We’ve all heard about and definitely dreamed about Richard Branson’s Necker Island, but how many of us also knew that he had another private hideaway in Morocco? Can’t say it’s really all that much of a surprise, but yes - Kasbah Tamadot is roughly about a 45 minute drive from Marrakech and for $3,000 a night you and or any of your friends and family are welcome to stay at the house… um hotel. While we would be happy to go into full detail about … [Read more...]
Bumping Along Tanzania’s Highlands
Zipping through Tanzania, if you’re on a safari you’ll probably have the opportunity, whether you like it or not to go through the highlands of the country. This is actually the neck of the woods where Gibbs Farm is, a hotel and active coffee plantation in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area that is considered to be one of the better “escape from it all” hidden treasures of Tanzania. The highlands is a marvelous area to drive through and should be … [Read more...]
Seronera Airstrip, Getting In To The Serengeti
Seronera is the only public airstrip in and around the Serengeti, and it is a memorable experience not to be forgotten. Our first trip in many years ago, it was still just a grass covered “path” with a guard hut at one end and a water buffalo napping to the side. Over the years its “expanded” – ie. there’s now a thatched hut and a couple public “potty” spots, not really bathrooms, but they’ll do in a pinch and a parking area for the line up of … [Read more...]
Puddle Jumping From Arusha Airport
Kilimanjaro and Dar Es Salaam are international, Arusha is local only and the main hub to just about any and all destinations throughout Tanzania, if you’re on safari, odds are you will go through there at one point or another. The airport itself is more or less within the confines of the City of Arusha, depending where you are give yourself 20 to 30 minutes to get there, if you’re in town or one of the hotels in the surrounding neighborhood. … [Read more...]
The Zanzibar Serena In Stone Town
As promised a quick run down of the Zanzibar Serena in Stone Town. Stone town has a number of good hotels, although for the most part they all kind of fall into the category of appealing to a more mass market tourist trade – ie. package tourists who are coming off of group safari’s. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that most hotels will be swamped by groups and kind of chaotic. I’m trying to be polite here. The Zanzibar … [Read more...]
Profile: Serena Hotels Group
We’re a big fan of Serena Hotels, having stayed at many of them over the years and throughout our travels. Finding a good hotel group in more adventurous countries can be a challenge, especially if you’re traveling on something of a budget. Not to say Serena hotels are cheap, they tend toward the middle high end, but they are all very comfortable with excellent service and good food. To borrow from their own mission statement - "Our Mission is … [Read more...]
Finding Guides For Africa Travel
So, this is going to sound like a cop-out where we push you in the direction of the big tour companies and you are right that is exactly what we’re doing, not because we have any type of deal with any of them, but because we want you to be safe and enjoy yourselves. This is Africa, for the most part there is not much out there, roads are tough, flights complicated, getting around not so easy. The international companies have one thing that the … [Read more...]
What To Pack On Your African Safari
There are so many websites out there and every tour guide will send you their packing list of what to bring and there are probably lots of bloggers who are going to try and get you to plonk down money on their affiliate sales telling you what you need to bring. If you haven’t been to Africa then it could be a little daunting thought / debate – what will you need? Will I need a machete? Besides the fact that the airline probably won’t let you … [Read more...]
Traveling In Africa: Where to Start
Lumping in a whole topic under the title “Traveling Africa: Where To Start” is a big task, Africa, as a continent is about twice the size of the United States, so lets get real, mashing everything together into an over generalization about such a massive place, is basically impossible. But we’re going to throw out an introduction to the general topic here which hopefully will lend some thought to your planning process for anyone who’s thinking … [Read more...]