Destination: Africa

April 17, 2005

A BRUSH WITH TRADITION

The battered sign beside the road proclaimed, "Esther is here. The 1st woman who visited oversea. Art Woman."

March 27, 2005

NEWS, TIPS & BARGAINS

The latest chic ports of call for the jaded or adventurous cruiser are in Moammar Kadafi's socialist Libya, despite a U.S. State Department warning discouraging visits there. Little more than a year after the U.S. lifted its long-standing ban on travel to the North African nation, Holland America, Silversea and several other cruise lines are putting Libya on their itineraries. And it's a hot ticket.

March 6, 2005

ON A BUDGET

Arthur Frommer: Avoid city crime in Kenya: Go on safari

A group of American travel agents recently returned from a safari in Kenya, indignant about the State Department's warning that travelers should avoid going there due to terrorism and the high crime rate. One was quoted in the travel-trade press as saying that Los Angeles is "more dangerous than Africa."

October 24, 2004

DESTINATION: SOUTH AFRICA

A gentler time on the 'Wild Coast'

IT'S almost dawn. Here, where the Mbotyi River flows into the Indian Ocean, the lush vegetation is still damp from night mists. As the light ripens from purple to gold, I knock softly on the cabin doors of my fellow travelers. None of us wants to be late for our appointment with the sangoma, or medicine man.

March 21, 2004

TRAVEL INSIDER

Jane Engle: Fabulous scenery, stellar ruins in charming ... Libya?

When the U.S. government last month lifted its 22-year-old ban on Americans traveling to Libya, several tour operators rushed in with itineraries.

May 30, 2004

ON A BUDGET

Arthur Frommer: South Africa's call of the wild beckons

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's election as president of South Africa, an event that hastened the demise of apartheid and led to the resumption of full-scale tourism to a nation once boycotted by many travelers.

November 23, 2003

TRAVEL TURKEYS

The parasites of paradise

"It's not contagious," I kept trying to explain, as friends backed away from me, horrified by the parasite that had wormed its way under my skin in Africa.

March 28, 2004

DESTINATION: SOUTH AFRICA

Hide and seek in Addo park

"Roll up your window," my husband, Paul, muttered, easing his camera down.

March 7, 2004

DESTINATION: NILE

Two ways to cruise the Nile

The night train from Cairo pulled into Luxor station at 5:15 a.m. — a hard hour to push the sleep from my eyes, toddle down the companionway, find my footing on the concrete train platform and count my bags.

November 30, 2003

DESTINATION: UGANDA

Misty-eyed on a search for gorillas in Bwindi

Bwindi Impenetrable

November 16, 2003

DESTINATION: SOUTH AFRICA

New shine on City of Gold

I was sitting at a restaurant when the Canadian woman across the table from me said something that caught me off-guard.

May 23, 2004

DESTINATION: LIBYA

The curtains part, revealing wonders

"Inshallah" means "God willing" in Arabic. It's good to know if you visit this Muslim country on the north coast of Africa, now open to Americans after 20 years of U.S. sanctions.

May 23, 2004

DESTINATION: LIBYA

Trailblazing trek on blazing Sahara trails

Scientists think the Sahara Desert has been hot and dry for the last 3,000 years. I can't speak to that, but I can attest to its profound hostility to humankind for four days last month on a trek in southwest Libya with Mountain Travel Sobek, an American travel company.