Category / Travel / Travel - Africa

What springs to mind when you think of Zimbabwe? Is it the stern face of a stubborn Robert Mugabe? The wheelbarrow full of devalued money needed in 2008 to buy a loaf of bread? The crashing sounds of Victoria Falls? Or the foetid stench of corruption? As we enter Zimbabwe from the western side at…

There’s an art to standing at the back of an 18ft narrow canoe and using a long thin pole to push it forward, so our guide tells us in the Okavango Delta as we glide down a small tributary looking for wildlife. You have to steer and push at the same time and make sure…

If you’re ever sitting stressed at your desk, surrounded by people that are annoying you, there’s one place in the world you should fly to, and that’s Namibia. It’s a land of open spaces, calm distant sand dunes and everything you’d want from an African adventure.  As we descend the steps from the plane in…

I first visited South Africa when I was 21, spending three months self-driving from Cape Town in the south west over to Mozambique in the north east. It was 2004 and the time of the third general election since the African National Congress (ANC), the political party previously led by Nelson Mandela, came into power.…

Zanzibar sits apart in many ways, and not just geographically as a small island situated off the east coast of Tanzania. Its allure lies in white sandy beaches, the azure Indian Ocean, and year round tropical weather. Our visit to the island was primarily for relaxation, having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro the week before. I’m hoping…

In our minds we’ve split our time in Tanzania into two main parts. The first section focused mainly on the wildlife, which was a mixed bag. It was exorbitantly expensive but we managed to share some amazing moments with nature. We’re now entering the second, more challenging, phase. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in…

I don’t think I will visit Tanzania again. As we enter the Serengeti National Park at the northern, less visited, Ikoma Gate there is a part of me already resigned to the impending feeling of extortion. A bitter taste lingers having already paid $30 per person per night for the privilege of staying outside the…

It sounds unfair, but on this trip Kenya is a means to an end as we traverse east from Uganda into Tanzania. But for my wife, Jess, Kenya will always be a special place. She spent a month here in 2007 on project work helping to construct school buildings. She also reminds me that she…