A big THANK YOU from Diary of a Muzungu & the East Africa Travel Podcast!
As we “hang up our boots” for the holidays, here’s a:
💚 Thank you to everyone who reads Diary of a Muzungu. This year the blog has focused on practical travel advice, with my creative energy channelled into 🎧 the East Africa Travel Podcast. Season 1 (20 episodes so far) has been a labour of love – and a lot of fun too!
🎁 Thank you to everyone who has been part of the podcast: my fascinating guests* and my listeners. I’ve loved all your feedback 💚 please keep it coming!
🎁 To everyone I trained with this year: what a great learning experience! (I now train tour operators in sustainable tourism, in addition to digital marketing).
🎁 A special shout-out to my friend, Prof. Wolfgang Thome, for sharing my podcasts and stories on his website and to my support team: my awesome sound recordist Bryan Kisembo and trusted web developer of many years, Sam Risbond.
In festive newsletter tradition, highlights of 2024 included:
🐘 Proofreading the latest edition of Andrew Roberts’ fantastic Uganda Safari book. I devoured every page of hand-written maps, historical photos – and his irrepressible humour!
🧾 I was delighted when the Uganda Tourism Board invited me to join the judging panel at Uganda’s Sustainable Tourism Awards at the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo. Thank you Lilly Ajarova! Here’s my story about the winners.
🔥 World Tourism Day celebrations in Kasese were HOT HOT HOT 🔥 The midday sun shone on the shiny new Equator Monument at Kikorongo, Queen Elizabeth National Park.
🗻 My work year ended at the foot of Mount Elgon – training staff from tourism projects from all corners of north / eastern Uganda.
🌊 Mombasa and Diani are two of the Kenyan destinations we’ll be featuring in Season 2 of the East Africa Travel Podcast, loading early 2025: turtle conservation along Diani’s beaches, and an epic journey from Kampala to Nairobi and Mombasa (think: bus, SGR train, ferry and a tuk tuk ride through Old Town Mombasa!)
🌍 Looking ahead, 2025 kicks off with a research trip for Fodor’s Complete Guide to the African Safari, a guide I’m working on for the third time. 🦁
Just in time for the holidays 🎈🎄🎁🥂 my latest blog post is “From rollex to royalty: Kampala’s must-visit attractions” – something to inspire your next trip, perhaps?
IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING
Read What people are saying about the East Africa Travel Podcast. (Thank you Tony Musho!)
Listen to the East Africa Travel Podcast < here > and tell me what you think? 😎 Every episode has a transcript too, so listen, read or listen & read!
🎄 🎁 Thank you for being part of my 2024. Wishing you a joyful Christmas and an adventurous New Year!
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