Other sights in Africa
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Animalia
This small but charming museum has a collection of stuffed animals found in Nubia, samples of sedimentary rocks, great pictures of Nubia before it was flooded by Lake Nasser, a small shop selling Nubian crafts at fixed prices and a lovely roof terrace where drinks are served overlooking the gardens.
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Liliesleaf Farm
Liliesleaf Farm, the secret headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) during the 1960s, reopened as a museum in June 2008. It tells the story of South Africa’s liberation struggle through a series of high-tech, interactive exhibits.
reviewed
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Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, always just called the Waterfront is likely to be one of the first places you head to. It’s a great example of how to best redevelop a declining dock area into a tourist hot spot. The atmosphere is always buzzing and there’s plenty to do, including making a trip out to Robben Island, the infamous prison island that is now a fascinating museum.
The Alfred and Victoria Basins date from 1860 and are named after Queen Victoria and her son Alfred. Although these wharves are too small for modern container vessels and tankers, the Victoria Basin is still used by tugs, harbour vessels of various kinds and fishing boats. In the Alfred Basin y…
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!Khwa Ttu
Don’t miss a visit to the very special !Khwa ttu off Rte 27 just south of Yzerfontein, 70km from Cape Town. Billed as the San Culture & Education Centre, !Khwa ttu is a joint venture by the San people and a Swiss philanthropic foundation (Ubuntu) and is the only San-owned and operated culture centre in the Western Cape.
Set within the ancestral lands of the San, !Khwa ttu is based on an 850-hectare nature reserve. There’s a good restaurant serving traditional South African cuisine and a wonderful craft shop. All the buildings operate on solar power, and a crèche has been built for the workers’ children. The land itself is sandveld, rising to renosterveld on the eas…
reviewed
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Kasbah des Oudaias
This occupies the oldest part of the city, the site of the original ribat, and commands powerful views over the river and ocean from its cliff-top perch. The kasbah is predominately residential and the narrow streets are lined with whitewashed houses - most of which were built by Muslim refugees from Spain. It's a tranquil and picturesque place to wander and there's no need for a guide. Ignore anyone who advises you that the kasbah is 'forbidden'.
The most dramatic entry to the kasbah is through the enormous Almohad gate of Bab Oudaia, built in 1195. Its location, facing the heart of the city and just outside the original palace, made it more ceremonial than defensive and…
reviewed
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Stone Town
If Zanzibar Town is the archipelago's heart, Stone Town is its soul. It's magical jumble of cobbled alleyways make it easy to spend days wandering around and getting lost - although you can't get lost for long because, sooner or later, you'll end up on either the seafront or Creek Rd.
Nevertheless, each twist and turn of the narrow streets brings something new - be it a school full of children chanting verses from the Quran, a beautiful old mansion with overhanging verandas, or a coffee vendor with his long-spouted pot fastened over coals.
Along the way, watch the island's rich cultural melange come to life: Arabic-style houses with their recessed inner courtyards rub sho…
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Isimila
In Isimila in the late 1950s, archaeologists unearthed one of the most significant Stone Age finds ever identified. The tools found at the site are estimated to be between 60,000 and 100,000 years old. Although the display itself is not particularly exciting, the surrounding area is intriguing, with small canyons and eroded sandstone pillars. The main pillar area is accessed via a walk down into a steep valley (about one hour round-trip), for which you’ll need a guide (small tip expected). Visits are best in the morning or late afternoon, before the sun gets too high. A small museum in which all the Stone Age finds are to be gathered is being built (entry is included in t…
reviewed
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Jakobsen’s (Mwamahunga) Beach
The best place for relaxing is Jakobsen’s (Mwamahunga) Beach, which is actually two small, beautiful coves reached via steps down a vegetated section of hillside about 5km southwest of Kigoma. There are a few bandas for shade, the water is bilharzia-free and the overall setting – especially if you visit during the week when few people are around – is idyllic. There’s no food or drink. Head west from town along the road past Kigoma Hilltop Hotel, keeping right at the small fork until the signpost, from where it’s about 3km further uphill and signposted. Via public transport, catch a Katonga dalla-dalla at the roundabout near the train station and ask the driver t…
reviewed
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Temple of Hatshepsut
The eyes first focus on the dramatic rugged limestone cliffs that rise nearly 300m above the desert plain, a monument made by nature, only to realize that at the foot of all this immense beauty lies a man-made monument even more extraordinary, the dazzling Temple of Hatshepsut. The almost modern-looking temple blends in beautifully with the cliffs from which it is partly cut, a marriage made in heaven.
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Ts’ehlanyane National Park
This Lesotho Northern Parks–administered national park protects a beautiful, high-altitude, 5600-hectare patch of rugged wilderness, including one of Lesotho’s only stands of indigenous forest. This underrated and underused place is about as far away from it all as you can get and is perfect for hiking.
In addition to day walks, there’s a challenging 39km hiking trail from Ts’ehlanyane southwest to Bokong Nature Reserve through some of Lesotho’s most dramatic terrain. Guides can be arranged. Pony trekking can be arranged through Lesotho Northern Parks with advance notice or through Maliba Mountain Lodge.
For accommodation, there are various campsites, a conferen…
reviewed
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Peninsula
A walk around the peninsula reveals a bit more of the history and mystery that makes Ceuta what it is. The peninsula is topped by Monte Hacho, said by some to be the southern Pillar of Hercules (Jebel Musa, west of Ceuta, is the other contender; Gibraltar being the northern pillar). The summit is crowned by Fortaleza de Hacho, a fort first built by the Byzantines and added to since by the Moroccans, Portuguese and Spanish. Now occupied by the army, it is out of bounds.
On the northern slopes of Monte Hacho stands the yellow-and-white Ermita de San Antonio. This convent, originally built in the 17th century and reconstructed in the 1960s, is the venue for a large festival …
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Bagamoyo Town
With its cobwebbed portals, crumbling German-era colonial buildings and small alleyways where the sounds of children playing echo together with the footsteps of history, Mji Mkongwe (Stone Town) as it's known locally, is well worth a leisurely stroll.
The most interesting area is along Ocean Rd. Here, among other buildings, you'll find the imposing remains of the old German boma (colonial-era administrative offices), built in 1897; a school, which dates to the late 19th century and was the first multiracial school in what is now Tanzania; and Liku House, which served as the German administrative headquarters until the capital was moved to Dar es Salaam. Directly on the be…
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Tangier American Legation Museum
Morocco was, surprisingly, the very first country to recognise the fledgling United States, and this was the first piece of American real estate abroad (look for the letter of thanks from George Washington to Sultan Moulay Suleyman). It is also the only US National Historic Landmark on foreign soil, and undoubtedly the only one that contains an American flag in the form of a Berber rug. But you don’t have to care about American history to visit the Legation. The elegant five-storey mansion holds an eclectic collection that, in classic Tangerine fashion, resists categorisation. An impressive display of paintings and prints is a dreamy trip through the Tangerine past throug…
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s-Complex
Off Rte 563 and on the way to Hekpoort, s is perhaps the best-known attraction here and is a good place to start. Housed in a building that looks like a giant grassy mound on one side and shiny modern steel on the other (apparently representing man’s journey through the ages), it’s an all-in-one information centre, visitor attraction, entertainment complex and boutique hotel. Its name is Tswana for ‘returning to your origin’, and the exhibits here show how the human race has progressed since its very beginnings. There are market stalls, active fossil sites, restaurants, a curio shop and a 5000-seat amphitheatre for outdoor events. There’s also a pretty cool boat ride …
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Tokai Forest Reserve
This wooded area, south of Constantia, is a favourite spot for picnics and walks, the most challenging of which is the 6km hike up to Elephant’s Eye Cave within the Silvermine Nature Reserve. The zigzag path is fairly steep and offers little shade as you climb higher up Constantiaberg (928m), so bring a hat and water.
At the walk’s base you’ll find the Tokai Arboretum, a planting of 1555 different trees representing 274 species, begun in 1885 by Joseph Storr Lister, the conservator of forests for the Cape Colony.
Here, too, is the very pleasant Lister’s Place Tea Garden, where you can pick up a map of walks in the area; excellent accommodation at Wood Owl Cottage; a…
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Fekra
Fekra is located on 40,000 sq metres of land on the lake between the old and the High Dam, and overlooks Philae Island. The Fekra Cultural Centre – fekra means thought or idea in Arabic – is a fascinating project of artists from around the world, to support Nubian and Upper Egyptian artists, and to promote an international cultural exchange through organising artistic events and workshops. It is a magical place for its energy and wonderful location: a Nubian-style mudbrick house right on the lake, perfectly peaceful and a great place for swimming. It has accommodation for 12 people and a few extra Bedouin tents, with shared bathrooms. The people coming for workshops take …
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Eastern Shores
The Eastern Shores, has four scenic routes – pan, vlei (marshland), coastal dune and grassland – that reflect their different features and ecosystems. About 14km north of the entrance is Mission Rocks, a rugged and rock-covered shoreline where, at low tide, you can view a fabulous array of sea life in the rock pools (note: you cannot swim here). At low tide, you can walk 5km north to Bats Cave, a bat-filled cave. About 4km before Mission Rocks is the Mission Rocks lookout (signed), which provides a wonderful view of Lake St Lucia and the Indian Ocean. Twenty kilometres north of Mission Rocks (30km from St Lucia Estuary), taking in the land between Lake Bhangazi and th…
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Sukuma Museum & Bujora Cultural Centre
If you’re interested in learning about Sukuma culture, the Sukuma Museum & Bujora Cultural Centre makes a worthwhile day trip from Mwanza. The centrepiece is an open-air museum where, among other things, you’ll see traditional Sukuma dwellings, the house of a traditional healer, a wooden trough used for rainmaking potions and a blacksmith’s house and tools. There is also a large map showing the old Sukuma kingdoms, and nearby a rotating cylinder illustrating different Sukuma systems for counting from one to 10. Traditionally, these systems were used by various Sukuma age-based groups as a sort of secret language or symbol of initiation. Each group – girls, boys, women, …
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Pharaoh’s Island
About 7km south of Taba and 250m off the Egyptian coast is Pharaoh’s Island, a tiny islet in turquoise waters, dominated by the much-restored Castle of Salah ad-Din. The castle is actually a fortress built by the Crusaders in 1115, but captured and expanded by Saladin in 1170 as a bulwark against feared Crusader penetration south from Palestine. At the height of Crusader successes, it was feared that they might attempt to head for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Some of the modern restoration is incongruous (concrete was not a prime building material in Saladin’s time), but the island is a pleasant place for a half-day trip, with limpid and enticing waters and cora…
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Qurna Discovery
These will be devoted to explaining the history of life on the hillside in the last millennia. The zawiya (a family meeting, ceremonial and religious building) houses the permanent collection of the early-19th-century British artist Robert Hay’s drawings of Gurna. These finely detailed works depict the ancient mudbrick structures and a way of life that are now lost, plus the famous tomb houses. The adjoining Daramalli house will be used to exhibit household objects and agricultural implements to show how Gurnawi families lived and worked. Historic photos will show the village and its residents as recorded from the 1850s to the 1950s. Entry to Qurna Discovery is free, but …
reviewed
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Champ de Mars Racecourse
This racecourse was a military training ground until the Mauritius Turf Club was founded in 1812, making it the second-oldest racecourse in the world. Mauritian independence was proclaimed here in 1968. Within the racecourse stands a statue of King Edward VII by the sculptor Prosper d'Épinay, and the Malartic Tomb, an obelisk to a French governor.
The racing season lasts from May to late November, with meetings usually held on a Saturday. The biggest race of all is the Maiden Cup in September. If you're here on a race day, it's well worth joining the throng of betting-crazy locals. Tickets for the stands cost Rs 150, but admission to the rest of the ground is usually fre…
reviewed
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Sandstone Temple
This restored Roman sandstone temple is one of the most complete Roman monuments in Dakhla. Dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khons, as well as Horus (who can be seen with a falcon’s head), it was built between the reigns of Nero (AD 54–68) and Domitian (AD 81–96). The cartouches of Nero, Vespasian and Titus can be seen in the hypostyle hall, which has also been inscribed by almost every 19th-century explorer who passed through the oasis. If you look carefully in the adjacent Porch of Titus you can see the names of the entire expedition of Gerhard Rohlfs, the 19th-century desert explorer. Also visible are the names of famous desert travellers Edmonstone, Drov…
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Amboni Caves
Long the subject of local legend, these limestone caves are one of the most extensive subterranean systems in East Africa and an intriguing off-beat excursion for anyone with an interest in spelunking. Now home to thousands of bats, they were traditionally believed to house various spirits, and continue to be a place of worship and ritual. The caves were originally thought to extend up to 200km or more, and are said to have been used by the Kenyan Mau Mau during the 1950s as a hide-out from the British. Although a 1994 survey concluded that their extent was much smaller – with the largest of the caves studied only 900m long – rumours of them reaching all the way to Mombas…
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Tongoni Ruins
The ruins – which are surrounded by rusted barbed wire and set between baobabs overlooking nearby mangroves and coastline – include the crumbling remains of a mosque and about 20 overgrown Shirazi pillar-style tombs, the largest collection of such tombs on the East African coast. Both the mosque and the tombs are estimated to date from the 14th or 15th century, when Tongoni was a major coastal trading port. Although most of the pillars have long since toppled to the ground, you can still see the recessed areas on some where decorative porcelain vases and offering bowls were placed. There are also about two dozen more recent, and largely unremarkable tombs dating from the …
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Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts & Crafts
Opened in 1998, this museum is in a wonderfully restored funduq – a caravanserai for travelling merchants who stored and sold their goods below and took lodgings on the floors above. Centred on a courtyard, the rooms are given over to displays of traditional artefacts from craftsmen’s tools, chunky prayer beads and Berber locks, chests and musical instruments (compare the traditional wedding furniture with the modern glitzy chairs outside in Place an-Nejjarine). Everything is beautifully presented, although the stunning building gives the exhibits a run for their money. The rooftop café has great views over the medina. Photography is forbidden.
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