Africa through our guides' eyes
Travel tips, background stories and tales from Africa – by our guides and travel experts.
Who is Benjamin, anyway?
Yes – who is Benjamin, if not Benjamin Blümchen? Is "it" a real person or an animal, or even a mythical creature? Well … I can say: Benjamin is a real person who can sometimes turn into an animal and make fabulous things possible in the process.
Going once, going twice and … going thrice – rhino sold
Well – it is not really the rhino being auctioned here, but only the horn on its nose, or rather the horn that used to be on its nose. Everything else? Worthless? At best something for romantics who like to see primeval relics of nature? No!
Termite delights
Who in residential areas doesn't feel dread at the slightest sign of termites? This crawling menace that has no respect for property and nests uninvited in wooden structures.
Malawi's elephants – evacuated and relocated
What if a wildlife reserve runs out of animals and no replacements can be ordered at www.send-new-animals.de? A question Malawi has been asking itself for a long time. An answer has now been found.
Cheetah dream
It was only a few weeks ago that I sat with my guests at lunch in Etosha camp "Fort Namutoni", and we talked, deeply impressed, about the incredible abundance of wildlife we had been able to admire that morning and the day before.
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".
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.
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.
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".
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.
Of black and white rhinos
The rhino is without doubt one of the highlights of any safari. Seeing it awakens in many people memories from books and TV of the age of the dinosaurs. Ponderous but comfortable, it strolls over savannahs or through bushland, grazing on grass or leaves.
Fascination photo gallery
Of course, for most travellers the greatest thing is to take their own pictures of their holiday and put them together in their own album. As a guide, I am delighted every time by the enthusiasm on my guests' faces when they have once again managed a good photo.
The sky so near and yet so far – the sea of stars over Southern Africa –
I don't know whether I would have fallen for the fascination of the stars as a child if I had only been given a telescope for Christmas. Whenever I did look through one, I saw a brighter glow in the night sky, but it did not put a sparkle in my eyes.
The dance of the flamingos
Here is the ultimate question for everyone interested in Africa: "What do Lake Bogoria in Kenya, Lake Natron in Tanzania, Sua Pan in Botswana, Kamfers Dam in South Africa and Walvis Bay Lagoon in Namibia have in common?"