Background
Travel tips, background stories and tales from Africa – by our guides and travel experts.
Male circumcision – the gateway to manhood among South Africa's Xhosa people
The traditional male circumcision (Ulwaluko) of Xhosa culture in South Africa and its cultural significance. Find out more about it here.
Ivory trade in Africa: why elephants need our protection
Record slaughter, ever more heavily armed criminal organisations, politicians backing the illegal trade, seemingly inexhaustible markets for ivory and huge sums of profit at every level of this bloody business create a rather hopeless outlook for the victims of these machinations.
Mandela Day – a day of good deeds
Every year Mandela Day greets us. … This year again on 18 July. … Then the spirit of Nelson Mandela goes out into the world to inspire people everywhere and move them to do a good deed, at least on this one day and at least for 67 minutes.
The rhino's fight for survival
Once again the statistics of last year (2014) top those of the previous one: in South Africa – home to over 80% of the world's rhino population – poachers, in their merciless hunt for precious rhino horn, knowingly accept the death of 1,215 rhinos.
Serengeti Shall Not Die: how a highway threatens the lives of many animals
Who doesn't know the famous, Oscar-winning wildlife documentary by the German zoologist Dr Bernhard Grzimek from 1959: "Serengeti Shall Not Die".
Mozambique's new tourism spring
It is not long since I was last in Mozambique and could not be sure whether my group was really safe with me.
TIA – This is Africa
Hello, dear friends of the blog! Since my arrival here on the African continent, the expression "T.I.A. … This is Africa" has been one of the most frequently heard everyday remarks. "This is Africa" is best translated as "You have to live with it" or "That's just how it is".
Vaccine against malaria
Malaria is one of the oldest and still most common infectious diseases worldwide. While 2,500 years ago people already suspected that the disease originated in swampy areas, it was only in 1897 that proof was provided that the Anopheles mosquito transmits the disease to humans.