Tiny Island Nation Seeks Tourists

by Willy Volk on

Love beachside bungalows? Does the thought of few (or no) other travelers excite you? Lemme guess: you like friendly locals? If this combination sounds too good to be true, it’s not. I’ve got one word for you: Principe.

Located off the coast of western Africa, Principe — the sister island of Sao Tome, and uttered almost always together, as in “Saotomeandprincipe” — is covered with dense, tropical jungle; ringed by khaki-colored beaches; and surrounded by warm, turquoise water. Located in the Gulf of Guinea, this volcano-tipped island also boasts desperately few — only 20 per week! — tourists. Moreover, as the local population hovers near 6000, you’re not likely to bump into many Principe-ians, either (if you don’t want to). In other words, the island is scenic, serene, and solitary. To me: the ideal vacation destination.

According to this piece in CNN, Principe is working hard to become the latest in a long line of underdeveloped African nations that have reinvented themselves as rich, wildlife-packed, ecotourist hotspots. Featuring opportunities to scuba dive, hike protected forests, and soak up year-round sun, Principe believes it can learn from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya — a country whose high-volume, low-cost tourism led to massive exploitation of resources, both natural and human — and become the next off-the-beaten-track “must visit” for adventure-minded travelers.

Today, the capital boasts two hotels. A Dutch woman is busy transforming two other buildings into hotels, and a casino complex is in the works. If you want to be among the first to visit this still-pristine wonderland, check out the excellent piece from CNN, which provides tips on when to go, where to stay, and what to do. Way to go.

[Via Sk*rt]

Long Way Down: Through Europe and Africa by Motorcycle

by Justin Glow on

A few years back I happened to stumbled upon a book called Long Way Round, by movie star friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. It was the personal account of their east-bound trip around the world, from London to New York, by motorcycle. I bought the book to give as a gift to my brother who has a passion for both travel and motorcycles — it seemed like a perfect fit. Before his birthday rolled around, I sat down to read the book first (like any self-respecting cheapskate would do). Long Way Round started off solid: discussing their route, planning the trip, working out the visas, but then they decided to bring along a camera crew and document the trip.

Great, I thought. A couple more movie stars traveling the world with video cameras. The idea sounded lame, but I pressed on and finished the book. The story turned out to be pretty good, and definitely compelling, though I couldn’t escape the fact that Ewan and Charley’s “adventure” seem spoiled by a trailing camera crew. I wondered how much of an adventure it really could be with camera men, producers, directors, and whoever else following them around. And the fact they were movie stars made me think they used their money to make the trip a lot easier than it would be for the average Joe.

It didn’t occur to me until about a year later that — hey! — since there was a camera crew following them, I could probably watch the book. I did some research and found that Long Way Round (the show) aired on Britain’s Sky One in 2004, and went to DVD in 2005. I ordered the DVD from Amazon, and was blown away when I sat down to watch. This was easily the most interesting, compelling, funny, adventure-inspiring show I had ever watched. And you know what? Ewan and Charlie really did do all the hard work. They pot-marked roads didn’t treat them like celebrities; remote Mongolian farmers didn’t know who they were. They struggled, they endured the pain and homesickness, and traveled like the best of them. I was truly impressed.

This is why I was so excited yesterday to find out that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are teaming up again for another adventure. This month the two will set out — camera crew in-tow once again — from John O’Groats, Scotland and ride their BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorcycles to the southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas. The show, dubbed Long Way Down, will premiere on BBC in Autumn/Winter 2007, but those of us outside of Britain (or without fancy satellite television systems) might have to wait for the DVD release.

You can sign up for email alerts on LongWayDown.com, as well as view some video of Ewan and Charlie talking about the upcoming trip.

Related: Talking Travel with Lois Pryce (she roder her motorcycle from the northern tip of Alaska to the southern most point of Argentina — 20,000 miles in 10 months, passing through 14 different countries)

Travel Africa Magazine

by Willy Volk on

Africa is a big continent. With lots of space. And lots of things to do. That are far apart. I think you get my point.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t head to the beautiful, vista-packed, sunny Dark Continent. To the contrary, I’ve spent 3+ years living and working in Africa, and I encourage everyone to go. The key, however, is planning your trip properly.

For that, you might want to check out Travel Africa Magazine, a quarterly publication that covers the continent’s diverse attractions, wildlife, and culture. Featuring high-quality writing supported by world-class photography, Travel Africa covers everything from off-the-beaten-track Ethiopia to responsible tourism in Zambia.

Even if you’re not planning on traveling in Africa any time soon, Travel Africa’s site may still interest you. For example, you may be interested to learn how to choose a conservation-conscious South African wine or how to prepare Inkuku yasekya nama qeselengwane.

Mmm…Inkuku…my mouth is watering already.

“Aaron In Africa” Shows Us the Real Togo

by Willy Volk on

When I first landed in Zambia to volunteer with the Peace Corps, my impressions were not at all in line with my expectations. For example, I expected to see lions romping through the bush. Didn’t happen. I expected I’d be celebrated as the Bringer Of All Good Things and Haver of So Many Unbelievably Wise Ideas. Yeah…that wasn’t so spot on, either. I also expected to be very active in the promulgating the so-called third goal of the Peace Corps: talking about your experience and bringing a little of your PC-life back home. I guess I do a measure of that here on Gadling, but nothing like Aaron.

You see, Aaron’s currently serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. In addition to his work at the local school, he maintains a blog about his experience, and in this way he’s satisfying the third goal before he even returns home. Of all the third-goaling Aaron does, I particularly enjoyed reading about The Market (and watching the video); learning about the ritual of Greetings; hearing about Clean (?) Underwear; and, of course, learning about eating dog and cat. If you want to know what the “real Togo” is like, this is it. It don’t get no realer, folks.

Not too knock Aaron, but he seems to be living large, with a multi-room, cinderblock house, a sink, a propane stove, and more. That said, imagine trying to forge ahead with a computer center project for this school:

Rafting the Zambezi

by Iva Skoch on

One of the items of my must-do list is rafting the Zambezi. Not that I am particularly into adrenaline sports, but this African adventure sounds amazing. I hear that Zambia is trying to market itself as the adrenaline-sports center of Africa, with rafting, bungee-jumping, climbing and such and it has become quite touristy. I wonder how Hemingway would feel about this “new Africa”. Since hunting for lions is no longer acceptable for Western tourists, I guess he would have to settle for white-water rafting.

The Zambezi River and the gorges below the Victoria Falls are classified as Grade 5, but a few portions are classified even higher – Grade 6: unrunnable. July-March are supposed to be the best months to go because the river is fairly low and more rapids can be done. Although Zambia does not publish a list of casualties, people who have done it say that it was, at times, a near-death experience. (Those might just be the people imagining the rare underwater encounters with hippos and crocodiles).

Any insights from anyone who has been?