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Tags: Bizarre Foods / Food Travel / Beer Travel / Banana Beer / → All Tags

Drinking Dirt Soup and Banana Beer in Tanzania

Bizarre Foods, everyone's favorite will-it-or-won't-it-make-us-puke show, is back for another season on the Travel Channel, and the first episode found host Andrew Zimmern hanging out with the Masai people in Tanzania.

We were down with the wildlife shots in the Garden of Eden and the scenery around the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro, but Andrew's meals of blood soup, dirt soup, and gooey, gelatinous okra soup had us inching towards the "will" side of the puke question.

That is until he hit the last segment and we found out about banana beer. Who knew this was even possible? And we've just been letting our bananas sit there in the fruit bowl and go bad all these years! Andrew doesn't drink, so we didn't get a heads-up on what it tastes like, but we're intrigued. Which got us wondering whether there are any Tanzanian restaurants stateside.

We've been googling and so far have come up empty – just this one place in Toronto, but no banana beer on the menu. Anyone? Is it possible to try banana beer this side of Dar es Salaam? Let us know.

Related Stories:
· Tanzania Travel Guide [Travel Channel]
· Tanzania Travel [Jaunted]
· Beer travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travel Channel]

Tags: Animal Travel / Animals / Bats / Africa Travel / → All Tags

Go Batty In Pemba and Save a Creepy-looking Animal

When you read a story about wildlife these days, the news is usually bad. As the human population swells on this planet, animal species are increasingly pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching, habitat loss, and pollution. That's why it's refreshing to hear some good news on the animal front every once in a while. A nifty item on msnbc.com points out that a huge, scary-looking bat on the Tanzanian island of Pemba has made an amazing recovery in recent years, after being reduced to just a handful of specimens in 1989. Today, thanks to two new forest reserves - and the local population's growing distaste for roasted bat - the Pemba flying fox is back, with conservationists estimating that between 22,000 and 37,000 animals are currently making a home on this picturesque island on the northern end of the Zanzibar archipelago. Island residents hope that the big bats, which can have a wingspan of nearly six feet, will lure eco-tourists from the safari camps on the mainland. We're not sure how anxious travelers will be to get up close and personal with critters like these, but it's nice to see that ugly animals are finally getting some protection. After all, why should cuddly koalas get all the conservation funds? Fortunately, visitors to the island these days will find plenty to do beside bat-watching, from a tour of a clove plantation (this is a Spice Island, after all) to a sail among the barrier islands on a dhow.

[Photo: AP]

Related Stories:
· Giant Bat Returns from Brink of Extinction [msnbc.com]
· Animal Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Tourism Boards / Tanzania Travel / → All Tags

Tanzania Shows Off Its Assets

Tanzania's official Tourist Board gives a condensed glimpse of the country's history, climate, culture, religion, and nature. A drop-down menu links site visitors to logistical travel information. Once travelers have arrived, they will discover the nation that harbors Mt. Kilimanjaro also has safaris, snorkeling, diving, and fishing, the site says.

Long considered the most politically stable and affluent of East African countries, President Jakaya Kikwete is committed to promoting Tanzania as a travel destination. Monday, he announced a 2008 summit titled "Tourism and Infrastructure Development." He hopes about 4,000 people will attend from neighboring countries as well as wealthy North Americans of African descent. The conference is a joint effort of former U.N. members and government officials.

Related Stories:
· Tanzania Tourist Board [Official Site]
· Hotels in Tanzania [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Sweet Maria's]

Tags: Amazing-Race-11 / Amazing-Race-All-Stars / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / → All Tags

Amazing Race All-Stars: The Tanzanian Devil

Click Here To Go Straight To Chasing Racers Map

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race All Stars mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below, and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out, and around on the map - with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

When last we saw our racers, they were wrangling rats in Maputo, Mozambique. Ian made the mandatory "You dirty rat" joke, and Uchenna and Joyce breathed a sigh of relief when they were spared elimination. After dropping behind during an excruciatingly boring coal-toting detour, the couple has to come in first--they're marked for elimination. With heaps of airline drama, lots of catty whining, loads of Oswald and Danny zingers, this week was a winner. So who gets sent home?

more ›

Tags: Mountains / Adventure Travel / → All Tags

Kilimanjaro's Days Are Numbered

USA Today asked conservationists and environmentalists just which world attractions were most in danger of disappearing. Number one on the list is Mt. Kilimanjaro, which has just 20% of the glaciers it had 100 years ago. Blame higher temperatures and less rainfall for the setback: scientists think that the glaciers will be completely gone in a decade or two.
Image from Just Insomnia

 Related Stories:
·   5 on the verge of vanishing [USA Today]
·   World Monuments Fund [Official site]