Thorn Tree travel forum

Africa Branch FAQ

This branch covers: Africa

Inside this thread you'll find a collection of information and links to websites about attractions, activities, travel practicalities and news about the countries covered. Have a look at them before asking questions!

Have a good look around before asking your question - quite often your question (or one very similar to it) will have been asked and answered many times already.

When you're ready to ask a question, choose the relevant country from the drop down menu to ensure the most relevant and accurate responses.

Please feel free to add any other useful advice you might have inside this thread!

Note: Commercial advertising is prohibited on the Thorn Tree as per our Website Terms. If you come across any tour operators advertising or spamming their business on Thorn Tree (or by private messa... more »

budget hotels in Marrakech

Hi again,

We need unexpensive accomodation in Marrakech. Do you know hotel Essaouira? Is it OK? One commetary in Trip Advisor said he found bed bugs and had 40 bites. That worried me, but all the other critics were good and the rough guide recommends it. Any other recommendations for unexpensive accomodation?

thanks!

URGENT - Portuguese journalists looking for contacts and advices in Africa

Hi,

my name is Tiago Carrasco and I'm a portuguese journalist. With a photographer and a cameraman, we're going to travel across Africa from Lisbon to Joahnnesburg, crossing 19 countries to reach South Africa in the exact day of the first match of FIFA World Cup.

Our itinerary is Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Guine-Bissau, Mali, Burkina, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, DRC, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa. . We wil have our own jeep, so we just need one guide, friend or a local informed person, english, spanish or french-spoken, who could give us the following services: information, security and translation. We want to live as similar as we get with the inhabitants of different countries, we don't want a personal cooker, driver, support car, none of european luxuries. Just one person who knows very well the country'... more »

African a cappella group at the Cape Town Waterfront

Does anyone have any clue of the name of the all male a cappella group at the Waterfront in Cape Town? I saw they had a CD for sale while I was there, but didn't manage to snap one up and now would like to see if I could try and find on one on the web as a Christmas gift. Realize there could be several different groups working the Waterfront, but if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Thanks!

deb

Arriving in Entebbe at 9pm

I have a flight arriving in Entebbe at 20:40 and can't decide whether to spend the night there or travel on to Kampala. I need to catch a bus to Fort Portal at 8am the next morning. Can anyone advise how much a special hire taxi would be to go straight to kampala from the airport? Any ideas as to whether i'd be able to get to Kampala bus station in time the next morning if I spent the night in Entebbe?

Thanks

Dogon Country - Packing Question

Hello,

I'm planning a trip to West Africa (Ghana/Mali mainly) this January and February and I had a couple packing questions for those with experience:

-I want to avoid bringing a sleeping bag or sleeping sheet for space reasons. Is a sleeping bag necessary for trip to the Dogon country? Could I borrow/rent a blanket of some kind from a guide or somewhere else while I'm there instead of hauling a bag along with me my whole trip? Also, is a spare sheet to sleep on really necessary in West Africa? I've travelled though East Africa and Ethiopia and never stayed in a hotel where I felt the bedding was so filthy or bed bug ridden that I needed my own sheet to sleep on, is West Africa any different?

-Is decent mosquito repellant available to buy in West Africa. I will be brining my own but wanted to know if it was available to buy if I ran out. Also, how are the mosquitos in ... more »

From Berbera to Yemen via boat – my attempt

First I got a visa at the Embassy of Yemen at Old airport road in Addis Ababa. Cost is 850 Birr, one photo and a letter from your embassy.

Once in Hargeysa, I took a 8 seated-taxi to Berbera for 5$. The soldiers at the five checkpoints we passed never seem to notice me sitting at the back. If they had, I would most likely been ordered to travel with a soldier.

In Berbera I got all the info on boat traffic to Yemen at Al Salam shipping agency in the white and blue building across the Immigration office. For 50$, they booked me on a boat to Aden, the last one for ten days. Supposedly taking 24 hours.

After getting some sort of unofficial ticket at the harbor I could get my exit stamp at the Immigration Office for 20$. A guy from the Immigration office went with me through customs at the harbor.

The problem occurred when I was about to board the boat. The owner of the 35... more »

Jungle trekking to visit pigmies in DRC

Does anyone know who guides jungle treks to pigmy villages in the DRC. I have heard that they may start in Central African Republic and it takes 3 - 5 days to get to the Pigmy villages. Many thanks...