by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (10 months ago)
One thing that consistently amazes me while traveling in Africa is how the people are able to create musical instruments out of just about anything. Take the kora, for example. This West African stringed instrument is made from a gourd and fishing line. Another ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Malawi
Video: kalimba player in Malawi
New Book celebrates 10 years of the Tour d'Afrique
The Tour d'Afrique is a legendary cycling event that runs from Cairo to Cape Town on an annual basis. Covering more than 7500 miles, and requiring four months to complete, the Tour is a popular "bucket list" item for adventure travelers and cyclists the world over. This ...
Enter the Put Foot Rally for an African road trip adventure
Adventurous travelers looking for a unique road trip this summer may want to checkout the Put Foot Rally, which is scheduled to get underway in June. The event begins in South Africa and promises to send teams on a 7000km (4350 mile) long odyssey through the wilds of Africa. ...
American explorer to cross Africa on foot
Anthropologist, explorer, and member of the Royal Geographical Society Julian Monroe Fisher is preparing for an epic expedition that will see him cross Africa completely on foot. The journey, which is set to begin this spring, will cover more than 4000 miles, crossing the ...
Malawi to ban farting?
Malawi doesn't make it into the news often. The relatively small southeastern African country, close to Honduras in size, has a population of around 15 million. According to the International Monetary Fund and the CIA World Factbook, Malawi is one of the world's five ...
Adventure travel meets faith: cycling to Mecca for the Hajj
Two Muslims from South Africa mixed adventure travel and spirituality this year by cycling to Mecca for the Hajj. Natheem Cairncross, 28 and Imtiyaz Haron, 25, cycled through South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Turkey, Syria and Jordan. ...
Controversy over Condé Nast Traveler's World Savers Awards
The popular magazine Condé Nast Traveler hosts the annual World Savers Awards to recognize the efforts of hotels, airlines, tour and cruise companies that give something back through their environmental or social programs. But one recipient of the 2010 award is ...
Get out and go: Events around the world (October 15-18)
Happy Hump Day, Gadling'ers! It's time to look at the festivals and events happening around the world, and this week has a particularly international selection of happenings. If you're close and have time, then you have no excuse to get out and go!
Islamabad - The Hot ...
Tour d'Afrique Off and Running!
The 2009 edition of the Tour d'Afrique got underway last Sunday, with cyclists setting out from Cairo, Egypt on a 7317 mile long race to Cape Town, South Africa. In between they'll pass through the Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia, ...
One Day in Africa: Lives of six ordinary Africans
When I watched the trailer of One Day in Africa, the latest documentary of Brook Silva-Braga, the resonance of village and city life in most African countries was immediately evident. It's a resonance that often doesn't make headline news. It resides in the pattern of each ...
Lonely Planet lists Ireland as the friendliest country in the world
Sometimes you go to a place for its beauty or famous tourist sites. Other times, you simply go for the people. That's partially how I ended up in Ireland to work after college. In my humble opinion, the Irish are some of the nicest people on this planet. And now, there is ...
Condom Truck Tips, Spills Load
I spent the summer of 2003 working in the Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Malawi. Pinned above my desk was a newspaper clipping, with a headline that read, "I am not a condom." I read that clipping every day -- and laughed about it every day.
The subject of the ...
Where on Earth, Week 3: Senga Bay, Malawi!
Madagascar, Spain, Tanzania, Kenya, Vietnam. These were some of the guesses people offered up for this week's Where On Earth. However, none of them were right. I was beginning to wonder if anybody'd get it... Then along came Saki, who knew exactly where kevinalaska92 had ...
Mega, as in the Biggest Ever, African Adventure Trip
Suppose you have time-lots of it. Let's say you have 44 weeks. Perhaps you'd like to go overland from Morocco to South Africa by way of Egypt. Here's a travel adventure that will take you through 10 game parks, various cultural and historical landmarks, and enough thrills ...
Rock Art in Malawi is a World Heritage Site
One of the latest UNESCO World Heritage sites is in Malawi. Chongoni Rock Art, found clustered in 127 different locations in the granite hills of Malawi's central plateau, are images painted onto rock. They've been here for a long time-a very long time. The folks who painted ...