Think of Africa’s top national parks and thoughts of great swaths of savannah grassland prowled by lion probably come to mind. This iconic – perhaps stereotypical – scene does exist, and really is a bucket list experience. But there are more to Africa’s top national parks that wallowing hippos and… Continue reading
At the very heart of the geographical establishment, London’s Geographical Society (now the Royal Geographical Society) laughed at the thought of snow in Africa. Rebmann’s sighting of the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro in 1849 was considered complete fantasy for the next decade. Bob Geldof ignored the existence of snow in… Continue reading
Drink on the eastern side of the African continent can appear limited to locally-brewed international soft drink brands. Coca-cola for instance, is one of the only international bodies to seemingly recognise the existence of Somaliland, the breakaway republic within Somalia, with a plant in the capital Hargeisa. That is, until… Continue reading
The past week has been my final designated ‘rest week’. I’ve been doing 2 things: wandering around the Ethiopian hinterland trying to find something interesting (not necessarily an easy task in such a vast country), and also fighting off the world’s worst cold. I suspect I caught the virus on… Continue reading
Without access to visas at either the embassy in Nairobi or the border town of Moyale it means Ethiopia is a closed country for North-bound overland travellers. Moyale is nowhere near as grim as I had been led to believe. Its quite picturesque surrounded by green and hills. All the… Continue reading
Some days Africa grinds you down. And some days Africa rips your heart out. Having been searched thoroughly I wait over an hour in the Ethiopian embassy Consular Section to be told I could not be given a visa because I didn’t have a re-entry pass for Kenya. ‘I’m not… Continue reading
The Tana Guesthouse, Malindi, turns out to be a 2 minute walk from where coaches leave for Lamu. We pass scrub and small settlements. It takes 5 hours to reach the end of the mainland at Mokowe. Its been a bone shaking journey, mostly over compacted dirt road. The easiest… Continue reading
A couple of hours along boring scenery and new road brings the Tanga express minibus to Horohoro, the Tanzanian side of the border. We pass flat expanses of farmland, and the first herds of cattle I remember seeing. Countries rarely noticeably change character on the border with their neighbours. The… Continue reading
