About Africa Travel

Air Travel Around East Africa

2009-11-06T11:51:48Z

Regional flights in East Africa have always added a significant expense to travel itineraries and to make things worse, the schedules are often sporadic. But despite the suspension of Tanzania's national airline (Air Tanzania) last December, things are looking up. Precision Air seems to have moved into the slot as Tanzania's most important airline, and is now partnered with Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways appears to be doing well and is also adding to its significant portfolio of destinations with new scheduled flights to Bangui, Kisangani and Malabo.

RwandAir is adding flights to Goma, Brussels and Dar es Salaam, and also has a codeshare agreement with Ethiopian Airlines. I'm planning to check out RwandAir's services next June from Kilimanjaro to Kigali. Their handy schedule allows me to take a quick side-trip to check out the gorillas after a Tanzanian safari.

540 the region's only low-cost regional airline is also adding to their growing list of destinations. You can fly from Nairobi to Zanzibar, Malindi, Kilimanjaro, Lamu, Entebbe, Mombasa and now Lodwar (northern Kenya). 540 is an excellent option for independent travelers, you can book online and they e-mail your tickets. Now there's progress.

If only they can figure out a direct flight to East Africa from the US. Ethiopia is the only destination in the region with an "open skies" agreement, but you still have a stop in Rome along the way. Uganda just signed an agreement this week with the FAA but we'll have to wait to see if Entebbe can meet the various conditions required before any flights are actually scheduled.

More About: African Airlines l African Airports l East Africa

_{Image - © 540 Africa's Low-cost Airline}

Air Travel Around East Africa originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:51:48.

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Follow Team USA in the 2010 World Cup

2009-11-04T15:19:13Z

The 2010 World Cup will take place next summer (11 June - 11 July) in South Africa. Team USA will be participating and if you'd like to cheer them on in the world's most exciting sporting event, you should plan your trip now. FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup tournament, has allocated Team USA match tickets to just 3 tour companies in the US. You can get tickets for all matches the US team will play in, as well as semi-final and final tickets if you book a tour.

It's worth booking a tour since it will be very difficult to find flights, accommodation and transport during the month of the World Cup tournament. South Africa is almost twice the size of Texas, the World Cup will be played out in 10 stadiums scattered across the country, so you'll need some help getting from place to place. There are also just a couple of direct flights a day from the US to South Africa, and seats will fill up quickly. Find out all about tours for the 2010 World Cup, by clicking here.

More About: 2010 World Cup l 2010 World Cup Stadiums l 2010 FIFA Designated Tour Operators

_{Image © Getty Images/Tyler Edwards}

Follow Team USA in the 2010 World Cup originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 15:19:13.

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December Festivals and Events in Africa

2009-11-02T16:46:33Z

If you're planning to be in Africa this Christmas you may be wondering whether to pack your stocking and santa hat. In most cases it would be entirely appropriate to do so since there will be more than 300,000 Christians celebrating along with you. It's not quite as commercial in Africa as in other parts of the world. Gifts are more likely to consist of a new school uniform rather than a new Wii game. But food, friends, church and family are similarly a big part of celebrating Christmas.

Other events and festivals in Africa this December include a desert festival in Tunisia complete with camel racing; a harvest festival in Swaziland; a music festival in Ethiopia and a carnival in Cape Town.

Find out more about these major festivals in Africa this December including dates and venues.

_{Image -- Zulu Christmas Ornament -- © Marion Boddy-Evans}

December Festivals and Events in Africa originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 16:46:33.

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A Crash of Rhinos

2009-10-30T12:27:40Z

I've always had the sneaking suspicion that animal group names are more poetic than scientific. Come to find out, that many of them actually are made up by some eccentric lady more than 500 years ago. Dame Juliana Berners wrote an essay on hunting in the Book of St Albans in 1486. In the essay she classified groups of animals with nouns that she simply thought sounded good. And so we have a gaggle of geese, an army of ants, a school of fish, a pride of lions, a troop of baboons and some of my favorites:

A crash of rhinos
A cackle of hyenas
A coalition of cheetahs
An obstinacy of buffalo
A conspiracy of ravens
An intrusion of cockroaches
A murder of crows
A tower of giraffes
A bloat of hippos
A leap of leopards

Some groups of animals have more than one name. You can say a herd of buffalo, a troop or a gang. But I think an obstinacy of buffalo sounds best, don't you? The good thing about group names having their basis in poetry and not science is that we can simply make them up ourselves. How about a snort of hippos, a rumble of elephants, or a polka of leopards?

Find more group names from the San Diego Zoo and the NPWRC.

_{Tower of Giraffes -- © Getty Images/Theo Allofs}

A Crash of Rhinos originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 12:27:40.

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Blog of the Week -- The Advocacy Project

2009-10-28T15:13:30Z

Since bad news is news, and Africa has its fair share of that, we often end up skimming the headlines and never really get to know much about the individuals affected by war, famine, poverty and disease. Most poor or marginalized people have stories that are seldom heard, they have no voice. Advocacy.net is an organization that is trying to give a voice to these marginalized communities. They have blogs written by students (mostly from the US and Europe), who spend 3 months in remote communities, listening to personal histories and helping people claim their basic rights. If you've ever wanted to work or volunteer in Africa, read some of these blogs. They're eye-opening, educational, moving and important.

Current fellows of this program include Ned Meerdink a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He's based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His latest post includes a current update on the security situation in South Kivu; an explanation of an local alternate fuel program he's helping to raise money for; and a report on the successful distribution of new school uniforms and supplies that benefit children of single mothers, widows, and victims of sexual violence. He says "A small gap in fighting opened up the roads for movement South from Uvira, and now lots of kids are back in class, albeit a bit late."

Click here to read more Advocacy Project blogs. And if you're interested in this program or just want to find out more about volunteering in Africa, here are some resources to get you started:

Blog of the Week -- The Advocacy Project originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 15:13:30.

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Xhosa Tongue Twisters

2009-10-26T14:17:42Z

You may well know that over 2000 languages are spoken in Africa. The guttural sounding Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) dialects in the north, give way to softer sounds as you travel further south. And when you reach the very southern parts of Africa, a strange clicking noise enters into the vocabulary. When I visited Cape Town for the first time, it was the conversation interspersed with clicks that excited me most on arrival. I ignored my luggage making its way round the conveyer belt a few times, just to listen to the customs guys chat about the weather in Xhosa, it could have been Zulu. Either way, both have clicks and make up two of South Africa's 11 official languages. (That's right, eleven official languages).

I had previously been under the impression that "clicking" was exclusive to San Bushman languages. I didn't expect to hear it under the glare of city lights. If you want to hear a sample, check out this video of a young man in Port Elizabeth, patiently explaining the various Xhosa clicks. Or this young man telling a tongue-twisting Xhosa tale at the Robben Island Museum. I also found a delightful Zulu song, with plenty of clicks to go around. I'm Dutch, so it's easy for me to roll my R's as well as any Latina, and my G's sound nice and throat-cleary. But, heaven help me, I absolutely fail at any and all variations of the click.

Xhosa Tongue Twisters originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 14:17:42.

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Your Photos of Africa

2009-10-25T12:31:41Z

I recently got some beautiful photos from Linda Fogarty who travels to various parts of Africa for work. I've added them to my ever growing gallery of pictures that have been sent to me over the years. If you have any photos of your travels to Africa that you would like to submit, please use this form.

This particular set of photos are not ordered in anyway, I think it simply showcases the diversity and beauty of Africa. But, if you're looking for a destination in particular, there are lots more sets to take a look at, click here for a list.

Your Photos of Africa originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 12:31:41.

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Woohoo! It's Finally Raining in Kenya

2009-10-22T14:20:13Z

Kenya has just been through one of the worst droughts in its history, the rain finally started to fall a week ago. I was browsing through one of my favorite web sites, WildlifeDirect.org, and came across this great photo taken a few days ago, in a blog post by a project called "Ewaso Lions". They work with local people to enhance the co-existence between lions and communities, in the arid Samburu region in Northern Kenya. It's a very thin Oryx, making the most of the new grass, two days after the first rains.

If you're not familiar with WildlifeDirect, it's an amazing project founded by Richard Leakey and other prominent conservationists. The web site is collection of blogs, written by those who are working on the ground, protecting vulnerable wildlife as well as communities, in some of the most remote areas around the world. The blogs allow those who care about wildlife, the opportunity to follow the day to day activities of these remarkable people and donate to whatever project really speaks to them. Donations go through Paypal, it takes just a minute of your time and you can donate any amount, even as small as $5.

Woohoo! It's Finally Raining in Kenya originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 14:20:13.

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Where is This?

2009-10-21T09:44:25Z

You're looking at a city that's known as the busiest container port in Africa. A favorite local snack is called "bunny chow". The surfing is excellent, the beaches are just fine, but international visitors haven't quite re-discovered it. Where is it?

Click here for the answer along with more information about this destination.

Where is This? originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 09:44:25.

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African Tunes on my Playlist

2009-10-19T10:38:07Z

I am by no means an expert on African music (I'll leave that to the folks running Afropop.org), but I thought it would be fun to share my current playlist with you. So here are some African beats that have been in rotation on my iPod this past week:

Sauti Sol, a young Kenyan acoustic band with a soulful sound, are making waves with their debut album Mwanzo. I can't stop playing their second single that just came out, Blue Uniform. Check it out on YouTube or download the whole album from Emusic.
Bisso na Bisso is a French/Congolese rap ensemble and an excellent introduction to French/African rap if you haven't heard much before. Check out Bisso na Bisso on YouTube from their first album Racines, great song and fun video. If you like this, check out Ce Soir, the first single from their new album, Africa United.
Tinariwen, a group of Tuareg poet/musicians with a famous fan base including Bono, Robert Plant and Santana. Tinariwen released an album this summer called Companions, here's a video clip introducing the album. You can download the album from Emusic.
The Very Best is a London based band, led by Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya. Their songs are in Chichewa and can be heard on the recently released debut album Warm Heart of Africa. Check out Chalo and Tengazako, a Malawian take on M.I.A's Paperplanes.

Read more...
African Tunes on my Playlist originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 10:38:07.
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