Adventure Travel

Hi,

My wife and I are both keen sports people and are looking for a holiday of 1 week- 10days to spend somewhere with great nature, animals and near the sea. We would like somewhere with very very good diving with lots of fish, sharks etc, and also somewhere that is good for cycling, walking etc through jungle/forest. Ideally we would also like a hotel to have water sports facilities available - water skiing etc.

We have spent 6 months in asia and s.america so we're not afraid of stepping out of the tourist traps, in fact we do not want to be in touristy areas at all.

Does anyone have any ideas for where is good in Africa? Maritius and Reunion seem good but they are French, we'd like some culture. We want to avoid the red sea as there is not much jungle there and its super super touristy from what i hear.

Thanks

Difficult to combine all things you mentioned in such a short time.
I heard good stories about Mozambique as a diving destinations, with whale sharks regularly being spotted. It is a bit off the beaten track as well, compared to for example Zanzibar.

For animals on land I would certainly recommend either Kenya/Tanzania or Botswana/South Africa. You can combine Kruger park with some time in Mozambique for example.

For jungle I would recommend going to track Mountain Gorillas in uganda or rwanda.

Sao Tome and Principe has good snorkelling/diving, relaxing, off the beaten track, jungle interior and few tourists. Some culture...and portugese colonial architecture.

For more culture in general Northern Africa has more to offer than the central and southern parts.

Two things:
1. if you only have a week or so, avoiding touristy areas becomes harder than when you have some more time to go really away from it all.
2. Mauritius is independent, not French.

Just some first thought.

I shouldn't let french be a barrier, you would be suprised how many places have english speakers nowadays. Mauritius does have some excellent water sports, fab beaches, great diving and inland is lovely if you go up into the mountains. Limited wildlife though.

Seems like your best option would be Madagascar, expensive to get there, but it has it all. Nosy Be and surrounding islands have incredible beaches and supposedly some of the best diving in the world. I do not dive, but snorkling around Nosy Tanikely was amazing. Lokobe on Nosy Be has a small rainforest with plenty of lemurs and snakes, ideal for a day. The rest of the time you could travel around the islands, different beaches and dive sites. Alternatively, there are a couple of companies in South Africa which will take you around by boat, camping on beaches. I think its around £500 for a couple of weeks. Flights to Mad are between £700 to £1000 though.

Other options could be, Malawi, Mozambique, Zanzibar (although animals limited to Red Colubus Monkeys) or even west Africa???

Let me advice you on what i know and on what i do. I would recommend Kenyan coast where you get to find the Haller park/ Bamburi walking trails for nature. Shimba hills game reserve which is the only game reserve in the Coast. It offers 192 KM2 of forest, waterfalls and hilly landscape easy range of the beach resorts.
South coast of Mombasa, Kisite - Mpunguti Marine Parks you can do scuba-diving, skiing, snorkeling and down south deep sea fishing at Pemba for Kingfish and Barracudas. You will also see Turtles.
Wasani Island will offer you the sights of Dolphins, have a walk to the Muslim village of Wasini Coral gardens huh did i mention the Kenyan coast people have a very rich culture, meet the nine clans known as Mijikenda, still stuck in cultural practices.
Your more than a week stay in Kenyan coast would turn to that of a memorable never to forget

-snip-

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Hello I am happy to help you ..
I suggest, you choosed the Gambia, west Africa, I am sure you will have all what you need in your holiday times to get more relaxed and see important and historical places and cultures to learn in English.
I myself is a Gambian nationality and basing in the Gambia, if you could make your mind to come here, I assure you , you will like it a lot.
Hope to see your respond soon.
Dawda

Hi !

Have you ever heard about ESSAOUIRA !
please check the word on your internet !

may be it will be very excited !
good luck