Hello everyone 👋🏼
My name is Lucas from Brazil and I've been traveling in Africa for the last seven months.
In this blog post, I'd like to share my experience traveling alone during this time.
When I came from Brazil I was not expecting that much about Africa. At that point, I didn't know a lot about the continent, places to visit, and culture. After seven months I can say that all the points exceeded my expectations and I don't regret a single day of living here.
I had the chance to visit South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania - which is my favorite country.
If you are a nature lover, Tanzania offers you a lot of things to do. Just to give you an idea, all these magical places described below you can find it there:
If you like climbing mountains, in Tanzania you have the stunning Mount Kilimanjaro - which is the tallest mountain in Africa.
Probably you think about seeing wild animals when you're planning your trip to Africa. So, in Tanzania, you can also do game drivers (safari) and spot the big five (lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, and elephant). National Parks like Serengeti and Ngorongoro are the best places to spot these magnificent animals.
Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika are the largest and the second-largest lakes in Africa.
You can visit Gombe or Mahale National Park to see the chimps - which are our closest living relatives.
Some places like Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika you can easily plan to visit by yourself. But to visit places such as Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Gombe the best option is to find a good company or guide you in your adventures.
If you're planning to travel in low-budget conditions, you have some options to save money that I used during my travel:
Transportation: you can easily use public transportation in Tanzania, but you can also pay for a private taxi. It's important to understand the prices in advance to avoid being overcharged.
Accommodation: you'll find all types of accommodation, from luxury places to local cheap places. I decided to save money with that, so I stayed mainly in local lodges/hostels or spent time being a volunteer. You can use workaway.com to find nice volunteering opportunities.
Food: I avoided buying food in restaurants. I decided to buy my groceries and cook my food. By the way, the food in Tanzania is so cheap.
As a traveler, you also need to be aware of some points:
Visa: check if you need a visa application before you buy your tickets. Some countries are allowed to come without a visa, others not. To avoid any trouble check if your passport details in a website called passportindex.org
Safety: although most of the countries in Africa I felt safe, as a mzungu (white guy), you'll always be an "eye-catching" for the local people. So when you arrive in busy places it's normal that a lot of people come close to you to "help" or selling something. Just say thanks and keep going.
Mosquitoes: in most countries, you have a lot of mosquitoes - and they're so annoying. So, don't forget to bring or buy a repellent or a mosquito net.
I hope I gave you all the information you need to travel to Africa.
I'm 100% sure that you'll not regret your decision.
Enjoy your life ✌🏼