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

Niagara Falls is the second largest falls on the globe next to Victoria Falls in southern Africa.
One fifth of all the fresh water in the world lies in the four Upper Great Lakes-Michigan, Huron,Superior and Erie. All the outflow empties into the Niagara river and eventually cascades over the falls.
length of brink: 1060 feet
height: 176 feet (due to rocks at the base actual fall is 70 feet)volume of water: 150,000 U.S. Gallons per second
The word “Niagara” is derived from the Iroquois Indian word “Onguiaahra” meaning “the strait” There is an international boundary between the United States and Canada. Before the invention of film, tourists would sketch pictures of the Falls. The flow was also halted over both falls on March 30th 1848 due to an ice jam in the upper river.

Continue reading Where is one of the largest falls on the Globe?

Stonehenge is surely Britain’s greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance. Its original purpose is unclear to us, but some have speculated that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities. It has been called an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar. Others claim that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from the societies of long ago.

While we can’t say with any degree of certainty what it was for, we can say that it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something very important to the ancients would have been worth the effort and investment that it took to construct Stonehenge.

Continue reading Planning Your Visit to Stonehenge

The Ngorongoro Crater is a natural amphitheatre created about 2 million years ago when the cone of a volcano collapsed into itself, leaving a 100 square mile caldron-like cavity. This caldera, protected by a circular unbroken 2,000-foot high rim (610-metres), contains everything necessary for Africa’s wildlife to exist and thrive.

Ngorongoro is on Tanzania’s northern safari circuit, and receives a good number of visitors who stay in lodges around the crater. Game viewing vehicles descend the steep crater wall every morning and spend the day on grass plains that are teeming with animals. However, the dark of night belongs to the animals, and all vehicles must leave the crater floor by sunset.

Continue reading The natural amphitheatre at Ngorongoro Crater

Africa’s Serengeti Migration is known as the greatest animal show on earth. Wild animals on the move blanket the African landscape as far as the eye can see.

Over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from the northern hills to the southern plains for the short rains every October and November, and then swirl west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. So strong is the ancient instinct to move that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested river can hold them back.

Continue reading The greatest animal show on earth – Africa’s Serengeti Migration

A real Tribute to Beauty and Human Love, The Taj Mahal monument is located in Agra, India and is constructed between 1631 and 1654 by a workforce of 22,000 humans. The Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned its construction as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, who is better known as Mumtaz.

The Taj Mahal (sometimes called “the Taj”) is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Indian, Islamic and Persian architectures. The Taj Mahal has achieved special note because of the romance of its inspiration. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures.

The Mausoleum of the Taj Mahal at Agra stands in a formally laid-out walled garden entered through a pavilion on the main axis. The tomb, raised on a terrace and first seen reflected in the central canal, is entirely sheathed in marble, but the mosque and counter-mosque on the transverse axis are built in red sandstone. The four minarets, set symmetrically about the tomb, are scaled down to heighten the effect of the dominant, slightly bulbous dome. The mosques, built only to balance the composition are set sufficiently far away to do no more than frame the mausoleum. In essence, the whole riverside platform is a mosque courtyard with a tomb at its centre. The great entrance gate with its domed central chamber, set at the end of the long watercourse, would in any other setting be monumental in its own right.

The postcard picture of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls “a teardrop on the cheek of time”. Taj Mahal means “Crown Palace” and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.” It is a celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it.

What inspired the building of Taj Mahal?

Continue reading Tribute to Beauty at Taj Mahal travel wonder in India

Explore the underwater wonders of the Red Sea from Ras Mohammed to the legendary Brothers Islands, to Dedalus Island, Zabaghad and Rocky Islands. Egypt’s ancient wonders above the sea—the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, Valley of Kings, Nile cruises and more await the Indiana Jones in all of us.

Egypt is a country of many options—from ancient antiquities to camel riding, snorkeling to jeep exploring, felucca sailing to mountain climbing—and all is available for those who want to truly experience the wonders of this ancient place. In order to provide our clients with the ultimate Egyptian experience.

Egypt, the cradle of history and modern culture, traces its beginnings to remote civilizations that developed along the banks of the Nile River. Throughout time, the lure of ancient Egypt has exerted an irresistible fascination. Archeological records of ancient civilization date back to 4000 BC. A unified Kingdom arose around 3200 BC and extended its way south into Nubia and north as far as Syria. A high culture of rulers and priests was built on an economic base of serfdom, fertile soil and annual flooding of the Nile banks.

Continue reading Egypt is a country of many options

Cote d’Ivoire is one of the most beautiful countries in Central Africa. The most powerful attraction of the Cote d’Ivoire or as it is also known as the Ivory Coast is its people, so if you’re interested in African history, art or music, this is the place to be. There’s also a whole lot of physical beauty, from towering mountains to fishing villages, easily reached on some of the best roads in Africa.

Continue reading Something more about Cote d’Ivoire

Kingdom of Morocco

Geography
Area: 446,550 sq. km. (172,413 sq. mi.) slightly larger than California. (The disputed territory of Western Sahara comprises another 267,028 sq. km or 102,703 sq. mi.)
Major cities: Rabat (Capital), Casablanca, Marrakech, Fes, Meknes, Tangier.
Terrain: Coastal plains, mountains, desert.
Climate: Mediterranean to more extreme in the interior and south.

Continue reading Just Morocco!

Hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists visit South Africa every year, and of these visitors plan a stop in Cape Town, the pride of the southern African subcontinent. Blessed with blue skies a balmy climate a rich cultural heritage and a magnificent backdrop of ocean and mountain, the Mother City boasts a profusion of museums, art galleries, restaurants, shops, theatres, night spots and landmarks.

Presided over by Table Mountain and skirted by the Atlantic Ocean and a string exquisite beaches, top attractions include the bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the famed Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the Cape of Good Hope Natural Reserve, the Cape Winelands, and Robben Island.

Continue reading Cape Town is city which you should visit!

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa and the most populous country on the African continent. Nigeria shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north, and borders the Gulf of Guinea in the south.

The people of Nigeria have an extensive history, and based on archaeological evidence, human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. The Benue-Cross River area is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium AD. However, the Nigerian state came into being on October 1, 1960 when Nigeria declared its independence from the British and at present consists of 36 states and the federal capital territory. Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 after a sixteen-year interruption by a series of military dictators. From 1966 until 1999, Nigeria had been ruled (except the short-lived second republic, 1979-1983) by military dictators who seized power in coups and counter-coups.

Continue reading Nigeria the most populous country on the African continent