Africa posts

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Oct 9th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Outside Magazine has an interesting story on their website entitled Never, Ever Let Her Go (On a trip overseas. Alone. Especially to Africa.) The article begins with author Eric Hansen recounting a tale of a married couple who were friends of his, and seemingly had an idyllic marriage. But when the wife went off to Botswana on a volunteer trip for a month, she returned home and announced that the ...

by Katie Hammel (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Oct 8th, 2009 at 12:00PM: Life in most places is loud. Planes flying overhead, traffic rushing through the streets, people yelling, talking, phones ringing - it all combines to make an endless racket that follows us throughout our days. If you need to get away for some (literal) peace and quiet, take a look at Forbes Traveler's list of the World's Quietest Places.
Many of these aren't the sort of places where you'll go ...

by Kendra Bailey Morris (RSS feed) (3 months ago)
Aug 18th, 2009 at 2:30PM: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in Uganda is well-known throughout the world as the home for nearly half of the world's population of critically endangered mountain gorillas. However, gorillas are no longer the only entity on Uganda's endangered list. Bwindi's local people have also felt the brunt of years of illegal logging and other activities which have slowly degraded the area. ...

by Grant Martin (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Jul 17th, 2009 at 9:30AM: It's surprising to many that Dakar is actually closer to the United States than many points in Europe. As the crow flies, it's under 4000 miles from New York City to the westernmost point on the continent, a 7.5 hour flight from the bustling streets of Queens. Given the proximity, it's not too difficult to manage a trip as short as a weekend or use DKR as a waypoint for further travel into Africa. ...

by Alison Brick (RSS feed) (4 months ago)
Jul 14th, 2009 at 8:30AM: We've mentioned other deals recently on Emirates flights, but when it comes to flights to Africa (read: typically expensive) this one is worth circling in red ink. For today and tomorrow only, the first 500 people who book a flight from the US to Africa get $500 off Business Class airfare, or $150 off Economy Class airfare. Emirates offers travel to 16 African cities on sale: Abidjan, Accra, ...
![We are the World and Black and White: Ideals that bring us together]()
by Jamie Rhein (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 26th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
In my post yesterday on Michael Jackson's death, I mentioned two songs that have stuck with me because of the feelings I've had from living in other countries where I've developed friendships and have called various addresses home. In a way, I see "Black and White" and We are the World as fitting tributes to the ideals of what can bring us together.
In recent year's we've had Matt Harding's ...

by Jon Bowermaster (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 18th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Ibo – officially Ilha Do Ibo, by the Portuguese who colonized it - is one of a string of 32 islands that make up the Quirimbas archipelago, separated from the Mozambique coast by just a shallow channel. Barely two miles long and two miles wide a fringe of reefs surrounds it; at low tide you can walk to the next island. On its main, slightly derelict beach fishermen hammer at boats turned on ...

by Jon Bowermaster (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 15th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Dozens of small tri-colored French flags hang from the awning of the bar 5/5 on Mamoudzou's seafront. A Malagasy polka/country/blues/rock band plays to a mixed crowd of blacks and whites. Two weeks ago a historic vote turned the street out front into a riot of celebration when 95.5 percent of voters on this tiny island of 186,000 people voted to officially become French citizens. Though Mayotte ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 11th, 2009 at 8:00AM: For many adventurous travelers, an African safari is at the top of the list when it comes to mixing beautiful scenery with the best wildlife encounters on the planet. Most visitors go to Kenya, Tanzania, or even South Africa to get the classic safari experience, but there are other, lesser traveled places, that can deliver that same experience, in a more remote location, far from the typical ...

by Jon Bowermaster (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 9th, 2009 at 9:00AM: I often ask audiences to define paradise. While responses vary, a high percentage involves some combination of white sand beach, coconut palm and blue-blue sea scenario. It's so pervasive I've long been curious where the notion first originated. Honeymoon brochure? 1940s movie? Similarly, as I travel and explore I keep running into places touted as "paradise on earth." A couple islands in the ...

by Jon Bowermaster (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 4th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Five a.m. on the Indian Ocean, a quarter mile off the small granite island of La Digue. Daylight is still an hour away, the sea flat and quiet, still too early for the call of morning birds and too dark for pirates. And pirates are on everyone's minds and lips here. Just days before Somali pirates had grabbed a tuna boat with a crew of 29 just to the north of where we motor, near Denis Island. A ...

by Jon Bowermaster (RSS feed) (5 months ago)
Jun 1st, 2009 at 10:00AM: Six to seven hundred years ago the very first to explore what we know as the Indian Ocean were Arabs, from Persia and the northern deserts. Searching what every sea-faring explorer of the time was seeking – trading routes and new lands to colonize – they explored what came to be known at the time as the Sea of Zanj, the Sea of Blacks. From the Maldives to the east coast of Africa ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Apr 29th, 2009 at 8:30AM: Travel company Roadmonkey has created unique travel experiences that combine the thrill of adventure travel with the satisfaction that comes with making a difference in the places we visit. The goal is to offer phsycially demanding outdoor adventures with deeply gratifyng volunteer opportunities to create what they term as "Adventure Philanthropy". Currently the compnay has two expeditions in the ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Apr 24th, 2009 at 8:30AM: Most travelers have a "life list". That is to say, a list of travel destinations that are amongst their "must see", such as the Great Pyramids or Machu Picchu. Others set goals to visit certain countries, selecting ones that appeal to them on some level. That's exactly what Chris Guillebeau did when he was 22 and working in Africa for an international charity group. At the time, Guillebeau says, ...

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Apr 12th, 2009 at 9:00AM: The greeting you'll receive at the Hotel Hivernage is pure charm, but it requires patience. Instead of tapping your toe at the front desk while the guy in front of you spills his life story, you'll be invited to sit in the lobby while you complete your check-in forms. The staff is not in a rush, so set aside your New York-sculpted expectations. This first taste will set the tone for your stay: ...

by Grant Martin (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Apr 9th, 2009 at 2:30PM: Back in my heady days of ultimate Frisbee stardom, I used to have a mighty forehand flick, but it was nothing compared to Mr Will McGrath's. Now, in our sodden old days Will has moved on, to the small country of Lesotho, where he works in the education system and maintains a blog called Pudgy Millions. With apologies to my sister, I rarely post personal blogs onto Gadling, because there are many ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Apr 3rd, 2009 at 8:00AM: Clearly the entire travel industry has been undergoing some dramatic changes over the past few years. There was a time when the thought of "green" travel was relegated to a relatively small, niche market that included some eco-conscious tour operators. But in the past few years there has been an inceased effort to be more green in all area of our lives thanks to an increased awareness of global ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (8 months ago)
Mar 30th, 2009 at 8:00AM: There is no doubt that we are fascinated with wildlife. We love to watch diverse and interesting animals, preferably in their natural habitats, and we're often willing to travel to remote places, sometimes at great expense, to see them. If you enjoy the kind of travel that allows for these kinds of animal encounters, they you'll want to check out BootsnAll's list of the Seven Endangered Species ...

by Kraig Becker (RSS feed) (8 months ago)
Mar 26th, 2009 at 8:01AM: There are many great destinations around the globe in which travelers can get up close and personal with animals in their natural habitat. You can travel to the Serengeti and take in the Great Migration or head to Northern Canada for an encounter with a polar bear. Make the journey to the Galapagos, and you'll get to see any number of unique creatures found no where else on Earth. Although there ...

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (8 months ago)
Mar 23rd, 2009 at 1:30PM: Earth Hour is on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 PM. The hospitality and travel industry seems to have embraced this commitment to environmentalism. There are plenty of noteworthy initiatives out there intended to show support for a planet that could probably use our help. Of course, some are more interesting than others. I'm pretty interested in what's going on at Abercrombie & Kent and Fairmont. ...
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