“At Eid, everyone wanna go Forodhani”. The words of our guide rang in my ears as we surveyed the sea of joyful families and friends spilling out of the gardens and into the road along the seafront. An Eid night celebration at Forodhani Gardens in Zanzibar is something to behold. Dazzling colours, peaceful crowds picnicing…
Category: Africa
A day and night in Stone Town
Stone Town was my favourite place in Zanzibar. A heady mix of Swahili and Arab influences, it’s a fascinating place to spend some time. We stayed three nights, although one of those days was spent on Chumbe island. But if you only have a day in Stone Town before heading to the beaches to relax,…
Out of my depth
This post is a little departure from my usual style…if you read on I promise I’ll explain all at the end! “In Zanzibar, pole pole. Take it easy.” I try to cling on to those words, reaching for their meaning as my chest tightens with every breath. I look round as I surface, the…
Zanzibar and a quick favour to ask… (reader poll + giveaway)
Image Flickr creative commons Yoni Lerner Zanzibar is one of those places I’d heard of but couldn’t exactly point to on a map. I knew it was off the east coast of Africa, but that was about it. But when a flight deal came up with Rwandair on their newly launched service via Kigali out…
Discover Kenya’s colourful canyon – the Marafa Depression
Did you know you could find landscapes like this in Kenya, only a few miles from the tropical coastline? Intrigued to hear more about a place the locals call ‘Hell’s Kitchen’? Let me take you back to 2010, when we spent a week in Kenya on our honeymoon, mixing a safari with some boat trips…
A winter escape in Cape Verde
We decided to escape the cool temperatures in the UK for a few days recently with a holiday in Cape Verde. Cape Verde is a group of ten islands off the coast of West Africa, more or less level with Senegal. The temperatures were around 28C while we were there, although it could be quite…
Gede
Gede – blue monkeys come skittering up the road, greedy for their next meal. Don’t feed the monkeys it says, but no-one talks a bit of notice, least of all the local guide telling the story of the forgotton city. One monkey, aptly named Saddam, eagerly stuffs his face with bananas, his cheeks bulging as…