My belief that music is the greatest leveler was strengthened during my travel to Africa last year. I landed up with an assignment for my NGO in Tamale, the capital of the northern region of Ghana. My dream of Africa travel in general, and visiting one of the West African countries in particular, was finally fulfilled.

 In Tamale, I heard a so called ‘guitar band’ playing at a place close to my hotel. There are very few guitar bands still around, as highlife and hip-hop dominates the music scene of Ghana. A guitar band is now, in all sense, retro. But I liked this band. The sound was very 70s: amplified, bluesy, rhythmic and soulful. But the content of the music they were playing was pure Mande stuff: traditional African music with roots that go back to more than seven hundred years.

 I was forced to think of the times when the music of West Africa reached the American shores with the slave trade. The Africans who reached there adopted the guitar and modified its sound to make it sound like their instruments. The Blues were ultimately born, followed by Jazz, the electric guitar, rock, and history.

 As time would have it, the electric guitar came back to West Africa in the 1960s. And by the seventies, the circle was full. Now the music was back to where it all began. Interestingly, the guitar was now preferred over the kora, the nkoni and the balafone, and the foreign sound was adopted for the native rhythms. It happened in other West African countries too. It was like a homecoming for the prodigal sound. I realized that history can chart strange circles: because culture knows no boundaries.

Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or Vic Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya – ah! every nature lover’s dream isn’t it? Lucky me! that I could go for a trip to this natural wonder of Africa. Considered to be the largest “curtain of falling water” in the world, this was discovered by David Livingstone.

I was amazed by seeing the type of people visiting this wonder of nature. Apart from the travelers like us, I also found explorers and surveyors also visiting this place. While visiting this beautiful falls, my group also went for adventure sports available there – white water rafting and bungee jumping…something I will cherish all my life. If you visit this place sometime in the future, do not forget to go for Victoria Falls Safari, kayaking, canoeing, fishing and walking safaris.

Accommodation at Victoria Falls is quite good and affordable with luxury, standard, romantic and family hotels located close to the falls. We stayed at the Ilala Lodge close to the Victoria Falls National Park. It was a standard hotel with all the required facilities. The best part of the hotel was that from the top floor rooms, we were able to see the Victoria Falls!

A great experience, I must say, to cherish all my life!

Tossing on the bed yesterday afternoon my nap was disturbed by the noise made by a flight. I stay very close to an international airport and therefore the sound was nothing new. There are numerous airlines which are operated from this place. Waking up I spent some moments in thinking about the service of flights to different countries. These flights connect the remotest parts of the world together.

We all know how the story began with the Wright Brothers. And by now, the scene has been enriched with the presence of some of the largest airlines throughout the world. Among them the mentionable ones are Continental Airlines, British Airways, American Airlines, Lufthansa and so on. Comfort and safety are the integral parts of the air travel.

This very day I came across the website of Mapsofworld which told me a lot about the most prominent airlines on this planet. Visiting this site you will get to know about many aspects of air travel. There are genuine information about almost all the major flights which are available nooks and crannies of the world. So, I have a suggestion here…before visiting a place by air, you may take a look at these web pages in order to stay up to date. Believe me, it will really help you much more than all the common guide books or handouts which are available in the market.

After some necessary phone calls, a few reservations, an eventful flight,…we were on our way to the Aberdare National Park in Kenya for some quality adventure trekking!. An exciting 3-4 hours drive through the countryside brought us to our lodge. After checking in out at the lodge, it was a hot shower that I just needed and in no time we were ready to make our first short trip into the wild. Lying just 80 miles north of Nairobi, the park is conveniently located amidst the Aberdare Mountain range. We were just lucky enough to avail ourselves a landrover and after speeding for about 20-25 minutes, we were greeted by a flock of wild buffaloes. Typically these animals are known to migrate in herds during scorching summers in search of new water holes. Apart from them, one can usually see giraffes, rhinos, elephants, antelopes, zebras and my favorite,..the leopard. Fred, in the meantime, was already in business with his camera blazing at anything that moved among the leaves. Monkeys are an usual menace and one needs to be extra careful about carrying food or fruits.

Long five years since I made my last trip to Africa…and the call of the wild was upon me again! I checked in with Fred, and yes, he was utterly interested at my proposal to salvage the jungles of Africa at the Aberdare National Park,Kenya once again. Greeted with a steaming cup of coffee, we checked into our guest lodge six days later. The lodge had some exciting offerings for the guests which I liked immediately. Just outside the lodge was a water hole with viewing windows. Floodlights were on the whole night. Most interesting feature that fancied Fred was the fact that, there was a special enclosure on the ground floor which was specifically designed to enable people to take photographs of animals without being noticed. There was no glass in the enclosure. We sat all through the night mesmerised at the beauty of the dark jungle, the silence occasionally broken by the groans and growls of the wild animals that ventured too close to our resort. Hours passed like minutes as we exchanged a few words sipping on to our beers.

The beautiful land of Egypt has a lot of mysteries and myths attached to it. Take the pyramids for example – you will get to hear a lot about these colossal edifices that were built in ancient Egypt. When I saw these massive structures during my last trip to Egypt, I was surprised to see its massiveness and architectural brilliance. The first sight of the step pyramid of Djozer in Saqqara was an unforgettable experience.

Since I had keen interest in Pyramids, from the very first day in Egypt, I made a plan to see all the important pyramids in Egypt. I had also ordered a tourist map of Egypt from www.mapsofworld.com to plan my schedule in advance. I started seeing the pyramids from the north. Naturally, the first Pyramid I came across was the stepped pyramid of Djozer. The beautiful pyramid is often considered as one of the earliest examples of monumental structures that were made of finished stone. According to historical evidence, this edifice was built in 27^th century BC for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser or Djozer. Imhotep, the vizier of the Pharaoh was the master planner of this enormous structure. Situated in Saqqara necropolis, northwest to the city of Memphis, this stepped pyramid consists of six mastabas, which (the guide told me) were used for marking a burial ground.

I was having a strange feeling standing in front of this gigantic structure. I could not resist myself from imagining the time when thousands of workers brought the rocks and made this colossal structure. But I could see nothing… it seemed to me that this massive structure was built by no human being… it was always there, since the time immemorial. It also reminded me of the book Chariot of the Gods – which tells that may be beings from the other universe helped the people to built such massive structures. Standing in front of such a massive structure everything seemed possible… What a gigantic yet beautiful structure…and what an experience indeed!

Last summer I made a short trip to Egypt – the land which is known for its ancient civilization, mysterious cultures, rich history and of course Pyramids. It was a wonderful and exciting experience to say the least. From the moment I stepped in Cairo I was anxious to see all the colossal monuments and edifices in Egypt about which I read in my history books.

The Giza Necropolis has always been a major tourist attraction of Egypt. Thousands of tourists every year visit this Pyramid complex. As I saw the great pyramid of Khufu in Giza, I was awestruck by its massiveness and architectural brilliance. Apart from the Pyramid of Khufu the pyramid complex of Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menakaure. There are also a number of small satellite edifice which are known as Queen’s Pyramid.

The pyramid complex of Giza is one of the hottest tourist attraction of Africa. Anyone can find the location of this pyramid complex from any well drawn map of Egypt. The Pyramid of Khufu situated in this complex is one of the largest pyramids in Egypt. It is also known as the great pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops. The pyramid of Khafre is smaller in size but being located on a higher land appears to be taller than the Great pyramid (I did not know it till I saw these massive structures). The pyramid of Khafre has a prominent casing on limestone on it.

But the most beautiful part of this pyramid complex is the Great Sphinx that lies on the east side of the Giza Pyramid complex. It is one of the largest and the oldest monuments in the history. Half of the statue looks like human while the other half looks like lion. The beautiful statue and the great pyramid of Khufu is one of the seven wonders of the world. With their massiveness, brilliant architecture and historical importance this pyramid complex is worthy of such an honor. Make sure to visit this complex even if you are on a time bound schedule.

I have already gathered information on how I will reach the Aaland Islands. Mariehamn Airport is the only airport located on the islands. It is situated in the Mariehamn City, which is the capital of the Aland Islands. Daily flights from Helsinki, Turku or Stockholm will easily take me to my destination. But, you know what? I have decided to go there by any of the ferries that ply from Sweden or Finland to the archipelago.

After reaching the Aland Islands, I am going to hire a bike to explore the islands of the archipelago. I will not only visit the tourist places marked on the Aaland Islands map. I will explore the archipelago in every possible way. I will go for hiking, camping, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing— in a nutshell, I will go for all possible outdoor activities in Aland Islands.

In the evening, I will sail to an island, pitch my tent there, and will have a campfire. You know what! My heart has already started humming my favorite song,
“Lord I’m one, lord I’m two, lord I’m three, lord I’m four,
Lord I’m 500 miles from my home.
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles
Lord I’m five hundred miles from my home.”

I just couldn’t resist myself from telling you about the Aaland Islands. And I know, after learning about the Aland Islands, you will also feel like going there. Don’t forget to carry a map of Aaland Islands with you. The archipelago formed by the Aland Islands is situated at the approaches of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. The islands, almost adjacent to the Finnish Archipelago Sea, are located only 40 kilometers away from the coast of Sweden.

In the Aland Islands, there are around 300 islands, on which people can live. However, at present only 80 of them are inhabited. And can you believe it, the remaining islands, which count to more than 6000, are still unexplored! Most of these uninhabited islands are skerries or rocky islands. After knowing this, the adventure lover within me was really excited to learn more about the place.

No, this is not Paris of France or Egypt, the home Sphinx. Neither it is the South Pole, nor is the beautiful Greece. This is the Aaland Islands, which have recently made a place in my wish list of places to visit before I die.

Let me share my experience with you. I have never heard any of my friends or relatives visiting the Aaland Islands of Finland. Yesterday, I was sitting idly in front of my computer. Just like that, I was searching for online nature photographs. In the results of my search, I saw a number of pictures of the Aaland Islands: the beautiful archipelago.

The green islands surrounded by blue water caught my attention. I started to search for more information on the Aaland Islands. After seeing the Aaland Islands map, I was really impressed. The beautiful archipelago is formed by over 6500 islands in the Baltic Sea. It is the smallest province of Finland, which covers only 0.49% of the total land area of the country. The Aaland Islands are also known as Aland Islands. The archipelago appears as a small dot between Finland and Sweden on the world map.