Anouk's Africa Travel Blog

The popular US TV Show Survivor is being filmed right now in the Central African country of Gabon. Apparently the host Jeff Probst had to look at the map to figure out where it was. Given the fact that he's quite a well-traveled individual, I thought it would be timely to provide some information about Gabon and what the Survivor cast and crew can expect to find there.

Gabon has only just started to develop its tourist potential. Previously it was too busy logging, mining and drilling its natural resources. Since 2002, Gabon's President Bongo decided it might be a good idea to protect 10% of his country by establishing National Parks and Reserves with the idea of building up Gabon's tourism infrastructure. Gabon now markets itself as "Africa's Eden" and it is indeed a beautiful place. Wildlife abounds in this steamy tropical country. Thousands of lowland gorillas, unused to ever seeing humans, live in the rain forests along with chimpanzees, mandrills, buffalo, elephant and leopard. Whales and dolphins frolic in the Atlantic ocean while hippos surf the waves closer to shore.

All these animals are wonderful for Eco-tourists visiting the country, but the Survivors may find them a tad dangerous. Couple the wildlife of Gabon with the insects and bugs that carry all kinds of tropical diseases, and you've got yourself a real adventure.

Find out more about Survivor and Gabon ...

_{Host Jeff Probst -- Getty Images/Kevin White and Lowland Gorilla -- Getty Images/Gerry Ellis}

The Majorelle Gardens offer a little slice of tranquility from the hubbub of the busy streets of Marrakech. Owned by Yves Saint Laurent (his ashes have been strewn in the garden now) and Pierre Bergé, the Majorelle Gardens were created by French painter Jacques Majorelle who settled in Morocco after the First World War.

With over 300 species of spectacular plants, many planted in vibrantly colored pots, the Majorelle Gardens is a botanical work of art. A brilliantly painted studio of Majorelle's is now a quaint little Islamic Art Museum with pieces coming from the owners' personal collection... read more.

_{Image of the Islamic Art Museum, Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech, Morocco -- © Anouk Zijlma}

Calling someone in Africa has certainly become easier in the past decade with the introduction of cell phones. Land lines in many African countries were unpredictable and expensive, and it was a small miracle if your call made it through. Cell phones have truly revolutionized communications in Africa.

Whether you're making a hotel reservation or calling a friend in Africa, you have to know what international codes to dial to get your call through. (You should also figure out what time it is before calling, so you don't wake anyone up!). I've put together a list of all the individual African country codes as well as tips on cell phone use while you're in Africa... read more

_{San Hunter on cell phone -- ©Getty Images/Jeremy Woodhouse}

If you need an excuse to visit Zanzibar, other than exploring some of the best beaches the world has to offer, then look no further than the Festival of the Dhow Countries. Held annually in July, you can enjoy music, arts, literature, film and more from all the African countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Marrakech will also feast this July with its Popular Arts Festival, which attracts even more snake charmers, fire-swallowers, acting troupes and fortune tellers to its famous main square, the Djemma el-Fna.

Find out what other festivals are being held in Africa this July...

_{Beach in Zanzibar -- © Steve Outram}

Book by June 20th and enjoy some really good deals from the US to South Africa and Senegal. South African Airways has an excellent sale going on right now which is good for fares from August (2008) to March (2009). Fares from New York and Washington DC start as low as $1060. You can fly from more than 30 destinations in the US for just a few hundred dollars more.

South Africa is a much more affordable destination than Europe, your dollar goes much further and it is very child-friendly. With malaria-free safaris, world class wining and dining in Cape Town, as well as gorgeous beaches -- you can't go wrong. It's easy to rent a car and explore this beautiful country on a budget.

Senegal is also an exciting destination and a perfect gateway to the rest of West Africa. It won't be this cheap to fly to West Africa for a long time.

_{The Typically Awesome View As You Drive Around the Cape Town Area-- © Anouk Zijlma}

Writing about time in Africa is interesting. There's the standard world clock of course, which tells you that East Africa is three hours ahead of West Africa. There are just 4 countries in Africa that practice daylight savings time (all start at different times in the year). And every individual African country has one time zone.

Ethiopians are in the middle of the year 2000, having celebrated their millennium in September 2007. There's such a thing as "Swahili time" and that clock starts at 6am as opposed to midnight. A Tanzanian might tell you the bus arrives at 2 in the morning, whereas your watch would confirm it is in fact 8 in the morning. That's of course if the bus arrives on time. Punctuality is a whole other matter, especially in rural Africa. A bus or train schedule may exist, but a train could easily arrive a day or so late and your fellow African passengers will barely grumble about it.

The President of the Ivory Coast held a punctuality contest last October (2007) and awarded the winner a villa. This was in reaction to the general perception that business was being slowed down throughout the country because everybody kept turning up late for appointments. The slogan of the competition was "African time' is killing Africa, let's fight it". Personally I like to visit Africa because the pace tends to be slower. Having said that, on my recent travels to South Africa and Morocco, every train, bus and plane left on time -- it was almost boring.

Find out more about time in Africa...

_{Ethiopian Ladies enjoying the year 2000 -- © Robert Eilets}

I'm still trying to figure out why Guinea is such a popular name for a country. In West Africa there are no less than 3 countries called Guinea. There's the Republic of Guinea (sometimes also known as Guinea-Conakry); there's Guinea-Bissau (they are neighbors); and there's Equatorial Guinea, which has a lot of oil and does not lie on the equator. People from Guinea-Bissau mostly speak Creole Portuguese whereas people from the Republic of Guinea generally converse in French as their lingua franca. Guinea-Bissau has a major drug trafficking problem (thanks to the Columbians using it as a port to get cocaine into Europe); Guinea is busy trying to explore new oil fields, and Equatorial Guinea is constantly threatened by coups because it is already oil-rich.

Since I'm amusing myself with African geography, does everyone know the difference between Mali and Malawi? Malawi happens to be the country where I spent my childhood. It's a beautiful landlocked country with a vast lake, nestled between Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. It's now more commonly known as the country Madonna adopted her son from a few years ago. Mali is a huge desert country with a rich cultural heritage in West Africa. Mali produces some of the finest music on the planet, is home to the fascinating Dogon region as well as the fabled town of Timbuktu.

Spot the difference between the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC (formerly known as Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire) is a huge slab of a country in Central Africa known for its awful civil war, diamonds and 250 Mountain Gorillas. The Republic of Congo is much smaller than the DRC and has a lot of oil. The capitals of both countries are situated on the Congo River directly across from one another. About.com's Geography Guide Matt Rosenberg has more on this...

And then there's Zambia and the Gambia. Zambia lies in Southern Africa and is home to the most impressive natural phenomena in the world -- the great Victoria Falls. The Gambia is where French people flock to in the winter for some sunbathing and swimming.

Mauritania and Mauritius couldn't be more different from one another. Mauritania is a vast desert country in West Africa and Mauritius is a honeymooners paradise in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa.

Niger and Nigeria are linked by the waters of the huge Niger River, hence the (almost) shared name. Despite this, Niger is in fact a drought prone, desert country, twice the size of Texas and predominantly Islamic. Nigeria is Africa's most populated country, the economic giant of the region, with incredible cultural diversity (over 250 ethnic groups). One of Nigeria's larger cities, Benin City (which lies in the Kingdom of Benin) is often confused with the independent country of Benin (formerly known as Dahomey).

Did you know that Manhattan and Morocco share the same 212 telephone code? I could go on like this forever...

_{Image of Niger's bustling capital, Niamey -- © Getty Images/Daniel Berehulak}

This wonderful little town is very popular with backpackers because it offers lots of affordable accommodation and a laid-back atmosphere. Rooftop cafes overlook the brightly painted blue streets that contrast beautifully with the green mountains that form the backdrop to this town. Where is it?

And the answer is...

_{Image © Anouk Zijlma}

Driving through Africa offers a truly exciting adventure and there are plenty of people who welcome the challenge. Couples like Janet and Chris are half way through a two-year trip around the globe in their Toyota camper van. They reached Egypt in November (2007) and have now driven through the Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania where they celebrated becoming grandparents earlier this month. Janet spent her 60th birthday overlooking the falls at the source of the Nile in Uganda -- "we had a wonderful panoramic view of all the white water, and all the locals going over them strapped to Plastic petrol cans".

On the other side of spectrum, 4 men from South Africa decided to deliver pizza from Johannesburg to London in under 40 days -- they made it with a freezer strapped to the back of one of their 4 BMW motorbikes (which held the pizza). While obviously their journey was about making speedy time across the continent, their updates are hilarious and still informative about traveling conditions in Africa. "Libyans found us an oddity, as witnessed by the number of cars that passed us with the driver’s cell phone pointed in our direction to either take a picture or a movie of our progress. You might have noted, correctly, that it is not strictly normal for the driver of a car to be operating his cell phone camera while simultaneously operating heavy machinery on a national highway. Especially if said heavy machinery is careering into oncoming traffic while overtaking 4 motorcycles that are already doing 120 km an hour."

These blog posts and much more can be found on the Africa Overland Network which currently has almost 200 members who are overlanding through Africa and updating their sites regularly with interesting travel information, anecdotes and excellent photos. You can easily waste several days on this site. And if you like the idea of Overlanding in Africa, but don't want the hassle of building a custom vehicle or spending years on a trip -- look into the idea of an organized Overland trip. It's cheap, adventurous and a lot of fun.

_{On the road in Namibia - Image © Michael Daecher}

Morocco plays host to two outstanding cultural events this June (2008). The Gnaoua Music Festival in Essaouira will be held at the end of the month. Essaouira is a wonderful destination in itself and traditional Gnaoua music is a heady combination of religious prayer, musical rhythms and acrobatics. The beautiful city of Fes hosts a Sacred Music Festival at the beginning of June, which attracts mystics, chanters and dancers from all over the world.

Other major festivals in Africa that take place in June (2008) include a Roots Festival in the Gambia, and an Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa.

For more information click on -- June Festivals and Events in Africa

_{Getty Images/Pascal Le Segretain}