Thesolowanderer

Morocco is a North African country characterized by mountain regions, desert, and a lengthy coastline from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco is a monarchy where the royal family has full control over the government. Rabat is the capital city, but Casablanca is the largest city. Chances are your flights will fly into Casablanca as they have the larger airport and that is cheaper than flying into other airports. Like any other North African country, you will learn or you most probably know about the history of the Arabs in Morocco. Most people assume north Africans are Arabs. There are no Arabs in Africa. There are descendants of Arabs, but Moroccans are the Berber or Amazirgh people. Also, talking about the Amazirgh can offend some people the same way you cannot talk about Western Sahara. 93% of Moroccans are religious and the majority are practicing Sunni Muslims. I spent the last few days of Ramadan in Morocco in 2017, the interesting thing ab...

Wow #Ghana has been amazing. I did spend most of my days stuck in my hitel room catching up on work but the days i went out were just breathtaking. Border crossings will always be a challenge for me. They can be so overwhelming and little leaves you not just crying. These are moments are ask myself what am i doing and if it's really worth it. But of all the borders, going into amd out of Ghana was joy. The officials so professional and friendly, always smiling and refreshing not to be annoyed for a bribe 🤗 Off to Lagos i go. #BreakingBorders #Thesolowanderer #Nigeria 🇳🇬 A post shared by Katchie Nzama (@thesolowandera) on Sep 10, 2017 at 9:01am PDT From Accra to Lome is very easy. A 3hr taxi ride in a comfortable sharing taxi. There's also an option of smaller private car taxis. The roads through Ghana are fantastic. There are a lot of speed humps on your drive. The fare to Lome is 25GHc. You will also pay 5GHc for your luggage. Nothing eventful ever happens, t...

Tunis by Night I don’t generally struggle to find my way in any new place. Or my place for that matter. Tunis has been a bit of a challenge. This has been contributed largely by the fact that in the city the locals speak French and Arabic. You will hardly find anyone that speaks English. I have been in Tunis staying in the city and the World Heritage site – Medina de Tunis for 3 days. I have found that accommodation establishments hold us back from exploring especially when you are alone as they are so quick to warn you about how the city is dangerous. I have been warned but I am not a good listener cos I have walked these streets so much taking pictures which I have been told not to do cos it is not safe. But the police are everywhere and this city is safe. I guess because you are foreign people tend to go a bit too far to try to keep you safe without realizing that they are instilling fear in you. Currency & Banking  The local currency in Tunisia is the T...

When Durban made the Top 10, by coming in 7th, on the New York Times’ list of Top 52 Places to Go in 2015; most Capetonians were outraged. They usually make that list. However, this did not surprise me. We are the well known secret of South Africa. Durban Beach Front While everyone else have cold winter and minus temperatures. Durban has stayed relatively mild, because that’s just how we roll. With sunny skies and the option for long walks along the beach – anyone would be in. The one-up Durban has from Cape Town? They might have the mountain, but we have the warm seas. This is why people from all around the country flock towards the ocean during winter. They have assessed and have taken everything else into consideration and found that we are lucky. It’s not only during winter months that Durban scores. We have great weather all year round. With interruptions of thunderstorms and normal rain bouts experienced during the hot summer months. Most South Africans have at least one...

Language Amharic is the national Language of Ethiopia. Although a multi ethnic country with 83 languages and 200 dialects. Economy 90% of Ethiopians earn a living from land. Mostly subsistence farming. Time Ethiopia is in GMT +3 time zone. Follows the Jullian calendar, which consists of 12months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 or 6 days on a leap year. Currency The Ethiopian currency is the Birr and cents. Notes are 100, 50, 10, 5 and 1 Birr The 1 Birr coin is also in circulation. 1 South African Rand = 1.6914 Ethiopian Birr  Health Requirements A yellow fever certificate is required when traveling on a South African passport. Immigration Requirements For most countries, you have to apply for the Ethiopian visa at the Ethiopian mission at your country of residence. With exception for Kenyan and Djibouti nationals who do not need a visa to enter Ethiopia. Nationals from 39 countries can get their tourist visa on arrival at the airpo...

In Khartoum, you will need to register as a tourist at the airport police station. You only need to register if you spend more than 3 days in Sudan. If you are sure you will spend more than 3 days, you may also pay upon entry at the border. Registration will cost you $50. Yes, that is $50 over and above the fee you paid to get the visa.  When you arrive at the Sudanese border, please be aware nobody speaks English but this can actually work to your advantage. When I arrived, the officials were outside in the heat drinking coffee under a tree, that meant sitting for what felt like forever waiting for assistance. Eventually I ran out of patience,if you speak English they will help you faster because they actually want to get rid of you. What you really need to be aware of is that Sudan national language is Arabic, so none of the officials that try to help you do not speak English. If you smile, it goes pretty fast. From Khartoum you can take a bus to Wadi Halfa. Thi...

There are two countries in Africa which are considered to never have been colonized. The countries are Ethiopia and Liberia. In the 1880's Italy failed to take Ethiopia as a colony. On 3 October 1935 Mussolini ordered a new invasion and on 9 May the following year Ethiopia was annexed by Italy. On 1 June the country was merged with Eritrea and Italian Somalia to form Italian East Africa. Emperor Haile Selassie made an impassioned appeal to the League of Nations on 30 June 1936, gaining support from the US and Russia. But many  League of Nations  members, including Britain and France, recognized Italian colonization.  It was not until 5 May 1941, when Selassie was restored to the Ethiopian throne, that independence was regained.  I have been in Ethiopia for a week, I have had to fly into Ethiopia because I can only get a visa into Ethiopia at my country of residence. Today we will keep this light and not deal with the issues behind the visas being dif...

I first arrived in Tanzania in the Southern Town of Mbeya. When I got off the bus and the streets where crazy busy, this was the first time I thought to myself "What the hell on heavens green earth are you doing? Go home child." The streets of Mbeya were busy, people everywhere selling something. Fish, Fruit, vegetable markets scattered all on the pavement of the busy road. On the roads were private cars, motor bikes, big trucks, small trucks and Tuktuks. We don't wait for anybody and you cross the road at your own discretion. At this point, serious culture shock hit. I haven't written about Tanzania as I had not dealt with the culture shock. This was serious enough to break me but I was not prepared to break this far in my Journey, I had come to far to back down and that warrior spirit would have to pull me through. Tanzania's national language is Swahili. Everyone speaks Swahili with little or no English. You really just have to thank your lucky star...

Image: content.time.com The City that never sleeps. I have loved my stay in Nairobi as this has been the one city closes to Johannesburg. The streets are madness, everyone is always rushing off somewhere and there is traffic all day everyday till about 9pm . This has been the only city that I have considered living in so far, I fell in love with Nairobi but I dont think I would be brave enough to drive the streets or bare with the daily traffic. It can be a nightmare. Downtown Nairobi is not your cup of tea, I haven't been there as I am not brave enough to deal with what I have been told goes on down there. The nightlife is everyday business. You party till you can't anymore and the club's open till sunrise from Sunday to Sunday . And these people have work the next day. You basically leave the club to go shower and go to work. The weather in Nairobi is lovely, it is never too hot and most days it gets windy.  I always get laughed at for putting on m...

As the journey continues backpacking Cape to Cairo, I find that I am missing some of the special friends and families I have left behind in the different countries I have visited. I have decided to give you a few photoposts of the beautiful places I visited and some activities I was able to do. This was my cabin at Big Blue Backpackers in Nkhatha Bay, Malawi. Every morning I was woken up by the lake, waves crashing on the rocks. Had breakfast on my balcony over looking the lake just watching the fishermen go about their day. Read more about Big Blue Backpackers here and visit their website for any inquiries and also for their rate here . This are the busy streets of Nkhatha Bay with the locals going on about their day. I was able to visit one of the villages just outside Nkhatha Bay and this is basically the shopping mall. This is where you buy all your clothes and accessories. All clothes are second hand. Anyone who knows me knows I love finding bargains at second hand ...