli, the herbivore/carnivore balance in the park was severely disrupted. The predators are now attacking the livestock of the neighboring Maasai people. You can read full details of the story here.
Looking at it from a different perspective, the KWS action raises a number of questions. Is it fair to the game reserves from which the zebras and wildebeest will be taken? What will happen to the predator/prey balance in these ranches? I know, KWS may rightly argue that in these reserves, that “balance” was largely skewed in favour of the herbivores. After all, species trans-location is an acceptable and proven animal conservation strategy. There have been several animal translocations in Kenya in the past, though not on such a large scale. One past translocation that comes close in scale was the fairly successful translocation of 228 elephants from Shimba hills national park to Tsavo East (see story).
Beyond the World Cup 2010: Why South Africa is an all round destination
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.
Africa travel: So much has happenned during my absence
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.
Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro – A Personal Experience
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.
