East Africa travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

If you approach Porto Santo by air, the whole island seems a glorious-golden yellow against the glistening cobalt blue sea. The island is known as ‘painting made by god’ and is 46 km to the northeast of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. The island tending to remind of North Africa, rather than Europe – a starkly beautiful desert landscape of palm trees and cacti, dotted with pine groves and small wheatfields. Photo by: Tiagoto
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Off the eastern shores of Lake Malawi lies Likoma Island and its smaller neighbour Chizumulu, making up a tiny piece of Malawian territory in Mozambican waters. Likoma has remained largely untouched since Scottish missionaries discovered in the 1880s and it became the headquarters of the University Mission to Central Africa – Livingstone’s mission. This led to the islands being retained by Malawi when the lake was divided politically after World War II. Photo by: Jondice
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Africa’s least-populous sovereign state is the Republic of Seychelles, another of the Indian Ocean’s fairly numerous island nations. Officially there are over 150 islands in the Seychelles, comprising of a mix of granite and coral islands located 1,500 km to the north east of Madagascar. Other neighbours include Mauritius, Reunion, Zanzibar, Comoros, Mayotte and the Maldives. The Seychellian people are often described as the world’s friendliest people. Photo by: rokbeat
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This guest post has been written by Nick Ball, editor of Lanzarote Guidebook, the free tourist guide to Lanzarote.

Lanzarote is the most easterly of the Canary Islands.  The seven specks of Spain which are located off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean.  The archipelago has long had something of a reputation as a package tourist destination.  Not unjustifiably so –  as this is the second most visited region in Spain after Catalonia.

Yet the Canaries are not all birds of a feather.  As whilst the bigger islands such as Tenerife have long since been buried beneath a sea of hotels and apartment complexes little Lanzarote has managed to remain relatively unspoiled.
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Ischia is the largest of the islands in the Bay of Naples, and many people consider it to be more beautiful even than Capri to its southeast. Ischia is a volcanic island 10 km long and 7 km wide that rises to 788 m  at Monte Epomeo, which divides the island into two zones. The south and the west takes the brunt of hot dry winds from Africa, and cacti, agave and palms thrive in the sub-tropical landscape. In the northern shadow of Monte Epomeo, chestnuts flourish among the typical Mediterranean trees like holm oak, cypress, cork, almond and olives. Citrus groves scent the whole island. Despite of its high population and million of tourists, Ischia still has dozen of deserted beaches and coves for chillin’.
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Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, the Republic of Mauritius is off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, 900 km east of Madagascar. The republic consists of five islands – St Brandon, Rodrigues, two Agalegas Islands and Mauritus itself. Photo by: David & Cheryl M
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Wayfaring offers a glimpse at the first skate park in East Africa, situated in a working class suburb of Kampala, Uganda. The park was created both for and by local kids, without assistance from either NGOs or government. The skate park could be described as both a source of pride and empowerment, a space that not only keeps kids out of trouble, but fosters the development of a real sense of community. It’s a real dream.
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