Published by Johnny on August 26, 2011
Crossing countries by land is a cool thing to do, crossing continents? Even cooler! Here’s a quick look at escaping Europe and heading into Africa without taking a flight.
If your heart is set on arriving in Africa by boat (and let’s face it – traveling by boat is clearly the most awesome way to travel anywhere), your options are quite limited but fear not, it’s still very possible. The easiest, most accessible way to get from Europe to Africa by boat is from Portugal to Morocco, so let’s have a look how you go about it….
1: Get your traveling ass to Spain. Jump on a train or bus from wherever you are and get yourself to Andalusia! There are endless flights to Malaga, Seville, Granada etc all of which are going to get you close to the Mediterranean coast in preparation for your boat trip.
2: Head to Spain’s most southern town, Algeciras. Algeciras is easily reachable by bus from pretty much anywhere in the country, or take the train through some very beautiful mountains. You’re getting close now!
3: Book yourself onto the ferry to Tangiers as a foot passenger. This process is amazingly simple, ferries leave every hour. They vary in speed (and price) but with no booking, no mad desire to get the luxury boat and no time constraints you should be able to hop onto a ferry within a couple of hours of arriving, take the 3 hour trip across the water, all for around $35. Bargain.
4: Get your passport stamped, you’re in Morocco baby! Welcome to Africa! Tangier is a nice enough city but one of it’s highlights is it’s very impressive rail network to the rest of Morocco. Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fez are all within a $20 sleeper train journey and your African adventure can well and truly get started.
Ok guys, I’m a massive fan of overland travel so hopefully this should help you out when you find yourself staring at the Mediterranean see and wondering how to get across. Happy travels!
Tags: boats, europe, General African Stuff
Published by Johnny on January 11, 2011
For any keen backpacker, the first question is presumably “How much does it cost to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda?”. Rumours of crazy expenses are unfortunately pretty accurate – to trek with the Mountain Gorillas in either Rwanda or Uganda will cost you a one time fee of $500 (rumours of $1000-$2000 increases through 2011 & 2012 are rife) which gives you access to the gorillas for one hour only. Ouch!
Ok ok so $500 is a heartbreaker but money comes and goes and this really is an opportunity of a lifetime. Petting sedated tigers in Bangkok, feeding domesticated monkeys in India – these have there place of course but trekking with the mountain gorillas is true wildlife at its finest. You get up close and personal with these massive creatures and there are few more inspiring, intimidating and impressive sights than a 200kg silverback male standing on two feet and beating his chest at you, just to let you know who’s boss, and believe me you will certainly know who’s boss!
So should you see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda?
Well, you can trek mountain gorillas in 3 places in the world – Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. The DRC can be dangerous and with the convoluted and expensive visa requirements pushing the costs higher I’d rule that one. So Uganda or Rwanda? The actual cost remains the same ($500) so which should you choose?
In Uganda:
TRANSPORT: Located a whole days drive from Kampala, it’s more difficult to access and with accommodation around the park being expensive, the costs for independent travelers can soon soar. The town of Buhoma, the nearest town to the gorillas, is a grueling 13 hour bus ride from Kampala so factor that into your timing too. The other entry point is Nkoringo which involves a similarly arduous journey. Get yourself to Kampala, early in the morning head to the bus station in the town centre and you’ll be off. The bus costs around $10 to get to Bwindi,
BOOKING: For Uganda, you need to book through the Ugandan Wildlife Authority, they are more efficient than their Rwandan brothers and are much more open to emails, phone calls etc. Only 50 permits available each day but cancellations are quite common so if there are only a couple of you, you can turn up and wait for cancellations – normally within 2 or 3 days you’ll be good to go.
VISAS: Most nationalities (EU passports, Canada, US, Australia, NZ etx) don’t require any prior work. Just arrive at the border, pay your $50 (steep i know!) and you’re in. Only single entry visas are available.
GORILLAS: Amazing of course, the groups (bands) are smaller than in Rwanda but still impressive. The rainforest here is reportedly denser than that of Rwanda so the photo opps aren’t necessarily as presentable however, as a silverback runs across your path that’ll be the least of your worries! The trek from the park to the gorillas range from 1 to 5 hours depending on the gorillas movement.
In Rwanda:
TRANSPORT: From Kigali, you’ll be heading to Musanze the closest town to the Volcanoes National Park. Probably still a tad too far to consider a day trip so I would recommend heading down the day before, sleep there have your day with the gorillas and head back to Kigali or onwards to Uganda the same day.
BOOKING: With only a limited number of spaces available each day to trek with the gorillas ideally you should book in advance. Easier said that done! For Rwanda, you book through the ORPTN office in Kigali, Rwanda although as you’ll see from their retro website, they aren’t exactly surging through the technological times! Endless emails and phone calls will be required and in the end, if you have time to spare, it’s easier (in a group of 1,2 or 3) to turn up to the office and book when you arrive. You may have to wait for a few days for cancellations but if you’re patient, you’ll get to the see the gorillas I promise! Note that, Rwanda is not a cheap country to stay in so try to get an idea of what specific days there may be spaces so you can arrive roughly around that time and avoid emptying your wallets in the overpriced Kigali!
VISAS: Available on the border and in the airport and generally cost $60 for 30 days. No problems at all.
GORILLAS: The general consensus is that the Rwandan gorilla groups are larger, easier to spot and the scenery allows for better photos and, after visiting here, I can only confirm all of the above. It really is something special, with baby gorillas rolling around at your feet to Silverbacks charging around within a metre or two of you, it will take your breath away. The most famous group, and the furthest to trek to is the Susa group so if you’re feeling energetic ask for that. They have the biggest male, the most babies but can often be up to 5 hours trek away!
Uganda or Rwanda? For me, it’s gotta be Rwanda. The vast majority of the people I met along the way in Africa seemed to say the same thing, of course either country will be a great experience though but Rwanda pips it.
Mountain Gorillas on a budget? There are countless tour operators who would love nothing more than for you to pay them $$$$ to arrange the whole thing for you, arrive by local bus, stay in local accommodation, have your $500 in cash and that’s the best you can hope for. This is not a cheap activity, but one you’ll never regret.
So are the gorillas worth the $500? Definitely, I wouldn’t change it for the world. For example, the standard line is that you must remain 7m away from them, try telling the gorillas that! They’ll be running around you, inches from your face, a truly awe-inspiring experience and one that I urge everyone to try to see for themselves. Not to mention the trek through the thick African rainforest as you make your way to the gorillas, this is Africa in it’s most purest, $500 might be steep but do it now before the price hikes truly make it impossible to consider!
 Me with the silverback Any questions guys, feel free to comment below and i’ll get back to you asap…
Tags: General African Stuff, mountain gorillas, rwanda, uganda
Published by Johnny on December 03, 2010
Cape Town to Cairo may be a classic backpacking route but what a trip it is! From snorkeling in the azure blues of the Indian ocean, the white beaches of Zanzibar, wildlife galore in the Serengetti, standing on a glacier as you hike to the top of Kilimanjaro – the trip offers everything you could ever dream an African odyssey would include but how long does it take and how much does it cost?!
It’s a long way – I can vouch for that. Lots of people drive their own motorbikes/cars or go on organized, expensive overlanding tours, as an advocate of independent travel I recommend planning nothing and going for it freestyle! I met a few people doing a similar trip to mine as I was on the road and the times they were allocating for the journey ranged from 4 months to 1 year. Personally, I took about 6 months and I wouldn’t recommend much less than that – sometimes I felt like I was rushing, ultimately it’s a personal choice and everybody travels at different speeds but around 7 months seems to be the general consensus for an optimum duration, long enough to see everywhere you want without feeling rushed but not too long to get too frustrated at what I shall diplomatically refer to as African inefficiency!
 Crossing the nile by hot air balloon How much does it cost to go from Cape Town to Cairo? Quite a lot I’m afraid guys. Africa is not the continent for backpackers on a seriously restrictive budget, better to save some extra cash and hold off the trip for a year or two as opposed to rushing in and missing out. I would say that the trip from Cape Town to Cairo could be done, in 6 months, for around $6,000 at the bottom end of the scale (missing out on some of the more expensive activities). This could shoot to $15k if you want to do every activity available, stay in decent places and avoid the (often less than delicious) Sub-Saharan African cuisine.
 Trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda Here are a few of the ‘optional’ (this is in inverted commas because although now they seem optional, when you’re there you’re almost definitely going to want to do it!) things that you may have to factor into your budget, things that quickly make you wanna rethink that tight budget:
 Reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro
Ok guys, so these external costs can mount up to $3k or $4k alone – then you have to think about food, transport, accommodation and entrance fees on top of that. If you think you’ll be traveling for around 6 or 7 months, that’s approximately 200 days – if you’re good on a budget maybe $20 can do you = $4k, plus the $4k in fees = $8k. But $20 a day is tough in most of Africa (Malawi aside). I probably spend the best part of $10k in my trip, including flights and a ticket to the World Cup Final in Johannesburg – a lot of money for sure, but worth every penny! If you have any questions about things to do on the journey, just drop me an email on Johnny@onestep4ward.com or leave a comment, I’d be more than happy to help…
Tags: General African Stuff, money
Published by Johnny on November 11, 2010
Taking a picture of you pretending to pick up the Pyramids of Giza must be the most over taken tourist picture in the world…. still it’s a classic isn’t it?!
Egypt plays host to some of the World’s most famous sights and to be honest it’s more of a holiday destination than a backpackers’ hub. That being said, you can travel Egypt on a budget, you can ride camels to your heart’s content, eat falafel’s till your eyeballs explode and still pay entry fees to the sights all for less than $30 a day. Especially if you get a student ID card – you get 50% discount on every sight. (Feel free to contact me about obtaining a student card)
In fact, I would say that Egypt is actually quite cheap to backpack in and with the all landmarks on offer you’re sure to have a great time. If you find yourself backpacking in Egypt, here are the things you gotta see (regardless of your budget!)…
Abu Simbel: You’re not going to want to hear this but Abu Simbel, aside from the Pyramids, is possibly the coolest temple in all of Egypt! The reason you don’t want to know is that it is a mission to get to. Located nearly 300km south of Aswan (which is already the most southern city in Egypt), you’ll need to arrange a bus or tour from Aswan and leave early in the morning (actually, it’s more like late at night as the bus departs around 3am). The sheer size of the Great Temple of Ramses II will wipe away the fatigue from the bus trip in an instant. When you turn the corner to access the temple, there is a tangible ‘wow’ moment when you see the 4 enormous Pharoah statues. Get there early and avoid the hordes of tourists from the package resorts! The entry fee is 80 EGP and 40 EGP for students.
Luxor: Luxor is Egypt. The city centre is a great place to spend a couple of days, you can eat your Mcdonalds ice-cream cone (less than $0.30 and a Godsend in the heat of an Egyptian afternoon) as you gaze at the Temple of Luxor which is found bang in the city centre. You can read all about Luxor and the things to do there here. (LINK!) If you/re ina rush, here’s it in a nutshell: Temples of Karnak – incredible, Luxor Temple – pretty cool, valley of the Kinds – underwhelming but almost obligatory!
Cairo: There’s not much I can say about Cairo that hasn’t been said a thousand times. Obviously the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx are something special. An mandatory visit to the Egyptian museum will take a couple of hours too.
Islamic Cairo is an interesting place as well, especially if you’ve never been in an Islamic country before – this section of Cairo oozes charisma. 3 days in Cairo is easily enough time to experience the chaos and see the major sites. If you want to know where to party in Cairo, the Cairo Jazz Club is one of the few clubs that actually resembles a club, but at $5 a drink your budget will get blown apart.
Mount Sinai: Whether you’re religious or not, the sight where Moses received the 10 Commandments remains an influential tale in the world’s history. It’s possible to hike to the top of Mount Sinai, normally you can take a day trip from Sharm or Dahab ($15 for transport and ticket). It leaves around midnight, you hike through the night and see the sunrise over some breathtaking scenery. I was dubious as to whether to bother with this or not, I was wrong to hesitate – it’s awesome, you’ll love it.
EGYPT
Budget: $20 a day is possible if you eat away from the landmarks AND you have a student card
Food: Street food is great and cheap. Shwarmas cost around 5 EGP, falafel sandwiches around 1EGP. Restaurants and fast food cost from 12 EGP+
Accommodation: Great and cheap. No need to book, most places have wifi too. If you search hard and bargain, decent rooms are found for 20 EGP.
Nightlife: Not a lot I’m afraid guys :S Sharm El Sheik and Hurgada feature bars and clubs full of tourists but then that’s like being back home! Cairo Jazz club, Cairo is your best bet and only on the weekends. Egypt doesn’t party hard.
Transport: Reasonably priced and luxurious. Trains are great but more expensive than buses. To get an idea, the 12 hour journey from Luxor to Cairo costs around 130 EGP on the train, with the bus costing around 90 EGP.
People: Egyptians often get tarnished with being pushy but I found that not to be true. Of course around the wonders you get hassled but away from the tourist attractions Egyptians are warm and welcoming.
Weather: It’s the desert – have a guess! November and December are the ‘coolest’ months (it’s all relative though)
Religion: 95% Islamic
Currency: Egyptian pounds: $1 USD – 5.75 EGP (Nov 2010)
Visa: Stress free. VOA (visa on arrival) is possible in all airports and land borders. For those of us who stress about these things, you can arrange it in the embassy in your home country for around $40, it’s only $15 if you wait for VOA.
Tags: backpackers guide, cheap travel, egypt, General African Stuff, travel guide, Travel tips
Published by Johnny on November 07, 2010
Africa’s highest peak (5895m) and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, climbing ‘Kili’ is a huge highlight of any trip to East Africa. I’m going to dispel a few of the myths about the costs involved and give you all the lo-down on how much it costs to climb Kili on a tight budget.
I guess everyone here wants to climb Kilimanjaro on a budget so let’s get down to business:
How much does it cost to climb Kilimanjaro? Around $1000 USD.
That’s the answer folks, ignore all other websites touting their businesses complete with flights, visas etc. It costs about $1000 USD end of story. Naturally, if you want to pay more your tent will be higher quality, the food a bit nicer but it’s all unnecessary to be honest, the $1000 will get you to the top just fine.
The cheapest way to climb Kilimanjaro is as follows:
Don’t arrange anything before hand. I’ll repeat that guys, do no arrange anything before you arrive in Moshi. Do it all when you get here – that is the easiest and cheapest way to arrange it. You could arrive on at 10pm in the evening and still have time to organize it and set off the next day so have faith!
1) Get to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. I arrived by land from Malawi but many international airlines fly here.
2) Take a bus from Ubungu bus station, Dar Es Salaam to Moshi. The bus costs around $5-$10 depending on the bus quality and take 8-10 hours.
3) Arrive in Moshi around 4pm. Find your accommodation (I recommend the A&A guesthouse, $5 private bathroom, views of the mountain – cracking!) and check in.
4) Ignore all the touts hustling you for their business and walk directly into one of the (literally) hundreds of tour operators who offer climbs.
At this junction let me explain the routes. There are 6 different routes you can take but realistically everyone takes one of two, the Machame route or the most popular Coca-Cola (Marangu) route. The Coca-Cola route is the easiest route in terms of physical exertion but the Machame route actually has a higher success rate mostly due to the fact that it takes an extra day so you get a further days acclimitastion. The Machame route offers much better scenery too and I would definitely recommend taking it.
5) Explain you want to do the Machame (or Coca-Cola depending on your choice) route. The standard Machame route is 4 nights/5 days. This costs $850 for 5 days. If you want an additional day to acclimatise on the mountain (recommended) then it costs about $1000. Normally you pay the park fees on the 1st day of the ascent to the park officials, whereas you pay your tour operator their fee for equipment (normally included), food, tents etc
6) Aside from the obligatory tips, this is all you have to pay. It includes porters (compulsory – normally 3 per climber, crazy I know!!), chefs (!?), tents, breakfast lunch and dinner each day, water, equipment, park fees, transport – everything!
7) Ideally, you shouldn’t climb the next day because Moshi itself is around 800m up so an extra day there to acclimatise only increases your chances of success further
 The following morning, you’ll be picked up and off you go! Tip the porters and chef etc about 5 – 10% of your fee, they very much expect it.
9) Climb to the top and brag to all your friends for the rest of your life
So that’s it guys, you now know how much it costs to climb Kilimanjaro! It costs around $1000 and it’s impossible to get it for less than $850 due to park fees, compulsory porters and guides etc. Just remember, don’t organise it online, come to Moshi and sort it out here. Happy travels! Any other questions just email me on johnny ‘at’ onestep4ward.com
 Me at the top, sporting Northern Ireland's flag Climbing mountains around the world is a cool way to travel, so if it’s your thing make sure you check out my posts on climbing Mount Kinabalu (Borneo’s highest mountain), and the trek to Mount Everest base camp.
Tags: climbing kilimanjaro, climbing kilimanjaro on a budget, General African Stuff, kilimanjaro, money, tanzania
Published by Johnny on October 17, 2010
Africa is something else. The source of mankind, natural beauty that will take your breath away, history that will shock and amaze you in equal measure. If you haven’t yet made it to the continent, if you have and you need to reminisce, or if you’re there right now, here are some great movies to stir up those feelings. True, it might be a bit cliché to watch a movie about a country when you’re in the country, but never will you be more taken by its story, its backgrounds, its language and its message. So make the time and engross yourselves in these crackers:
Hotel Rwanda:
Good movies are movies that have the power to captivate people, great movies are movies which can almost transcend their art form and help you realize the emotions of the characters. Hotel Rwanda is truly a great movie.
Based in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, it tells the horrific true story of the 1994 genocidal massacre involving the Hutus and Tutsis where the death toll reached an incomprehensible 800,000 Rwandans in 100 terrifying days. All humanity was not lost however and Paul Rusesabagina, played with great passion by Don Cheadle, risked his life time and time again when he accepted fleeing Hutus and Tutsi reformists in the Hotel Des Milles Collines, bribing the Interahamwe militia with anything he could get his hands on. You can’t fail to be moved by the story and sitting in the Hotel Des Milles Collines, guiltily drinking an orange juice, trying to comprehend what happened there a few years previously is one of the most somber and surreal experiences of my life.
NOTE: I should also mention another great movie covering the same story – Shooting Dogs. A movie from the BBC and runs Hotel Rwanda very close.
Last King of Scotland:
Retelling the rise and subsequent gruesome reign of the execrable Idi Amin, The Last King of Scotland uses a little poetic license to merge 3 characters into James McAvoy’s brilliant Scottish doctor who somehow or other became Idi Amin’s main confidant. The movie documents their relationship and touches on the horror that came with Amin’s reign. Ugandans are refreshingly open about their history and, with tact of course, it’s possible to sit in a café in Kampala and chat with the older generation about Amin’s reign and the damage done to the ‘Pearl of Africa’ as Uganda is affectionately known.
The Lion King:
If you haven’t seen Simba singing and dancing along with Rafiki, Pumba and Timone then, my friend, your childhood has a huge Disney shaped hole in it and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. As you backpack around east Africa you’ll see the strong Swahili references throughout the movie, a great reference point for a charming region and an equally charming movie. Simba means lion, Poomba means warthog and more endearingly (as you’ll hear yelled across the street countless times) Rafiki means friend.
Any trip to Africa isn’t complete without a safari and I challenge anyone to say they were out looking for wildlife and didn’t, even once at least, perhaps even just in their head, hum a quick rendition of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. In the jungle, the mighty jungle…. You know how it goes!
Blood Diamond:
TIA. This Is Africa. Indeed. The movie which gave birth to the mainstream usage of this age-old maxim – When your bus leave 3 hours late, TIA. When your food arrives and is nothing like what you ordered, TIA. All fun and games of course, but this movie paints a slightly grimmer picture of TIA- namely conflict or blood diamonds. Set in Zimbabwe (or Rhodesia as Leo Di Caprio, politically charged, insists on calling it throughout the movie) it tells the story of a local man who comes across a valuable diamond. The lengths at which people are prepared to go to is a shocking reminder to how cheap life can be on this continent sometimes. The movie points a stern finger at a European diamond company (I’m sure you see the parallels with reality here!) who horde the diamonds, keeping the prices high and thereby maintaining the violent acts dished out by the people in charge of the diamond mines across Africa. It may not be a true story per se, however I bet you’ll think twice about those diamond earrings next time you reach for your jewelry drawer.
District 9:
Set in South Africa, the storyline goes that an extraterrestrial race come to earth and are forced to live in horrible conditions. They are rejected by the mainstream population of both South Africa and the world and are relocated to District 9. A far fetched story I hear you say?
Not quite… the movie is based on historical event which transpired during the apartheid era, specifically when 60,000 blacks were ‘relocated’ to District 6 in Cape Town. Don’t let the xenophobic themes get you down though, when you are sipping your ice-cold beer on Long Street in Cape Town you’ll feel a whole different vibe now, I assure you of that =)
Tags: General African Stuff, movies, Travel tips
Published by Johnny on October 17, 2010
Djibouti – the only country name I’m aware of that contains a synonym for ass, that alone should be enough to justify a visit but if that doesn’t quite do it for you, there are a few other gems in this hidden in this little ‘Dubai of Africa’…
As I have traveled through Africa, I heard more and more about how expensive Djibouti was so I caught myself thinking “should I go to Djibouti?”. I asked this question numerous times to numerous people and got the same negative response time and time again – Djibouti is boring, it’s f**king hot, it’s overpriced, there’s nothing to do. I decided to ignore everyone and head straight there anyway…
Boy, was I happy I did. Note this in your journal – Djibouti, in it’s own Francophile way, is an awesome place to backpack. Also, I have a bone to pick with the lonely planet too, from their Africa guide I was expecting Djibouti to decimate my bank account but alas, that’s not necessarily so. True it’s not Ethiopian prices but then where is?!
I guess there are 3 main places which your trip to Djibouti will look to include. Djibouti city itself, Lac Assal and Lac Abbé. All of these are worth a visit for sure although this is where Djibouti can begin to eat your cash :S
Djibouti City, the capital of this tiny country, is a place apart from the Horn of Africa. Colonised by the French in the 19th Century it still holds the French feeling throughout the whole city. If you forget yourself for a moment you could feel you’re wandering down a Parisian street as you chew on your baguette (cheap and delicious here by the way!). The architecture flips between European and African as does the cuisine so it truly holds an ambience unlike anything you’ll have experienced before, try to spend a day soaking it up. I actually spent 3 days here and enjoyed them thoroughly.
Lac Assal – brings goggles and plenty of cash. If you’ve been to the top of Kilimanjaro on your African odyssey you will, no doubt, delight in telling your friends that you’ve been to the summit of Africa (I regularly remind everyone of my time there  ) – how about telling them now that you’ve been to the bottom of Africa (is that the right word?!). What I mean is this is the lowest point on the continent, 150m below sea level and it’s salty, real salty. There are 2 ways to get here (and public transport, as I said, is not one of them :S):
1) Rent a car – costs around $75-$125 but you do need a 4 wheel drive, so that will be around the $100 mark
2) Go on a tour. If you have 6 people + you can go around various tour agents (there are loads in the city) and pay around $35 per person to go. Or if you’re feeling lucky, you can go on your own and hope to coincide with another group.
Lac Abbé is another cracking trip but again it doesn’t come cheap. Same situation with the car and 4WD so join a tour or rent a car, no other options I’m afraid. Generally speaking, you’ll drive here, spend the night there (you can sort that out when you get there, no probs) and see sunrise the next morning, pretty spectacular. I guess the best way to describe it is if you try to imagine what the world would look like 1000 years after a nuclear holocaust, this is pretty much it. A barren landscape that stretches as far as you can see, spewing out steam at its will – really amazing. Google image it and book your car!
Ok, so Djibouti is a cool place. Not as expensive as some will lead you to believe and if you can’t afford the 2 lakes I personally think it’s still well worth the visit for the city alone, there’s nowhere quite like it in the world. If you can afford the lakes then you’re in for a real treat so make sure you have a big enough memory card for all those photos you’re going to take.
My price guide would be this: If you stay for 4 days or so and don’t visit the lakes, you’ll need around $150 to visit Djibouti. Extend that by a couple of days and visit the lakes, that figure will jump to $400 or so for 6 days (but it’s well worth it if you can afford it).
Djibouti:
Budget: Not as pricey as people say but still not cheap – $25-$40 per day (excluding car rental)
Food: street food and supermarkets allow you to eat for $2 – $4 per meal. Cheap restaurants are $3-$6 per meal. The French hangover in Djibouti means that delicious pastries, croissants, pain au chocolate are in abundance here.
Accommodation: The biggest cost. Start at $20 per night + (BUT that includes air conditioning which is almost a necessity in Djibouti!) I recommend the Horseed, with ice cold AC – just remember to barter hard!
Transport: Getting around the city you can use minibuses for next to nothing. Around the country, it’s pretty much nonexistent and you need car rental to visit the lakes unfortunately.
People: Really cool although bring a French phrase book, English isn’t widespread
Weather: HOT AS HELL!!!!, bring sunscreen and drink plenty of water
Religion: Predominately Muslim, although in comparison to Somaliland or Sudan it’s quite understated generally.
Currency: $1 USD – 180 Djibouti Francs. ATMS do work with foreign cards although they’re not entirely reliable so bring cash (USD or Ethiopian Birr just in case)
Visa: $30, not available on arrival by land. No probs to get, easiest in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Collect the same day if you ask nicely.
Tags: Backpacking, cheap travel, djibouti, General African Stuff, travel guide
Published by Johnny on October 07, 2010
Tanzania, blessed with some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world. Not an expensive country yet if you want to ‘do everything’ here you’ll spend a fortune and be heading home before broke before you know it! Highlights include:
The Serengeti with it’s mesmerizing annual Wildebeest Migration (a sight to behold, I assure you, one of the coolest things I have ever seen) starting around January in the south Serengeti, moving north to Kenya and the Masai Mara around August/September. Safaris generally start at $300 for 3 or 4 days if you do you homework and stick to your guns.
Kilimanjaro and its soon to be extinct ‘snow-capped’ peak. Truly beautiful and if you listen to the experts the glacier at the top which give Kili its iconic snow cap is said to melting at exponential rates and by 2020 will be gone, so get a move on if you want to see it! Maybe this finite time scale explains their extortionate climbing fees and park entry (currently (2010) $850-$5000 depending on your bartering skills and willingness to rough it, read here for more details about how to climb it cheap).
Zanzibar. A world apart from mainland Tanzania, it’s a hidden Arabic alcove where, if you avoid the resorts and 5* hotels, you can truly get lost in an island forgotten by time. Bluer water than you can ever imagine, giant tortoises, food markets to make your mouth water and a full moon party to rival Thailand’s commercialized Ko Pha Ngan.
The Ngorogoro Crater. More animals than you can shake a stick at a price that excludes most backpacking budgets. If you can afford the $100+ a night to stay at the luxury camps then indulge yourself because this place is something else. To be brutally honest though, if I had to choose between a safari and climbing Kili, Kili gets it every time. Although, I’m a dude and we like to climb things, conquer things, beat things so maybe that’s not anything to go by!
Tanzania has everything and the month or so I spent here went in a heartbeat. I’ll go into the logistics about climbing Kili as soon as I get some better internet (the internet in Somalia isn’t as good as I expected ) because I know I was fed up googling “how to climb Kilimanjaro cheaply”, “the cheapest way to climb Kilimanjaro”, “climbing Kilimanjaro on a budget” etc, I’ll give you the lowdown on genuine ways to do it on the cheap. One thing to remember for now – don’t book it on the internet, wait until you arrive to sort it out!
Tanzania Fast Facts
Budget: $20-$30 per day (excluding safaris and other excursion like Kilimanjaro)
Food: around $1 per meal for street food and $2-$5 for a semi-decent café/restaurant
Accommodation: $4-$10 per night per person
Transport: Buses are around the standard dollar an hour (i.e 10 hours = $10) however, they are ALWAYS 1-3 hours late, always! There are 2 types of buses – a 2×2 and a 3×2 basicallly how many seats across a row. Two seats and an aisle and two more seats OR 3 seats, an aisle and 2 more seats. The 3×2 is cheaper, if you get this TAKE AN AISLE SEAT! You’ll have more space, and if there’s more than one of you, don’t sit beside each other on a 3×2, there won’t be enough room – be warned!
People: really open in the majority of the country but around the tourist centres (Zanzibar, Moshi, Arusha they can be pretty pushy :S)
Religion: Zanzibar is pretty much 100% Islamic so try to be culturally sensitive in terms of behaviour and dress. Mainland is more of a mixture but cultural awareness is always important in any part of the world.
Currency: 1500 shillings is $1 USD. Foreign ATMs in most major towns and cities
Visa: $50 available on arrival by land or by plane. ($100 for Irish passports!! :S)
Tags: backpacking in tanzania, cheap travel, climbing kilimanjaro on a budget, General African Stuff, tanzania
Published by Johnny on August 03, 2010
I should probably nail my colours to the mast and say first up, I’m not Johannesburg’s biggest fan. That’s not to say, however, that I don’t recommend visiting – just don’t stay too long!
It’s expensive and we all know its less than salubrious reputation in respect to safety! If and when you do go however, a trip to the countries largest township, Soweto, should be high on your agenda. I spent most of a day there, with the highlight being a smaller suburb within Soweto called Kliptown and it was certainly an eye-opener. The squalor in which the South African Government ‘allows’ so many of its citizens to live in is quite alarming and considering this is in a country which likes to be considered ‘first-world’ I find it doesn’t quite sit to well with me.
Traveling isn’t all about drinking buckets of whisky and red-bull on the beach, or finding a cheap happy hour in Manhattan – and that’s what I truly love about it. The end of the apartheid in SA was certainly hastened by the people of Soweto (with a special mention to the students who defiantly stood up against the sweeping changes to their education system and many were killed in the process). But it seems that while lots of Soweto has moved on since then, there’s plenty of it still in absolute poverty with a distinct lack of education and health care. *While I was there I saw an angry mob storm past me, on questioning everyone as to what was going on, apparently where we had parked, a guy had been stabbed in the neck and died a couple of days previously and the mob had just discovered where he was being kept so they were off to fetch him and were planning to beat him to death :S
I don’t want to paint a negative picture of Soweto however – the people here are some of the nicest I have ever run into (and I guess the mob were merely governing their own land, in lieu of an effective police service) and are more than accommodating to people coming in and looking around so go ahead and see for yourself, I’m sure you’ll find the same hospitality as I did. Soweto also houses the only street in the whole to have hosted two Nobel Peace Prize winners in Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu – now that is impressive! You can see their house – literally 20 metres from each other!
Soweto is a great way to spend a day – just go with an open mind.
Also, if you have time there’s a great museum dedicated to the Apartheid – it’s massive though so give yourself time to explore the whole thing, it gives real insights into South Africa’s chequered past. Even if you’re not a museum person, this place is still awesome.
Tags: General African Stuff, south africa, Soweto
Published by Johnny on June 21, 2010
I had to be in South Africa by the 16th of June to meet some friends and watch the first of my matches and I was in quite a quandary in how to get there on the right date – should I fly from Vic Falls to Joburg (expensive :S), go through Zimbabwe (would need another visa :S) or go through Botswana (notoriously set up for rich older Europeans and Americans). We heard a rumour that the visa for Botswana was free so that made the decision for us, and off we went to the dodgiest border crossing i have seen in a while…
 The Zambia/Botswana/Zimbabwe/Namibia border crossing Got a cab from Livingstone to Kazungula, the town bordering Botswana and from there my initial presumptions that this trip through Botswana would involve nothing more than a couple of buses through Francistown then Gaborone (the capital) then jump over the border and Joburg suddenly went a little less regimeneted, although that is certainly not a complaint.
The tone was set when we crossed the border the wrong way around by walking through immigration from the wrong side therefore inadvertently missing the hordes of Botswaneans surging through the correct entrance but, predictably in Africa, the immigration officials didn’t bat an eyelid and began process our exiting from Zambia. I then got stamped out by a seemingly blind border guard who looked at my 6 foot 2 English friend with black hair, then back to my passport photo, then at him again then nonchalantly shrugged and stamped him/me/us(?) through. The quirkiness continued when, busting for the toilet, I realized I had no local currency but luckily enough the paying toilets became free when we allowed the toilet dutyguard to sing us a song on my friend’s guitar while everyone relieved ourselves – “welcome to Zambia, thanks for visiting my peaceful country full of joy” and so on and so forth until everyone was finished!
We then crossed the smallest international border in the world apparently via a very dodgy boat – 700m of water separating Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana to and Namibia.
To cut a long story short, we crossed the river and got told there were no buses going through Botswana after 8am (it was not 9.30am) so we got dropped off on the highway and began to hitch-hike the 500km to the next destination Francistown. The search wasn’t looking fruitful until a guy came charging up in his car, flung open the door and when a load of Botswaneans approached him for a lift he declared “No no no no, I am here only for the whites” and waved them away! He was one crazy dude – also, he had lost his right arm in a car crash a few years ago and now drove only with his left arm. We naturally used that as a bargaining tool and before long Daika, our onearmed chauffeur, was caning it down the highway to Francistown.
His driving wasn’t too bad (:S) and we managed to avoid the elephants and giraffes and boars and donkeys that insisted on crossing the road at the seemingly most inopportuned times but things got a bit hairy when his mobile phone rang and HE ANSWERED IT with his left hand, going 120 km/h when it struck me, if his left hand is on the phone and his right arm is stting on the side of a Bostwanan road after his crash – what bloody arm is he using on the steering wheel?!!? After a few more occasions like thise we finally reached Francistown, got dropped off at a campsite, pitched the tents, said goodbye to Daika (crazy dude) and headed into restaurant to watch the football.
 Literally crossed the road in front of us! The other guys watched outside on the bigscreen while I checked my emails inside alone. 2 guys and a girl asked could they watch the football with me, of course I agreed. It transpired that one of the guys was the recently retired former Botswana football team captain, record caps holder with over 125 and national hero! He had just come back from England last month where he was playing at Stamford Bridge and St James Park with John Terry and Alan Shearer. I spent the evening with these guys, they bought me booze, dinner and then… his mate has offered me a lift to the capital city 500km from here and I can stay with him and his family tonight. Tomorrow he will help me arrange my passage to Joburg – I hate to generalize but Africans do seem amazingly friendly, I really am falling in love with this continent!
 Tags: Botswana, cheap travel, General African Stuff, south africa, zambia
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