Blogs from Africa - page 22

Despite my hectic workload, I kept my weekend trip to Cairo with my usual Trekkup group, partially swayed by that it seemed we had a free afternoon on Sunday at a nice hotel. Yeah, no. This did not happen. This was by far the most busy, packed weekend I think I have ever had. It was great, don't get me wrong, but my god (or as our guide Amina would say, "For God's sake"), I am still exhausted! We met up at the Sharjah airport, which I have not flown from since before Covid. Aside from the heavy traffic from Dubai, it is a cute building and pretty efficient. We took Air Arabia to Cairo and despite, leaving on time, we somehow landed 40 minutes late - I have no idea why. So, we landed at ... read more

After months of planning, preparation and anticipation, it is very exciting to have arrived in Madagascar. I have traveled about 10,000km and from winter to summer. It was snowing gently when I locked my front door to begin the journey. My flight arrived almost an hour late into Antananarrivo as it had to be de-iced before take-off in a subzero Paris. I spending some time with The Madagascar Biodiversity Project at the Kianjavato Ahmason Field Station. Since I arrived, everyone I have met at MBP has been welcoming, friendly and helpful. I think it is very fitting that upon arrival volunteers are invited to plant a tree at KAFS. I was lucky enough to get planting two trees. Someone suggested they should be called Peter and Petera. Whilst we waited for his Deputy to arrive, myself ... read more

Lango and Mboko CampsAfter our days tracking the Western Lowland Gorillas at Ngaga Camp, we headed into Odzala Kokoua National Park itself for an old fashioned safari - lots of trekking, lots of mud and stream walks, lots of amazing times just watching all the wildlife that came to the nutrient rich Bai in front of Lango Camp. The Republic of Congo has just recently starting to host safari's and they are committed to doing it right - with a huge helping of adventure! We had several intense moments as our knowledgeable and cautious guides turned to us and got us hightailing it out a potentially dangerous encounter with a hippo or elephant. Their expertise was impressive!... read more

Sarfaga is a small port on the Red Sea. It is developing as a tourist / health resort as people enjoy the mineral rich waters and the assorted water sports that are starting to become available. But together with approximately 1,100 other passengers we are booked on the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Karnak trip. We need to depart by 07:00am so it is a very early start with the restaurants opening at 05:00. We finally get to the Valley of the Kings and it is barely controlled chaos. They limit visitors to three tombs which they rotate so individual tombs don’t get too damaged. If you want to visit Tutankhamen’s tomb that is extra but we have been repeatedly told it is empty and not worth seeing. So we see those of Rameses III, ... read more

2023 New Year’s holidays we visited Morocco. We flew 5 hours from Amsterdam to Marrakech. We travelled by bus during 20 days together with a group leaded by a Moroccan guide, Abdul, that spoke fluent Dutch. After years of backpacking and low-budget travelling, it was a change. A nice change, by the way. We just sat in the bus, fastened our seatbelts and visited Roman ruins at “Volubilis”, monuments attached to the past and the culture of Andalucía: “الأَنْدَلُس” Al-Andalus (when Spain was part of different Muslim States from the 8th to the 13th centuries), the old Medinas (cities) of Fez, Meknes, Marrakech & Essouira, the Atlas Mountains and Ouarzazare, the ancient city where caravans stopped before entering the Sahara Dessert during 51 days on their way to the legendary Timbuktu. The flavours, colours and the ... read more