If you’re planning to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, please spare a thought for the porters who will make your trip possible. Too often, population look to cut the costs of their trek. A Kilimanjaro trek should cost between $2500- $4000. Some of the price discrepancy reflects the route you choose to conduct, the quality of the food, and the characteristic of your equipment. But anything cheaper, and you should understand that the tour operator may be saving costs by overloading and underpaying your porters. Do not cut costs and go cheap when you climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

An organization called Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) is doing its best to encourage all Kilimanjaro operators to adhere to basic rules regarding equal pay as well as safety for porters. A porter does not need to be educated, employment is scarce and life is hard. It’s the perfect recipe for abuse and exploitation to cause to surrender place. Porters die from exhaustion, and hypothermia every year, because they’re overloaded and there’s no way they can carry enough food, clothing or shelter for themselves. It is partly your responsibility as a climber to find out from KPAP if the group you are trekking with adheres to their basic guidelines.

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Saturday 6th March 2010, 10 a.m.-4.30 p.m.

School of Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History

University of Liverpool

Speakers: Dr Mark Collier,  Dr Steven Snape, Dr Kasia Szpakowska

£60 (£50 early booking)

Download the brochure and booking form PDFs here:

Magic Day School Brochure

Ritual and Magic Booking Form

Beaverlac

Last weekend I succumbed to look closely pressure and went camping.  I did a 39 day trip through Africa at the beginning of 2000 and after camping for most of those 38 nights I vowed I would never, ever camp again!  But the group invite for a weekend away was sent and I don’t like to miss out … so I saw the inside of a tent again.

Our destination was Beaverlac in the Cederberg and my goodness it is beautiful.  The entire journey was less than three hours including missing a few turnoffs on the way out of the Mother City and the bathroom break so it’s a completely do-able trip for after work on a Friday.

Beaverlac is situated on the Grootfontein Farm and as a Natural Heritage Site the farm is committed to preserving this wilderness area tucked up in the Olifants River Mountains.  The farm is surrounded by mountains and also has the good fortune of having two rivers running through it; the Ratel and Olifants.  This makes for great fishing and even better vertigo!

Facilities at Beaverlac are basic – there are no laid out camp sites; everyone just finds themselves a spot wherever they see fit and there is no electricity so bring into being sure you pack the braai grid.  The ablution blocks are clean and I was lucky enough to always have hot water!  There is also a shop on site which sells wood, ice and other necessary provisions.

However, our party of eight (and two dogs) were not here to inspect the showers – we were here to kick back and relax and that we did.

The sum of sum of two units units rivers have, over the years, channelled their way into beautiful pools and waterfalls.  Most of our group went for a walk on Saturday to Tontel Pools – this is about 5kms from the camp site and once you beget to the pools you are normally rewarded with being the only ones there.  If however you are not in the mood for a long walk, or as in my case you have an eight week old puppy to keep an eye on, then rest assured that you will be able to cool down on a hot day.  A huge mountain pool, complete by waterfall is only a five minute walk from the campsite and we spent a good few hours here.  This pool was fantastic – it was almost as if someone had designed it with a lovely flat move backward and forward to sit on right at the waters edge!

The tranquillity of Beaverlac is wonderful.  Although the camp location is large there never seemed to be too much noise and campers generally stuck to the ‘no hubbub after 10pm’ rule.  Even the dogs seemed to behave themselves!  So if you are looking for somewhere to really, really relax then head to Beaverlac – you be possible to walk in the mountains or you can just lie in the apparition and catch up on some reading; the choice is yours.

At R35 per person per night camping (and R30 per dog) the rates will not break the bank either!  If camping is really not your idea of fun then there are a number of wooden cottages available for hire at a slightly higher price.

www.SA-Venues.com – South Africa Travel News

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The Winter Olympics are on the horizon and I am care road of African athletes who will compete in Vancouver. Since snow is thin on the ground, money is tight and training facilities scarce, it takes an awful lot of determination to make it to the Winter Olympics as an African. It should come as no surprise then, that the athletes representing 7 African nations no less, are a colorful bunch by some very interesting stories.

Ghana will be competing in their first Winter Olympics. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (aka “The Snow Leopard”) managed to get enough points to qualify by racing in Iran, Bosnia and Turkey. He wears a dazzling leopard print suit to match his dazzling smile. He saw snow for the first time at the tender age of 22. He’session a self-taught, self-financed skier, and has been training hard for 5 years. No doubt about it, he’s going to be a hit in Vancouver.

Ethiopia’s Robel Teklemariam has been training on roller skis at home while waiting for his Canadian visa to come through. Philip Boit of Kenya will compete in his fourth Winter Olympics. Last year his farm in Kenya burned down. With the help of fellow Olympic athletes he managed to raise enough money to rebuild, just in time for his retirement.

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Cape Dutch Connection’s Jazz on Friday, which kicked off on 30 October at La Brasserie in Franschhoek, is having one of its most successful seasons ever, says leader of the jazz band, Derk Blaisse. According to Blaisse, the Friday eventide performances are attracting audiences of up to 300 at a time …

“This is a great season for us. The weather has been superb for our outdoor venue and we’ve had a great line-up of guest artists playing with us.”

Cape Dutch Connection is a jazz quintet with vocalist Charlette Dickson, Wesley Rustin double bass, drummer Jack Momple, Derk Blaisse on piano and a guest soloist on saxophone, clarinet, flute, trumpet or trombone.

www.SA-Venues.com – South Africa Travel News

Egypt has just won the 27th Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, beating Ghana’s Black Stars 1-0. This is the 7th win for Egypt, a tournament record. And it’s an especially sweet victory since Egypt failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The finals took place in Luanda, Angola’s capital city in front of a packed stadium. The goal arrived in the 85th minute, when The Pharaohs substitute, Mohamed Gedo curved a neat ball past Ghana’s goalkeeper, Richard Kingson. In the end, Ghana’s young team lost to a more determined and savvy Egyptian team. Disappointing for Ghana, but they can console themselves knowing they will be playing in the 2010 World Cup.

All in all Angola proved to be good hosts contumacy the solemn start to the Cup of Nations. It’s a slow shuffle back to the world stage after too many years of civil war, but this certainly got them on their interval. Hopefully the wealth spent on the stadiums will prove their worth in the coming years.

More about the 27th Africa Cup of Nations …