DNP Travels: My Vacations in Africa

My vacations in Africa After living in the US for 10 years, and previously having lived in France and the UK for a year respectively, nothing makes me happier than vacationing in Africa. It's nothing to take a one hour flight from Johannesburg to Maputo so some place close by where I can just relax on the beach and enjoy my food and drink. This year alone I've been to Maputo (red bathing suit in the middle) and Lagos (white bathing suit in the pictures) once. I should work for Nigerian tourism, the way I go on about Nigeria. I think Lagos has the best clubs in the world. The amount of champagne I have consumed in La Casa, Excel and Auto Lounge in obscene. I also love, love Accra! Lake Malawi also has an amazing beach. Life is good in Africa I wish I could take a weekend getaway every month. Even the landlocked countries like Zimbabwe have something to be said for them because life is so easy. I was in Victoria Falls last year and it is still Tourist Heaven. I haven't been to Lusaka for year but I remember the nightlife rocks. My friends who work in peacekeeping for the UN in the DRC tell me that Kinshasa rocks!

The problem with me is that I'm a shopaholic. If I'm let loose in New York, London, Dubai or

somewhere similar, all I do is shop and I never relax. So I don't call that a vacation when I am running around shopping, doing cultural things or seeing people. Vacationing in the West is not conducive to relaxation. I'm off to Europe and the US for a month in two weeks and I'm exhausted just applying for

a Schegen visa and thinking about it. I'm no longer motivated to try too hard when it comes to applying for visas. And I've travelled so much I feel like I've seen it all now so if a visa becomes a headache, I bypass the country in question. We used to look down on our own continent but now I appreciate it. It used to be a real sign of success to vacation in Europe or the US but now I

feel like a real vacation should include sand, sun and sea, as well as teach me a bit more about my own continent. I see a lot of nouveau rich people in South Africa brag about their holidays in Italy and else in Europe, and I can sympathise because they got their independence later than us in Zim so all this

is still new to them .With independence comes financial empowerment and things like vacations. When I was younger my family used to go to Mauritius because it was the thing to do then but I haven't been there for years. I like the all-inclusive price model that La Pirogue Hotel has though. The only problem with travelling in Africa is that hotels are expensive. I paid $450 per night

at the Protea Hotel in Lagos and the Southern Sun Maputo Hotel was $250 per night. Hotels in Zimbabwe are still reasonable because I paid $120 a night at The Kingdom in Victoria Falls last year.