I am attempting to locate a very reputable african safari tour company for Kenya and Tanzania. Does anyone know the best options? Price is not the biggest issue.
The African Safari PapersThe African Safari Papers is an intense and outrageous portrait of a family so troubled that their family trip is, in a word, torture. Richard Clark, ... Read More >
One that I would see all the big cats…Thank you!
African Safari JournalGoing on safari requires preparation – and no book leaves a traveler better prepared than this one. Including a wildlife guide and checklist, trip organizer, phrase book, safari diary, and map, this tremendous resource puts all necessary information right at the traveler’s fingertips.
Experience tailored safaris making you feel more like a local. Promo for Jeremy Allen’s Wild Safari Africa, an American tour specialist for southern African destinations….
Blood SafariPublished to rave reviews around the world, Blood Safari is a harrowing new novel from acclaimed writer Deon Meyer. Like the best international myster... Read More >
Check out this amazing tour of South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. Footage features, the Big 5, a lion kill and a stalking leopard. Travel Beyond has hosted tours to Africa since 1975….
White Hunters:The Golden Age of African SafarisEast Africa affects our imagination like few other places: The sight of a charging rhino goes directly to the heart; the limitless landscape of bony h... Read More >
The “Wild Coast” is the rugged, remote, fairly unpopulated stretch of South African coastline between East London and Port Edward. This stretch of some 280 km of cliff faces, perfect beaches and rich tidal estuaries is situated between the Mtamvuna River in the north, and the Great Kei River in the south. — hiddentrails.com…
The African Kitchen: A day in the life of a Safari ChefAfrica is synonymous with adventure-a land of wild animals, colorful traditions and natural splendor. The African Kitchen is a culinary and visual fea... Read More >
I've mentioned the Kenyan based AfriGadget blog before, but I just can't get enough of it. This week the tractor tire has the starring role. An old tractor tire can be turned into a handy bucket, a cattle salt lick, as well as a water trough for goats and sheep. These innovative ideas come from Maasai communities in Kitengela and Olerai, just north of Nairobi. Communities don't always have the money to spend on more "modern" technology, but just as important is the fact that they don't have to, when tractor tires work so well.
Another recent blog post introduces the fuel saving Sufuria. It's a simple idea, designed to boil water and cook breakfast more efficiently. As many of you are aware, cooking fuel -- be it gas, propane or charcoal, constitutes a major household expense in Africa. Charcoal is also particularly costly for the environment and a major player in deforestation throughout the continent. Hats off then to Dominic Wanjihia for this great invention. Hopefully his Sufuria will prove to be an instant success in the market place.
I wish more development projects used homegrown African solutions to everyday problems. If it breaks, it can be fixed using local parts and labor. And if a local person has come up with a good solution to a problem, it's surely not so hard to convince the community of its benefits.
Image of a Tractor Tire Bucket - © AfriGadget
Homegrown Technology - Affordable, Sustainable, Ingenious originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 17:27:22.
Snake we found in the camp in Botswana…
The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African AnimalsSince its original publication in 1993, The Safari Companion has been the best field guide to observing and understanding the behavior of African mamm... Read More >
DNA analysis has not been kind to the legacy of young King Tutankhamun. Scientists have recently discovered that the royal boy died from a bout of malaria at the age of 19. Combine this with a club-foot and a cleft-palate, and what we see is not so pretty. Good thing he was a King, albeit a minor one. But that may have been part of the problem, the DNA evidence also suggests his mother and father were siblings. Inbreeding generally poses problems for royalty and certainly in the case of King Tut.
The public has long been fascinated with King Tutankhamun, mainly because the discovery (in 1922) of this 3,300 year-old mummy was accompanied by lots of gold treasure. An amazing traveling exhibit "Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs" features many of Tutankhamun's burial objects, including his royal diadem and one of the four gold and precious stone inlaid coffins that contained his mummified internal organs. The exhibit is in San Francisco until the end of March and will open in New York on April 23 (2010). But of course, it's the Egyptian Museum in Cairo that holds most of Egypt's treasure, and that's one museum that nobody should ever miss. It holds more than 120,000 artifacts including King Tut's underwear and socks.
Image of King Tutankhamun's Funeral Mask - © Getty Images/Richard Nowitz
Poor King Tut originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 16:34:35.
I love ostriches and luckily, when you're on safari, you won't have much difficulty seeing them. Wild ostriches live throughout Africa, mostly in the drier areas and at low elevations. There are 4 living sub-species and they all inhabit different parts of the continent.
The ostrich is the world's largest bird and it won't surprise you that it can't fly. But boy, can it run. It's large powerful legs can propel this huge beast to speeds of up to 45 miles (70km) an hour. Those powerful legs can also kick like a mule and kill a man, so it's best not to corner an ostrich. Just in case you do anger it, keep in mind that ostriches can only kick forward, not backwards.
The fact that the ostrich can run like the wind has made ostrich racing a popular sport, especially in South Africa. Riding an ostrich is on my list of top 50 things to do before I die. If I can't make it to Oudtshoorn, in the Karoo (the ostrich capital of the world), I could try my luck in Phoenix, Arizona at the Ostrich Festival that's held every March.
It's my unscientific opinion that the ostrich must be one of the most versatile animals in the world. Ostrich farms are very popular, you can find them as far afield as Texas, Israel and Namibia. Ostriches are farmed for their eggs among other things. One egg can easily make an omelet for a dozen hungry men. Their shells have been used to make ornaments and necklaces for thousands of years by many African tribes. The shells are also handy for storing water.
The Versatile Ostrich originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 21:59:50.
Safari at the David Livingston Resort in Masai Mara Kenya Africa April Procita Jancy Hewitt Paige Strickland November 2008…
African Safari JournalGoing on safari requires preparation – and no book leaves a traveler better prepared than this one. Including a wildlife guide and checklist, trip organizer, phrase book, safari diary, and map, this tremendous resource puts all necessary information right at the traveler’s fingertips.
Her Busy Life.com On Safari in South Africa Her Busy Life Entertainment HBL Travel Channel – On Safari with Photographer T. Browning. herbusylife.com…
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary MiraclesAfter a lifetime’s close observation of the continent, one of the world’s finest Africa correspondents has penned a landmark book on life and deat... Read More >
Hills of Africa Travel specializes in customized African safari tours. We offer spectacular adventures with personalized and customized service, guaranteed to provide you with the experience of a lifetime. Whether youre taking a romantic honeymoon safari, a fun-filled family safari, or have always dreamed of experiencing the natural beauty of Africa and its wildlife, our exceptional agents and ded…
African Safari PhotographyChris Weston, one of the world’s most celebrated nature photographers, presents a practical and inspiring new guide on the dream trip of a lifetime:... Read More >
If you're planning to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, please spare a thought for the porters who will make your trip possible. Too often, people look to cut the costs of their trek. A Kilimanjaro trek should cost between $2500- $4000. Some of the price discrepancy reflects the route you choose to take, the quality of the food, and the quality of your equipment. But anything cheaper, and you should understand that the tour operator may be saving costs by overloading and underpaying your porters. Do not cut costs and go cheap when you climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
An organization called Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) is doing its best to encourage all Kilimanjaro operators to adhere to basic rules regarding equal pay as well as safety for porters. A porter does not need to be educated, employment is scarce and life is hard. It's the perfect recipe for abuse and exploitation to take place. Porters die from exhaustion, and hypothermia every year, because they're overloaded and there's no way they can carry enough food, clothing or shelter for themselves. It is partly your responsibility as a climber to find out from KPAP if the company you are trekking with adheres to their basic guidelines. Please watch this video to get an idea of the stakes, it ends with this quote:
Don't agree to get a cheap trip unless you are prepared to watch a young lad in tears trying to drag your 40 kilos of baggage up the mountain. You're putting him in danger as well as making him suffer.
Read More: KPAP l How to Climb Kilimanjaro l A Kili Trek in Pictures
Image of porters packing up before going up Mount Kilimanjaro - © Erika Bloom
Climbing Kilimanjaro: Cutting Costs Can Lead to Porter Abuse originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 12:17:30.
Surfing is big in South Africa. The last time I drove past Muizenberg, just outside of Cape Town, I was amazed at the amount of people in the water. Young, old, big, small, male, female -- all decked out in wetsuits and enjoying the ocean. Our regular contributing writer David Bristow, an avid surfer himself, has a managed to pinpoint the Top 10 Surfing Spots in South Africa. In Muizenberg apparently the swell is consistently good hence the crowds, but David mentions that "the hotties wait for a big south to south-east swell, when the right-hand point break really grinds". I guess that's what was happening when I happened to cruise by.
Dotted around South Africa's Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts, there are bays that are excellent 365 days a year, and some like the Dungeons near Hout Bay, that only work in winter. Whether you're a veteran surfer, or would like to try for the first time, you'll find that surfing in South Africa is just swell. Find out more about South Africa's Top 10 Surfing spots.
Image of a Surfer in J-Bay, South Africa -- © Getty Images/Pierre Totsee
Surfing J-Bay in SA originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 18:42:20.
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