Gadling

Gallery: More travel sketches from BBC's Tim Baynes

Meg Nesterov — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Photos, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Libya, Tunisia, Japan, Turkey, United Arab, France, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Middle East, Hong Kong

We wrote yesterday about Tim Baynes' delightful travel sketches from around the world on BBC and liked them so much we came back for more. You can (and should!) get lost for hours looking at his drawings on Flickr with fun anecdotes and scribbles bringing depth and humor to his slice-of-life artwork.

Check out some of our favorites in the gallery below, from a look inside the BBC Starbucks to the madness of Dubai immigration during the ash cloud to a quiet barbershop in Tripoli.

Gallery: Tim Baynes travel drawings from around the world

See more of Tim Baynes' work on the BBC, his personal Flickr stream, or order a copy of his book Doors to Automatic and Cross Check, direct from the artist.

All photos courtesy of Tim Baynes.

Gallery: More travel sketches from BBC's Tim Baynes originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 18 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Africa's new middle class benefits travel

Sean McLachlan — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Photos, Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tunisia

Africa's middle class is growing.

The African Development Bank says one in three Africans are now middle class. While the bank's definition isn't comparable to the Western definition--the African middle class makes $2-$20 a day--the lifestyle is similar. Middle-class Africans tend to be professionals or small business owners and instead of worrying about basics such as food and shelter, their main concerns are getting better health care and getting their kids into university.

The bank says the countries with the biggest middle class are Botswana, Gabon, and Tunisia, while Liberia, Mozambique, and Rwanda have the smallest. The BBC has an interesting photo gallery profiling members of this rapidly growing class.

So how does this affect travel? With an growing middle class you get more domestic tourism, good news for non-Africans traveling in Africa. More regional airlines are cropping up, and comfortable buses provide an appealing alternative to the bone-shaking rattletraps familiar to travelers in Africa.

It also makes consumer goods easier to find. This generally means cheap Chinese exports of even worse quality than what we're accustomed to in the West, but in bigger cities quality goods are readily available. There's also an increasing number of nice restaurants and cafes geared towards locals. Internet access is also improving.

During my Ethiopian road trip and my two months living in Harar I benefited from Ethiopia's middle class. Mobile phone coverage is available everywhere except remote villages and the wilderness, and although the Internet is slow, there are Internet cafes in every town. Improved education meant there many people who could speak English and who could help me learn some Amharic and Harari. Often I could take a more comfortable "luxury" bus rather than be stuffed in a local bus with an entire village of passengers. Self-styled budget travelers may turn their nose up at spending an extra two dollars to be comfortable, but the middle class buses are quicker and you're more likely to meet someone you can talk to.

In fact, I made some good friends on the luxury bus to Harar. A group of Ethiopian pharmacy students showed me the town and gave me insights into their lives. University education is free in Ethiopia if you pass a rigorous entrance exam. The government even pays for your room and board, and you pay them back by working a government job for some time after you get out. The students I met will be setting off to villages to provide basic health care.

Nearly all these students, and in fact nearly all middle-class Africans I've met, yearn to go to the West. One even called her country "a prison". While heading to the West may be a good career move, it hurts the continent. As one African pointed out in the BBC photo gallery, the money it takes to get to Europe can start up a nice business in Africa.

Africa's new middle class benefits travel originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 12 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Travel industry battered by world crises says CNN

Kraig Becker — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Africa, Asia, North America, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Japan, United States, Airlines, Budget Travel, News, Middle East

A recent report from CNN says that the spate of world crises that have occurred in the first three months of the year has hit the travel industry especially hard. Natural disasters and political unrest have left many travelers rethinking their plans or cancelling trips altogether as they scramble to avoid a host of issues across the globe.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan, coupled with fears of radiation and a potential nuclear meltdown in power plants there, has significantly reduced demand for travel to that country. It has gotten so bad that Delta Airlines has announced that they are cutting capacity to Tokyo's Narita International Airport by as much as 20% through May, and suspending flights to another regional airport altogether.

Similarly, travel to Northern Africa and the Middle East has also dropped significantly as political upheaval has spread across that region. It hasn't just been the airlines that have felt the pinch however, as disruption in travel to Bahrain, Tunisia, and most importantly Egypt, has put a dent in the cruise industry too. According to Carnival Cruise Lines more than 280 of their cruises have seen a change in their itineraries thanks to issues in the Middle East. They estimate a loss of $44 million so far, and the region hasn't stabilized just yet.

The Middle East unrest has brought another unwelcome side effect to the travel industry as well. Any threat to the distribution of oil means an increase in prices, which is always passed on to the consumer. Soaring oil prices has led to an increase in the cost of airfares, and the dreaded term "fuel surcharge" has reared its ugly head once again too. With the busy summer travel season still ahead, it seems unlikely that oil prices will be coming down again anytime soon.

2011 is certainly off to a turbulent start. If the first few months are any indication, we could be in for one very memorable, but chaotic, year. Has any of the recent global calamities caused you to change your plans? Are you now going elsewhere because of recent events? Worse yet, have you canceled your plans to travel this year altogether?

Travel industry battered by world crises says CNN originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tourists returning to Tunisia

Alex Robertson Textor — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Africa, Tunisia

If they haven't already begun doing so, tourists will soon be returning to Tunisia. Travelmole reports today on renewed interest in traveling to Tunisia following the uprisings that first rocked the north African country in December.

The key fact behind this development is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's decision last Friday to lift its warning advising against all but essential travel to Tunisia. The FCO is the United Kingdom's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To say that the FCO's travel warnings are trusted would be an understatement. Tripadvisor saw a 19 percent increase in interest in Tunisia in the days following the warning revision.

Several big UK tour operators announced earlier this week that they would resume selling package vacations to Tunisia in the days following the warning revision. First Choice, Thomas Cook, and Thomson will reestablish normal flight schedules by the first week of March at the latest. This development will do much to comfort prospective tourists that Tunisia is a safe place to travel.

But even as the FCO officially deems Tunisia to be safe and UK tour operators opt for a return to normalcy, caution prevails elsewhere. Disney decided to cancel Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney sea and land packages to Tunisia earlier this week.

[Image: Flickr | ahisgett]

Continue reading Tourists returning to Tunisia

Tourists returning to Tunisia originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marseille's Noailles quarter: a taste of Africa, in Provence

Laurel Miller — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Food and Drink, Africa, Europe, Algeria, Tunisia, France, Budget Travel

The Provencal port city of Marseille has historically been associated with bouillabaisse, and, to a lesser extent, whores, thieves, and the usual debauchery that goes with being a sea port. Things started to turn around about a decade ago, and today it's a safe, vibrant, thoroughly charming city whose cuisine and culture reflect its past as a colonial trading port with North Africa.

When France acquired Algeria in 1830, Marseille, the second largest port in Europe, saw a major influx of immigrants from North and West Africa that continues to this day. You can even take a ferry to Tunisia, 550 nautical miles away.

I was in Marseille researching a bouillabaisse story when I serendipitously discovered the Noailles, the city's Arab quarter. It's located a short walk from the Vieux Port, Marseille's bustling, bar-and-restaurant-lined waterfront, off of the main artery of La Canebiere. It was like stumbling upon a Moroccan souk: narrow, cobbled streets lead away from a central square that is home to a daily outdoor produce market. Small, dark, cluttered shops sell tea sets and spices; markets carry everything from meat and seafood to Middle Eastern pastries, dates, pistachios, glass-like, crystallized whole fruits, and tubs of olives and harissa, a fiery red North African chile paste. It's the ideal place to pick up edible souvenirs or picnic fixings.

Men in djellabahs sit at outdoor cafes, talking loudly over bracingly strong demitasse's of coffee, while women draped in sifsaris paw through bins of vegetables. The quarter is a kaleidoscopic mélange of colors, sounds, and smells: rotting produce, incense, sizzling kebabs of chicken and lamb, and the comforting aroma of baking flatbreads and sugary almond cookies. My favorite part of this untouristed neighorhood, however, are the tiny Egyptian, Tunisian, and Algerian food stalls and bake shops that specialize in mahjouba--giant, rectangular-folded crepes filled with sautéed tomato, red pepper, onion, and harissa.

The takeaway shop Le Soleil d'Egypte makes a particularly delicious version, as well as selling a variety of North African flatbreads that are baked fresh throughout the morning. Mahjouba are a satisfying, inexpensive (under two dollars) snack--I was so besotted, I even took a couple on the train to Cassis with me. But they're also special in that they're a nod to the Marseillaise love of street foods.

All over the city, particularly near the port, street food vendors sell everything from croque monsieur and pissaladiere, to panisses--delicate, fried chickpea flour cakes. I love them all, yet visiting the Noailles for mahjouba is my pick. They're a quintessential--if little known--Marseillaise treat: a melding of sunny Mediterranean vegetables, classic French cuisine, and North African culture.

For a harissa recipe, click here.

[Photo credits: man shopping, Flickr user Trilli Bagus; buildings, Flickr user Marind is waiting for les tambours de la pluie; rooftops, Flickr user cercamon]

Marseille's Noailles quarter: a taste of Africa, in Provence originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Travel Q&A with author & cook Tamara Reynolds

Alex Robertson Textor — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, Europe, North America, Morocco, Tunisia, Cambodia, Laos, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam, Greece, Italy, Portugal, United States

Tamara Reynolds is a the co-founder (with Zora O'Neill) of The Sunday Night Dinner, an Astoria, Queens-based supper club. The Sunday Night Dinner, which continues to thrive, was well ahead of what has become a supper club trend. Out of the Sunday Night Dinner came a fabulous cookbook, Forking Fantastic, which Reynolds co-authored with O'Neill. Travel is key to Reynolds' imagination as a cook. She shops for food in the international food markets of Astoria and travels to countries with great food traditions.

Q: Sum up your professions in a few snappy words.

A: Cookbook author, cook for hire, cooking teacher, television show shopper, and Hostess with the Mostess of The Sunday Night Dinner.

Q: How did the Sunday night dinners come to happen? And how did Forking Fantastic emerge from the supper club?

A: SND began when Zora O'Neill and I met in 2002. We worked at Prune together and discovered we were neighbors and both loved to cook. We began cooking on Sundays for friends, and the next thing we knew, we were consistently feeding 15-20 people every Sunday. We began asking for donations so we could afford to keep doing it, and the next thing we knew, we were running an underground supper club.

We became convinced that the next step should be to write a cookbook, with encouraging words on entertaining, for real life. Zora and I felt that everyone was so hung up on the Martha Stewart perfection ideal that no one was actually cooking dinner for friends for the fun of it. Plus, we thought that if we wrote a kick ass guide to entertaining, detailing how we taught ourselves to cook and our many many mistakes along the way, maybe we would get invited to dinner more often.

Continue reading Travel Q&A with author & cook Tamara Reynolds

Travel Q&A with author & cook Tamara Reynolds originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gadlinks for Wednesday 12.9.2009

Brenda Yun — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Surfing, Food and Drink, Africa, Europe, North America, Tunisia, Sweden, United States, Ecotourism

While some of you were catching some sick rides on the slopes, these pro surfers were riding mountain-sized waves on the North Shore of Oahu at the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational yesterday. Either way, I hope you all had a great start to the week. We're in the thick of it now, and here are some cool travel stories to get you through the next few days.

Read about some of the weirdest and wackiest winter activities in the world. [via Peter Greenberg]
Eco-tourism is the latest and greatest travel method, and these countries are among the eco-friendliest. [via Open Travel]
If you're curious about the best way to see and travel to Tunisia, check this out. [via Journey, Etc.]
Here are some travel scams you should avoid. [via Travel Rants]
Did you know Sweden has some of the best thin bread (called tunnbrod) in the world? Check out my friend Lola's photo essay on how it's made. [via Matador Life]

'Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks here.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 12.9.2009 originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Photo of the Day (11.14.09)

Brenda Yun — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Photos, Africa, Tunisia, Photo of the Day

Nothing makes a more beautiful photo than rolling sand dunes at sunset. Having recently experienced the tranquil oasis of Huacachina in Peru, I now fully appreciate the dry, natural beauty of the world's deserts.

This particular photo was taken in Tunisia but expert photographer kellinasf. The warm colors and grooved textures of the sand contrast so well with the cool blue sky. The grooved dune side in the left shadow also adds to the photo's richness, don't you think?

If you have some great travel shots you'd like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Photo of the Day (11.14.09) originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lonely Planet's Blue List

Erik Olsen — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Antarctica, Gabon, Tunisia, Indonesia, Camping, Books

Here at gadling, we're all about finding new travel ideas. And equally, we're about pointing you to places where those ideas are most abundant. Well, where abundance is concerned, I have just closed the covers on a cornucopia of ideas that, frankly, has me feeling a little exhausted right now.

Lonely Planet's new edition of its Blue List series is a compelling page turner that, if you're like me, will cause an immediate shortage of yellow post-its. Those post-its now cling to the inside pages of my Blue List guide, making it look a bit like a paper peacock flattened by a semi.

The Blue List guide, subtitled "The Best in Travel 2007" provides page after page of sumptuous photos and informative text about interesting places and things to do in them all over the globe. The ideas start off with a calendar section that groups together events by month. For example, December has the Festival of the Oases in Tunisia and the Hornbill Festival in India. Chances are, you'll have to Google these for more info, but they're a fine start.

Other recommendations in the book are broken out by activity, so if you are, for example, a fan of scuba diving, you can get a good idea of the top trips for bubble blowers. The books lists the Cocos Islands in Costa Rica and Chuuk lagoon in Micronesia among their top spots. Or let's say you have long believed in UFOs and want to design a trip for you and your ET-loving friends? Well, you can do that, too, with their paranormal trips section.

Then savor my favorite section, called the Go List, which breaks out LP's top picks for places to visit in the coming year. We're NOT talking Florida and Vegas here. We're talking about exotic, less-explored locales like Maluku, Indonesia and Gabon. Then there's a section on gadgets and the best places to wed and dark travel and, well, more and more.

If I have any complaints, it that while the book really whets your appetite, you don't leave feeling completly satisfied. In fact, you leave a bit hungrier than before. But as I say, maybe that's what Google, or LP's country-specific guides are there for. Either way, keeping to their fine tradition of helping you REALLY get out there, the good folks at Lonely Planet have done a fine job with this new book.

Lonely Planet's Blue List originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Doctor is Out

Iva Skoch — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Stories, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Tunisia, India, Turkey, Czech Republic, El Salvador, United States

Thailand used to be a destination for exotic travel, perhaps even for sex travel. Now, it is a well-established member of the ever-increasing ranks of surgery destinations. Yes, travel is not just for the well or even the well-heeled, now it's for the wellness-seeking. too. It's not just cosmetic surgery, either. While cosmetic surgery comprises about 80% of the travel, laser eye surgery and fertility treatments make up reasons to travel, too.

A while back, our own Erik Olsen blogged about a crazy offer to get extra frequent flyer miles to get your eyes done, and also posted an article by Casey Kittrell about medical tourism. Then, earlier this year, I wrote an article about growing cosmetic surgery tourism to the Czech Republic. Since then, the pace of this traffic has exploded, and the places have gotten even more exotic. So much so, it's worth revisiting this issue: according to the National Coalition on Health Care, over half a million Americans left the country last year for medical or dental work. A recent article even noted a man sent by his North Carolina company to New Delhi, for gall bladder and rotator cuff surgery, to save $50,000!

Tired of travelocity? A host of surgery-tourism companies have set up shop all over the internet. Costmeticsurgerytravel.com squatted on a good web address, offering "medical travel concierge" service, as well as assurance that the doctors in foreign lands are "appropriate for your procedure or treatment." Prague a little to run-of-the-mill for you? Try Tunisia, for example, through Cosmeticatravel.com. Or Turkey or El Salvador, through Medretreat.com. Or Brazil, through Medicaltourism.com. A quick google search turns up a page-topping, paid ad for medical tourism to "Bumrungrad" hospital. Is that where you get that hemorrhoid treatment done?

Follow up: The NY Times just posted an article on the same topic.

The Doctor is Out originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inside Africa Vol. 1 & 2

Adrienne Wilson — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 23:11:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Photos, Africa, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Books

TASCHEN books are some of my favorite to collect. If I had hundreds of dollars to blow I could easily do so on their website, but for now I'll have to place some of these titles on my Christmas wish list or refrain from doing so much running to and fro' to buy a few more. Of the more recent releases I'd like to take a peek at the Inside Africa titles. The two volume set puts the diversity of African living in the reader's face. I'll be one of the first to admit (and this is very sad because I have so many African friends), but when I think of dwellings found in various African places I don't think modern for the majority. I see mud, clay, and earthy homes with wells and without running hot water. SO WRONG. While a good portion of countries may have tribes and villages with housing of this nature there are tons of luxury lodges, artist studios, minimalist houses, and so-forth. These two sets claim to have a good mixture of both and more, but with the eye-popping ink and paper stock TASCHEN uses I'm sure anyone flipping through the book would want to stay in a clay hut. Deidi von Schaewen is the photographer and it took a period of four years and fifteen countries to make it these Inside Africa volumes happen.

Countries featured include Egypt, Kenya, Botswana, Morocco, Réunion, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria, and Senegal to list only a few.

Inside Africa Vol. 1 & 2 originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 21 Aug 2006 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Photo of the Day (6/13/2006)

Erik Olsen — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 07:21:00 EST

Filed under: Photos, Africa, Tunisia, Photo of the Day

Don't confuse this photo called "Sun setting over the great lake" with the other great lake that you know. The one in Utah. This shot comes from laurenz and is a lovely shot of Tozeur, Tunisia. I was almost tempted to hark back to the Apocalypse photo, since this has such a fire and brimstone feel to it. But hey, I won't go that far.

Photo of the Day (6/13/2006) originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 13 Jun 2006 07:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tunisian Star Wars Locations

Neil Woodburn — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 06:43:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Blogs, Tunisia

I've always loved articles that detail the shooting locations of popular movies. Actually traveling to visit the places is equally as exciting.

It was therefore with great pleasure that I ran across a short article in the LA Times about film locations in Tunisia. I've never really thought much about Tunisia before, but I most certainly enjoyed all that Tatooine desert scenery in many of the Star Wars films. Well, whadda know? They are one and the same place. In fact, the town of Tataouine, located in the southwest of the country was the inspiration behind the planet's fictional name.

The Tunisian town of Matmata, however, where inhabitants build their homes underground to escape the desert heat, is where much of the filming took place-especially at Hotel Sidi Driss which doubled as Skywalker's aunt and uncle's house and where tourists can bed for just $8 a night.

Further afield, tourists can check out the set for slave quarters Mos Espa created for the film The Phantom Menace and which still remains standing in the Sahara Desert today. The grain storage ruins of Ksar Hadada also doubled for Mos Espa and are easily visited on a day trip from Tataouine.

I couldn't find any mention of that cool bar in the first movie, however, where we first meet Han Solo. The Tunisians must be keeping it to themselves; there's nothing like a couple of tourists, and Star Wars nerds at that, to ruin a really good watering hole.

Tunisian Star Wars Locations originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 20 Feb 2006 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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