Walila farmstay

Hey,

My friend and I are planning a trip to Morocco during our Easter uni holidays, and we came across the entry about Walila farmhouse in the Morocco Lonely Planet - it looks awesome and we'd love to stay there. However, we went to the website and emailed asking about reservations, etc., and we haven't heard back (it was over a week ago now) - does anyone know if this email (info@walila.com) is still active, or if they still accept visitors, etc.? Has anyone stayed there recently?

Thanks!

Appartment/room for rent in Monrovia

My friend and I am going to Liberia in the end of March, and we are staying for four weeks.
We are looking for a place to stay that we can have as a "base" while doing our research for our master thesis.

Anyone who knows a place that we could stay...? :)

Visiting Mt. Sinai Safely

During my upcoming visit to Sharm-el-Sheikh, I would like to visit St. Katharine's Monastery and Mount Sinai (during the day, not to climb at dawn). In light of several well-publicized incidents, including kidnappings, that have occurred on the Sharm-Mt.Sinai road, I am wondering what would be the safest/least risky way of doing this trip.

Should I sign up for a big-bus tour with maybe 50 other people, on the theory that there is safety in numbers? Or would it better to hire a private taxi or smaller minibus and hope to sneak by? If so, is there a certain company whose buses or taxis would be less likely to be attacked, maybe because of tribal affiliations or something?

For a while, I was considering not leaving the resort at all, but visiting Mt. Sinai is an an important part of why we are stopping in Sharm, and I would hate to miss it.

Thanks.

JMG5525 more »

Bwindi Impenetrable vs. Parc des Volcans

Hey guys!

I'm not going to Uganda or Rwanda anytime soon, but really hope to do so someday. But of course, a trip to either country will have to include a mandatory trek to see the famous mountain gorillas!

However, I've been doing some research on the subject, and there seems to be quite a debate over which park, Bwindi or Volcans, is the best place to see them. Lonely Planet seems to prefer Volcans, but I've heard a lot of people have had quite enjoyable expierences in Bwindi too.

My question is: What do you guys prefer? What are the pros and cons of each park, and each gorillia trekking expierence?

I'm also gonna post this on the Uganda board.

Thanks for any responses!

Ethiopia Travel Tips

Hey guys!

I'm going to Ethiopia towards the end of the year, and I was wondering if any of you seasoned Ethiopia travellers have any tips for a newbie.

This is my first time in Africa, so I don't know what to expect so to speak. I've been to some less than developed countries in Eastern Europe, but never been to this part of the world.

Some places I'm interested in going to are:
The Simein Mountains to see the baboons
The Lake Tana Monasteries
Possibly Harar
(Especially) Lalibela

I think I'm going to stick around northern Ethiopia for this trip.

Anyway, do you guys just have any general trips that could help a newbie out?

Thanks so much!

Bwindi Impenatrable vs. Parc des Volcans

Hey guys!

I'm not going to Uganda or Rwanda anytime soon, but really hope to do so someday. But of course, a trip to either country will have to include a mandatory trek to see the famous mountain gorillas!

However, I've been doing some research on the subject, and there seems to be quite a debate over which park, Bwindi or Volcans, is the best place to see them. Lonely Planet seems to prefer Volcans, but I've heard a lot of people have had quite enjoyable expierences in Bwindi too.

My question is: What do you guys prefer? What are the pros and cons of each park, and each gorillia trekking expierence?

I'm also gonna post this on the Rwanda board.

Thanks for any responses!

Flights from Dakar Senghor airport alert

Not really an alert but... Apparently in the past week or ten days, the senegalese government ordered international airlines to limit the number of flights to/from Dakar. I had a confirmed ticket out from Dakar to Casa but RAM had to cut one of its two daily flights. This required waiting two more days to depart. RAM said that all airlines were affected and that the reason was that Senegal wants to support Air Senegal. Most foreign airlines' offices at the airport are only staffed during flight times, and the Departing and Arriving flights screens on the monitors in the airport are still showing default schedules that include the now cancelled flights.

At least with RAM, you have to go down the the main office at the Place de l'lndependence to have a new ticket issued. I was reading several papers daily and probably due to constant election coverage, there was no notice I saw abou... more »

Morocco per capita income

Interesting statistics from the World Bank, 2010. Figures are per capita, in thousands of US dollars.

USA $47.1
Australia $43.7
UK $38.5
Spain $31.7
Morocco $4.6