Activities in Africa
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Scuba Dive or Snorkel with Great White Sharks
11 hours (Departs Cape Town, South Africa)
by Viator
Join this tour for the underwater experience of a lifetime as you scuba dive or snorkel with the Great White Sharks of South Africa! Take the opportunity during…Not LP reviewed
from USD$199.48 - All activities
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Masumin Tours & Safaris
Masumin Tours & Safaris
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Deep-Sea Fishing
If you want to ape the fish-wrestling antics of Ernest Hemingway, Deep-Sea Fishing is possible at Ocean Sports Hotel and Hemingway's (high season, up to four anglers per boat). People are a little more environmentally sensitive now than in old Ernie's day - tag and release is standard procedure.
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Maasai Wanderings
A small company offering northern Tanzania safaris and treks, including safaris for families and seniors, plus Zanzibar packages; profits are channelled into various community projects.
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Duma Explorer
Northern Tanzania safaris, Kilimanjaro and Meru treks, northern Tanzania cultural tours and safari-coast combinations.
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Hiking
The western Usambaras around Lushoto offer some wonderful walking. Routes follow well-worn footpaths that weave among villages, cornfields and banana plantations, and range from a few hours to several days.
It's easy to hike on your own, though you'll need to master a few basic Swahili phrases and should also try to get a topographical map of the area from the Surveys & Mapping Division sales office in Dar es Salaam or carefully study the ones posted on the walls of the two tourist information centres.
Carrying a compass or GPS is a good idea. You should also either carry a tent or plan your route to go via the handful of villages where local guesthouses are available.
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Dhow Trip
Taking a Dhow Trip is almost obligatory and drifting through the mangroves is a wonderful way to experience the islands. You'll be approached by touts and would-be captains almost as soon as you arrive, but it's worth shopping around to find a captain you like and a price you're happy with. Prices vary depending on where you want to go and how long you go for. Groups of more than five aren't recommended as the boats aren't very big.
Solo travellers joining an existing group to make up numbers will often be offered a great price, on the condition that they don't tell their fellow passengers how much they paid. As this generally means the others paid the extortionate asking…
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Ace
ACE was opened in 2000 by a British-run charity to give free treatment for the working animals of Egyptians, particularly donkeys and horses, and it is today a great veterinary hospital and animal welfare centre seeing up to 200 animals a day. For those distressed by the state of the horses in Luxor streets, you may like to see what is done here. The centre also runs an education program receiving 80 local children a day, aiming to impart a love and care for animals. This is a great place to visit, and foreign children can spend the day at the centre to help care for the animals. Volunteers and donations are very welcome.
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Nobi’s Arabian Horse Stables
Excellent horses can be found at Nobi’s Arabian Horse Stables, which also provides riding hats, English saddles and insurance. Nobi also has 25 camels and as many donkeys at the same price, and organises longer horse riding and camping trips into the desert or a week from Luxor to Kom Ombo along the West Bank. Call ahead to book, and he can arrange a hassle-free transfer to make sure you arrive at the right place, as often taxi drivers will try and take you to a friend’s stable instead.
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Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a popular pastime, and the Hilton Dahab Resort and Swiss Inn Golden Beach Resort have good windsurfing centres. The centre of the bay boasts the steadiest winds in Dahab, though strong gusts occasionally sweep across the northern end. Kitesurfing is also starting to take off in Dahab, although offshore winds limit the areas where it can be done.
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Trekking
The Rif Mountains, bordering the Moroccan coast for about 200km, rarely reach more than 1800m, but these are the highest peaks in northern Morocco. The hillsides are green and magnificent. Cedars dominate the hillsides close to Chefchaouen, while forests of pine and holm oak grow on the higher slopes. Trekking opportunities here are good enough to draw even the most sloth-like backpacker away from the cafés and roof terraces of Chefchaouen, if only for a few hours.
Looming over Chefchaouen at 1616m, Jebel el-Kelaâ might initially appear a daunting peak but, with an early start and a packed lunch, it can easily be climbed in a day if you're in reasonably good shape.
The…
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Geech Camp to Chenek via Imet Gogo
Geech to Chenek takes about five to six hours, but you'd be crazy not to take in Imet Gogo, around 5km northeast of Geech. It takes 1½ to two hours one way.
The promontory, at 3926m, affords some of the most spectacular views of the Simien Mountains. To make a day of it, you could continue to the viewpoint known as Saha. From Saha, you can head for the viewpoint at Kadavit (2.5km, 30 to 40 minutes), then return to camp.
You can also trek to Chenek via Imet Gogo using Saha as a starting point (eight to nine hours). Saha lies around 3km from Geech.
From Imet Gogo you have two choices: the first is to return to Geech by your outward route, then head directly south, back…
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Snorkelling and Diving
Other than just lounging around, snorkelling and diving are the most popular activities in Dahab. The reefs off Assalah are often strewn with litter, but if you can ignore this, the reef at the northern end of Mashraba has table corals and impressive fish life.
Also worthwhile are the reefs off the southern end of Mashraba, just before the lagoon; Lighthouse Reef, a sheltered snorkelling site at the northern tip of Assalah; and the popular Eel Garden, just north of Assalah, where a colony of eels lives on the sandy sea bed.
About 6km further north are the Canyon and Blue Hole dive sites. Despite their intimidating reputation as danger zones for careless divers, the tops of…
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Nalubale Rafting
The source of the Nile is one of the most spectacular white-water rafting destinations in the world and for many visitors to Uganda a rafting trip is the highlight of their visit. There are now four companies offering exhilaration without compromise. One of these operators is the relative newcomer Nalubale Rafting.
All the companies take on the Big Four, all monster Grade Five rapids, including Itanda (The Bad Place), but there is always a safety boat on hand if you decide the rapids are just too big for you. All of them also include a host of incentives to lure you over, including meals and beers. They also offer DVDs and videos of your big day out if you think that…
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Mr Mitu's Office
Organise spice tours through your hotel, a travel agent, the Tourist Information Office or through the long-standing Mr Mitu's office, although the tours are no longer led by Mr Mitu, and don't differ significantly from those organised elsewhere, other than perhaps being more crowded. The office is signposted near Ciné Afrique. Costs for all tours include a lunch of local food seasoned with some of the spices you've just seen.
They depart about 09:30 and return by about 14:30 (later, if a stop at Mangapwani beach is included). It's best to book a day in advance (you will be collected from your hotel), though it's usually no trouble to just show up in the morning. If you…
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Lushoto-Mtae Walk
There's a lovely three- to four-day hike from Lushoto to Mtae through stands of pine and past cornfields, villages and patches of wild asters, a five-day walk to Amani Nature Reserve, plus many other possibilities. The tourist information centres have wall maps detailing some of the routes, and several hikes are described in detail in Lonely Planet's Trekking in East Africa.
Nearby villages where accommodation is available include Bumbuli (with rooms at the old Lutheran mission hospital guesthouse for around TSh100), Lukozi (local guesthouse rooms for about around TSh2000), Rangwi (basic rooms in a lovely setting at the local convent), Mtae (local guesthouses) and Mlalo…
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Clifton Beaches
Giant granite boulders split the four linked beaches at Clifton, accessible by steps from Victoria Rd. Almost always sheltered from the wind, they are top sunbathing spots, despite the lack of local facilities. Local lore has it that No 1 and No 2 beaches are for models and confirmed narcissists, No 3 is the gay beach, and No 4, the busiest, is for families. If you haven’t brought your own supplies, vendors hawk drinks and ice creams along the beach, and you can hire a sun lounge and umbrella.
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Circe Launches
Although increasingly given over to tourism, Hout Bay’s harbour still functions and the southern arm of the bay is an important fishing port and processing centre. From here you can catch a boat to Duiker Island (also known as Seal Island because of its colony of Cape fur seals, but not to be confused with the official Seal Island in False Bay). Three companies run cruises daily, usually with guaranteed sailings in the mornings. The cheapest, with a none-too-spectacular glass-bottomed boat, is Circe Launches; the others are Drumbeat Charters and Nauticat Charters.
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Irente Viewpoint Walk & Irente Farm
An easy walk is the Irente Viewpoint Walk (about 1½ hours return), which begins on the road running southwest from the Anglican church and leads gradually uphill to the viewpoint, with wide views on clear days. It's impressive to see how abruptly the Usambaras rise up from the plains below.
En route is Irente Farm (;08:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-17:00 Sat & Sun), where you can buy fresh cheese (they're in stiff but good-natured competition with the nearby Montessori Centre - buy some cheese at both and judge for yourself), home-made rye bread and granola, and also get accommodation.
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Chaouen Rural
Chaouen Rural is a local company sponsored by the government of Catalonia that is developing the rural tourism potential of the region. This well-run operation specialises in package trips into Talassemtane National Park that include staying in rural houses and interacting with the local culture. Prices are a very reasonable Dh150 to Dh180 per person per day, including transport, guide and half-board. The website is French/Spanish, but some English is spoken, and brochures are available in English.
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Spier
There’s something for everyone at this mega-estate, a major sponsor of the arts, which offers golf, horse riding, a cheetah-conservation project, a performing-arts centre, beautifully restored Cape Dutch buildings and several restaurants, including the spectacular if somewhat cheesy African-themed Moyo. Its wines have improved over the years, and in the tasting room you can try lots of other vineyards’ wines. There’s also a good hotel, the Village at Spier.
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Felucca Rides
One of the most pleasant things to do on a warm day is to go out on a felucca, Egypt's ancient broad-sail boat, with a supply of beer and a small picnic just as sunset approaches. The best spot for hiring is the Dok Dok landing stage on the corniche in Garden City, across from the Four Seasons. Subject to haggling, a boat and captain should cost about around £E30 per hour irrespective of the number of people on board; your captain will appreciate additional baksheesh (possibly in liquid form).
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Cradle Nature Reserve
About halfway between Pretoria and Johannesburg is the Cradle Nature Reserve, a more upmarket take on the wildlife experience, with wildlife walks and drives, and palaeontological tours. Home base here is the Cradle Restaurant, offering international cuisine, a cocktail bar, a log fire in winter and one of the best restaurant views in the country. Accommodation is offered in charming self-catering thatched cottages at the Forest Camp.
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Safari Blue Menai Bay Dhow Tours
For something different, contact Safari Blue Menai Bay Dhow Tours, which organises day excursions on well-equipped dhows around Menai Bay. The excursions, which leave from Fumba, include a seafood and fruit lunch, plus snorkelling equipment, and time to relax on a sandbank. The dhows can also be privately chartered, for honeymoons or groups. Before booking, it's worth checking weather conditions, as some months - notably April/May and July/August - can get quite windy or rainy.
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Travelin' Lady
Companies offering two-, three- and five-hour boat cruises to check out whales and dolphins are set up at the end of Playa de Los Cristianos, near the port, and in Puerto Colón in Costa Adeje. Most trips include food, drink and a quick swim. Though all are basically the same, we recommend the smaller Playa de Los Cristianos-based companies. Travelin' Lady offers personal service, small boats, and lower prices than many other outfits in the area.
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Grande Provence
A beautifully revamped 18th-century manor house is home to a stylish restaurant and a splendid gallery showcasing the best local artists. In the tasting room you can try the very easy-drinking Angel Tears blends or the flagship Grande Provence red (tasting R50). The Jonkershuis lounge (used for meetings and conferences) is worth a look, and if you really want to push the boat out, the luxurious Owner’s Cottage is available to sleep in.
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