I spent time earlier this month exploring four African countries: Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Ghana. The trip had a little bit of everything (wildlife, adventure, history, and gorgeous scenery).


Lots and lots of tea


Rice too

More tea

Kerara Falls

Kigali traffic

The king's sacred cows


Lake Kivu looking southwest from Rwanda towards DRC

Crossing Lake Kivu, Bukavu to Goma (DRC)

Family gathering

On the move


The kids


Hanging around


Main street on national road #3

Searching for gorillas


Tough living in DRC

More tough living in DRC

Kakum National Park (Ghana)

DRC is bleak

Hi there !

Independence Square, Accra, Ghana



As always, I'm happy to answer questions about the trip!

A detailed, day by day trip report is here.

thanks!

Those cows! How fabulous!

Seing the gorillas must have been wild. They are so similar to humans.

And that iguana? has the most gorgeous colors.

(2023-08-29, 09:10 PM)Daymoth Wrote: Those cows! How fabulous!

Seing the gorillas must have been wild. They are so similar to humans.

And that iguana? has the most gorgeous colors.

Yea, those cows are super spoiled.  People are there to brush them, and care for their every need.

The gorillas were amazing.  Just moving about in the jungle.

Some hard to get to places in there! In 1972 I hitch hiked across much of the width of Congo, Bangui to Uganda, and that was *hard* going on slow roads. Can't wait to read your report. Thanks! Must have been an amazing trip.

(2023-08-29, 09:17 PM)MojaveGeek Wrote: Some hard to get to places in there! In 1972 I hitch hiked across much of the width of Congo, Bangui to Uganda, and that was *hard* going on slow roads. Can't wait to read your report. Thanks! Must have been an amazing trip.

Considering what I saw of the roads in DRC, I suspect they've only gotten worse since 1972. That "main street" photo above was in the DRC, and it was pretty awful condition. Must have been fascinating to see so much of the country though. A lot of it is not safe enough now to explore.

Thank you for the excerpted pictures, and also for the link to the entire report. I'm looking forward to it greatly.

Read both reports and .... I'm not sure I'd want to visit any of these countries (to crib your closing observation). I always like following along with your adventures, but reading some of your itineraries and experiences with all the guides, handlers, other tourists, etc., is a little exhausting sometimes!

I did see that you did a trip to Portugal earlier this year which is somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long time. Think I'll treat myself to reading that report a little later today and start planning a 2024 trip back to Europe.

Nice! Great shots.

I did a tour around Burundi in around 2012. Unfortunately with a guide/handler instead of getting to rent a truck. It was still... life changing. Incredible perspective and gorgeous country. One of my friends on that trip was obsessed with finding the source of the Nile (one of them anyway...).

Thanks for sharing!

(2023-08-30, 09:52 AM)Beardilocks Wrote: Nice! Great shots.

I did a tour around Burundi in around 2012. Unfortunately with a guide/handler instead of getting to rent a truck. It was still... life changing. Incredible perspective and gorgeous country. One of my friends on that trip was obsessed with finding the source of the Nile (one of them anyway...).

Thanks for sharing!

Yea, Burundi has some spectacular mountain terrain.

(2023-08-30, 09:46 AM)TacoLand Wrote: Read both reports and .... I'm not sure I'd want to visit any of these countries (to crib your closing observation). I always like following along with your adventures, but reading some of your itineraries and experiences with all the guides, handlers, other tourists, etc., is a little exhausting sometimes!

There definitely were times when it was stressful & exhausting, but that's often par for the course in some parts of the world. I don't regret going. It wasn't Mozambique bad =)

(2023-08-30, 09:46 AM)TacoLand Wrote: I did see that you did a trip to Portugal earlier this year which is somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long time. Think I'll treat myself to reading that report a little later today and start planning a 2024 trip back to Europe.

Yea, Portugal was fun. The best part was the food.