Africa travel blog
Travel tips, background stories and tales from Africa – by our guides and travel experts.
Red Cappuccino – a cappuccino of a different kind
Years ago, when I ordered a cappuccino in one of South Africa's many truly inviting garden cafes, the waitress asked me whether I wanted "red or normal". I hesitated briefly and then asked what she meant by "red". She thought hard and finally answered with a convincing "umhh …". "Fine," I thought, and ordered "red".
Jambo Stone Town
A journey into the past that you won't forget in future either? Then Zanzibar's old town, Stone Town, is without question an option. Stone Town is one of those enchanting places in the world whose visit feeds ideas of medieval life in an Arab-Muslim world.
Baboons by the roadside
If you want to see baboons in real life, you either go to your local zoo or come to Africa and visit countries such as Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa or Zambia. This is where chacma baboons are at home, … welcomed by tourists, … avoided by locals.
And the winner is …
Imagine you enter a prize draw and win a two-week round trip through the safari country of Namibia. Imagine one afternoon you get a call from a stranger to announce the good news of your win, but at first you think it is a publicity stunt.
Mopane – the tree with angel wings
Some people interested in Africa may have heard of mopane and thought of the mopane worm rather than a tree. But tree and caterpillar are closely linked, as the mopane caterpillar is a real fan of the tree's leaves.
Pap
"PAP" is not a misspelling of "pub" or "BAP" – PAP is PAP! The word PAP comes from Afrikaans and means porridge. It refers to a maize-based porridge, similar to polenta from northern Italy or grits in the USA. In Africa you come across PAP – or mieliepap, as it is often called in South Africa or Namibia.
Zebra delights
Zebras can be found south of the Sahara in all the great safari nations from Kenya to South Africa. Although they belong to the horse family and in some ways resemble horses and donkeys in appearance and movement, they are nevertheless a species entirely of their own – namely zebra.
Mozambique spitting cobra – the snake with a double weapon
The dubious fame of the black mamba as one of Africa's deadliest snakes is hard to top. One unfortunate encounter with it and your racing pulse quickly comes to an absolute standstill. It is shy, but if it feels threatened it can turn into an aggressive beast and then likes to bite several times in a row.
The blue hour – or photographers in a state of emergency
We look at the Epupa Falls in north-west Namibia. Here the Kunene flows relentlessly and at raging speed towards the cliffs and plunges boldly into the depths. The rising spray gives an idea of how forcefully the masses of water crash onto the bottom 37 m below, before continuing their way into calmer waters.
A trip into the countryside – the wine country at the Cape
One of my favourite routes in the Cape region leads me from Table Mountain down to the inviting bathing beaches of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg, continues along the coast on the R310, past Khayelitsha, the region's largest township, and finally ends in the midst of the country's most beautiful wine-growing areas.
The marula tree and the fairy tale of the drunken elephant
It is not for nothing that the marula tree is also called the elephant tree. The pachyderms love the plum-sized, golden-yellow fruits of the tree. Whatever is not harvested wild and made into Amarula liqueur or eaten directly as fruit all too gladly ends up in the huge mouths of the tonne-heavy four-legged giants.
Of travel agents who set out to get to know Namibia
Every year it is the same: travel agencies send their sales staff and product managers out into the world to acquire the necessary knowledge about destinations, hotels and sights on info trips.
The ant-eating lion
You could easily believe you were in a horror film in which mutated creatures living in the sand devour innocent people who unluckily walk down a dune and realise too late that they have stumbled into a funnel-like trap from which there is no escape.
Giraffes – graces of the savannah
When Julius Caesar had the first giraffe brought to Rome in 46 BC, the Romans were amazed. The animal's stature and the pattern of its coat – so it is said – made them believe it must be a cross between a camel and a leopard. No wonder, then, that it was given the scientific name "Giraffa camelopardis".
Impressive Namibia & animal paradise Botswana
On 18 April 2015 our latest Africa adventure began. We were already really looking forward to spending the next 4 weeks in Namibia and Botswana. From Frankfurt we flew with Air Namibia directly to Windhoek.
The quiver tree – a tree with a small difference
Aloes are regarded as robust, succulent plants that grow stemless, shrubby or tree-shaped. The genus comprises over 500 species. Among them, Aloe vera is probably the best known in German-speaking regions because of its use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. Less prominent, by contrast, is Aloe dichotoma.
Biltong
When I came to South Africa, the word "biltong" was among the unknown terms in my already modest English vocabulary at the time. It did not take long, however, to understand that it is not just a word, but that a cult lies behind it.
And the Oscar goes to … Namibia
It was once again a night of stars: gorgeous dresses, cool suits, interesting women, sexy men. Hollywood's most important event of the year brought them together: the Oscar ceremony.