Africa

Something was wrong. It was 4am, our flight to Marrakesh was in a few hours, and my husband was flailing around in bed like an upturned beetle. ‘I can’t get up,’ he said. Despite managing to transfer him, with his trapped nerve and seized back into the car and onto the dawn flight, I realised […]

When French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent saved Jardin Majorelle from property developers in 1980, he couldn’t possibly have imagined how popular this garden in Marrakesh was going to become. Four decades on and the walled cacti garden, encompassing skyscraping bamboo groves and an art deco studio housing a museum of Berber artefacts, is Morocco’s

Trawling the humming streets of Marrakesh in the afternoon sun will wear out even the most enthusiastic of explorers. When the sales pitches and the crowds get to be too much, it’s a lifesaver to know that tranquillity and cooler temperatures can be found in one of the many garden spaces only a walk or

A week at an all-inclusive resort promises idle, sunny days but it doesn’t usually spell adventure. After all, where’s the thrill of exploration when there’s a beach in easy reach of your bed, and all meals and drinks are served on site? But hold the piña coladas: resorts can offer much more than a do-nothing

If you’ve never before been on safari, one of the great pleasures of travelling in Africa awaits. If you’re lucky, you’ll spend your days tracking down one species of charismatic megafauna after another, from elephants and rhinos to big cats, buffaloes and giraffes. But what does a typical day on safari really involve? Although experiences

When it comes to types of safaris in Africa, there are endless options. However, there is one big question you need to answer before starting your planning. Are you ready for a self-drive safari? What is a self-drive safari? As the name suggests, a self-drive safari means that you are very much in the driver’s

It’s one of the most iconic images of Africa: snow-capped Mt Kilimanjaro rising from the African savannah. This view from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, often dotted with elephants in the foreground, is how many people imagine an African safari to be. And for good reason – Amboseli is one of the best places on the

It’s the snow-capped mountain almost on the equator and within sight of harsh deserts. It’s the lush, palm-fringed coastline of the Indian Ocean, it’s the Great Rift Valley that once threatened to tear the continent asunder, and it’s the dense forests reminiscent of the continent’s heart. In short, Kenya is a country of epic landforms

Achieving ethical travel goals has become a pressing ambition for many of us who wish to protect our vulnerable environment while still exploring the world. We are now acutely aware of how our carbon footprint stamps the earth, and how our daily recycling and commute behaviors can contribute towards the bigger green picture. Because of

We’re taking a look through our archive of travel writing to highlight all the ways the world has changed, as well as some of the ways it’s stayed the same. In this travel essay from 2011, Amanda Canning reports on the archipelago of Lamu, just off the coast of Kenya, where medieval stone streets trace