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 »

Where would you go in Dec 2010?

Hi Posters

I'm posting this in at least 2 other different branches so apologies if you've read it before.
I'm planning by next big vacation in 2010 and for certain reasons, I can only go in Dec, mid-Dec to be exact.

I'm still undecided as to the destination.
My criteria:

• NO winter destinations (still reeling from the cold in 2008 when I was in Paris during the Xmas period)
• experience suitable for 3 pre-teen girls
• mix of culture, history and great landscapes (and bit of wildlife thrown in)
• my family loves the sea and would invariably spend the tail end of our vacation at a seaside place (but this is not a MUST)

• Africa (was thinking Tanzania, (Zanzibar hmmm).... ut it'll be a pretty long trip with lots of air connections)
• Morocco (not sure of the weather there in Dec)
• Australia (safe bet, most likely the Gold Coast)
• New Zealand...

Cairo Opera House

Does anyone know if events at the Cairo Opera House usually sell out? I won't be arriving until a few days before some concerts are scheduled and there seems to be no way to reserve tickets from overseas.

Endallah Cultural Tours

Hello out there!

Does anyone have any experience with Endallah Cultural Tours? They look great and are priced well. I am strongly considering them, but, would love to hear from someone who has used them!

Anybody???

Thanks,
Jerica

Going to Tanzania 2010, need insight!

Hello fellow travelers!

This is my first post on Thorn tree, this place is great :) I have a few questions about Tanzania, maybe someone can help...

My fiance' and I are traveling to Tanzania in 2010. We had planned to go in October, but I saw a very helpful post suggesting against it due to Presidential elections being scheduled. My next option would be to go in December, should it be safe by then?

I have read that Dec. brings the short rains. Is this a major annoyance? Being on holiday, we wanted to escape the rain, as where we are from it is quite dismal that time of year.

What do you all think?

8 day holiday in Morocco

Hi
my daugther and i have just come back from an 8 day holiday in Morocco where we had an fantastic time we booked a tour guide and car before we left the UK and he was there at the airport to meet us, he spoke perfect english so we had no problems with telling him what we wanted and he could explain to us all about the different places that we went to.
We felt safe at all times,( as i have read on other posts that females traverling on there own have not ).
We found Morocco to be a wonderful country with so much to see and so many places to go, i was worried that taking my 18 year old daugther with me she would get bored as most girls of that age love places with lots of noise but she loved every moment of it and would love to go back so she could see other places there as 8 days is not long enough,as Morocco is such a big country.

If anyone would like to contact me about ou... more »

Yet another question about safety (on the roads)

Hi all,
I'm heading for SA next week and haven't organized anything apart from a rental car and a hotel for the first night. I'm just reading previous threads about safety. They don't really worry me as I think it's mainly common sense. But I just stumbled over some advices about road safety like "don't stop at isolated places to admire the view".
But that's exactly the good thing about driving around in your own car, isn't it? I wondered if it's really that dangerous to stop anywhere when there is no one else.
So is it ok to stop somewhere in the lonely countryside and go for a little walk? Or is that a really silly idea?
Where is it generally safe to park your car? (Outside big cities, I'm not a fan of cities, I love the solitude of the countryside)

I also read some advices about not hiking alone for safety issues. Is that because of natural dangers like heat, sun, heavy rain... more »

Anybody in Cairo in early December?

I'll be in Cairo for the first week of December. Anybody else traveling there who might be up for a meal or a drink?