African Safari

Once you have had the “greatest hands-on wildlife experience in the world” by visiting TIGERS Preservation Station and taken the Wild Encounters Tour, you can expand your horizons and get the best wildlife viewing in the world. You can travel deep into the African Bushveldt with one of the experienced and knowledgeable wildlife experts from TIGERS and see firsthand one of the few truly “WILD” plac…

Slum tourism is one the latest travel fads (along with safari companies adopting schools and orphanages for their well-heeled clients to pop into and deliver pens and soccer balls). One of Africa's biggest slums - Kibera in Nairobi, is on the tour list and of course Soweto is a must for anyone traveling through Johannesburg. I'm sure there are many out there who find it inconceivable that someone would want to spend a day of their vacation visiting shacks and taking photos of urban poor. But it's often a highlight of someone's trip, and certainly not the main reason people visit a country like Kenya, Namibia or South Africa.

Visiting a township or slum is an optional side trip. Why not see how many locals live and have a chance to interact? Because the townships and slums are not just poor people living in shacks surrounded by trash. They are vibrant communities. There are schools, restaurants, shops, laughter, life and music. It's an education for both parties involved. It's also an opportunity for local folks to benefit directly from tourism to their country.

I'm fine with township and slum tours as long as it's done responsibly. I'm also fine with safari companies adopting schools and orphanages. The more the merrier.

_{Image of a Soweto Barber - © Getty Images/Hamish Blair}

Slum Tourism originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 14:48:06.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

United Airlines will start a non-stop daily service to Accra on June 20, 2010. Flights will depart Washington DC at 10.10pm and arrive in Ghana's capital city the following day at 12.40pm. United is offering a special introductory fare to launch the new service. They're hoping to continue the flight on to Lagos, pending approval from Nigerian officials (I'm not holding my breath).

I also bumped into the Executive Vice President for Air Arik recently. This Nigerian based airline flies direct between JFK and Lagos three times a week. You can check the availability online but you have to e-mail (uscustomerservices@arikairint.com) to make a reservation.

Read more...

Direct Flights from the US to Accra and More... originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 14:36:37.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

In 100 days, the 2010 FIFA World Cup will kick off in Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium on June 11th. Is South Africa ready to host the world's biggest sporting event?

In true South African style, the man in charge of getting Durban ready for the tournament, kicked off the 100 day countdown by bungee jumping from the spanking new stadium. "Durban is absolutely ready," shouted Mike Sutcliffe, red-faced but grinning, seconds after an elastic bungee rope had broken his fall and left him swinging gently in the humid air." (Source: BBC). There's still plenty left to do in the nine cities that will host the World Cup, but in general, things appear to be on track. So now it's up to the fans to buy the tickets and make the event a success.

I spoke to Terry von Guilleaume of Destination Southern Africa a few days ago. His agency is one of only 3 FIFA approved agencies in the US that can distribute World Cup tickets. He still has match tickets, flights and hotel rooms available at surprisingly reasonable prices.

More About: 2010 World Cup l 2010 World Cup Tours l 2010 World Cup Stadiums

_{Durban's Stadium - Getty Images}

The 2010 World Cup Countdown Begins originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 10:51:51.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

The 2010 Winter Olympics saw athletes from 6 African nations competing. A last minute change in rules led to the withdrawal of a disappointed Philip Boit of Kenya. Philip was hoping to retire after competing in what would have been his third Olympics. As for the African athletes that did compete, personal best times and just finishing were the overriding goals. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the "Snow Leopard", exceeded everyone's expectations to finish 47th, out of a starting field of 103, in the men's Slalom. What a great job, and in a leopard-print outfit no less. He's planning to introduce grass-skiing when he returns home to Ghana.

The Algerian, South Africans, Moroccan and Senegalese athletes all raced their best and no doubt will bring back great memories of the Vancouver Games. For their results and more, see -- Africa At the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Africa's Winter Olympic Results originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 10:04:28.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

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….

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.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

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.

Permalink | Comment | Email this