Posted Sunday, April 06, 2008, 5:11 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury is on the last leg of the daunting Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon across the Sahara:
"Day 6 and the Marathon des Sables suddenly became a race. As the temperature hit 46 degrees Celsius, the first 100 runners recklessly bolted from the start line as if the previous 5 days of madness had been nothing but a warm up. Perhaps the desert has toughened us all up. We certainly look tougher - and a lot rougher too. Seven days unshaven, unshowered and without proper food and we've started to resemble slightly malnourished desert soldiers from an old WWII movie.
Today's stage was a standard 26 mile marathon, but rather than wilting under the Moroccan sun I seemed to discover a new energy. Was it adrenalin, nerves, or the final numbing of my body's pain receptors? It's hard to say. Maybe it was the thought of the finish line tomorrow after 245km of blood, sweat and tears. Or maybe it was the promise of tonight's special treat: the race organisers have flown out the Paris Opera to perform for us live in the middle of our disheveled desert camp. A surreal ending to a truly surreal race."
Labels: Africa, Marathon des Sables
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Posted Thursday, April 03, 2008, 2:17 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury reports from the Sahara on his progress in the daunting Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon.
"Day 4 is what the Marathon des Sables is all about, the 75km 'long' stage that crosses precipitous mountains, undulating sand dunes and dried-up lakes, and makes training for the French Foreign Legion look like a relaxing vacation.
I had no idea to prepare for such an undertaking so I just set off running, climbing, and sometimes staggering, while all the time refusing to either stop or look behind me. There were many peaks and troughs during this long dark day (and night) of the soul, but I rallied in the last 8km came in 72nd just as night was falling.
At the finish, I have never felt so exhausted and struggled to make it back to my tent laden down with my rucksack and mandatory 4 litres of water. Dinner was freeze dried chicken noodles made with cold water and my bed a thin, yet surprisingly comfortable, Moroccan carpet. By 9.30pm I had fallen into a deep slumber dreaming about cheeseburgers and trying to blot out the prospect of Friday's 42km marathon."
Labels: Africa, Marathon des Sables
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Posted Tuesday, April 01, 2008, 3:17 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury is currently running the daunting Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon across Morocco's Sahara Desert.
"Days 2 and 3 have been the equivalent of two back to back marathons in 45 degree heat. Running in these conditions is like war without the bullets, a daily battle against sand, heat, and your tortured inner psyche. But it's not all so unbearable. Extreme events like this can deliver some amazing epiphanies. There's the feisty night time camaraderie around our desert camp, the cheers reserved for the last competitor to cross the line, and the strength of the human spirit that emerges when you (and everyone else) are forced to draw on your last available drop of energy.
I haven't washed for five days now, but I am sleeping surprisingly well in a sleeping bag with just the stony desert for a bed. I'm still in about 85th position in the overall rankings but the desert has taken its toll on my back and feet.
Tomorrow's the ultimate test, a 75km double marathon that starts at 9am and will continue long into the night. Wish me luck."
Labels: Africa, Marathon des Sables
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Posted Sunday, March 30, 2008, 3:42 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Brendan Sainsbury is currently running the daunting Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile (240 km) ultra marathon across Morocco's Sahara Desert.
Brendan reports:
"The race started with a fanfare of loud rock music as 801 nervous participants lined up for what the organisers had promised would be the hardest first stage in the event's 23 year history; They weren't joking. Within 1km of the start we were running through the starkly beautiful, but brutally punishing, Erg Chebbi dune field, a sandy rollercoaster that went on for 14km and quickly reduced my legs to quivering pieces of spaghetti.
Dune running is a frustrating business - rather like trying to eat soup with a fork - you take two steps up and slide back at least one as the sand saps your energy. The second half of the run was slightly easier as we tackled a flat, rocky plateau that trapped the heat like a microwave oven and led to more dunes and a killer finish. Throughout the stage I stuck to my simple game plan of 'Don't stop' and stumbled in at 90th place with minor cramps and a sore back. My body suggests I may have taken it a little too fast. Time will tell."
Labels: Africa, Marathon des Sables
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Posted Monday, March 03, 2008, 9:05 PM by Lonely Planet
Think you know your African geography? Try this quiz and see if you really know your Botswanas from your Burundis.
Even the lower levels are fiendishly tricky and addictive and the upper levels are positively mindwrenching. Let us know how you went, and see if you can beat our Africa guidebook commissioning editor : 47 out of 53 on level seven (no, you don't get her job if you beat her).
Or if Africa is too difficult, you can try US states, European countries, the Middle East, Oceania ...
Labels: Africa, geography, quiz
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Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008, 2:08 PM by Lonely Planet
Everyone knows Alanis Morissette was talking out her hat when she claimed irony was like rain on your wedding day, but irony does go a little something like this...
According to researchers in Berlin, fatal viruses have started jumping from humans to apes, so now eco-tourists are killing the very great apes they pay thousands of dollars to see.
Tourism is one of the best ways to protect endangered species and habitats: it's a popular belief, and as a fan of travel you probably subscribe to it yourself. The money brought in by tourism is incentive enough to stop logging and poaching, and a tourism industry provides employment for locals who might otherwise rely on hunting.
In Uganda and other east African countries, there's no denying the vital role ecotourism has had in protecting chimpanzees and gorillas. But now scientists are messing with that belief. They're saying that human viruses, similar to the flu, have already killed chimpanzees at a research facility in Cote d'Ivoire, and could really threaten not only African apes, but orang-utans in Borneo. The worst bit is that you could have these viruses and not even know it, so just because you're sniffle-free doesn't mean you're all clear to get cosy with a gorilla.
So does this mean you should cancel your trip to Bohorok and donate your cash to the Sumatran Orangutan Society instead? Well maybe. Or you could just take a few simple steps to stop any viruses you have from spreading. Scientists are suggesting that if you're heading out to see orang-utans, gorillas or chimpanzees, you should disinfect yourself, your clothes and your shoes, and keep at least ten metres away from all apes. They reckon you should also wear a mask while you're in parks where great apes live; as they've never met you, this probably isn't a comment on how you look.
- Jane Rawson
Labels: Africa, Asia and Pacific, Sustainable and responsible tourism
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Posted Sunday, January 20, 2008, 4:54 PM by Lonely Planet
Every Sunday here in Arusha, someone, somewhere celebrates their Ubarikio, or first communion. Parties that at first appear to be a wedding reception, on closer inspection reveal no bride and groom, rather one very happy looking kid.
This week a family we know held an Ubarikio party for their son Peter and we were invited. We had front row seats in their hot and very crowded living room and in typical tourist-style we just sat there like dummies smiling at our hosts. I had my first mbege - a home-brew drink made from bananas and think I'll be sticking to beer in future.
During lunch my arm was being stroked by a young girl who was saying:
"aaaa, paka, paka".
"What's 'paka' mean?" I asked Kelsey.
It turns out it means cat. She was stroking my hairy arm and calling it a cat. Why the cheek of it all!
To escape the stifling heat (they just don't like open windows or doors in Arusha) we went outside, only to be followed by all the kids who decided it was playtime - lucky because our present for Peter was a true-blue, you-beaut, Aussie boomerang.
How much fun can you have in one day?
- By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. He's been working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 4:19 PM by Lonely Planet
Today the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, will open the first session of his new parliament as the country waits nervously for the aftermath. The opposition party has planned three days of protests starting tomorrow in major country-wide centres such as Nairobi and Kisumu. The last protest was broken up by police with water guns before it really started, but if these go ahead it's unlikely they'll be peaceful.
On the weekend I was talking to Mary, a nurse at Nairobi hospital, who shook her head and said she wanted the politicians to sort themselves out so that everything could just get back to normal. If the rallies go ahead, I asked her, will you be busy at work? "If the rallies go ahead", she replied, "I won't be able to get to work".
And this is the plight of most Kenyans. Yes, they want justice and they are angry about what has happened. But now that it has happened they just want to get on with their lives. Most people just want peace.
Schools started back yesterday and all around Nairobi people are cursing the traffic as usual on their way to work. The atmosphere is strangely resilient as people refuse to be swayed from their daily lives, but the trepidation of the next few days is hanging over us all like an invisible mist.
The tension that has been simmering away under the surface for years is close to bubbling over. There is the sense that this week will be the turning point. But also the sense that things could get worse before they get better. And while the politicians talk about "justice" and "democracy" a nation just struggles to get to work on a Tuesday morning.
- Jeanette Elsworth
Labels: Africa, Breaking travel news
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Posted Sunday, January 06, 2008, 2:25 PM by Lonely Planet
From a veranda overlooking the serene Indian Ocean, watching children playing football on the beach, it's hard to believe that in other parts of Kenya people are being killed. In one week the country has changed from a place of hope and excitement over a close general election, to one of tension and anxiety in the confusion surrounding vote-rigging allegations and hurried results. Reports of travellers being stranded are dominating international media and images of violence portray a picture of a country on the brink of civil war.
But these images can be misleading. Kilifi is 60km from Mombasa and 500km from Nairobi and from here I could be forgiven for not knowing what is going on at all. Driving along the coast today it was clear that for most Kenyans it is business as usual. The woman I bumped into in the supermarket yesterday didn't even know there was a rally planned in Nairobi and was just happy to find the shelves filled with food again after the shortages of the last few days.
Many people will have cancelled travel plans to Kenya over the next few weeks but travellers already in the country are in no direct danger in the main tourist and residential areas. The violence being shown on television reports is isolated to areas off Kenya's well-beaten tourist track; even those in Nairobi itself, such as Mathare which is a slum area, are best-avoided at any time. Tour companies have been advised not to move around which may cause disruptions but flights are still leaving Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the main roads into the capital are clear.
The worrying concern is how this can be resolved. In the aftermath of a failed election questions are being asked about one of Africa's more successful democracies. While the two main party leaders refuse to speak to each other the frustration continues and a country's reputation is destroyed in a six-minute news report. For an economy that depends as heavily on tourism as Kenya does it is disastrous. And the only losers are Kenyans themselves. One thing is certain; when things have returned to normal they will need travellers to continue to consider Kenya as a rewarding place to visit as it truly is.
- Jeanette Elsworth
Labels: Africa, Breaking travel news
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Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008, 8:29 PM by Lonely Planet
Then you should try Tanzania. Time consuming and convoluted comes to mind when I recall my experience...
We had already applied to open the account earlier in the week. Today it was my job to simply deposit some money into the two foodwatershelter bank accounts. Sounds like a simple 15-20 minute job yeah? Oh no. I had to sit and watch while the bank clerk manually copied all 12 forms that six of us had painstakingly completed earlier in the week.
The problem? After picking up the application forms, but before the accounts were opened, the bank had issued new forms, making the old ones redundant! Grrr. Three hours later I was given two account numbers, deposited the cash and went home with a stack of forms for all of us to re-sign and send back.
My next task was to shop around for a wireless router so that all the foodwatershelter members here can use their computers at the same time. I just cannot escape my IT urges and thankfully (surprisingly) there are a number of computer shops in Arusha.
I ran into Caroline from African Peace Ambassadors in town and after a brief chat it seems they may be able to help foodwatershelter with HIV/AIDS medication and awareness education.
Volunteering will teach you invaluable skills like networking, so on a roll, I went to the airport to see what kind of job opportunities there might be for a newly licensed pilot (me). Who knows, I might just be able to get a flying gig here late in 2008.
- Perhaps Ben Schwabe, Lonely Planet Web Producer and foodwatershelter recruit, won't be back after all? Ben is volunteering in Tanzania for the Australian NGO, building an eco-friendly children's village with education, social and health facilities. You can read more in his series here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, January 01, 2008, 3:09 PM by Lonely Planet
What do you know about metal works and composting loos? I'm glad there wasn't a formal interview that included this question - or I mightn't have made it to Tanzania.
This week's lesson started with a visit to Babu, the metal fundi (engineer). He's making the doors, window grills and other metal-bits for our volunteer huts. I went to pick up the scaffolding frames we asked him to make, but the paint wasn't dry so I came back empty handed. No worries, there's no hurry in Africa (another thing I've had to learn).
My next job was to help Darren, our building foreman, cut and assemble the timber for our new shower block. I say shower block, but technically it's a bucket-bath-block as water is pretty scarce here at the moment. The town's water is only on for a few hours a day - if we're lucky. We really need to get some rainwater tanks installed ASAP.
Another day another task - this time it was marking out the slab for the walls of our composting toilets. It's great to know that the walls I've helped align will contain heaps of poop, which within 6 months will turn into odour free compost that's safe to use on the fruit trees - fantastic!
I'd be keen to know what crazy things fellow volunteers have learnt in the field...
Sound better than working in web design? Ben Schwabe is a resident Web Producer at Lonely Planet, but he's absconded to Tanzania where he's moonlighting as a volunteer for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, December 17, 2007, 8:53 PM by Lonely Planet
They say volunteering has its challenges, but I didn't think a simple shopping errand could be so complicated. I was to head into Arusha to buy some timber and steel from the hardware store. It was my first time driving in Tanzania, so the first step was to interpret the road rules.
The what? Give way? Right of Way? Not seemingly so!
Add to that the mix of bicycles, pedestrians, trucks, cars and Dulla-dullas (mini buses) - it was a touch stressful. I had a couple of passengers riding on the back of the Ute which the policeman who stopped me wasn't too happy about it. A bit of negotiation and a gift of 5000Tsh and the problem was solved - and a lesson learnt.
I hit a bit of a low towards the end of the week - perhaps some culture shock I didn't anticipate. Maybe it was the experience with the police or the general hustle and bustle of Arusha life, I don't know, but after a day or two to adjust (spent reading, eating and relaxing) I felt a lot better.
A friend of ours, Br. Frank O'Shea who has been running the Edmund Rice Secondary School (where I helped out with their IT) is retiring this year, so we were invited to his place for a farewell BBQ and beers - a great way to round off our first and slightly hectic week.
Back to the building...
- By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For the next six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, December 10, 2007, 2:49 PM by Lonely Planet
Within an hour of leaving Nairobi airport we arrived at the Giraffe Centre in the city's Lang'ata surburb where I had my first ever contact with these amazing animals. Not only contact, but intimate contact; we fed them pellets which we held in our lips and the giraffe grabs the pellet with its incredibly long tongue!
After spending the night in Kenya we woke up super early for the five hour bus trip to Arusha, in the foothills of Mt. Meru, Tanzania where foodwatershelter's first children's village is being built. The journey though bumpy and hot was spectacular. Seeing Maasai wandering in the bush and witnessing the vast open spaces, it was hard to comprehend having been in Perth only 24 hours earlier.
The last part of the journey to the volunteer house was perhaps the most striking. We're living in the Sinon district just south of Arusha and our ute ride through Unga Limited (the slum named after the adjacent flour mill) was both heart breaking and joyful. The poverty is all too visible, and yet most people seemed excited to see us, welcoming us with waves, smiles and greetings - especially the over excited kids; "Hello Mzungu! How are you!" they shouted as we bumped past in the dust.
My first bit of actual volunteering work ended up being for a local secondary school who were having some IT problems - I'd come here to do some practical hands on work like brick laying or wood work and here I was two days after arriving helping out a school with their website! It wasn't until day four that I finally got to help the foodwatershelter building foreman Darren with some carpentry on the "Kesho Leo" building site. I think next week (when the blisters on my soft office-worker hands have healed) will see a more productive week for me!
By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For the next six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 4:36 PM by Lonely Planet
You can help the Azafady organisation continue its work alleviating poverty, improving well-being and protecting the beautiful, unique environment in southeast Madagascar. Azafady run the following volunteer projects and internships in Madagascar:
Pioneer Madagascar
This volunteer-internship of integrated conservation and development work offers a life-changing travel experience. A 10-week expedition gives volunteers the chance to work as part of an award-winning team tackling poverty and environmental damage in southeast Madagascar. On this program you'll work among rural and urban communities on a wide range of humanitarian, sustainable development and conservation projects.
Lemur Venture
Azafady's specialised conservation volunteering program helps halt the decline of this threatened animal. Working with Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza in Madagascar, Lemur Venture aims to gather information on endangered lemur species for international captive breeding programs.
Azafady, loosely means 'please' in Malagasy, or more specifically 'excuse me', but really it translates to 'may it not be taboo to me'.
- Lou McGregor works in Lonely Planet's Melbourne office and has recently volunteered for Azafady at their London HQ
For more information on volunteering visit our Volunteer website.
Labels: Africa, Inside Lonely Planet, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 5:01 PM by Lonely Planet
London's not all about shopping, exhibitions and partying. I was lucky enough to work voluntarily for Azafady for a few weeks in their Kilburn office. My job was to make their website more user-friendly. Or so I thought...
On my arrival, Mark the director had me writing emails, answering the phone, posting voluntary positions on university websites, scanning applications, running to the post office, making tea and contributing to the madness that is the office of Azafady. You think London is glam? Well Azafady's office is quite the opposite. And for good reason - 90% of the donations they receive go straight to Malagasy communities.
Here's what I learnt about Azafady in between making cups of tea:
A Malagasy NGO and UK-registered charity, Azafady works on conservation, development and community projects in Madagascar.
Azafady supports local communities by providing health and sanitation infrastructure and education, and by helping to develop alternative sustainable livelihood strategies. They also aim to protect and enhance the unique environment of Madagascar.
Besides working for the environment through tree-planting and a range of conservation initiatives, Azafady have built rural school buildings, wells, latrines and pharmacies as well as training community health workers.
The boys (Mark and Mal - top assistant) constantly rave about Madagascar, and for good reason:
Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, has a staggering diversity of plant and animal species, some 80% of which are found nowhere else on the planet. Besides being the home of the lemur, the island supports two thirds of the world's chameleon species, plus the cancer-treating Rosy Periwinkle.
While one of the biologically richest places on earth, it is also one of the world's poorest countries. Only about a quarter of the 17 million population has access to safe drinking water and the country typically spends as much on debt repayments each year as it does on health and education combined.
It's amazing what I learnt in a few weeks and I highly recommend a volunteer stint at Azafady. Of course it's not all about helping out in their London office. Stay tuned for the sorts of projects you can volunteer on in Madagascar.
- Lou McGregor
Labels: Africa, London, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Thursday, August 02, 2007, 5:51 PM by Lonely Planet
I never listen to the touts in Khan al-Khalili, but I did turn around when someone said, 'Looking for something? I can show you - I was in the Lonely Planet guide.'
Fatih Abd al-Zahir - who didn't realise he was introducing himself to a Lonely Planet writer - had his photo in the 2nd edition of Lonely Planet Egypt & the Sudan, published in 1990, and he has been befriending tourists ever since. A literal hole in the wall, what he calls his 'museum' holds a few dusty objects; more numerous are the photos and business cards from everyone who's squeezed in to chat and sip tea. Any visit requires a look at his dog-eared copy of the guidebook.
Unlike younger, pushier touts, Fatih, born in 1940, seems genuinely interested in 'helping people as friends,' as he puts it. In good English learned purely from TV, he dispenses stories and shopping tips (he used to do inlay work, before his eyes got bad).
Before I left, I added my card to the collection and took his photo. Here he is, 'in Lonely Planet' again, but in a different format:
If you see Fatih, say hello, and tell him you saw his picture here.
- Zora O'Neill is updating Lonely Planet Egypt, and meeting some very interesting people while she's at it.
Labels: Africa, Egypt
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Posted Wednesday, August 01, 2007, 6:32 PM by Lonely Planet
People often cite education and understanding amongst their reasons for travel. Sometimes this means accepting the hard truth that not everyone lives the way they do. It also highlights the importance of optimism and an eagerness to address the imbalance. As a result many travellers find volunteering an important and rewarding experience.
Tom Spurling gives us some background on the Amazwi School of Media Arts where he is volunteering.
"According to a survey conducted by the Media Monitoring Project, in 2005, only 26% of news coverage in South Africa focused on women. Furthermore, the huge majority of this coverage presented women in reference to their families, or as unfortunate victims of crime. This in a country with a nearly 52% female population highlights a discrepancy in gender representation. The old boy's club, it seems, has only changed colour.
Similarly disheartening is the way in which gender stereotypes are upheld by South Africa's influential tabloid press. For every story of witchcraft and fraud, it seems there are two dealing with sexual assault. 'There is a lot of media reporting on rape,' states the Media Monitoring Project report, Who makes the news?, 'but it tends to victimize women or keep them silenced.' The report continues that, on 16 February 2005, a prominent soccer star was charged with raping an underage girl. The married celebrity denied the charge, but much of the media attention was on his celebrity status, rather than the allegations themselves. Likewise, a study in the Rhodes Journalism Review found that 'South Africa's women journalists not only face a glass ceiling, but indeed one made of concrete.'
In light of South African women's mirepresentation in the media, the role of Amazwi, which mean 'voices' in Zulu, is political as much as social. Rural stories struggle to be told in South Africa, as journalists must give precedence to the stories that affect their readers' lives. As scores of men rush for the cities to find employment, many women are left behind, and life goes on unreported.
Yet here in the poor northern province of Limpopo, where news is usually bad, the women of Amazwi are blessed with an added responsibility. Rather than merely entertain the urban middle-classes with the oddities of the outback, they must bring everyday life to the breakfast table of the communities in which they live. It's a tough job, but there's no need to hurry. It's slow news that sometimes burns brightest."
Read more about Tom's experience here.
Share your volunteering experience or for more information on volunteering click here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Thursday, July 19, 2007, 8:32 PM by Lonely Planet
We're sprawled on carpets in an Alhambresque courtyard. Onstage, a French woman is singing Sephardic songs even as muezzins broadcast their air-raid style calls to prayer. A vast, spreading oak envelopes us all in a single swath of shade.
As I attended this year's edition of the
Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, I kept thinking how very 'Lonely Planet' it all was: exotic (medieval medina, whirling dervishes), great value (dirt cheap), unapologetically One-Worldist (bring Jewish, Christian and Muslim musicians together and world peace is bound to follow).
Founded in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, the festival's goals are lofty, though also fortified with realpolitik. The omnipresent photos of King Mohammed VI - the West's staunchest Arab ally - definitely say "realpolitik," as do the quantities of European television cameras, which pound for pound outweigh audience members at many concerts.
But Sufi Nights - free, midnight concerts in a sprawling medina garden - feel lofty, sublime. A mixed crowd of Europeans and locals watch Sufi masters chant Koranic passages in a bid to dissolve the self and unite with the divine. A crescendo is reached the night Gnawa musicians take the stage. A cousin of Sufism, Gnawa combines Arab, Berber and West African rhythms to invoke mluk - spirits that cause the brightly arrayed musicians, as well as multiple audience members, joyfully to writhe.
Fez's medieval medina - the largest in North Africa - is the remarkable base on which the festival's superstructure is laid. A walk in that great labyrinth, with its narrow passages, sharp smells, aggressive merchants, ornate courtyards and sudden vistas onto its own vastness, is another sure way to short-circuit the ego in the face of something much larger.
-
Robert LandonLabels: Africa, Festivals and events
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Posted Sunday, July 08, 2007, 11:28 PM by Lonely Planet
Here, where history is delicate and fresh, revolution is a dangerous word. Hundreds were exiled for imagining a post-Apartheid state, and millions suffered trying to outlive it. But in the sleepy tourist town of Hoedspruit, on the edge of Kruger National Park, fifteen young Shangaan and Sotho women are learning to tell their stories straight.
- Volunteers at the Amazwi School of Media Arts
At the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, it's time for an editorial meeting. The first edition of the signature publication, The Amazwi Villager, is just three weeks away, and the students are restless to see their names on the page.
One-by-one topics are revealed; the threads are hope and life and struggle. But death, it seems, is everywhere. There's a profile of a prosperous coffin-maker, a tombstone carver, an investigation into Burial Societies, a day-in-the-line at a hospital, plus a staple diet of abortion, AIDS and TB.
"Aish, this journalism stuff is too hard!" moans Thandi, 22, for whom writing stories is in fact too easy. On her first assignment, Thandi spent an evening at a local shebeen (unlicensed bar), witnessed one stabbing and another near-death, and wrote it all up with poetry and poise.
Her teammate, Siphiwe, 27, is a bronze Sotho athlete with high cheekbones - the right side stamped with a ceremonial scar - and a broad, ready smile. She wants to be a sports broadcaster, but for now, it's an illegal immigrant from Mozambique who fills her days.
Meanwhile, Bongekile, the accomplished, unofficial matriarch of the group, is trying to sort through the mess of government housing.
The class-come-newsroom bristles with mess and noise. Copies of the Daily Sun change hands like winter gloves, and Gloria, this week's blogger, writes a celebration of feminine might.
- Tom Spurling is volunteering at the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, where he is helping students write for their new publication The Amazwi Villager
Share your volunteering experience or for more information on volunteering click here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, June 24, 2007, 8:28 PM by Lonely Planet
"The street is closed ahead! The best way to get there is on a horse - which I have, for a good price..."
So goes the latest scheme for ripping Pyramid visitors of their money. It's unique only because tourists are accosted while they're still in their taxis, waiting for the traffic to ease on the way to these megaton monuments.
Dr Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has tried to improve the situation at the Pyramids. Whereas visitors used to have to run a gauntlet of postcard vendors, horse touts and men offering camels for photo ops, now only a handful of people are allowed onto the plateau. The rest are kept at bay by a giant concrete wall topped with barbed wire, as well as police standing sentry on camelback. The day I visited, I saw a brief but exciting chase between them and a rogue horse tout who'd been making a beeline for a crowd of tourists.
But Dr Hawass hasn't actually solved the problem. The residents of the village at the base of the pyramids have been making their living off visitors for hundreds of years, so physically blocking them from tourists has only forced them into more creative solutions. The line of scrimmage has simply been moved a few kilometers away. Moreover, the tourism police admit they don't have any control over the horse touts - yes, the official rate is LE35 per hour, "but you're still expected to bargain".
Moreover, the experience on the Pyramids plateau itself is not friendly to the independent traveler. Visiting on your own, you're still prey to the occasional guard who asks for baksheesh for showing you an alleged "ruin" - the abandoned neo-Egyptian concrete police station - and you may also be squashed flat by a tour bus careening down one of the new paved roads. Trudging through the sand, away from the buses that are the antiquities council's bread and butter, you just might start to think a horseback ride is just what you need. If only you'd listened to the guy who jumped in your taxi...
Zora O'Neill is updating the Cairo chapter of Lonely Planet's Egypt guide, and enjoying her visit to her old home.
Labels: Africa
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Posted Sunday, May 06, 2007, 10:15 PM by Lonely Planet
Nightfall makes way for madness as snake charmers, and chefs vie for attention in the sensory onslaught that is Marrakesh.
Though the Bluelist competition winners are all safely back home, you can relive their experience you read about here, through a video shot by Baxter Jackson on Lonelyplanet.tv.
Did somebody say sheep's head? Watch what all the fuss was about.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007, 7:40 PM by Lonely Planet
Dov experiences some night-time mischief...
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, I'd spent much of my youth trying to stay out of trouble, but as most New Yorkers will claim, trouble has a way of finding you. Up until my last night in Morocco, I had been successful in avoiding Marrakesh's less desirable characters.
However, after some last-minute haggling for gifts, a quick peak into a few drum circles, and of course a few kebabs, I left the Djemaa el-Fna for the final time and walked bravely back into the maze of alleys on the way back to our riad, only to have a brief encounter with the dark side of the Medina. It was a few ticks shy of midnight, and the dimly lit narrow streets looked just a little bit emptier than usual. I imagine that natives to Marrakesh's old city can navigate the labyrinth of alleys and markets with their eyes closed, but I was not yet that skilled.
Perhaps looking a little lost, as I turned around what I hoped was the correct corner, I suddenly became surrounded by a group of five kids, all probably between the ages of ten and fourteen. Everywhere we had travelled in Morocco, after taking a picture of someone, especially children, it was impossible to escape a demand for a few dirham. However, once in a while, the more audacious young ones would ask for money without providing any sort of service at all. The kids on this last night in Marrakesh were of the latter group, surrounding and pestering me in French, Spanish and English, fishing for a response and a few coins. I kept trudging on, ignoring their persistent hustling, and as I passed through a darker and narrower section of the street, I felt a slight tugging from behind me, and realized that the rascals had snatched my sunglasses out of the water bottle pouch on the side of my backpack.
They surrounded me now, smiling, laughing, and playfully demanding money to give back my stolen sunglasses. I snatched the sunglasses from one of their taunting hands, as they still demanded money, 'Masseur, Money, Please!'. I placed my sunglasses on the ground, and with an equally taunting laugh and a smile, I brought down my boot, stopping an inch short of smashing the cheap sunglasses to bits.
Astonished at my actions, the young troublemakers stretched out their hands and yelled 'Masseur, No No!'. I picked up my sunglasses, still intact, and walked away. The boys then strolled the other way back down the alley, giggling in respect of their slightly cleverer elder.
On my last night in Morocco, I had no intention of being a victim of petty thievery, and those kids had no intention of leaving their nightly mischief without a few extra coins in their pockets. But as we parted ways in that dark Marrakesh alley, we shared a laugh and a story which for me was worth more than my sunglasses, and I hope for the them, worth more than a few dirham. I'd also like to think that we both learned an important lesson from that encounter. My lesson: Keep your eyes, ears, mind, and heart open when you travel, especially in a place like Marrakesh. You might just have an experience that will alter the way you see yourself and the world, and you might just foil the scheme of some young pickpockets. And the lesson for those young pickpockets: Don't mess with the boy from Brooklyn.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Lisa risks her life on the streets of Marrakesh...
Here the road rules are limited to this - just drive. Drive your car, your horse, your mule, donkey, camel, motorbike or bicycle anyway you can to get you where you need to be.
The narrow alleys seem to turn Marrakesh drivers into Grand Prix drivers rather than act as deterrence. Blind corner: who cares, floor it and test your luck. There are pedestrian crossings, but if you stop you'll never get started again. If being a girl on a bicycle didn't make people look, being a girly girl on a bicycle guaranteed a few stares. All was fine until my first corner turn in a good five years. I know riding a bike is a skill that once learnt is never forgotten but... this corner threw me... literally. After trying to stop my bike (which was of course rocketing with speed) I stumbled graciously into the path of an oncoming taxi, which luckily had brakes in good working order. A near miss and slightly tarred ego, but an authentic Moroccan experience all the same. After a quick dust off and a brief 'lean into the corner' pep talk from Baxter, I was good to go again.
Marrakesh has more shades of pink than a Mardi Gras so it was rather odd to travel to the coastal town of Essaouria and be confronted with white walls. It felt as though our two-hour drive had transported us to Greece. Greece flavoured with Moroccan spice, where the alleyways and people remained the same, but there was one distinct difference. Seagulls. Never before have I seen more seagulls congregate in a single airspace. And with good reason. Everything from bream to bass, shark to seahorse (okay I didn't see the latter on a plate though I'm sure it's possible) is on the menu, making life extremely sweet for the seagulls of Essaouria. Braving the almost definite probability of being hit by a bird bomb, I wondered just how long these gulls hover above the harbour. After watching (both the birds and their bombs hit unsuspecting passers-by) I came to the conclusion that they simply hover all day. Why go anywhere else than a place that serves up a constant supply of fresh fish and lets you get a bit of target practice in!
From the seaside smell of seagull to the musty stench of pigeon mixed with cows, camels and lime there was only one thing I was extremely grateful for when I entered a tannery on my final day. The bundle of mint I was given on entering. Having followed a young boy after he insisted we saw his family's tannery, Syliva and I could smell what can only be described as dead animal. I really had no idea what I was in for and while I'm very glad I ended up with a camel-leather pouf and an empty pocket, I was even happier to be breathing fresh air outside in Djemaa el-Fna.
Morocco has been a surprise package of culture shock, culinary creatures, exotic wonders and experiences I simply could have never predicted. If there is one thing I want to end with it's to encourage people to travel. See the world through your own eyes. You can read a book about pretty much anywhere or watch a program on television, but to truly experience a place in your own unique way you need to get yourself a guidebook and get out there.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Baxter gets taken to the cleaners, Moroccan style...
The hammam (Turkish bath) is a physical metaphor for the essential Moroccan experience. It is the distillation of all the competing sensations of a North African vacation: excitement, anxiety, fear and revelation all vie for your attention like the food sellers in the Djemaa el-Fna.
Just like when you fly abroad, the first time you step into the steamy confines of a Marrakesh bathhouse, you are magically transported to a place where the normal rules of propriety no longer apply. Inside the hammam, and outside of your comfort zone, you pay your fare (just eight dirham) and are literally and figuratively laid-bare, all except for your underwear that is.
Remember your first time overseas when you realized there was no way you could even look like you fit in? Well, this is one of those times. As if he can sense your faltering spirit for this adventure, your guide suddenly appears to coax you through the process just like the astute handicraft merchants in the souq do. The stringy old man you saw upon entering the hammam is going to be your new best friend, it seems. In matching plastic slippers and threadbare robe, he smiles up at you almost tenderly.
There on the grimy, grouted floor, he leaves you alone and vulnerable in the company of strangers. Growing more self-conscious by the minute, you hope for the safety of your guide's speedy return.
In what seems like an hour (but are really just minutes) the little old man reappears in just his skivvies and an odd-looking glove on his left hand. What relief! Without warning, he dumps two buckets over your head in rapid succession. Before you can catch your breath under the water, he lays you out flat on the floor. After a thorough lathering with the black soap and another dousing, he pop, pop, pops your spine into realignment. Just exactly how bent out of shape you've been and how much you have in common with the humpbacked camel (at least in terms of posture) becomes painfully apparent. You've never felt dirtier nor cleaner in your whole life and yet, you couldn't be happier with the contradiction.
As you slip sheepishly into the medina outside, the seemingly divergent emotions that possess you - cleanliness and dirtiness, a relief that it's over, and a longing for more - leave you with the distinct impression that you've just had a quintessential Moroccan experience.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Sylvia takes a final stroll through Marrakesh's alleys...
The road to Essaouria is a rollercoaster ride north of Marrakesh. The landscape is bleak and empty apart from a solitary minaret standing at the roadside. Why it stands there is a mystery as there seems to be no one to hear its call to prayer except the occasional lonely shepherd with his skinny dog.
Essaouria is known as Morocco's windy city, but it was a refreshing Atlantic breeze that swept through the white alleys of this attractive town. In a courtyard below the ramparts, woodworkers create high-quality jewellery boxes and furniture from thuja wood, which is unique to the High Atlas area, and calligraphers paint Berber or Arabic symbols on goatskin. Around every corner there stands an art gallery with art for every budget, from the cheerful mass produced oil paintings of Gnaoua horsemen to the high art dreamscapes of La Mancha.
Back in Marrakesh for our final day we saw a less salubrious side to Moroccan creativity. A chance encounter at a mint stall led to a guided walk down endless alleys with a toothless man to visit his family's tannery. Random animal entrails lay scattered on the street and the air was thick with the ammonia-fumed aroma of pigeon droppings (used to soften the leather). We were offered a sprig of fresh mint to act as a gasmask as we made our way up to the rooftops to balance between great vats of quicklime where animal skins are soaked before being laid out to dry in the sun. After that they are soaked in natural dyes - calico, saffron, indigo, kohl and mint to give the spectrum of colours that hang in the souks. Somehow those soft leather babouches (pointy slippers) don't seem quite so appealing now.
As dusk fell I took a final walk through the Djemaa el-Fna. At last, the Gnaoua dancers were out, performing their mystical Moroccan-style line dancing. With heads swirling and tasselled fezzes spinning, they took their turn in stepping forward to show off their best moves. As the drum beat ever faster they shut their eyes and worked themselves into a frenzy. One flash of my camera however and the tallest dancer was out of his trance-like state in an instant, hat outstretched with a smile that said, 'You know the score'.
Marrakesh is a magical place and seeing it through the eyes of a travel writer has enhanced the experience, as every sight formed itself into a sentence and every detail became so valuable. Thanks Lonely Planet!
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Posted Wednesday, April 04, 2007, 10:36 PM by Lonely Planet
Lisa finds that snakes are charming until they try to slip the tongue in...
Being told it's good luck to kiss a snake just isn't enough to coax me into it, but today there was no choice...
The past few days have seen me gaze in wonder from afar at the snake charmers and their mesmerised snakes, because I lacked the kind of silver that makes them do their thing. Today however, armed with coinage and courage, I went to interact and get a little closer, only for a photo though. A photo was granted in due course after paying up. I had had my snake charming experience. But the charmer decided there should be more interaction and it would be better to put the charmed one around my neck. This wasn't in the initial contract. Now the whole snake around my neck thing didn't exactly worry me, it was the orange and black diamond scales that made its strike ability rating soar, plus it oozed fierceness. Not only that, but the snake ended up in my mouth. Yes, the fabulously witty charmer had another great idea, get Lisa to kiss the snake. 'Kiss it for good luck, kiss it', he insisted as I blatantly refused. There is only one thing you can do when a snake's head gets pressed against your lips. You kiss it.
Before arriving in Marrakesh I was well aware of Lonely Planet's popularity, but the motto today seemed to be 'You just aren't hip unless you have a blue bible'. Sitting in the cafe of the Jardin Majorelle (an extravagant gift given to the city of Marrakesh by Yves Saint Laurent) it became pretty clear just how many people rely on and trust the opinions of Lonely Planet. Prior to my hot chocolate being served I had counted at least five other tables with people sipping their coffee and flipping through the pages of 'Best of Marrakesh'. I'm guessing it's become even more fashionable than a designer handbag, at least in terms of travel essentials and I was sure to have my copy on display so I could be part of the 'in crowd'.
After visiting the Ville Nouvelle (the new, touristy side of town with a little less authenticity and a McDonalds serving McArabia's) the meandering alleyways of the old town (our home for the week) were quite welcoming. The aged-carved face of the onion seller and the little old men that sit and watch the world go by have become to me what this city is all about. While I have been on the hunt for the illusive portrait photograph, it's surprising to me that I'm okay with just looking, purely because their true beauty really can't be captured. Not that I won't stop trying of course!
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Sylvia lifts the lid on Marrakesh's secrets...
One of the secrets behind the city walls revealed itself today. The Jardin Majorelle is a little corner of France in Marrakesh. It has tall palms to rival St Tropez, a waterlily pond that Monet would have died for and a lovely coffee shop where you can enjoy a chocolat chaud in the shade. Art and nature collide in a riot of colour. Lest you forget where you are, the cobalt-blue cubist structure in the corner houses the Museum of Islamic Art. Cool and stylish on the outside, inside it resembles an Islamic architectural salvage yard. Rescued wooden doors carved with Qur'anic script, 16th-century wedding chests and giant candle holders leave you guessing at the history of the vanished riads they once adorned. Playing the 'if you could take one thing home with you?' game I coveted a little blue fountain that would look perfect in the corner of my own garden.
I can also let you in on a few secrets that must surely be included in a Bluelist on how to make a few extra dirham in Marrakesh.
First, establish the country of origin of a customer and play the word association game. America - French fries, Australia - kangaroos, England - Marks and 'Spensive: 'I give you much better price than them for that Moroccan leather camel'.
Second, look for someone with a map and puzzled expression and offer to show them the way. If the route just happens to pass through your cousin's carpet shop, all the better.
Third, pop a snake around a startled tourist's neck and walk away. You'll find they will be more than willing to pose for a photograph to get you to take the snake away. Just don't be surprised if that smile on their face looks something like a grimace.
Finally, be gracious in defeat and always be prepared to give away a smile for nothing.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Baxter gets all poetic and looks to the past...
As I was waiting to enter the Saadian Tombs in the Bab Aganou cemetery, I came across a postcard in a curio shop, torn, tattered and long-forgotten.
Old-school postcards always bring to mind my step-mom's time in her Peace Corps days during the freewheelin' early 70s. That's when Tony and Maureen Wheeler rolled from Europe overland through Afghanistan into the wilds of Asia with no real plan.
There, over a few brews in Kathmandu the first authors were 'commissioned' at a bar on the seedy side of Thamel. The rest is, as we say, history. That my path should cross with theirs 30 years later on this electronic forum for like-minded travellers appears entirely impossible, but somehow or another, more likely than probable.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Dov gets up close to tanjines, markets and all things Marrakesh...
Sitting comfortably cross-legged among piles of cushions at a restaurant in the Medina, the waiter walked slowly toward our low table, smiling as he placed a covered dish in front of my wide eyes and empty stomach. In a cloud of steam, he removed the cone shaped lid, revealing a pungent mix of chicken, olives, preserved lemons and other vegetables. This is the tajine, the most common and traditional of Moroccan dishes. The tajine is a mixture of meats, vegetables and spices, cooked slowly in an earthenware pot, and kept covered until served at the table. Hidden from the sight of the customer until it is ready to be tasted, the tajine is as representative of Moroccan cuisine as it is of Marrakesh as a whole.
Flying into Marrakesh, the landscape was filled with thousands of low pink buildings with the occasional minaret or tall palm tree poking through for some more air. However, as I wandered about on my first morning in Marrakesh I became completely lost in a maze of alleys and souqs, and it took me a full hour to find my way out of and back to our hotel. This is the hidden Marrakesh. Invisible from the air, the narrow streets and alleys teem with energy and life.
But even as I wandered through that maze of markets and alleys in the old city, another hidden layer of Marrakesh stood right behind those high pink walls: beautiful homes and hotels, or riads. With spacious central courtyards and relatively quiet rooftops, these houses and riads act as an escape from the hectic pace of daily life in the streets.
On our third day in Marrakesh, we were treated to yet another hidden side of this perpetually mysterious city. Spread throughout the city are lush green-walled gardens, and like the one we visited today, the Jardin Marjorelle, many of them once acted as inspiration for European artists. A calming trip to a garden allows those worn down by the chaos of Marrakesh to stroll or sit among palm trees and colourful flowers, and recharge the spirit by connecting with nature, right in the middle of the city.
Like the tajines, markets, riads or gardens, much of what comprises the experience of Marrakesh is hidden from view. On our way home today we passed a sandwich shop with a sign in French reading: Recommended by the Guide Lonely Planet. As I have learned on this trip so far, the job of a Lonely Planet author is more than just recommending a place to find a good kebab. The job of a Lonely Planet author is to spur the curiosity of the reader, so that they can have their own unique experiences and adventures. No place is this more evident than in Marrakesh, where much of the splendour off the city is ever so slightly hidden, only to be revealed to the senses of the curious traveller.
Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007
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Posted Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 9:42 PM by Lonely Planet
Dov Quint experiences the warm hearts of Moroccan folk...
My night of sleep wasn't too bad. Except for the fact that every time I awoke in the middle of the night I feared rolling over to see that poor sheep staring me in the eye. It never showed up.
Instead, we awoke to pristine blue skies and began a 90-minute journey to the town of Imlil, a small place in the High Atlas Mountains that serves as a jumping-off point for trekkers in the region.
With the snow capped mountains beckoning us on the horizon, we drove through a landscape which slowly transformed from sprawling fields of olive groves into green valleys surrounded by red hills. We stopped along the river to check out a crowd of Moroccan tourists singing and dancing around a drum circle comprised of local Berber women. We were treated to other entertainment including one man who seemed to be performing the equivalent of a Moroccan stand-up comedy show. As he stood above his donkey, which was lying below him in the grass, he initiated a call and response routine with his audience. I'm not sure of the translation, but I'm guessing it was something to the effect of 'My donkey is so lazy...' followed by the crowd's response of 'How lazy is your donkey?!' I'll leave the punch line to your own imagination.
Continuing on our drive into the mountains, we arrived in Imlil to find a small town surrounded by terraced fields, acting as staircases to the snow covered jagged peaks of the High Atlas. Spread across the lush green valley, clusters of mud-brick houses stacked one on top of another blended into the hills onto which they clung.
The first local Berber to great me in town was a young boy riding a donkey. After smiling and shaking my hand, he then touched his own to his heart, the warmest of Moroccan greetings. The contrast between the serenity of the mountains and the controlled madness and energy of Marrakesh matches well with the people of Morocco. As with the contrasts in surroundings, Moroccan society is a vibrant mix of languages and cultures, and the Moroccans I have encountered seem to approach lif
