Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro - Tanzania (Africa) JedyFriday, October 10, 2014 0 comments

At  5893 metres (19,336 feet) Mt Kilimanjaro spans five climate zones

Picking the best time to climb Mount Kilimanjaro can be the difference between seeing the summit and merely reaching it. At 5,893 m (19,336 ft), the snow- capped peak in Tanzania is African highest with Eve different climatic zones and a half-dozen walk-able trails to the top, including the popular Marangu. Mountain rainforests lead to scrub and alpine moorland before the ice fields of the summit. Keen to avoid the crowds and downpours? Then climb in September for cloud-free days and peaceful trails.

More info: Tanzania Tourism, National Parks of Tanzania 

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Finding of the True Cross (Meskel) - Ethiopia (Africa) JedySaturday, October 04, 2014 0 comments

Bonfire, chanting and flame-lit parades characterize Meskel

The first big festival of the Ethiopian religious calendar commemorates the finding of the true cross by St Helena in the fourth century AD. Today this great religious feast is fused with older, traditional rites in honour of the return of sunshine after the gloom of the rainy season -just as the bright yellow Meskel daisy reaches full bloom. A riot of colour, hope and joy, the Meskel Festival is Celebrated with bonfires, parties, chanting, flame- lit torch parades and public celebrations. Tradition dictates that people return to the bonfire the following morning to etch the sign of the cross on their foreheads with ash. St Helena is said to have given fragments of Christs cross to all the churches of the world - the Ethiopian Church still claims to have theirs in the remote monastery of Gishan Mariam. This festival happen at late September.

More info: Ethiopia Tourism

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Shark Alley - Gansbaai, South Africa (Africa) JedyFriday, October 03, 2014 0 comments

Come eye-ball to eye-ball with the skilful underwater killing machines

The name ‘Shark Alley’ says it all - a stretch of water just half-hour off the South African mainland rich in Mother Natures most fearsome underwater killing machines. As skilled predators, great whites patrol the deeper water as well as the edges of the kelp fields in the area around Gansbaai - the ‘Great White Shark Diving Capital of the World’. Shark Alley is best visited in winter (May to October) when the sharks are in a high state of excitement due to a ready supply of seal pups, and cage-diving boats offer tourists a chance to slip on a wetsuit and take a closer look - often eyeball-to-eyeball through 12 mm logs in) of galvanized steel mesh.

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Bungee-Jump the Zambezi River - Zimbabwe JedyFriday, October 03, 2014 0 comments

Bungee-jumpers have the Victoria Falls as a backdrop

Bungee nuts ask "why live on the edge, when it's more fun tp leap off" - especially in the awesome setting of the Victoria Falls. The 111 m(354 ft) death-defying leap allows several seconds of jaw-dropping scenery on the plummet towards the ground - especially in clear, autumn mornings. A bridge between the Zimbabwean and Zambian border posts provides the venue. Every jump is Videoed for posterity - encouraging even the jelly-legged to raise a smile as they plunge.

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The Mountain of the Moon - Uganda( Africa) JedyThursday, October 02, 2014 0 comments

Completely out  of bounds during the rainy season, the Rwenzori Mountains form a 120 km (75 mile) spine along Uganda's western border. Dubbed the 'Mountain Of The Moon', the ridge is frequently cloaked in misty cloud with a half-dozen peaks carrying permanent snow, three with glaciers. The highest of these peaks, and the third highwst peak in Africa, is Mt. Margherita rising 5102 m (16,740 ft) above sea level amidst resplendent rainforest, gaint heather, waterfalls, butterfly-filled swamps and lakes.Visit when "dry" (less boggy) July to mid-September.

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National Voodoo Day - Ouidah Beach, Benin (Africa) JedyWednesday, October 01, 2014 0 comments

10th January

Draped in animal skin with bones and fetish charms clattering, thousands of West Africans, Caribbean islanders and western tourists descend on Benin for the annual Voodoo festival in the southern town of Ouidah. Voodoo rituals have been practised by two-thirds of Benin's 6.7-million people since the end of the 16th century. Hundreds of spirit gods are honoured at clay shrines with festivities that begin with the clatter of tambourines. Frenzied dances, incantations and deep trances last for several hours as over 10,000 participants in flowing robes rub shoulders with curios bystanders in a celebration  of prayers, sacrifices and free-flowing libations.

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Festival of the Desert - Essakane, Mali (Africa) JedyWednesday, October 01, 2014 0 comments

9th January

Although less than a decade old, the festival Au Desert in Essakane just two hours from Timbuktu boasts a loyal cult following. Originating from the region's Touareg festivities of ancient poetry, song and dance, the festival welcomes an eclectic bill of artists from Africa and all over the worlds.Over 30 musical genres celebrate global oral traditions in a largely non-commercialized event that also promotes world peace.

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