Blogs from Africa - page 7

Advertisement

Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Cairo December 17th 2023

People dream of the moment they set eyes on the wonders of the world in Cairo. Perhaps the view from our airbnb isn’t what has filled travellers with awe across the centuries but it’s filled our hearts with joy having a shower and somewhere to stretch out before we head to Aswan. ... read more

Africa » Mauritania » Tagant » Tidjikja December 13th 2023

Mauritania is blue. That sounds strange perhaps. Most people, if they think of the country at all, or know about it for that matter, might say it is more sand coloured. It is 90% desert after all. And sand is everywhere. The desert never far away. Nouadibhou, Mauritinia’s second largest city, feels more like a conglomeration of desert villages then a city. There are a few paved roads, but most of it is rutted tracks, swathes of open sandy patches, low mud brick dwellings, goats, camels, Bedouin tents, and lots and lots of garbage. Most people would say it’s a shithole. I liked it. Mainly because it just isn’t like any other city I have been to. And the fishing port is very interesting. You aren’t allowed to take pictures for some reason, but you are ... read more
Nouadibhou
Nouadibhou
Nouadibhou

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar December 10th 2023

After A left late at night, I slept in a bit and left around 6am, with the guy, Pascal, who had picked me up when I first arrived. Throughout the trip, I had loved seeing the beautiful purple jacaranda trees, but never got a good picture. He stopped a couple of times so I could try again; pictures really do not do them justice. Maybe next time.... Airport check-in was fairly easy and we were loaded onto a very small plane with entrance at the back end. After we arrived in Zanzibar, the plane continued to Dar es Salaam. It was called "Precision Air" which had me a bit nervous, but it seemed to be a well run operation! Flying over Zanzibar I was a bit blown away with the condition of the buildings - I ... read more
Mahali Hotel
Mahali Hotel
GiantClamsFish

Africa » Tanzania » North » Ngorongoro Conservation Area December 6th 2023

After lunch at Safariland, we drove a couple of hours through the beautiful countryside, soon coming upon the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. At the entrance to the crater, Abdul went to get our tickets. In the meantime, avoiding the many baboons, we went to the nice little visitor center. You can see a model of the crater area (which I loved) and there are standing displays of the natural area surrounding it, such as human history, plant life, and of course the many types of animals we may expect to encounter. The visitor's center was quite nice and you could easily spend 30 minutes here. Plenty of valuable information to be read. We then got into our truck and continued the drive up the steep slope - it was very steep to drive and there were very ... read more
View from our room over crater!
Ngorogoro Crater
Ngorogoro Crater

Africa » Tanzania » North December 5th 2023

Our hotel above Lake Manyara, Luxury Escarpment Lodge, was probably our favorite of the three and I would have loved to spend 2-3 nights here to get the full experience of it. In addition to the beautiful setting and the amazing pool, they had a list of optional excursions you could do, such as hiking, biking, canoeing bird watching, Masai village tour, treetop tours, and even Balloon safari. In the morning, we finished our yummy breakfast and headed out to see Abdul for the next safari! He said that this would be a very different experience; the previous day at Tarangire, we had seen a lot of animals over vast distances, but today would be more of a jungle setting so we would not see as many animals, but the experiences we would have would be ... read more
Close up elephant encounters!
Masai 'black' giraffe
Lake Manyara NP

Africa » Tanzania » North » Tarangire National Park December 4th 2023

We were picked up at 7:30 am to make the 3-hour drive to Tarangire National Park, our first safari of the trip! Abdul was our guide and driver, who had 20 years of experience (his favorite safari is the Serengeti, fyi). It was just the three of us, with a full safari land cruiser and surprisingly comfortable seats. There were some drinks in a cooler in the back, and the hotel had made each of us a small packed lunch, which was nice to snack on since we had a quick basic breakfast. This lunch turned out to be the second best of the three, and I absolutely loved the gingham bags they were put in. We made our way from one side of Arusha to the other, which took about an hour as it appeared ... read more
Tarangire National Park
Escarpment Luxury Lodge
Tarangire National Park

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha December 3rd 2023

To celebrate our (planned) conquer of Mt Kilimanjaro, I had planned a "luxury" safari trip for three days - also to celebrate her PhD and new job. Despite my abandoned attempt, my friend A did conquer it! It was miserable apparently - ice crystals blowing sideways up the slope, no views above or below of anything but grey cloud, a frozen sign as it was -20C, and many of them throwing up a few times. Out of our group of 8, 6 summited, so she did amazing! Though yeah, I would most likely not have made it, and even if I did, it would have been miserable. So, I was happy with my decision. I was initially taken to the Brubru hotel for one night then onto the Weru Weru River Lodge for the next few ... read more
Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge
Weru Weru River Lodge
Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge

Africa » Tanzania » North » Mount Kilimanjaro December 2nd 2023

My friend and I planned this trip for months, since about April and we were looking forward to it. I knew I would have availability in December and it would not be during peak season. We knew it was at the tail end of the 'short' rainy season, meaning the length of the season was short and the duration of rainfall during the day was short (we were later told it was usually a couple hours every couple days). The main rainy season is during April, which is a definitely no-go! I was so looking forward to this trip. My friend, A, is a trail runner and physically she could have done it months ago. She had never tried high altitude before, but she took a few trips in California to try some higher parks. On ... read more
Sunrise at Barranca camp
Sunrise at Shira II camp
Day 1 hike to Shira I camp

Africa » Western Sahara » South November 30th 2023

In my last blog I nearly said my goodbyes to Morocco. The truth is, I was and I wasn't leaving Morocco after Legzira. It depends on who you talk to. If you talk to Moroccans, I wasn't, the border extends all the way down to Mauritania. If you talk to the UN, I did leave Morocco when I entered the Western Sahara. By some it's called the last colony in Africa. For all intents and purposes, I didn't leave Morocco. Because there were no border formalities, and travelling down to Mauritania was no different then travelling anywhere in Morocco. Same buses, same taxis, same everything. Only more military. But as a tourist you notice little of that. Eighty percent of Western Sahara is controlled by Morocco, the remaining by Polisario, the political and military arm of ... read more
Sidi Ifni
Sidi Ifni
Guelmim to Laayoun

Africa » Morocco » Guelmim » Sidi Ifni November 23rd 2023

It's been a time for goodbyes. Some have happened, some are going to happen soon. I guess travelling is all about goodbyes. Welcomes and goodbyes. You arrive somewhere, you stay for a while, and you leave again. Hello, how are you, and goodbye. That about sums it up. But I am not talking about those everyday goodbyes. I am talking about those that are closer to the heart. Goodbyes to loved ones. Goodbye to Jenni. She had to return to Germany, back to work, back to real life. Not everyone can stay in the dream like state that I call life. Eternal bliss. I'm just lucky. But before we said goodbye (but not farewell!), we took in Marrakech. Morocco's premier tourist destination. It was a bit of a shock, after the countryside and sleepy Taroudant. All ... read more
Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech




Tot: 1.071s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 20; qc: 68; dbt: 0.1313s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb