The very location of Tanganyika between the massive lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi, and Lake Tanganyika makes this territory in East Africa, a perfect home for the flora and fauna of this part of the world. A visit to their home is a perfect “food” for animal lovers. 

As you move into Tanganyika Wildlife Park, you will be welcomed by over a hundred species of animals and birds. These include some of the rarest and most endangered species such as black-footed penguins, white Royal-Bengal tigers, black rhinoceros, clouded leopards, white-handed gibbon and even red pandas kangaroos, camel, giraffe,

The very idea of the park, according to Jim and Sherri Foutsthe (the directors and owners of Tanganyika Wildlife Park), has been to impart wildlife education and create awareness about the diverse species of animals that exist in this part of  the world. Each of them has a distinct specialty and something unique on offer for the guests. The park has also provided shelter to a good number of the rarer varieties for over 20 years. 

In addition to this, the Tanganyika Wildlife Company has also bred, transported, and imported and exported some of the species to other parts of the world. Though the trading of animals has been stopped through regulations made by the government, the  Tanganyika Wildlife Foundation was established in the year 2001 to further the work of the park.

Last year I started planning early for my trip to Egypt. I did some research beforehand to know about the country. The ancient country is often referred to as the land of pyramids. One will find a number of myths and mysteries attached with this country. A well known country in north Africa, the country is a well known tourist destination. There are several tourist attractions spread across the country. As I did not have much time in hand to see every tourist attractions I took the help of a tourist map of Egypt to see most of the important places in the country.

I went to see the beautiful pyramids of Djozer and visited Giza pyramid complex. I also saw some of the beautiful Egyptian temples including the temple of Sun God Ra. During my stay in Cairo, the capital of Egypt I saw the beautiful hanging church and some mosques that stand as the architectural specimen of different eras. I also had a chance to enjoy a boat cruise in Nile. I tasted some authentic Egyptian Dishes during my stay in Egypt. Though I did not have much time in hand to see all the tourist attractions of Egypt I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation in this country.

It was a Tuesday evening. Me and my beloved wife Karen were having a chat over a cup of coffee. Two months down the line she was pregnant and I tried to devote as much time to her as possible. Karen was a brave woman, she still took to office everyday and attending her evening vocational classes. I was a bit worried that things might go wrong somehow so I kept calling her once in a while to check out on her. Around 5.30 just when we were about to wrap up, the doorbell rang, and to my surprise, it was Fred and his son Jerry. Its been quite some months I had not seen him, and warmly welcomed him inside. He seemed to have lost quite some weight. Readily he made himself comfortable on the couch as Jerry headed upstairs to my son Matt’s room.

Sipping on to the coffee Fred said that he was just back from yet another of his photographic assignments in Algeria. I knew he was dying to recount his experiences in the country and I lend him a patient ear. He started off by narrating how he had been in a land that offers lush green coasts, mountains, deserts and interesting cultures. He said that the country was still not considered safe for tourist travel and one needs to have an Algerian guide if he wishes to venture into the countryside. Although things have improved a lot in recent times, but still travelers are advised to exercise caution. It is necessary, he went on, to be associated with a reputed travel agency in case one has to make a trip to Algeria. I was surprised to learn that Algeria was regarded as the 11^th largest country in the world if total area is to be considered. It shares its borders with Niger, Libya, Tunisia, Mali and Morocco. More harrowing were the tales of civil unrest in the country and Fred recollected that more than 160,000 people were killed in clashes between 1992 and 2002. But Fred had enjoyed himself throughly, I could see it in his face. The best places he had visited, he recounted were Timgad, Biskra Zighout, Blida and Biskra.

Ancestor worship and spirit worship, in one form or another, are an integral part almost all indigenous African religion. Although the spread of Christianity and Islam, among other religions, have changed the nature of Africa’s spiritual comprehension of the world over the years, yet the ancient practices have not vanished altogether. Most of them continue to exist all across Africa, mitigated through the later faith structures. In strange and often barely recognizable ways, they still exist and form an integral part of African culture, and can be identified if you travel to Africa and witness some of the tribal rituals.

Many tribes distinguish between spirit worship and ancestor worship. In many other African religious practices, however, they collapse and become synonymous with each other: where the spirits of the ancestors are invoked. African traditional religion is often vilified by most branches of our modern humanist and liberal education and discarded as mere superstition. However, we must understand that many of these practices are not only beneficial but also extremely important. The mnemonic chants and the music accompanying the rituals of spirit invocation are repositories of African history (most of which is oral) and African art (through masks, music and folk drama).

Magic in Africa religion is usually employed for two distinct purposes. It is often used for communal benefit: praying for a good harvest, a much needed rain, fertility of human beings and domestic animals etc. It could also be invoked for the destructions of enemies: physical and supernatural. Secondly, African spirit worship has a judicial connotation. The validity of the juridical structure in many old African tribes is often ascertained through these ritualistic practices. Therefore, the importance of magical practices, and ancestral and spirit worship is immensely important for the proper sustenance of a particular tribe and its social cohesion.

Mahatma Gandhi had said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” And the evil effects of war still continue in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

The wars of 1996 and 1998 have resulted in a persisting humanitarian crisis in Congo. As per the report of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), about 5.4 million people have died since 1998 as a result of the continuing conflict in the country. The Second Congo War officially ended in 2002. But it has left the country in a deadly and critical condition. Still there are a number of small conflicts in the eastern provinces like North Kivu of the Congo Republic.  

Due to the aftermath of the deadly war, the DR Congo is considered to be the deadliest humanitarian crisis ever faced by any country of the world since the World War II. Congo, the third largest country on the Africa map, has suffered from great disturbance in the social, economic and political scenarios. The country has suffered a loss of over 3.9 million people between 1998 and 2004. But, record shows, only 10% of the deaths was caused by violence.  

Majority of the Congolese died as an aftermath of the Second Congo War. The principal causes of the deaths in the country are malnutrition, pneumonia, malaria, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, neonatal conditions and diarrhea. More than 50% of people died from these apparently preventable and curable diseases! Violent deaths have become isolated events throughout the country. Congo is suffering more from the consequences of the bloody wars.  

Can’t we stop wars? Can’t we think of the devastation caused by wars in the lives of millions of innocent people? Can’t we help people to recover from the nightmares of wars?

The North Island Villas located in Seychelles, Africa are quite famous among the tourists. These Villas are mainly made of local stones, wood, thatched roofs and glasses. I was told that generally the local craftsmen are employed to construct these villas. You will definitely enjoy a memorable time in these villas.

Each of these villas are spread over 450 square meters and have a master bedroom, lounge, change room, salsa deck and a living area. The bedrooms in the villas are air-conditioned and have facilities like Internet access, satellite television, private plunge pool and a DVD/CD system. You can also order the food according to your preferences as there is no “menu format”. The food will be prepared according to your taste and liking – isn’t that an interesting thing!

All these makes the North Island Villas “a must visit” for the travelers visiting Seychelles! I enjoyed staying in one of these villas a lot…

For the past few years, the local travelers in Kenya and East Africa were quite upset of the fact that they have to pay higher prices for traveling within the country. The UK and the US citizens generally pay much lesser than the local citizens while traveling in Kenya and East Africa. In order to help the local travelers, the Africa Point Travel Club has taken up lots of steps.

The Africa Point Travel Club has made pacts with various hotels, lodges and resorts for the benefit of the local tourists. The local tourists who visit these hotels, lodges and resorts get better prices than the foreign travelers. This is a welcome break for the travel industry that has duly supported this move as the number of foreign tourists visiting the country has declined in the recent times.

Some of the major hotels and airlines with which the club has partnered include Severin Sea Lodge, Serena Hotels, Sarova Hotels, Kenya Wildlife Service, Sun n Sand, Drift Wood Beach Club, Fly540 airline, Heritage Hotels and Aberdare Hotels.  It has also made pacts with villas and cottages in Naivasha, the Coast as well as different parts of the country. Some of the other industries which have supported this program of the Africa Point Travel Club include AAR, Barclaycard Africa, MamaMikes.com and Standard Chartered Bank’s Diva Club.  

In my opinion this is a great move which will help in the growth of the travel industry in Kenya and East Africa.

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!

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.