Blogs from Africa - page 3341

Africa » Egypt December 4th 2004

Anafora As our semester came to a close, the whole group headed up to the Delta region to spend a weekend at a Coptic Church retreat centre called Anafora. We were the only large group there, and really had the whole place to ourselves. Aside from the staff that work at the centre and the laborers working the fields (it is a working farm) we really had the run of the place. Feeling the need for some alone time, I arranged for a private room and couldn’t help but love the place for providing such simplicity while meeting every need. Due to it being our ‘farewell’ outing for the semester, we had to have a ‘processing’ session on how this would be impacting our lives etc. I don’t mean to bash these, but I had already ... read more

Canal that runs around the whole complex

Cape Town - The start of an adventue in the most beautiful of cities...

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town December 4th 2004

Table Mountain

Markio

November 2004 saw me bidding an emotional farewell to friends and family and heading off my my post-graduate travels. The initial trip that I had mooted with my uni friends Steve and Chris had fallen through - I would now be meeting the Norfolk boys in Singapore for a month long blitz through South East Asia. In their absence, I had decided to forge my own path, which eased me into the traveling way via the English speaking South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, before heading up through South East Asia with Steve and Chris, and then culminating the trip in India and Nepal. So first up was South Africa, and I landed in Cape Town without any problems - although I was brought down to earth rudely before I even arrived at the hostel. Townships ... read more

Border Crossing & National Park

Africa » Mauritania December 1st 2004

Testing Neil's sand ladders with our German & Fin friends at the Mauritanian Border

NKOverland

Have at last found a cyber cafe with a decent connection - in Noukchott, the capital of Mauritania. We arrived in Mauritania nearly a week ago, after a fairly uneventful last few days in Morocco. Our French friend, Christophe, met up with his friends in Dahkla, where we camped for two nights before setting off for the border crossing into Mauritania. En route we made some new friends - a couple of German travellers - Dietmar & Cisco in a large old bus and a couple of guys from Finland in a Landrover Defender. We camped with them in the dunes 60km from the border - and joy of joys they had beer & whisky - our first alchohol since Spain! The border crossing was pretty uneventful - I don't know what I expected really - ... read more

Moroccan Wedding

Africa » Morocco » Fès-Boulemane » Fes December 1st 2004

JeNeSuisPasLapin

I ended up at a Moroccan wedding on Monday! I was walking home when a homegrown band of drummers and horn players can parading down the alley. It turns out they were my neighbors and they were happy to pull me and my companion into the fray. Inside their house we did some square dancing while the drummers banged away on baking tins, frying pans and even some real drums. The whole time I was sort of smothered with young children who were more than happy to lead me around the room by the hands (often with several children per hand) and sit on my lap and just sort of grab on to me however possible. I don't think I ever actually met the zwoj and zwoja but I'm pretty sure I met every single member ... read more

Safaga

Africa » Egypt November 26th 2004

Menaville

domkung

Recently my girlfriend and I went on a week long trip to Safaga, Egypt. We had a blast. When we arrived, we first spent an hour trying to get through visa and passport control, and by the time we got to the hotel, we were bushed. The next day brought sunshine and warm weather, and we promptly set off to the diving school Menadive and did a check dive. The water was warm, the fishes friendly and we had a great time. We then spent the next day exploring the waters of the red sea, and we had a blast. The town Safaga itself is a bit of a let down, as we asked the taxi driver to take us to the center, or the main bazar, and he dropped us off at the only supermarket. ... read more

Photos

Africa » Morocco » Fès-Boulemane » Fes November 25th 2004

JeNeSuisPasLapin

Here's most of what I have so for. Sorry that I'm missing alot (Lisbon, Sevilla, Chefchaoun, Fez, my housemates, the school). More to come soon. http://www.cosmicyoyos.com/maroc/Document.htmlp Happy Thanksgiving! Brad... read more

Apartment

Africa » Morocco » Fès-Boulemane » Fes November 22nd 2004

JeNeSuisPasLapin

I have a home! Last night I moved into my new apartment, its perfect! The building I'm in is a restored 19th century riad owned by an American couple who only spend a couple weeks a year here. I have two roommates. Gibron, from LA, is a 30 something year old English teacher at the center. He manages the restoration work and maintainance on the house for the owners. Gerald is a 50 something retired bookseller who is an expert on literature and classical music (and he knew my favorite author, Paul Bowles) The house is absoultely gorgeous, its 3 and a half stories with a roof-top terrace centerd around a gorgeous covered courtyard. There are 4 or 5 huge bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The courtayrd is elaboratley decorated with colored tilework and carved and painted ... read more

Atlas Mountains

Africa » Morocco November 21st 2004

locusts

NKOverland

Finally departed Casablanca for the country and the beautiful Atlas Mountains - some amazing scenery as we wended our way south via Taroudant, finally ending up in Tiznet. Spent 2 nights camping in the rough before arriving at Camping Municipal in Tiznet. One of the most amazing sights was little goats clambering all over the Argan trees - yes, goats up trees! Unfortunately my camera battery decided to run out, so no pics I'm afraid. Leaving Tiznit, after lovely hot showers on Saturday morning, we came across 3 French travellers hitchhiking to Dahkla. We With limited space, we offered to take one of them, so Christophe jumped aboard. This is his third trip to Mauritania, Senegal & Mali, so it's been good to ask him all about his experiences. He plans to meet up with his ... read more

Adventures in Egypt

Africa » Egypt November 20th 2004

Pyramids of Giza

Underwood

Spent 2 weeks in Egypt and had an absolutely fabulous time! I highly recommend traveling to Egypt to everyone at least once in their lifetime. As an American woman traveling, I felt totally safe the entire time I was there...actually felt safer than I have in a few of our cities here in the States. Whenever I travel, I like to see the typical tourist sites but also like to have as much contact with the locals as possible so I can really understand the culture first hand. On this trip, I was able to spend a little time with the locals but would like to return and get to know the Egyptians better. One of the things that struck me the most was the genuine generosity and kindness of the Egyptian people (very few people ... read more