Category: Topside nature
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Lakes Langano, Abijatta, Shalla and Ziway, Ethiopia
Lakes Langano, Abijatta and Shalla are about 200km south of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa with Lake Ziway along the way at about 150km. These lakes are a part of the string of East Africa Rift Valley lakes stretching further south through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. This is the line along which Africa tectonic plate…
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Diving in Nosy Be, Madagascar
Nosy Be is an island off the north-west coast of Madagascar with incredible diving and a chance to see some of Madagascar’s unique wild life. We were there in the middle of September and got to snorkel with whale sharks, watch humpback whales, had fantastic dives in good visibility and reasonably warm water (26C). Topside…
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Blue Nile falls in Ethiopia
Blue Nile falls in Ethiopia known as Tis Issat (Smoke of Fire) or Tis Abay (Smoke of the Nile) are about 30 km downstream from the lake Tana – the source of Blue Nile. We visited in September 2017 – the end of the rainy season when water level is the highest and the falls…
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Lake Tana hippos and birds, Ethiopia
Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of Blue Nile. The city of Bahir Dar is a good base to explore the lake with its monasteries and to visit Blue Nile falls. A boat ride towards the marshes near the source of the Nile is good to see hippos and birds.…
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Amboseli safari, Kenya
Amboseli National park is famous for the beautiful views of Kilimanjaro and lots of animals especially during the dry season. We went in early March at the very beginning of the rainy season (the rain started the week we travelled) and saw lots of elephants, wildebeest, hippos, giraffes, lions and amazing variety of birds. Mount…
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Diving in Diani Beach, Kenya
Diving around Diani beach in Kenya we saw lots of octopi, turtles, sting rays, schools of reef fish, dolphins and coral in good condition. Logistics Diani Beach is about 30km south of Mombasa on the Indian ocean coast of Kenya. It takes about 2 hours to get from Mombasa airport to Diani including the ferry…
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Serengeti Safari, Tanzania
Serengeti national park covers about 15,000 square kilometers bordering Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya in the north. Serengeti is most famous for the migration of more than a million wildebeest accompanied by zebra, gazelles and assorted antelopes. It has one of the largest populations of wild life anywhere in the world. Endless grassy rolling planes…
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Tarangire safari, Tanzania
Tarangire national park is about the same distance to Kilimanjaro airport as Manyara but for some reason does not seem to feature as prominently on tourist itineraries. The park is located along the river Tarangire and attracts a lot of wildlife during the dry season. We were traveling at the end of May and rainy…
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Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Ngorongoro crater has the highest density of wild animals anywhere in the world. It is also the world’s largest inactive, intact volcanic caldera. Topography is stunning and you can get really close to the animals. We reached Ngorongoro from Serengeti driving through some very nice scenery and coming across giraffes moving between Ngorongoro and Serengeti.…
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Lake Manyara Safari, Tanzania
Lake Manyara national park is about 3 hours drive from Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. We visited it on the way to Serengeti and Ngorongoro parks in late May. We stayed at a lodge on top of the hill overlooking the lake with phenomenal views. After overnighting at the lodge we went for a game drive…