Now Entering Africa

Here we are, back from a short work-induced blogging hiatus, extended a day or two by an unexpected medical pitstop. We’ve also hit a milestone—a new continent! We’ve both been to Egypt, but that’s north of the Sahara. This time we’re diving head first into the world’s final wild frontier: Africa. Akemi's been to South Africa at least, but for me, this is totally uncharted territory.

And what better introduction to a new continent could there be than Ethiopia? Right off the plane, you can just feel that this quirky little country is different... but more about that when we get to it.

Last time with Turkey, we posted our plans and asked for suggestions. While we did come up with a fairly good route through Turkey, all the suggestions we had made it that much better. Safranbolu? Loved it!

We try not to look at guidebooks, so people are our best source of info. Locals and fellow travelers alike, the best way to find out what there is to do somewhere is to ask someone who’s already been there. This is doubly true when in Africa, where it seems a lion fart can knock out internet connections.

So we’re going to try this again—who’s got some good advice on Africa? [Andy, Dave, Steve, we're looking at you!] Again, we have a basic idea of what we want to see, especially for our first stop, Ethiopia, but are looking for a few out-of-the-way twists to keep things interesting. We’ll break this up by country, giving our basic plan and ideas.

Ethiopia 

As mentioned previously, Ethiopia is our first country in Africa and my first time going Sub-Saharan.



Checking out the map, you can see that our focus is on the north. We fly into and again out of Addis Ababa, avoiding what I hear can be a rather hairy southern border with Kenya, complete with bandits (which may or may not be hairy). I also hear that overland transport in this area is... shall we say less than optimal—two days in a bus from Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar to cover 550 kilometers doesn’t sound like my cup of Ethiopian coffee—so we’ll be utilizing some surprisingly cheap domestic air routes for this part of the world.

The basic route of Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Gondar, Aksum and Lalibela are all interconnected rather well with air routes, basically making them interchangeable in terms of order. We’ll play it by ear, but will probably use land transport between Bahir Dar and Gondar, and possibly to Lalibela if the rumors I hear of vastly improved roads in that neck of the woods are true.

Our wild card for Ethiopia was whether or not to add a few days and another stop to the list: Shashemene or Harar, maybe? We now have a few days to kill before we can fly as we're waiting for our Brazilian visas, and those are our ideas. Being the home of Rastafarianism, Shashemene sounds just zany enough to be a fun distraction, mon.

And here's the rest of the African leg of the trip:

Kenya 

From Ethiopia, we fly from Addis Ababa into Nairobi, Kenya to start the overland portion of our African expedition.

As you might have suspected, one of the biggest questions we had on Africa was what to do about a safari. I’ll go into more detail when we recap later, but we've decided that despite the added costs, we’re destined for Tanzania and the Serengeti due to the migration patterns and our timing.

The disappointing thing is that that leaves us with little to do in Kenya. Nairobi doesn't exactly sound like the most inviting place in the world, and if we’re not looking around for a safari guide then I’m not sure it’s worth it. I hear it’s a likely place for tourists to get targeted by thieves, and that they don't play around. Maybe that assessment is unfair, but I’m just going by what I've heard.

Is Lake Nakuru with its flamingos worth a daytrip without going on a full-blown safari? Are the lazy beaches of Lamu worth a stop with the Almighty Zanzibar looming just around the corner in Tanzania? Am I missing some other hidden gem here? I’m thinking it might be better to give Kenya a pass this time and focus our attention on Tanzania in the absence of good suggestions to the contrary.

Tanzania

Even if you don’t know Africa, you've probably heard of a few of the attractions in Tanzania. Serengeti. Kilimanjaro. Zanzibar. I mean seriously, how could you not want to go to a place called Zanzibar? It sounds like a magician’s name or something. I think I might just name my next pet after it. THE AMAZING ZANZIBAR.

As noted above, if you’re plans are to safari and hit the beach all in one sitting, Tanzania wins. Our safari will be a total of 5-6 days, first touring through the Serengeti and Arusha park, then over to Ngorogoro crater and Lake Manyara. This will be followed by... Zanzibar the Magnificent.

We’re also thinking that a train ride from Dar Es Salaam to our next planned stop, Zambia, sounds like a lovely way to jet across the countryside. I’d love to add something less touristy in there, whether it be Kenya or Tanzania, and will be keeping my ears wide open for suggestions along the way. I hear that anything south of Dar Es Salaam is a good bet.

Zambia

The train from Dar Es Salaam just so happens to terminate in Lusaka, Zambia. Serendipitously, we just so happen to have a friend who moved to Lusaka earlier this year, so this stop is a no-brainer! After a short recharge here, our new party of three will venture south to Victoria Falls before heading into...

Botswana

Botswana makes the list here for one simple reason: it’s easy. The easiest, in fact. Zimbabwe is a disaster waiting to happen—besides an African traveler advising us to steer clear, I think Monopoly money is worth more than their currency at this point. And northern Mozambique is a mine field of problems—literally. In some areas north, there are mines left over from wars past. I’ve thus heard that the best path into Mozambique would be to first go south, then enter from South Africa. That doesn't really help, for our purposes.

Other than transit, what will we do here? Well, our newly implanted Zambian host tells us there are some nice national parks, so we’ll discuss that one with her and get back to you.

South Africa

Our African terminus, South Africa. So much to see, but how much time will we have at this point to see it? Between reuniting with Akemi’s host families in Durban after too many years and flying out of Johannesburg to our next continent, will we even have time to get out to Cape Town on the other side of the country? I certainly hope so. We also hope to meet a few people we know in Pretoria if there’s time.

And there you have it. Enough to fill two and a half months? Probably. Would we consider other options along the way? Definitely. Or are we underestimating how long it takes to get around in Africa? You tell us.