Sauti za Busara Music Festival – Zanzibar, Tanzania

February

The Sauti za Busara Music Festival will be in its 7th year in 2010. Zanzibar comes alive in February each year with this international festival celebrating East African music. 400 established and upcoming artists perform acoustic and electric, modern and classic “from city and shamba”. The festival kicks off with a street parade, followed by four days of live music at the historic Old Fort in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Cape Town International Jazz Festival – Cape Town, South Africa

April

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival has blossomed into a top international jazz event voted by Melodytrip as the 4th best in the world. This comes as no surprise considering the wealth of jazz musicians who hail from South Africa and Cape Town in particular. 40 local and international greats perform on four stages over a weekend, so the hardest part is trying to decide which stage to visit at any one time!

Malaral Camel Derby – Maralal, Northern Kenya (more…)

Ladakh is better known as the Land of Gompa, Nomads and High Passes. This is one of the most hunted destinations for adventure activities and other sports. Ladkakh is situated the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in the northern most part of the country. The place is known for its scenic beauty and leaves the people captivated in its striking extensive valleys. River Indus is at a distance of 7 kilometers from Ladakh. People visit Ladakh from far flung places to enjoy the adventure activities.

Ladakh is considered to be India’s best trekking route. There are high mountains and deep valleys which are the major attraction. These mountains range in altitude from 9,000 feet (2,750 m) at Kargil to 25,170 feet at Saser Kangri. The temperature in Ladakh is generally low as the temperature during summer stays around 27°C in summers and around 20°C in winters. The place is known for bone a chilling temperature which almost freezes the land during winters. (more…)

Planning a vacation to Africa is sure to be an interesting experience. With so much to offer, Africa vacations offer up the world as your oyster. Although most trips involve quite a bit of activity, there are also great opportunities to relax in the midst of your adventures. The length of your stay will most likely play a large role in determining the type of vacation you choose as well as which areas you decide to visit.

If wanting a ground safari that brings you nose to nose with amazing wildlife, it is best to choose a limited amount of regions to cover. On the other hand, visiting several locations is easily possible if choosing to travel by plane. This allows you to see Africa’s amazing landscapes from a unique angle. From there, you can still choose to participate in a driving or walking tour. When considering various types of Africa vacations there are also lesser thought of types of safaris that offer interesting ways to experience the continent. Some of these options include horseback, canoeing, hot-air ballooning, and elephant safaris. (more…)

When first thinking of a vacation to Africa, a safari is what usually comes to mind. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience wildlife often only able to be viewed at the zoo is almost impossible to pass up. When imagining a safari, most of us think of riding in a 4 x 4 through the wilds of Africa, and do not realize that there are many other options. Depending on your level of activity, you might prefer to choose another of the several safari options. Three alternate ways to experience an African safari are by canoeing, flying, or on horseback.

As Africa has several large rivers, canoeing is an ideal choice for exploring all that the continent has to offer. One of the more popular areas for exploring with this type of African safari is lower Zambezi, which includes the Mana Pools National Park, a World Heritage Site, and Lower Zambezi National Park. As with most African vacations, the experience can range from relaxing, while staying in comfortable lodging, to an all-out roughing it adventure. In the case of more adventurous canoe trips, accommodations are typically setup camping-style on islands and riverbanks as opposed to more established housing. (more…)

Indian adventure has varied choices for its adventure lovers, from snow-clothed mountains to immaculate water of blue seas. Adventure lovers have a variety of choices like trekking, paragliding, surfing, parasailing, snorkeling, windsurfing, rafting, kayaking, skiing, heli-skiing, scuba diving and lots more.

Opening from the NORTH, there are plenty of places one can travel around and create their adventure and have most exciting activity ever. Ladakh has tremendously cold trans-Himalayan desert, very frequently at height that go beyond 5000m, can be an exceptionally exhilarating experience. The land, as plainly beautiful as any raised ground setting across the world, has a number of trails. Spituk to Hemis is Ladakh’s most well-liked trek, this 105 km pathway runs all along the Indus river through Markha Valley, White-water rafting on the Indus and Zanskar rivers is a well-liked activity from July-to mid-September.

Trekking at lower altitudes can be seen at Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala to Macchetear is a difficult 48-mile route, crossing rocky terrain to the fields at Triund. Summer is the most excellent season for Rafting and Kayaking on the Beas River at Manali and for Paragliding at Solang and Billing in Kangra. Manali also has mountain biking very close to the Rohtang Pass. (more…)

There is nothing more exciting than trekking Nepal, but to ensure the trip goes smoothly you need to prepare properly. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your trekking adventure.

Start Training Months Ahead
Approximately 6+ months prior to your trip is when you need to initiate a full overhaul, physical training schedule. You need to add aerobic fitness an hour a day, five days a week. Implement strength training. Prepare your muscles to reach the point of exertion without injury. For when you trek, the muscle exertion may occur on a daily basis, and by prepping the muscles, you are decreasing the odds of injury from happening. On the other hand, do not over train. It may sound like a contradiction, but it is not. For you are not climbing Everest, you are aiming to trek Everest. Thus, maintain a healthy diet, ample sleep, and keep your body moving without experiencing fatigue. It is the goal of the preparation to ensure your muscles and body stay refreshed giving you the best advantage when you begin your trek. As a result, you will not fade away throughout the trip. You are giving yourself every advantage to reach your trekking goals. (more…)

Going on a trip, where you need to relax and get the most of every moment spent in the nature will be possible only if you are confident that you will capture some of those moments. That will allow you to remember one day of that special time and off course to show your friends and family what was special about that trip. For that kind of worry-free trip, underwater camera cases are definitely must have, beside camera.

Being in water, beside the water, snow or somewhere near waterfall should not be a problem at all for anyone equipped with underwater camera cases. Waterproof camera cases will protect your camera not just from fresh or salt water, from water that comes in a shape of rain and snow, but from dust and sand. This means that you can go anywhere around the world including deserts with your camera and your captured moments protected.

Waterproof underwater camera cases and bags come in different shapes and sizes. They are usually made to fit to the specific model of camera with or without zoom lenses and can be fitted with additional filters or close up lenses. In addition, they are affordable, considering high quality and durability that they offer. They are easy to use which is very important for people who don’t want to waste time on too complicated devices. Simply said, they are specially designed to protect your camera and make it possible to use it almost everywhere without worrying about it and being aware of it all the time. (more…)

Twelve unique and distinct tribal groups are found in a 500 mile stretch of the Nepal Himalaya mountain range. Scholars such as Tibetologist David Snellgrave, anthropologist Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf, naturalists George Schaller and Peter Mattheissen as well as ethnologist-explorer Michel Peissel and many others have been attracted by the seclusion of ethnic cultures populating remote inaccessible valleys of the principal chain of the Himalayas, most of them hidden in the rain-shadow of the High Himalaya. Their differing ways of life, architecture and beliefs have enticed explorers ever since Nepal first opened its border to the outside world nearly sixty years ago.

The principal part of the Himalaya mountain range is framed by the Dhaulagiri massif in the west and the Kanchenjunga Himal in the east. In this vast expanse of the Himalayas lies not only the densest concentration of world’s highest peaks but also the most extraordinary collection of cultures. In the 1970s I had undertaken six major journeys into the interior of the Nepal Himalayas attracted precisely by the mystique of the Himalayan most isolated areas. In one of my journeys I had walked over 2000 miles, a solitary one-man expedition that I hoped would allow me to penetrate the complexities and simplicities of tribal life far better than any team expedition, and above all reach villages never visited by a foreigner. While I did succeed to visit areas that to this day remain closed to foreign trekkers, two places, that for decades retained mystery and only a handful of lucky scientists and explorers noted above were fortunate to obtain trekking permits for, alluded me. These two remarkable territories are Dolpo and Mustang.

Though I was unable to get past king’s army check posts in my day, Dolpo and Mustang are now open to any trekker willing to pay for the stiff trekking permit issued on strictly enforced bases by the Nepalese government. These cut off places attract trekkers interested in the physical challenges of high Himalayan passes as well as those more fascinated by the culture of peoples that have survived in typically inhospitable living conditions on account of harsh environment. (more…)

Medical travel kits are essential especially if you are planning to travel abroad, or go on some adventures such as skiing, backpacking, trekking, mountain climbing, cycling, white water rafting or scuba diving.

There are literally so many various types of medicines to choose from, and the supplies that you would need would differ, depending on your destination and type of holiday. For example, people traveling to an exclusive 5-star European resort would require fewer medicines than those going backpacking in a developing country and would like to go scuba diving or mountain climbing.

Ideally, the contents of your medical supplies should be able to meet any emergency situation that may arise from your adventures as well as any medical conditions that you may personally be having. The best would be to consult your family doctor about the contents of your medical travel kit. (more…)

The Haute Route, widely known as “The Most Beautiful Walk in Europe,” stretches from Chamonix to Zermatt, linking Mont Blanc with the Matterhorn. Along the way, hikers pass by 10 of the 12 highest peaks in the Alps. It’s a daily visual feast of mountain vistas, glaciers, expansive valleys, larch forests, and meadows carpeted with wildflowers. The natural scenery is so impressive, that it’s sometimes easy to overlook the cultural, historic, and man-made charm of the Haute Route.

The Haute Route links villages-dozens of them-that have preserved and nourished a traditional mountain way of life for hundreds of years. Many of the villages trace their roots to the eleventh and twelfth centuries when Walser peoples first entered the area to settle the higher alpine meadows and upper valleys. From many of the mountain passes and high slopes on the Haute Route hikers can gaze down into the Rhone Valley or Martigny where Romans established outposts and first planted grapes on the sunny slopes.

As you make your Haute Route plans, here are a few of the villages you won’t want to hurriedly bypass. Instead, you may even consider planning a short detour or altering the normal arrangement of stages to spend the night in one of these choice locations:

Champex. The village of Champex on the shore of Lac de Champex is set at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif. It’s a great hiking town as it offers direct access to many surrounding huts and mountain routes. Set in the midst of forests, Champex has attracted tourist in search of a bucolic setting for nearly 150 years, and the town has never exchanged its peaceful quality for large-scale mass tourism. For a more off-the-beaten-path attraction, visit Military Fort A46, an underground town, which was built as part of the hidden Swiss defenses during WWII to protect the Grand Saint Bernard Pass, and remained classified as a “secret” until 1998. The town’s alpine garden contains over 3000 species, many of which you’ll see along the Haute Route. (more…)