a website for curious travelers
Travel guides, information, photographs, and stories to help you explore Africa and the Middle East, including Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.
You may be familiar with the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Egypt that include the pyramids, temples, and tombs of the ancient pharaohs. But those account for only three of Egypt’s seven World Heritage sites. Read More …
The craftsmen who built tombs for Egypt’s pharaohs lived near their workplace. Today, visitors to Luxor’s West Bank can see the remains of the Village of the Workers (Deir el-Medina) and the colorful tombs these Read More …
The Gayer-Anderson Museum is a rare example of the Islamic courtyard houses favored by Cairo’s successful merchants, traders, and other men of means during the 16th and 17th centuries. Originally two houses, each with separate Read More …
At the height of Egypt’s power more than 3,000 years ago, the pharaohs built ornate burial chambers in a desolate valley across the Nile from Luxor. Today a few of their elaborately decorated tombs are Read More …
A Nile cruise is an easy and relaxing way to see the best of Egypt. River cruise ships sail between Luxor and Aswan on short itineraries that include an impressive collection of tombs and temples. Read More …
Did you know that today is World Rhinoceros Day? First designated in 2010 by the World Wildlife Foundation in South Africa to draw attention to the world’s five species of rhino (two native to Africa Read More …
Everyone loves penguins, right? So today is a good day to show your love for these amazing creatures! Why today? Every year on April 25 a colony of Adelie penguins at McMurdo Station in Antarctica Read More …
Intricately detailed bronzes from Benin allow visitors at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to peek into a very different time and place. Housed together in the intimate Benin Kingdom Gallery, these 15th and Read More …
The Riad El Yacout sits outside the medina wall near the gate of Bab Boujeloud. Along the one side the scene is dominated by a large construction site that is becoming a new hotel. This Read More …
Fès has been famous for its fine leatherwork for 1000 years. Even today the medina features locally-made leather items. Most prominent of these may be the gaily-colored babooshes – the pointed toe, open heel shoes Read More …