Africa Archives - Page 7 of 14 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Africa, Countries

Hakuna Matata on Kenya’s Pride Rock

9th March 20229th March 2022 funtime65

It’s lion in wait there for you sundowners and Disney buffs… no worries, it’s Hakuna Matata on Kenya’s Pride Rock.

Bet you didn’t even know you knew Swahili (until Signature Experiences alerted me).

But then again we’re all polyglots aren’t we with those couple of words we learn for our summer holidays.

Now few things conjure up Africa more than The Lion King.

And Kenya in central/east Africa is at the heart of it.

Which is probably why Disney chose it for the inspiration of The Lion King’s Pride Rock.

Simba’s scene

The Borana Conservancy in Northern Kenya is where you’ll find Rafiki holding up Simba for the whole savanna to see.

And Elton John belting out The Circle of Life.

While the Rekero camp in the south-west’s Masai Mara right in the middle of the Great Migration Country replicates the lions’ stalking grounds.

Now we’ve all heard tales of the mark the traditional tribesmen people, the Masai Mara, can leave on western visitors.

And read or watched programmes where Westerners marry a warrior and move over to Kenya.

But it has been known to sometimes work the other way.

Masai Marry

Out of Africa: Kyoso Leerat and Ethiopia’s finest Meseret Tekalign

Like when my old friend Adams & Butler’s Siobhan Byrne Learat returned from her trip to Kenya with the best souvenir, her very own Masai Mara warrior Kasao Leerat.

And much like those of us kilted variety, Kasao rightly and proudly dons his African robes to promote his country and his and Siobhan’s brand.

All of which only piques the interest to visit the land of Leerat and Lions.

Elsa’s land

Where you can also visit that other well, lion, of cinema, Elsa, popularised in the Oscar-winning Born Free.

And see her graveyard in the Meru Game Reserve Joy and George Adamson set up.

So whether it’s Hakuna Matata on Kenya’s Pride Rock.

Elsa the lioness or the Masai Mara then magical Kenya, as they brand themselves, will surely cast a spell.

And if you want to get a flavour before hotfooting it out to Africa…

Disney on stage

Then take in a production of Disney’s The Lion King wherever you find out.

And for me that was Disney on Broadway’s visit to Anaheim.

Hakuna Matata all you cool cats.

Africa, Countries

Ghana this day

6th March 20226th March 2022 funtime65

And the lesson is self-determination… Ghana this day.

Father Bobi, a proud Ghanain, is big about family as he preaches his message at the pulpit in North Berwick, east of Edinburgh.

And he begins March 6 with a shout-out to his West African country and his sister who shares her birthday with the national day.

This day in 1957 the British colony Gold Coast became Ghana (strong warrior king), the first sub-Saharan state to break free.

We’re naturally drawn here to countries asserting their own self-determination.

And celebrating with carnivals and parades.

In Ghana that’ll be from the capital of Accra on the scenic coastline of the Gulf of Guinea to the northern heritage-rich city of Tamale.

Local foods, such as the Ghanaian joll of rice (a spicy rice dish with meat and vegetables), serve as centrepieces in many homes.

The Ghanaian diaspora

Ghanaians have increasingly enriched our lives across the world.

From pulpits in Scottish seaside to metropolises London and Paris to the Caribbean.

Where the descendants of slaves have progressed their culture.

African tourism has, of course, expanded in the last thirty years.

With intrepid travellers seeking out still authentic parts of the world.

And for us students of history we will always explore the history and culture of a country.

Which in Ghana means seeking out the slave castles dotted along the coast.

Slavery history

Pioneers: With Issy and ‘George Washington’ in DC

Slavery history is not mawkish and we are in fact encouraged to keep their history alive.

It is our history too whether in Scotland where the tobacco lords became rich and the triangular traffic from Bristol and Liverpool.

Or in Tobago and Barbados, the only foreign outpost George Washington visited.

And in the city he gave his name to and the Great Liberator Frederick Douglass and his house looking down on the city.

And the inspiring African-American Smithsonian Museum in DC.

Then there is the Slave Haven Underground Railroad in Memphis Tennessee in the Deep South.

West Africa

A trip to West Africa has long been on the radar to square the circle.

And reflect on the Original Sin shame of slavery.

One Ghanaian in particular will be flying his flag high today in my new town of North Berwick here in Scotland.

While millions there and around the world will join him too.

Should you be an intrepid traveller too you’ll naturally levitate towards the holiday firm of that name.

Intrepid will provide tailor-made trips.

From the horse’s mouth

Often our interest in a country or region is piqued by word of mouth, from friends and family.

I can’t say I know Rick from Intrepid’s site.

But I am persuaded by his review of Benin, Togo and Ghana from 2020.

‘Usually I travel independently, but for destinations in which infrastructure challenges make solo travel prohibitively inefficient.

‘Intrepid is worth every penny for combining easy of travel with the very best of cultural educational opportunity.

‘Superb pre-trip information, guides, and selection of destinations.’

Thanks Rick, and I’ll also be having a word in Father Bobi’s ear.

My cup of tea

Over tea and biscuits which he has restored to the church hall.

Two years after he had to pull that post-Mass experience because of Covid.

Happy Ghana Day Father Bobi and all the Ghanaians.

Ghana this day.

Africa, Countries, Europe

Olof Palme the Swedish moral pioneer

28th February 202228th February 2022 funtime65

What Olof Palme the Swedish moral pioneer would think of Russia threatening his country over their choice of friends isn’t hard to work out.

It’s easy to think that neutrality amounts to diffidence and non-commitment.

When it allows a people to retain their independence from power blocs.

And question any and every human right violation wherever in the world they see it.

That independence of spirit and voice doesn’t comes though without sacrifice.

Citizen of the world

Table mountain of beer: The Red Location

And for former Prime Minister of Sweden, Olof Palme, that came at the ultimate personal cost with the Swede losing his life because of his opposition to Apartheid.

Thirty-six years ago today.

But apart from eliciting our admiration for his strong moral compass and bravery why does Palme matter to us globetrotters?

Because it’s in our DNA to care about what happens to our global fellow travellers on the journey of life.

And the gift of our giving we get back a hundred fold such as in Gqberha (and here’s how to pronounce it) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa .

You might know it from your old maps as Port Elizabeth.

Where in the Red Location in the New Brighton township they named the street of their heritage museum after the Swede.

Road to redemption

Siseko, Nelson and Bandanaman: The Voting Line in South Africa

Olof Palme has been rightly honoured across the world for his sacrifice with 20 countries naming thoroughfares after him.

We see it too on a bigger scale with Nelson Mandela remembered too across the globe.

Who will come out of the Ukraine crisis as the figures we will give street, square and building names to remains to be seen.

But South Africa has proved that every country and its people are redeemable.

And that moral pressure, economic sanctions and sporting boycotts can isolate bully boy regimes.

Be assured though we will all return to Russia and Ukraine.

Olof Palme the Swedish moral pioneer would want us to.

Africa, Asia, Countries, Deals

Mother-in-law’s Death on the Nile

16th February 202215th February 2022 funtime65

And the Further Adventures of Bandanaman took another unexpected turn with the Mother-in-law’s Death on the Nile.

After the Scary One sabotaged the car, and my trip to Dublin to hook up with my Travel pals from around the world at their fair…

I had to occupy myself in North Berwick instead.

Nile high

And that meant being frogmarched out to the cinema to see Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Death On The Nile.

So there I was being sandwiched between two Mummies in antiquarian Egypt.

It is after all where the Scary One had detailed me to take her all those years ago.

The thing was though that the invitation which came in for us was from my Travel pals to the gated resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

Would she go for that… well, what do you Sphinx?

G force

Egyptophiles come in two shapes, those who want to swim, dance and drink with people from their own country, in the sun.

Or those who channel their inner Tutankhamon in the Valley of the Kings.

Like all things Middle Eastern and cultural I always fall back on my go-to travel providers G Adventures.

Pyramids along the Nile

G Adventures offer a single-country eight-day Best of Egypt tour from €799pp from Cairo.

Sample trad fare with a Nubian family in a local village.

Barter in bazaars in Aswan and Luxor.

Mega Middle East

And a 22-day Best of Egypt, Jordan and Israel package

And of course sail the Nile in a traditional felucca but watch out for a tight Belgian detective with waxy moustache.

Now if Egypt whets your appetite then you may want to attach on Jordan and Israel and G Adventures allow you to do that.

This tour will mean you can see the Great Pyramids of Giza too.

And overnight in Jordan in a Bedouin tent, learn how the Nabataeans told the time in Petra, and float in the Dead Sea (tick, tick, tick).

Of course Jordan being the middle of the Middle East you can see out over the historic towns of Jerusalem and Nazareth in Israel.

Before closing it out in swish Tel Aviv before jetting off home.

And leave behind you Mother-in-law’s Death on the Nile.

Africa, America, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Ireland

Give Bono his own airport

7th February 20226th February 2022 funtime65

With all the talk of honouring James Joyce in his native city I’d suggest he defer to another Dub wordsmith… give Bono his own airport.

Now Paul Hewson (his Sunday name) may not have the classical allusions JJ has but he is inarguably the greatest Irishman.

And rather than name the city airport after the author of Ulysses, published 100 years ago, that tribute should go to the U2 man.

Now full disclosure here I’m not a fan boy.

It’s only that airports, just like statues, shouldn’t be the preserve of dead people.

Not that I’ve got anything against the legends.

Leonardo Da Vinci (Rome), Charles De Gaulle (Paris) or JFK (New York) the latter where I piloted a plane into, albeit a simulator.

It’s just that the recipients don’t ever get to see their names in lights or a podium.

And Billy Connolly too

And I would say the same about Billy Connolly and Glasgow and Sean Connery and Edinburgh.

So in just about the same time as it takes to Ryanair to pitch their on-flight offers.

I come around to a celebration of those living people who have had airports named after them.

Cristiano airport

Cristiano Ronaldo Airport, Madeira: No danger of Ronnie being coy about seeing his name attached to his own island.

There is already a statue of the Great Man outside although you might not recognise him if you didn’t know already.

Clintons runway

Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, Little Rock, Arkansas: And ever since he burst onto the political scene Clinton has been flying by the seat of his pants.

And Bill has been sure to give Hill equal billing ever since.

Dutch of class

Orange is the only colour: For Queen Beatrix

Queen Beatrix Airport, Aruba: Now the Dutch connections with their little corner of the Caribbean.

And you see it too in Sint Maarten and the airport that has taken Prncess Juliana’s name through her life and continues to do so.

Lech’s go round again

Lech Walesa, Gdansk, Poland: We first made acquaintance with the moustachioed shop steward in the docks in the Eighties.

Now the union man who took on the Commies and went onto become Pres has his own airport. General Waruzelski anyone?

Bob’s the job

Robert Mugabe, Harare, Zimbabwe: And you’d think that after The Great Dictator died then they’d have changed the name.

But as I found out from a Zim tracker on a game drive in the Eastern Cape in South Africa elders are respected… mmmm!

So yes, it would be the sweetest thing but deserved.

Think again

If the politicians pushing for Dublin Airport to be renamed James Joyce Dublin Airport thought again.

And renamed it to give Bono his own airport

Africa, Asia, Countries

The Year of the Tiger

31st January 202231st January 2022 funtime65

Ya dancer… today is the Year of the Tiger.

If you’re a tiger you’re a thrill-seeker, crave attention and are short-tempered but kind.

Although you wouldn’t be saying that if you’d had your carcass ripped apart.

But we’ve seen both faces of the tiger from our childhood films, as hippoty-hoppity Tigger or cunning Shere Khan.

Immerse yourself in the world of the Jungle Book by hopping on board any of a number of travel providers to that other powerhouse of tigers, India.

Yes you Khan

Exodus Travels gives you a 17 days India Tigers Safari from £3,499 including flights.

Where your tiger of choice is of course the Bengal Tiger (and don’t let Shere Khan put you off).

Our old friends at Hayes & Jarvis have a 15-days £4,099pp guide price for their trip around India.

And you’ll obviously get to enjoy the charms of the great cities of Delhi and Mumbai and the Taj Mahal.

They came from Africa

Pussycat, pussycat: Panthers in South Africa

Now we’re not sure why tigers moved from Africa to Asia around 2 million years ago.

But if you’ve been out on a drive and stood in awe at its kin, the panthers and lions, you’ll want to get out to Asia to see the tiger.

Now what of tiger watching in China… well, for everything in the Far East we defer to the expert Wendy Wu.

The Year of the Wu

Wendy and our buddies are holding a week of virtual events all week so we’ll know even more about tigers by Fiday.

And what to do when you’re faced with a tiger (and not one of those paper tigers).

Well our Chinese friends tell us to wear red socks and underwear although by that stage I’d suggest the nearest tree is the answer.

Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger.

Africa, America, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Food, Ireland

Pie are squared and round

23rd January 202223rd January 2022 funtime65

Excuse the grammar but the gag doesn’t work otherwise so on today’s National Pie Day let’s say Pie are squared and round.

And we’ll pick out six pies from around the world.

All because we’re an island here of pie lovers in Britain, and Scots up and down the country have grown up on Scotch pies and beans.

Then long before American fast food pork pies were the go-to snack in England, and not just for ploughmen.

Mr American Pie

Eat your heart out Prue Leith: In Colorado

Apple Pie: National Pie Day was started in the mid-1970s by a nuclear engineer, brewer and teacher (talented man) Charlie Papazian.

It was then that he declared his own birthday, January 23, to be National Pie Day and it took on.

So now fast forward to a Can’t Bake, Won’t Bake visitor to Ginger & Bake in nearby Fort Collins under the watchful eye of the ever-patient Deb.

Say it loud and say it stout

More please: Jamie Oliver’s Steak & Guinness Pie

Beef and Guinness Pie: If you’re like me (and the Irish) and feel that drink is the food of life then read on.

You see this variation on the British steak and ale pie in Ireland naturally is enriched with Guinness and bacon and onions.

And it s on every bar menu in Ireland… and inevitably in the ubiquitous Jamie Oliver’s cookbook.

Custard with that?

Bobotie pie: It’s a different world in the one-track town of Cradock in the Eastern Cape In South Africa.

That’s where the owner of the Die Tuishuise & Victoria Manor has put on a buffet of Karoo food that fuses easy.

So let me give you Bobotie pie, a curried raisin-infused Shepherd’s Pie with a savoury custard topping.

Pie Irie

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby: Cooking and baking in Barbados

Macaroni pie: And something from the Old World embraced by the new in the Caribbean.

It is known there just as pie or Bajan Pie in Barbados this is island comfort food.

This tubed pasta with creamy cheese sauce is served either as a main dish in Bim.

Or more likely to the side of their favourite chicken and fish. Irie?

Pizza and understanding

Pizza pie: So when we first got a taste for the Italian staple on this island we would call it pizza pie.

The best pizzas which we know are in Pizza City, Naples.

But a tip here for those who might otherwise be stung dining out near the Spanish Steps or Pantheon in Rome.

Instead pick up the long miniature pezzos from stores scattered through the Eternal City.

Sweet pie

Key Lime Pie: Now just as many pies are sweet as are savoury.

And in the land of American pie there are as many variations as there are numbers after 3.14.

But as it’s darn tasty and the Florida Keys are on the radar.

For a long rescheduled road trip it’s Lime Key Pie for me.

And so whatever your pick it’s good to know pie are squared and round and make the world go round.

Africa, Central America, Countries, Oceania, South America

Today 190 years ago Darwin set out

27th December 202127th December 2021 funtime65

It’s all a globetrotter can do these days… watch Around the World in Eighty Days on TV which is timely as today 190 years Darwin ago set out on his own global journey.

Took him a bit longer to get around Earth (five years) than oul’ Phileas Fogg.

And barring stopping the assassination of the French President and saving a podgy Italian kid’s life (OK, I’ve only finished the first episode) it just seems to be jolly japes.

Darwin, for his part, unveiled the Evolution of the Species.

Tortoises and slow tourism

And met the Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos.

Now you can be doing without spending five years on the choppy high seas aboard the Beagle (and yes we know it has long since been scrapped although the site of its last home in Rochford is marked).

Instead get on a G Adventures trip to the islands off the western coast of South America.

Where our pals tell us that there is a nine-day trip from Ecuador from £1,499 which is a saving of £500.

And furthermore they’ll take care of your flight bookings in and out of Quito — with the cheapest flight cost possible.

In the pink with the flamingoes

You’ll get to see the flamingoes… and believe me you’ll be in the pink as I was in Busch Gardens in Tampa.

Hike up Sierra Negra volcano… tick, again done in Tenerife, but there’s always more.

Like Tenerife Galapagos boasts black beaches.

I’m reminded too of my pal from my Greek Odyssey, Gullaume Le Roux who only stayed overnight in the crater of a volcano!

What’s special about G Adventures is how much they put back into the local community.

As I saw fist hand in Jordan.

And here you’ll get to put something back in the supported community guesthouse in Floreana

In the slow lane

The highlight of your stay will be on Day Six.

Firstly, you’ll view breeding white-tip reef sharks, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, rays, and penguins.

And that’ll prepare you for a unique experience, a visit to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre.

Darwin’s odyssey

And here is a rundown of Charlie Boy’s five-year journey…

Chapter I: St. Jago–Cape de Verde Islands (St. Paul’s Rocks, Fernando Noronha, 20 Feb.., Bahia, or San Salvador, Brazil, 29 Feb..)

II: Rio de Janeiro

III: Maldonado

IV: Río Negro to Bahia Blanca

V: Bahía Blanca

VI: Bahia Blanca to Buenos Aires

VII: Buenos Aires to St. Fe

VIII: Banda Oriental

IX: Patagonia

And there’s more

Hero in a half-shell: And Tahiti has its stars too

X: Santa Cruz–Patagonia

XI: Tierra del Fuego

XII: The Falkland Islands

XIII: Strait of Magellan

XIV: Central Chile

XV: Chiloe and Chonos Islands

XVI: Chiloe and Concepcion

XVII: Passage of Cordillera

XVIII: Northern Chile and Peru

XIX: Galapagos Archipelago

XX: Tahiti and New Zealand

XXI: Australia (Van Diemen’s Land)

XXII: Coral Formations (Keeling or Cocos Islands)

XXIII: Mauritius to England

Africa, Countries

I’m proud of my Desmond

26th December 202126th December 2021 funtime65

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s most enduring legacy will surely be that his name has become part of our lexicon… and, like many a graduate, I’m proud of my Desmond.

Desmond, who has passed away at 90, was very visible in the Eighties and especially among the student community.

And while student buildings across the UK were renamed after Nelson Mandela his great friend Desmond was honoured at graduation ceremonies.

Where a 2:2 was (and still is) a Second Class Honours Second Grade.

Graduate with honours

The third of four pass grades your Tutu student mixes work, pleasure, uni societies and politics.

The name caught on too in the world of soccer where naturally it has become shorthand for a 2-2 scoreline.

The anti-Apartheid icon’s passing will be marked by national mourning across South Africa.

And particularly in Johannesburg, the next nearest big city to his hometown of Klerksdorp in the Western Transvaal where was Bishop.

Where, of course, you can visit the Apartheid Museum, and learn what life was really like then in South Africa.

And Cape Town where he became Archbishop.

Freedom fighters

Tutu’s South African brothers and sisters will turn his memorial into a carnival.

But he and Mandela were the first to admit the debt they owe to the men and women freedom fighters on the Long Road to Freedom.

Men such as Amos who works as a waiter in Cradock grandee Lisa’s hotel Die Tuishuise & Victoria Manor in the Eastern Cape.

But who fought the good cause.

And did jail time and suffered under the yolk of the police.

But who humbly declared: ‘We weren’t afraid to die as long as we died in the struggle.’

The township

Or Xhanti, who was South Africa’s Birdman of Alcatraz in solitary confinement.

But who now chases birdies on golf courses when he’s not showing tourists around the New Brighton township outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

And the most challenged part of it, Red Location.

And, of course, it was Port Elizabeth when we visited but has now been Africanised as Gqberha (pronounced Kberha).

Of course that doesn’t do it nearly enough justice as it’s Xhosa, the Eastern Cape’s distinctive clicking language.

And a tongue our old friend and guide Seseko treated us all to on our travels throughout the Eastern Cape .

And which Mandela himself spoke.

The angel Mandela

And then there were three: With Siseko and Madiba

Madiba will have been the first angel to greet Desmond at the gates of heaven.

They were great pals… they just clicked.

Rest in Peace, Archbishop. I’m proud of my Desmond.

Africa, Countries, Skiing

Snow in Africa this Christmastime

24th December 2021 funtime65

Sorry, Midge Ure, I love your humanitarianism and New Wave/electro-sound but there will be snow in Africa this Christmastime.

Yes, I know I’m coming over all Self-Righteous Brother, but Paul Whitehouse makes a good point about Africa’s diversity.

I know from experience about the Atlas Mountains where Moroccans and Morocannophile skiers go to fly down the mountains

It wasn’t snow though that was coming down the Atlas Mountains when I visited but the mud from the sides of the slopes.

Rocky road to the Sahara

It was Ramadan and our driver was bravely skirting the narrow cliffside roads to get us to the Sahara Desert.

In truth, that was the least of my problems as a tajin did for me and I ended up being sick in the sand.

And had to retrace our steps the next day to the rendezvous point, on my camel Larsson.

Abdullah, to be fair, did his best around the roads the next day with me dry heaving at every corner.

Enough already, you want to know more about the skiing.

And I do too, like when are the French borders reopening? I only have a well-deserved trip to Val d’Isere with Ski France waiting on me.

Morocco on the slopes

Camel ye faithful: Back on the camel in Jordan

My passport is jumping up and down in my drawer because of the lack of love I’ve shown her this year.

Yes, I personalise my passport, and its holder, particularly as it was given to me by my old friends Hayes & Jarvis during my time in Ireland.

H&J are your go-to people for just the thing in Morocco.

They have a seven-day £2,199pp Luxury Sahara Desert Tour from Marrakech.

But H&J are all about the bespoke so contact them and they’ll look into a package for you.

While My Chalet Finder have the skinny on everything you need to know on the Moroccan mountains.

Riad R&R

The resort of Oukaimeden, 65km south of Marrakesh, is Morocco’s best ski resort and is home to Africa’s highest ski lift at 3258m and second highest peak, Jebel Toubkal at 4167m, after Kilimanjaro.

There is a large variety of accommodation to choose from in and around Marrakech from 5-star beach hotels, mountain hotels, B&Bs and camping to the traditional riads, ranging from budget to boutique luxury.

Most people who go skiing in Morocco either stay in Marrakech and make the short journey to the base lift (around an hour’s drive) or split their holiday spending some of the time in Marrakech and the rest in the ski resort of Oukaimeden.

Yes there is Snow in Africa this Christmastime.