Africa Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

This is Tuesday afternoon. I am currently lounging on the outdoor terrace of my hotel—the Holiday Inn Maputo. It is one of the few better hotels that sit right on the beach. Writing this journal is difficult, because I am constantly being distracted by the beautiful beach sprawled out before me. Maputo is a very poor city, though you would never know it from this viewpoint. This morning we had more orientation meetings, but the rest of the day is now free time. I will be traveling to ...

This morning I got that feeling that the ugly threatening realities of daily life is about to sneak up on me. It is the very last day of my holiday and I only got ½ day before I need to go to the airport and fly home. Only having half a day sets certain limits to what you can do - but then again I think I have done what there is to do in Tripoli. Hence my main objective of the day is only to get a few of the essential souvenirs you need to bring home with you. I mean you can't really ...

Ok, I did write another blog upon my return from Uganda June 15th. For more information on Uganda and a follow up to my initial blog, please read my blog on "Returning home to Kampala"

It was great to be back in Namibia for 2 weeks. Most of my previous visits here had been during the dry winter season (May-October). Now summer is the wet season, when storms generally occur in the afternoons. On this trip, after some good rain, I got the chance to see a very different Namibia. I did not know it could be so green, with large areas just covered with wild flowers! In Etosha I could hardly recognise the Okaukuejo waterhole. It was like a pond in the middle of a grass field, with...

7:30 am in Serena Lago Manyara. I am sitting on a hammock in the pool overseeing Lake Manyara. As I am writing, tons birds are all around and every once in a while I have a visit of one of those African insects… sometimes I jump as I am thinking Anofoles (malaria’s mosquito) wants to welcome me. There is no doubt, if you are feeling any kind of stress at work, just follow this travel itinerary! I dont think I have ever been so relaxed… Hacuna Matata (no problem, take it easy in Swa...

After several months of procrastination, I am finally uploading some video I took while visiting the Silverback gorillas in the volcano mountains of Rwanda and the Congo. The videos begin at the entrance where we met our guide (first video is just an introduction of our small group). It also includes some video along the way of a waterfall and the valley below where Ruhengeri is located. The last video taken of a mother and her one month old baby captures the sound of the baby ...

Well, I have finished my Morocco journey and I cannot wait to get back to Europe (though Morocco was quite spectacular).  It was definately a bit of a culture shock. The top things I will remember about Morocco: 1.  The VERY persistent men and their interesting expressions of approval towards women.  My personal favorite was "I am craaaazzzyyyy for your love" which was shouted out towards us on the street....resulted in a lot of laughs. 2.  The lack of women in public.&...

8 march 2008   The day of leaving home.. L I really hate this day!! Because my mum and I decided to don’t come back anymore and choose another country.. I said goodbye to everyone this day, went to hammamet centre and yasmine hammamet, and made the last pictures. We also went to Canari to drink the last Jus D’orange and Milkshake!   In the afternoon we walked trough the medina in yasmine hammamet. And out of a restaurant I heard my name: mandy!! I don’t wear my glasses ...

We stowed all our gear into the back of our minivan tour bus and left our hotel in the morning and stopped at Cape Spartal, which is Africa's most north-westerly point and stopped at a cave/grotto. We then headed south and stopped at the seaside village of Asilah, an old Portuguese Atlantic port. We had a guided tour through the medina and had lunch there, where I had my first of many Tajines I would eat throughout my trip. It was pretty good and similar to something I cook here at home....

We capped off our time in Dahab with some more swimming and snorkeling and a farewell dinner with Bob.  Our flight out today meant time to part ways.  Dahab was a really fun place.  It is pretty small, so you get to know people quickly.  In fact, the owner of one of the bars gave us a free ride up to the bus station last night.  We also met two gals from the Czech Republic, one of which is studying Arabic in Cairo, and they both were on our bus.  They invited us ...

My proclivity for traveling started at an early age, and the one destination that always enchanted me--even at that early age--was Africa; particularly an African safari.  Somehow I knew that my travel resumé would be inadequate unless I donned a downturn brim, safari khakis, and journeyed out to the endless plains of the Serengeti where I would see with my very own eyes the untamed animals I used to watch only through other people's lenses.  This past...

Okay, just some background information before I begin…..Mount Kilimanjaro is comprised of 3 separate peaks. Shira (12,999ft / 3962m) to the west is the oldest and the original volcano. Mawenzi to the east (16,798ft / 5120m) was formed by a later volcanic eruption and finally towering between the two is Kibo, the youngest and tallest of the three. It is thought that the last large eruption of Mount Kilimanjaro was so violent that it blew a hole in the side of Kibo’s crater, forming what we...

Kenya is a diverse country, with many different cultures represented. Notable cultures include the Swahili on the coast, pastoralist communities in the north, and several different communities in the central and western regions. Today, the Masai culture is well known, due to its heavy exposure from tourism, however, Maasai make up a relatively minor percentage of the Kenyan population. The Maasai are known for their elaborate upper body adornment and jewelry.

This was the third leg of our trip: Phoenix - New York, New York - Dubai, Dubai - Addis Ababa and finally Addis Ababa - Entebbe. The hotel wake-up call came through promptly at 6:00 a.m., I was awake 2 hours earlier unable to sleep due to the time change. Desire did not seem to have been affected by it at all as she continued to sleep. Finally I, was able to get her into the shower: we decide to have coffee and tea at the airport to avoid any delays and being rushed. We waited on Kevin whom I...

Arriving at the airport was no problem.  The airport is small and easy to navigate, the signs are in English, and you can exchange your dollars for cedis.  I, along with fellow volunteers that I met on the airplane, met with our program coordinator, Yao.  It was relieving to see him waiting outside for us, since we were a pretty disshelved and antsy group, having just been dropped into a foreign land.  We had our first Ghanaian meal - vegetarian fried rice with spicy chili...