Vintage footage – Safari in africa – footage of lions – video 1960′s – video of a trip to africa in the 1960′s village visit – Safari by Opulent Africa – clockwork 8mm Kodak cinefilm…
This is PT. II of the 3 parts video of our Kruger National Park wildlife safari adventure. The hippo – one of the BIG 4 ( animals ) – in Africa will make its stealthy appearance. The fearsome baboons and the beautiful adult giraffe are also featured in this part of our African safari adventure video….
The Majorelle Gardens offer a little slice of tranquility from the hubbub of the busy streets of Marrakech. Owned by Yves Saint Laurent (his ashes have been strewn in the garden now) and Pierre Bergé, the Majorelle Gardens were created by French painter Jacques Majorelle who settled in Morocco after the First World War.
With over 300 species of spectacular plants, many planted in vibrantly colored pots, the Majorelle Gardens are a botanical work of art. A brilliantly painted studio of Majorelle’s is now a quaint little Islamic Art Museum with pieces coming from the owners’ personal collection… read more.
Image of the Islamic Art Museum, Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech, Morocco — © Anouk Zijlma
Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 09:00:32.
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Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing"... brings new insights into the colonial relationship while challenging the unspoken temptation that this was a distinctly European period." -- S... Read More >
Highlight Pics – Lions to Leopards, Hippos to Zebra, Giraffes to Cape Buffalo. All shots taken at Rattray’s on Mala Mala, South Africa and the famous Mombo Camp, Botswana. I have only gone through about 40% of our pictures so far… Music will be added……
Every year, musicians from all over the world gather with Touareg tribesman to enjoy one of the most unique festivals in the world. The Festival au Desert will enjoy its 10th anniversary in January 2010, on a small patch of the Sahara, in place called Essakane in Mali. The 3 day music festival will be held from 7 – 9 January in 2010.
The Touareg nomads traditionally gather once a year to exchange news, do a little trading as well as share songs and poems. In the past 10 years, musicians from other parts of Mali as well as Europe, and even as far as Canada, have been invited for the festival. In 2008, you could watch Inuit perform alongside a reggae band from the Ivory Coast and blues musicians from Mali. This is truly a “world music” event. While some commercialization is creeping in, Essakane is 2 hours from Timbuktu and very remote. It will be a while before you can really call it “a sell out”.
The festival is an adventurous “bring your own tent” affair with little, to no electricity, so leave the curling iron at home. But several tour agencies who specialize in festival tours and/or Mali make it easier to get to and enjoy. At least, they provide the tents and transportation so you don’t have to lug your camping equipment half way round the world. Nor will you have to borrow a camel to get there. You can save some of your energy to party for 3 nights instead.
Festival au Desert Tours:
Palace Tours based in Philadelphia offer numerous Festival tours from one week to two weeks.
Venus Adventures specializing in women only travel offer a 17 day Mali itinerary including the Festival
Wild Frontiers based in UK has an 18 day tour that includes the Festival
Saga Tours based in Mali offer a 2 week festival/Mali itinerary
Festival au Desert Reviews and Videos
NY Times feature on the Festival au Desert in 2008
The Guardian’s review of the Festival au Desert
BBC Slideshow of the 2007 Festival au Desert
Touareg, Mali — © Getty Images/Peter Adams
A Unique Music Festival in the Sahara originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 15:59:38.
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Hwange: Retreat of the Elephants (South African Travel & Field Guides)Hwange is one of Africa's premier game reserves, the pride of Zimbabwe's tourism and conservation fraternity, in one of the world's last remaining wil... Read More >
Today I am proud to be an African. … ‘South Africa’ holiday safari ‘scenic beauty’ wildlife ‘cape town’ adventure vacation dream…
Tanzania Safari: Lion vs. Hyena For more information and other videos of Tanzania please see or email to info@tanzaniaodyssey.com Better still please telephone us for advice — UK — +44 (0) 20 7471 8780, or US +1 0866 3564691…
I’m delighted to welcome David Bristow to the Africa Travel site here at About.com. David will be contributing regularly to the South African content on the site. He’s already started eating and drinking his way through some of the finer restaurants in the land, check out his review of The Strandloper in Langebaan, just north of Cape Town. The Strandloper is a no frills fish restaurant on the beach, where “”if you want salad with your meat then have some chicken”. Children are charged according to their height and the ten course meal takes the average patron around 5 hours to finish.
Besides being able to spot a great restaurant, David was born and bred in South Africa and has covered Africa, mostly south of the equator, for the past 20 as a travel and nature writer and a photographer. For 15 years he was editor of Africa’s top-selling travel magazine Getaway. His main interest, besides environmental issues, is seeking out new and exciting places for adventures – although comfort is never eschewed.
David has authored more than a dozen books on on South and southern Africa, climbed Africa’s 10 highest peaks (among others) and scuba dived on most of the best sites around Africa and the Indian Ocean islands.
Welcome David!
More about: David Bristow l The Strandloper Restaurant l South Africa
Image © David in Action
Introducing David Bristow originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 10:28:20.
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Postcolonial Eyes: Intercontinental Travel in Francophone African Literature (Liverpool University Press - Contemporary French & Francophone Cultures)Over the past two decades, scholarly interest in travel and travel writing has developed significantly. Critical engage... Read More >
Highlights of our GrassTrack Safari to Botswana, Africa. Our mobile camping safari spent 7 days camping in the African bush while visiting the Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, and the Okavango Delta. We offer exciting, affordable camping safaris throughout northern Bostwana. Visit our website for more info:
Ghana’s Atlantic Coast is lined with old forts (castles) built by various European powers during the 17th Century. Initially, the forts were used to store goods for export, later the slave-trade turned many into prison dungeons. The Cape Coast Castle is the most impressive of Ghana’s old forts. It was originally built by the Dutch in 1637, later expanded by the Swedes, finally the British took control of it in 1664 and turned it into their colonial headquarters. It stayed that way for the next 200 years until they moved the capital to Accra in 1877.
The Cape Coast Castle is now an excellent museum with information about the history of Ghana, the slave-trade and local culture. President Obama visited the castle on his tour of the country earlier this year.
Find out more about Ghana’s top attractions…
President Obama visiting the Cape Coast Castle, Ghana — © Getty Images
Where to Go in Ghana originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 14:17:06.
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Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African SoldierWith the same disarmingly unguarded prose that won her critical acclaim for Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller tells of her un... Read More >
Highlights of our GrassTrack Safari to Botswana, Africa. Our mobile camping safari spent 7 days camping in the African bush while visiting the Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, and the Okavango Delta. We offer exciting, affordable camping safaris throughout northern Bostwana. Visit our website for more info:
‘Tis the season for gift buying and I’ve put together a list of gift ideas that should appeal to anyone planning a trip to Africa. Gifts include CD’s, beasts of burden, newspapers, air travel vouchers and more ….
Christmas is celebrated widely throughout Africa but for most Africans sharing a meal and attending church is what it’s all about. But you will still see window shops decorated with fake snow and people dressed as Santa, so the commercial aspects of the holidays are somewhat alive and well.
Image of a Maasai Lade holding necklaces from the Leakey Collection (i.e. what I want for Christmas) — © Leakey Collection
Gifts Ideas For The Africa Traveler originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 10:24:03.
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African Safari (Discovery Travel Adventures)This 224-page title covers the natural highlights of Africa, from the Kalahari Desert to the Serengeti grasslands and the coral reefs of the Red Sea. ... Read More >
Finally, it looks like Zimbabwe is getting out of its terrible economic slump. The coalition, forced on Mugabe after last year’s elections, has helped stabilize the country and tourism is on the rise. According to a recent AP report, “The number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe this year has more than tripled”. The initial number was so low, this probably sounds better than it is, but at least the trend is in the right direction. With the forced power sharing agreement many foreign governments have lifted their travel warnings, which has undoubtedly helped tourism. Zimbabwe was never very dangerous to visit, even during its worst times, but perception is everything and tourists are quite risk averse, after all they want to enjoy their holiday.
Mugabe’s regime itself also put a lot of people off from visiting. The idea that your tourist dollars may end up in his pocket is not very appealing. But, of course, it’s the ordinary man and woman in the street that really suffers when tourists don’t come. No one to buy their crafts or stay at hotels where they work. Zimbabwe is blessed with the magnificent Victoria Falls, excellent national parks, beautiful landscapes, great fishing, golfing, rafting … (you name it) and very friendly people. It has always been one of the safest countries to visit in Africa and one of the best to explore independently. Hopefully this recent upward trend will continue and Zimbabwe will be back on every tourist’s Southern Africa itinerary. And hey, they’re using the US Dollar as their currency now, you won’t even have to change money when you get there.
Zimbabwean Pottery, Waiting For Buyers — Getty Images/Neil Beer
Zimbabwe on the Up and Up originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 08:11:28.
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Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing"... brings new insights into the colonial relationship while challenging the unspoken temptation that this was a distinctly European period." -- S... Read More >
Catch a glimpse of some of the greatest wildlife on earth – lions, cheetahs, elephants, gorillas, zebras and many other creatures of Tanzania and Rwanda….
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