Africa Travel: Algeria

by Adrienne Wilson on

In celebration of Black History month I want to do some posts on all of Africa (from A-Z) and other regions of the world including the U.S. With this first and all posts throughout the month I welcome anyone with useful information on some of the more difficult destinations to share their knowledge. To begin we’ll focus on Algeria.

Algeria, as attractive as the name rings in the ears is still plagued with conflict and crime from years of wars, but don’t rule the country out for sightseeing yet. The country is located in Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and situated between Morocco and Tunisia. Staying away from the northwest and southeast should keep any potential visitor from harm’s way, still it is highly advisable to seek out a travel agent before departing out on your own. Something about the country’s landscape defined by beautiful mountains, green coasts, and Saharan desert oasis and remaining Berber culture has always sparked my own curiosity, but finding good travel info on the web can be tough. While I didn’t find one great source of travel information I did find a few links to help you plan if you’ve ever consider travel to Algeria.

  • Algeria dot com is a good source of culture and historical info. While it’s not detailed they do offer some general notes on hotels and flights into the capital city of Algiers.
  • Algeria Daily is an online newspaper which should be used in organizing safe travels. Surely one of the best ways to keep track of any current strife in the country.
  • Maciej Monka wrote a piece highlighting all the major sites to see for Odyssei.
  • For a list of World Heritage sites which include the ancient Punic trading post of Tipasa and the Kasbah of Algiers, click here.
  • Online Algerian recipes and facts about popular dishes in the country by Farid Zadi can be found in this blog.
  • Lonely Planet has an online guide with three excellent photos of the country’s landscape like the one above.

Algerian Sweets: Semolina with Honey

by Adrienne Wilson on

Mysterra Magazine has an awesome selection of recipes from places like Algeria, Martinique, Brittany, India and Texas to name a few. Tonight I’m choosing to focus on the Algerian recipes. I’m in the mood for something sweet and there is something about honey I can’t resist. Honey used to be a taste my taste-buds couldn’t tolerate one ounce, but these days I’m all for it! The recipe found here looks pretty easy to prepare and may require a special trip to the grocery store if you don’t have any semolina, honey, butter or cinnamon on hand. Mysterra’s Semolina with Honey recipe sounds so easy that I’ll go ahead and tell it to you now.

Step one involves browning the semolina with the butter and adding honey. Next, you’ll want to stir over low heat until the paste is compact. Once step one and two are successfully completed, pour the ingredients into a small bowl and decorate with cinnamon powder. Pretty easy, eh? If you’re really up for a challenge try preparing the full Algerian lunch menu they have. Recipes for the Chickpea Soup and Chicken with eggs au gratin can be found above the dessert which some save for last, but is nice to have first. Only sometimes.

(Note: I couldn’t find a picture of the exact semolina recipe found at Mysterra and that pictured is a Semolina cake which is slightly harder to prepare. The recipe for the cake can be found by clicking, here.)

Enjoy!

World Heritage Sites

by Erik Olsen on

Have you ever taken a long look, I mean really spent some time clicking around the World Heritage Site? It’s pretty incredible how many sites there are, and how few you’ve actually heard of. Sure, we all know the Taj Mahal, Petra in Jordan, Angkor Wat in Cambodia. But have you ever heard of the Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad, in Algeria? Or Macquarie Island in Australia? I didn’t think so. It seems like a worthy life-time goal to see them all, doesn’t it? Oh hey, speaking of which, you should check out Tito Dupret’s effort to do just that, and to photograph the sites as panoramas.