Africa Travel

Go2Africa is the place to go to learn about a trip to Africa. You can book flights and hotels here, but the site is particularly useful when it comes to suggestions about an Africa vacation; a section called "We Recommend" features malaria-free safari holidays in South Africa, among other suggested journeys and travel tips. The site also recommends vacation itineraries, and provides great interactive maps. With all of the offerings, you could spend a lot of time here.

The Africa Guide deserves a look from anyone traveling to Africa. Learn about any African country, and explore wildlife, living accommodations, safari and tour packages, African recipes, national anthems, and more. The site also touches upon diseases, and provides a list of charities working to improve the living conditions in various African countries. In addition, you'll find valuable travel insight here: consult links to Africa travelogues, and visit forums with plenty of first-hand travelers' responses.

Africa Travel Guide is a part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, an online resource for independent travelers. The site provides a lot of practical and honest material for visitors. (Be advised that some material is missing because the site is still under development.) The best aspects of the current site are the personal stories and brutally honest tips. For example, you can read about travelers who bribed African officials, or about climbers scaling Mount Kilimanjaro. The site won't answer all of your questions, and its design is not the best, but you'll get a lot of interesting anecdotes and tidbits.  

GetawaytoAfrica.com is a helpful travel guide focusing primarily on the southern African region, although information on all countries is provided. Once you click on a country from the drop-down menu, the site lists places to stay, things to do, travel blogs, holiday packages, and recommended travel agents, to name a few features.

Lonely Planet is always a reliable source for travel guides. Learn about each country in Africa by clicking on its place on the map. You'll get historic facts, information about weather, people, government, transportation, money, and more. If there are any travel warnings, notifications are promptly displayed. Hover your mouse over the map and the country below your cursor is highlighted and named-this helps you identify the name and location of any country on the continent.

ATTA (African Travel & Tourism Association) is one of the best places to find reputable companies offering tours in Africa. Click the country and activities you want, and you'll get brief descriptions of companies, along   with contact information. 

Travel Africa magazine highlights all that is great (and not so great) about traveling to Africa. Plenty of articles and features on the site are accessible and free, even without a subscription. One interesting feature, the "Safari Planner," lets you plan an unforgettable safari, tailored to your specific interests.

National Geographic provides an interactive map of Africa; click on a country to obtain information. You could spend a long time on this site, perusing each country's corresponding articles and multimedia features, each full of vivid photography. Visit the "Multimedia" section for an even richer view of some African topics. There are also many articles on the native wildlife here.

PBS based this interactive Web site on a four-part Africa series made for its TV channel. A unique feature is the inclusion of eco-related information on various regions. Browse by region to learn about traditions, folklore, recipes, and music, topics detailed in "The People" section of each location. A link for kids includes African crafts, stories, and songs, as well as photo albums created by African schoolchildren.

Stanford University has an extensive guide to Web resources called "Africa south of the Sahara." Information is organized by country and topic, and suggested sites are listed in alphabetical order, with short descriptions of what each includes. This site is most helpful when you know what you're looking for-use it to look up specific countries or cultural customs, for example. Otherwise the myriad choices can be a bit overwhelming. 

EmbassyWorld.com is a great tool for finding your country's embassy in any of the African countries. Simply choose the embassy that you desire and the location you will be visiting for quick information about that embassy. 

Travisa is a great Web site for the traveler who needs facts fast. There is no page specifically for Africa, but this site lists countries throughout the world alphabetically with a simple "yes" or "no" about whether a passport and visa are required for entry, depending on whether the trip is for business or tourism.

XE.com provides currency conversions for you. This is a great site because you are not limited to standard forms of currency. For example, you can convert the value of U.S. dollars to Mozambique Meticals.  If the currency you need isn't on the short list on this page, just click the "More currencies" link.

The Africa Guide answers most questions regarding currency and exchanging money. The site offers some invaluable advice such as how much money to carry in traveler's checks, and where credit cards are accepted. You'll also find links on this page for ATM locations.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa provides extensive information on the continent as a whole, as well as details of each country. The "Health Topics" section contains vast amounts of information on diseases like AIDS and malaria, healthcare systems, disease prevention, and poverty. The "Country Health Profiles" section has a fact sheet (in PDF format) for each country that includes life expectancy, demographic data, and socioeconomic statistics, accompanied by charts and graphs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site is also a vital source to look over before you go. Click on the country you plan to visit for health updates, a description of the diseases you should know about, and the medications and vaccinations you should take in preparation for your visit.

The CIA World Factbook provides additional information about history, customs, political issues, and dangers you may encounter in the African country you are going to. Select a country from the drop-down menu to get started.

African Cultural Center USA lays out the languages and religions of the different African countries with an easy-to-read map. The Web page is good for a quick read-through, and provides a great overview of the continent.

The Living Africa reveals some important details about customs and religious traditions of Africa's people. Use the interactive map to discover dominant religions and languages in each area. The section titled "ethnic groups" is particularly helpful for general information about cultures throughout Africa, including passages devoted to individual ethnic groups, such as the Bantu, Fulani, and Manding.

Encarta is a comprehensive yet concise source for information on African religions. It covers religious traits of the continent as a whole, and touches upon specific traditions. Modern religious trends are also mentioned.

The Africa Guide has a section on festivals, organized by country and region. Each distinctive celebration is detailed. For example, in Swaziland, Incwala, the "Festival of the First Fruits," is celebrated between December and January to honor ancestors and revel in the harvest.

Gay.com published this article on homosexuality in Africa in 2006. According to the article, homophobia about same-sex relationships is rampant in Africa.

The BBC World Service brings you this superb Web site, the online edition of a radio station series titled, The Story of Africa. The site details the history of the continent from the origins of Homo sapiens to the present day, and is loaded with sound recordings, links, and pictures.

AllAfrica.com is a site created by AllAfrica Global Media containing recent news stories related to the continent. Although there are a number of distracting advertisements, this site is one of the few news sources dedicated solely to Africa. The site boasts over 900,000 archived articles, more than 100 million monthly hits, and is available in both English and French.

Go2Africa explains when you should go to certain African locations, and why. Click the "Destination Guides" to choose a country; you'll get tips on how to prepare for your trip, climate descriptions, and recommendations on the best time to visit each country. Some descriptions are longer than others-for example, information regarding when to go on safaris tends to be extensive.

The New York Times has this extremely helpful article about finding the best deals when flying to Africa. It was written on March 18, 2007, and claims that the prices to Africa have gotten more expensive recently, meaning that travelers need to utilize the full spectrum of options to save money on airfare.

Flight Centre is an independent travel retailer. Because it is usually cheaper to fly from the United States to Europe, and then to Africa, this site lets you book all of your flights at once. This service is also as useful if you live in Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or South Africa.

BootsnAll is an extensive independent travel network, and has wisely tapped into real travelers' knowledge and experience as a basis for its recommendations. The site offers a flight search tool, which finds the best fares from big-name search engines like Travelocity and Booking Buddy. Browse the "Community" page for insightful blogs and discussion forums with first-hand advice for booking a trip to Africa.

Mobissimo excels at showing you what your options are. Like BootsnAll, this site searches multiple flight search engines. Not only does it display some of the best results from the standard Orbitz and Expedia services, but this service also seeks out great deals from frequently overlooked sources, like AirGorilla and Vayama.  

Expedia is another huge travel agent with similar services to those previously mentioned. The site's simple interface makes searching easy. You'll find extensive route coverage, low prices, and a convenient "flexible date" option to help you find the lowest prices. There are detailed descriptions of hotel amenities, rooms, dining facilities, and policies, accompanied by user reviews, ratings, and photos. The substantial "Deals by Destination" section is also worth a look.

AfricanMecca specializes in finding trips to Africa. The process is easy; enter your dates of travel and departure and destination locations, and the site displays options from various airlines. Depending on your destination, you'll get both direct and indirect flight options. There is no drop-down menu of cities or airports, so it helps to know which city you plan to fly into before you visit this site.

The Africa Guide lists African countries on its homepage-click the link to any region for hotel prices and descriptions. The site tells you how many hotels are listed next to each country's name. 

Go2Africa is a superb place to book a hotel. As mentioned earlier in this guide, the site is particularly good at recommending only the lodging options that it feels are top quality. Enter a location, and the site provides a list of hotels in a particular region of the country in which you need accommodations. A description for each lodging and a map showing where the hotel is located are provided.

Africa Stay finds the ideal accommodation for your visit to Africa. There are many search options, such as safari lodges, game reserves, hotels, bed and breakfasts, villas, and guest farms, each of which has been rated from zero to five stars. Switch the settings to see prices in dollars; the site's default setting is in South African currency-the rand.

Africapoint.com has extensive information on African hotels. Each accommodation has a description, sometimes fairly lengthy. The site only has listings for Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and Ethiopia. Sign up for the free bimonthly newsletter for updates on deals and discounts.

BootsnAll caters to the independent traveler on a budget. Enter your accommodation requirements, and you'll be presented with sortable options. If you prefer hotel accommodations, this site also has a hotel finder.

Hostels.com lists and describes thousands of hostels worldwide. Most listings include user ratings, in addition to booking options and contact information. There is also a user review section that lets you see what others have said about their stays in various places. A page also exists for hostels in Africa. Visit the "New To Hosteling" section if you have never stayed at a hostel before and aren't sure what to expect.

iTravelnet has a directory of airlines in Africa. The countries in which the airline operates are listed underneath the name of the airline.

Africapoint.com is a travel agent specializing in Africa. Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the company has offices throughout the continent. Africa Point services trips to Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ghana. This one-stop booking site can also help you find a flight, hotel, and car. 

RailServe.com is one of the few sources on the Web with a substantial number of railroad listings for Africa as a whole. There is a link for each rail service company, both intra- and inter-country, with one-line descriptions of the routes covered for a quick review, or more detailed descriptions if you click on the railway name.

The Man in Seat Sixty-One is a unique site created by a man who loves travel and trains. He provides valuable first-hand information about getting around by train and ship. Although the site is not well organized or well designed, there are good tips and essential facts to be found here. Click any African country on the left side of the page to learn about available train travel.

Rovos Rail is a train designed to provide guests with a uniquely luxurious experience. The trains, which take passengers on a few different routes throughout southern Africa, offer sightseeing and expeditions. The site also describes safaris and golf trips available through this service, which focuses on the pleasure of the excursion rather than on transportation.

Shongololo Express mainly traverses southern Africa, making stops in Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, and Tanzania. Like Rovos Rail, the Shongolo Express Web site shows how luxury train travel can be combined with the beauty of Africa.

Coast to Coast is a helpful Web site for budget travelers in southern Africa, with especially great resources for backpackers. This section of the site focuses on finding inexpensive ways to go from coast to coast in southern Africa. There are plenty of tips for traveling by car, bus, train, and plane, on the cheap.

The International Bicycle Fund has a guide to biking through Africa. Although the site isn't pretty, it's one of the only places to get information on bicycling through Africa. You'll find explanations of biking possibilities for each country, including routes and other pertinent resources, such as bike safety for children. IBF stresses that biking through Africa is not as dangerous as it is often made out to be.

The International Marketing Council of South Africa provides thorough and essential information about traveling through the nation. In addition to maps, you'll find sections for driving, buses and trains, domestic flights, and more.

South African Tourism has a section with information to help you get around the country. Content is succinct, offering just the essentials for each form of transportation. Although the site promotes tourism, it offers blunt advice and honest critiques. Scroll down for a list of safety and security precautions on the bottom of the page. Links to additional transportation sites-like airports and bus stations-are also provided.

Virtual Tourist has a transportation section in its "Africa Travel Guide" comprised of blog-type entries and photos posted by travelers. Entries are detailed and insightful, covering buses in sub-Saharan Africa and shared buses, among other topics. Although the postings are not organized very clearly, you can sort them by "Best Rated" in terms of usefulness, or "Most Recent."