• A model of the Arc of the Covenant

  • Blessing the water

  • Christians showered with blessed water

  • Priests chanting

  • Dancing and drumming as part of Timkat

  • Tabot is wrapped in cloth and carried through the crowd

  • Priests dance and shake their clappers during the procession

  • Priests holding Lalibela crosses

  • Colour of Timkat

  • Waiting for proceedings to begin

Timkat Festival Ethiopia continues…

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

Day 2 of the Timkat Festival,  we reach the special ground where the waters are blessed for the Baptism rites. The whole area was crowded, and locals waved lighted tapers as the priests

  • Dressing for the ceremony

  • Hamar women dancing prior to ceremony

  • Looking cool

  • Becoming a man

  • Face paint part of ceremony

  • Becoming a man today

  • Young boy ready for initiation

A Hamar boy becomes a man – Omo Valley Ethiopia

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

Young men from many cultures must endure rituals to enter manhood. The young Hamar men of southern Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, prove their manhood by eventually succeeding at ‘cattle-jumping,’ a challenge

  • View above Victoria Falls

  • Brett & Holly Goulston at the falls

  • Don't miss out on this

  • Our Blue Dot group ready with raincoats

  • View from Victoria Falls Hotel

  • View from the helicopter

  • Holly Goulston ready to take off

  • Victoria Falls Hotel

Victoria Falls – The Smoke that Thunders

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

Mosi-oa- Tunya translates to the Smoke that Thunders. It describes the world’s greatest sheet of falling water aptly, where over 500 million litres of water each minute, pours over the

  • Enjoy the peaceful waterway of Okavango

  • Mokoros or dug out canoes

  • Focused on her job

  • Flying over Okavango Delta

  • Some impala on our walk

  • One of our paddlers

  • Our paddling crew in Okavango Delta

  • Water lillies in the Okavango delta

  • Herd of impala in the delta

  • Gordon and Julie McRonald on tour

  • Beautiful local girl

The Okavango Delta, Botswana – one of Africa’s most incredible places

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

Even in the dry season, the Okavango Delta in Botswana’s north west, is an amazing sight. It’s the world’s largest inland delta, which, depending on the season, sprawls across some 15,000-22,000 square

  • Victoria and Alfred Harbour

  • Cape Seals

  • Nelson Mandela's statue on Robben Island with Brett & Holly Goulston

  • Rock hyrax commonly called a dassie

  • Wine regions near Cape Town

  • Table Mountain aerial cableway

  • African penguins at Simon's Town beach

  • Victoria and Alfred Harbour Cape Town

  • Local musicians

  • District 6 Museum

Cape Town – Africa’s Most Beautiful City

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

It’s hard to argue about the beauty of this city, at the very bottom of the African continent. Cape Town points of interest including Table Mountain as a backdrop to the

  • Lip plates worn by Mursi tribe

  • Hamar women in traditional clothes

  • Ritual face painting of Hamar boys

  • Typical houses made from acacia wood

  • Modern take on Hamar tribe boys gear

  • Hamar women at market

  • Karo men like to dress up

  • Young Hamar man in traditional costume

  • Painted face of Hamar boy

The Tribes of the Omo Valley – Ethiopia

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

The Omo Valley, in the remote south-west of Ethiopia, is a vast river basin fringed in the far distance by mountains. Life here has largely stood still.  No Ethiopia trip is

  • Burchell's zebra

  • Lioness kicks back and relaxes

  • Small ears ... small eyes ... big mouths!

  • Time to head home late in the day

  • Brett & Holly Goulston ... cute hats!

  • Tranquil lands provide sanctuary to much wildlife

  • Baby elephant after its bath

  • Wildlife is abundant and in close range

Botswana – It’s as good as it sounds

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

Just saying this country makes you feel like you are on an exotic safari! Recently I camped in Botswana with my teenage daughter. It was a never-to-be-repeated daddy/daughter experience. There

  • Gorilla eating tree bark

  • Walking to find the gorillas

  • Two juvenile gorillas

  • Brett and Kate ready for ultimate gorilla experience

  • Magnificent siverback gorilla

  • Mother and baby gorilla

  • Tranquil Uganda landscape

Trekking with the Gorillas in Uganda

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

There are just 880 mountain gorillas left in the wild. They exist in three countries; The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, has over 400 living in the mountains, almost half

  • Timkat Festival unfolds

  • High priests carrying the church Tabots

  • Deacons in a rhythmic dance

  • Orthodox Christian priests bless the water

  • Christians showered with blessed water

  • Annual site of Timkat in Lalibella

The Festival of Timkat in Ethiopia

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

The Timkat Festival is a highlight of any visit to Ethiopia. Celebrating the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, it is one of the most important religious events in the Ethiopian

  • The Big Tsingy

  • One of the many lemurs

  • Crossing the suspension bridge

  • At the river crossing

  • Rafts are pulled across the river

  • Ring-tailed Mongoose

  • Climbing up through the gorge

  • Tsiribihina River crossing

  • Everyday tasks along the river

  • Using carabiners to hook on and off

  • Crossing suspension bridgs

  • River crossings on the way

The Big Tsingy – Madagascar

Posted on by Joanne Coughlan

The highlight for many of us on our Madagascar trip has been the trip to the Big Tsingy. Just getting there is an adventure! After passing through ancient baobab forests we finally

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