My Africa

Over the course of three "sabbaticals" and six holidays between 2003 and 2016, I spent a year of my life travelling in Africa, visiting 22 countries. The yellow dots on the map above indicate the places I stayed overnight during these occasions. In addition, below is a brief introduction to my history in Africa, with links to separate webpages containing some photo's and text on destinations I visited. To navigate, you could use the menu options or buttons too. The words are often in English, although Dutch is my native language, because originally, many were contributions to the US based (but nowadays sadly deleted) website of Virtualtourist.com. The writings could be anything from a few raw notes to insider tips or short travel stories. The publication of all the content is primarily aimed at satisfying my own desire to document my travel history and being able to memorize well. Nevertheless, by doing this online, I do somehow hope to open a few doors to Africa too, and inspire some who previously may have been discouraged by some news media, that continues to highlight the problems of the continent, often from a biased Western point of view. Talking to backpackers in other parts of the world, to many Africa is a no go, or a low priority indeed. And while it's not true that Africa is hardcore traveling or unaffordable wherever you go, you probably may have to adjust more than you're used to in South America, Europe or SE Asia. But the rewards are great. I appreciate Africa - at least below the Sahara Desert - for its genuine, welcoming people, for its beauty, for the great adventures and encounters that can be had once you venture a little out of your comfort zone. For the pleasant, to a Westerner sometimes grueling relaxed pace of life, and for the prospect that every single day you will stumble upon situations that will stun you, makes you think, makes you laugh or makes you cry. 

 

Holiday to South Africa and Lesotho (Mar. 2016)

After 4 years of absence, it was time to revisit Africa. In South Africa I spent  a good and pleasant time in the very different cities of Jo'burg, CapeTown and Kimberley, as well as in the Southern Drakensberg, but the best part maybe was traveling through rural Lesotho for a few days.

 

Holiday to Morocco (Feb. 2012)

It was a cheap 'n easy choice to spend 2 weeks in Morocco, but Africa disappointed for the first time. While the natural scenery was superb at times, I spent too much time in cities that I started to hate, and traveling between them. I made the wrong choices, and failed to really enjoy.

 

Holiday to Jordan and Egypt (Nov. 2011)

The historical sites of Egypt and Jordan always appealed to me, so it was a logical choice to dedicate three weeks of precious holiday and have a look. This time, the focus was on visiting highlights: Petra, diving in the Red Sea, Luxor, Aswan, Giza, the fabulous Egyptian Museum in Cairo, among countless others. Enjoyed enormously.

 

Holiday to Cape Verde (Feb. 2011)

After being utterly impressed by a friends' hiking report on the islands of Cape Verde, I decided to go there myself for a week or two. I divided most of my time between three islands all offering unique and magnificent natural attractions, both on land and underwater; and - despite Cape Verde lacked a typically African feel in many places - they appeared to be extremely rewarding indeed. 

 

Holiday to Chad and Cameroon (Oct. 2010)

Between 2006 and 2009, my geographical focus temporary shifted to Asia. But by the end of 2009, I accepted a new job in Holland. I had missed Africa, and so decided to spend my annual 3 weeks' holiday traveling from N'Djamena (Chad) to Douala (Cameroon), a fantastic adventure in its own right.  

 

Holiday to Banda Island, Uganda (Dec 2005)

In 2005, the focus was very much on work, and there were just less than 2 weeks of holiday this year. For that occasion I flew to Uganda, and spent almost all of my time relaxing on the legendary Banda Island in Lake Victoria, well away from everything.

 

East Africa Trip (Sept- Dec 2004)

By the beginning of 2004 I had accepted a new job in my hometown. It was pleasant to see structure in life, new challenges and interaction with collegues again. But...the desire to return to Africa was irresistible. And so, when my employer asked me to start in  a new, more challenging position, I took my chances and asked for a sabbatical, which was generously conceded. So, I set off for my third 90 days' trip to Africa in 2 years' time!

 

This time, I flew to Nairobi, and enjoyed some fabulous trekking on Mount Kenya before flying to Addis Ababa. Both the "Northern Circuit" - that I travelled half - and the tribes in the South of Ethiopia river offered unmatched travel rewards...

 

It was then my overall plan to travel to Egypt overland, but unfortunately it didn't work out. All land borders with Eritrea were locked and processing time of a Sudan visa would take up to a month. So I decided to return to Kenya instead. The epic 24+ hours' overland journey from the Ethiopian border on top of a loaded cattle truck was memorable for some very unusual transport through deserted, desolate lands.

After some more days in Nairobi - a city that I actually enjoyed, I flew to Lusaka, Zambia. Spent a couple of days in the stunning South Luanga NP. During several game drives we enjoyed a wealth of animal life and natural beauty. The location of the campsites right on the shores of the Zambezi river offered some thrilling nights with elephants and hippos roaming freely around our tents.

In Malawi, the most popular backpackers hangouts were centered around the Lake Malawi. Traveling on the famous "Ilala ferry", I made stopovers on Likoma Island and in the village of Cobwe, on the Mozambican lake shore, where a partly destroyed RC church still dominated the otherwise lovely fishing village.

From Malawi, a long distance bus dropped me in Harare, the quite European looking capital city of Zimbabwe. After a few days, I moved on further south to see the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, an interesting historical site with good facilities for the visitor. After that to the Victoria Falls, which surprised me for the huge volume of water coming down even by the end of the dry season. Crossing the border with Zambia on foot near Livingstone, I revisited the Falls, now enjoying the views from the other side and above.

I then took a train from Lusaka to Tanzania and disembarked at night at the remote Mbeya station. Guided by a nice guy called Peter (Adventure Tours), I explored local attractions for a couple of days.

 

In search of a good relaxing spot - which I was craving by now -, I traveled to coastal Bagamoyo, but the resorts here were so dull that I got bored almost immediately. Although I was fed up moving, I pushed myself to try the Kenyan Coast instead. I found a local bus that drove along the beautiful coastal road to Mombasa (a place I wouldn't recommend to anyone), from where I used a short flight to Lamu Island. Lamu was love at first sight and after 14 days there, I could nothing else than to admit this was one of the most fascinating and wonderful places I ever stayed!
 

West Africa Trip (Sept- Dec 2003)

On my last savings, I decided to go on a second 90 days' journey to Africa, this time to see some of West Africa and its fascinating Sahel region. Countries duly covered were Ghana and Niger, with some time spent in Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso too. In hindsight, this was probably my all time favorite trip to Africa.
 

East Africa Trip (Jan - March 2003)

The first few weeks home after my 13 months' long Asia journey in 2001/2002 were definitely fun, spending time with friends and family, but I realized the only thing I still wanted was to continue discovering the world. So I booked a flight to Dar-es Salaam for a 90 days' trip starting in January 2003 that would cover Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. Also, one day was spent in Goma, to witness the aftermath of the recent Mt. Nyiragongo volcano eruption. It was a fantastic trip altogether, and however I loved Asia, it were now the Africans that stole my heart...