Blogs from Africa

We had two days at sea after Durban before we reached Cape Town. The highlight of this time was our choir concert. When we embarked at Fremantle I joined the passenger choir. Since then we had been learning some songs to get ready for a concert. There are quite a number in the choir but we thoroughly enjoy our daily practices with Thiagos, a Brazilian, who has a fabulous voice and is choir master. The day before we reached Cape Town we assembled for a rehearsal at 12 and then a sound check in the Palladium Theatre. We were joining with the large group who have been learning to play the ukulele. Then at 2-30 the concert began. First the ukulele players went through their repertoire, then we joined with them to sing and play Can ... read more

After a huge amount of effort on our parts (particularly Kathryn’s), we have since gotten most of our money back from the Visa credit card system. We weren’t certain who was at fault here, whether it was the tour company we’d booked the Africa trip with originally or the airline (KLM). We were angry at both until we discovered that another Canadian couple who were on the same safari that we didn’t make, had flown with British Airways having produced the exact same documentation that KLM had denied us. At this point, all of our anger was redirected to KLM. One KLM (also Air France) airport attendant at Pearson Airport in Toronto, was 100% to blame for our African Safari troubles. We will not fly again with KLM. Our new June 2024 African Safari which is ... read more

As I made my way back up the Westside of Tunisia I couldn't believe the quantity and quality of the ancient ruins. It also had very lush and green landscape compared to the desert south and the eastern coastline. I started at the Ruins of Sbeitla dating back to 138 to 161. This was the entry point of the Muslim conquest of North Africa. It is believed this settlement reached great prosperity through the olive industry allowing them to build such impressive buildings. Sbeitla is known for having the best preserved Forum in the world. Instead of constructing only one temple dedicated to the three most important Roman gods: Jupiter, Minerva, and Juno the inhabitants of the city built separate temples for each one. One of the most famous collection of ruins is Dougga which UNESCO ... read more

After exploring the coast of Tunisia I headed into the central part of the country which is where Tunisia connects to the Sahara Desert. The southern part of the county is very sparsely occupied as it is a primarily desert. My first stop was to stay in a cave in a mountain community of Chenini. The mountain village dates back to the 12th century when the Berbers took refuge to escape the invasion of the Caliph Fatmide al-Mistansir. The striking white mosque called the Seveln Sleepers was constructed at the same time. The occupants built their homes in caves in the side of the mountain to have protection from the harsh temperatures. In the summer it can get to 60C (140F) but the temperature inside of the cave stays significantly cooler. I had a tour from ... read more

This African adventure is drawing to a close. After cycling over 4,000km since January I've arrived in Banjul. This is as far south as I'm heading. That's probably just as well, because the sun is now very strong around midday and the afternoons are very hot. To reach Banjul, I had to cross the Gambia River on the ferry. I loved the thought of getting on a ferry from Barra to Banjul. Barra, the Scottish one, is one of my favourite places to visit. I definitely think a Barra to Barra ferry service would be a brilliant idea! Even better if it would stop in Derry on the way past. I'd read online about how chaotic buying tickets for the ferry was, basically a scrum and how crowded it was on the ferry. Maybe I was ... read more