If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am completely captivated by Africa. It is an incredible place with plenty of adventure for any one lifetime. The video below gives us a glimpse of the amazing landscapes, wildlife and people that can be found there. It was shot by filmmaker Benjamin Dowie, who recently visited Uganda and Tanzania. His short film captures many of the aspects of Africa that appeal to me and it makes me want to return again soon.

THIS IS AFRICA from Benjamin Dowie on Vimeo.

Backpackers and mountain bikers will be interested to learn that a new long distance trail is set to open in Africa in early 2014. The new trail will give adventure seekers the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of a legendary explorer while also visiting the newest country on the planet – South Sudan. Along the way they'll get the chance to experience parts of Africa that remain wild and undeveloped, passing through landscapes that have remained largely unchanged for centuries.

The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail will stretch from Juba in South Sudan to Baker's View, which overlooks Lake Albert in western Uganda. The route will cover approximately 575 km (357 miles) along the same path that the Bakers followed on their two expeditions to Africa, which took place in the 1860's and 70's. The route will end at the point where Sir Samuel became the first European to ever set eyes on Lake Albert, which he himself named after Prince Albert.

The trail is being created through the efforts of anthropologist and explorer Julian Monroe Fisher who is working closely with the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities, The Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation & Tourism for South Sudan. The descendants of Sir Samual and Lady Florence Baker are also taking part in the creation of this new route, which is being developed with the support of RailRiders Adventure Clothing and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, both of which are sponsors of Fisher's Great African Expedition. It was during Phase Two of that expedition that he discovered the exact location of Baker's View and is credited by the Ugandan Government with correcting key locations on maps. Fisher will return to Uganda in June to begin placing historical markers along the trail which will designate places that the Bakers camped while they were exploring the region.

During the 1860's and 70's, Samuel Baker explored much of central Africa and later along the path of the Nile. His wife, Lady Florence, traveled with him on his expeditions as he wandered throughout much of what is now Uganda and South Sudan. One of his early adventures took him to the shores of  Lake Albert, which he discovered in 1864. In addition to their contributions towards filling in the blank spots on the map, the Bakers were also staunchly against slavery. The couple publicly called for the abolition of the slave trade, a fact that is not forgotten in the region even in the 21st century.

The new trail is set to officially open in January of 2014 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Baker's expedition. Unlike many trails of this kind, access will not only be granted to hikers, but also mountain bikers and eventually 4x4 vehicles as well. Future extensions to the trail will expand on its length, including a long loop in South Sudan that will lead to the summit of Mount Kinyeti, the tallest peak in the region at 3187 meters (10,456 ft).

The trail is also being seen as an economic boon for both Uganda and South Sudan. The hope is that the scenic route will lure trekkers to the area bring much needed in flux of tourism dollars.

Back in February I posted a story about two British explorers, Levison Wood and Simon Clarke, who had announced plans to walk the length of the Nile River, something that has never been done before. Since then, the expedition has received a great deal more attention and while no official start date has been announced yet, the two mean are gearing up to begin their journey later this year.

Earlier today, Explorers Web posted an interview with Wood which shares a few more details about the team's plans. He talks about how he and Clarke met (both soldiers stationed in Iraq), their experience as guides and what precautions they're taking for their upcoming adventure. He also discusses some logistics and inspirations for the journey, which will be quite the challenge.

The expedition will commence at the source of the Nile River, located along one of the tributaries in the dense forests of Rwanda. From there, Wood and Clarke will proceed more than 4250 miles (6839 km) to the sea, crossing through Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, The Sudan, and Egypt in the process. They are estimating that it will take approximately 12 months to finish the source-to-sea trek.

At the moment, the two men are reportedly in Sudan and South Sudan exploring part of the route ahead of their start sometime this summer. When they finish up that work, they'll likely head home to London for the final gear prep before setting out. But one of the biggest hurdles they still face is fund raising to help them get the expedition off the ground. With that challenge still ahead of them, they continue to ask for support through their Kickstarter page.

Good luck to Levison and Simon on this epic adventure. It certainly will be one to keep an eye on in the months ahead.

Explorer Julian Monroe Fisher has completed Phase Two of his ambitious RailRiders 2012-2016 Great African Expedition, traveling overland through remote regions of that continent. Fisher began the journey in Juba, the capital of South Sudan back in January and followed the same expeditionary route taken by Sir Samuel White Baker and his wife Lady Florence Baker back in the 1860's. The route eventually took him across the border into northern Uganda, following in Baker's footsteps to the shores of Lake Albert.

This phase of the expedition follows a successful launch of the project last spring during which Fisher traveled overland from Cairo, Egypt to Khartoum, Sudan. Traveling solo, the anthropologist began his study of the Ethnographical make-up of parts of Africa. The plan is to compare the modern day dispersal of local tribes with historical records from the 19th century with similar data.

During Phase Two, Fisher was joined by British photographer and documentarian Jon Maguire as he traveled north out of Juba into the realm of the Mundari tribes. From there, the two men turned southeast, traveling into the Eastern Equatoria region of South Sudan. Next, their route carried them across the border into northern Uganda, where they were joined by David Baker and his daughter Melanie. David is the great-great grandson of Sir Samuel Baker, and together the group trekked to the location where the famed explorers became the first European to set eyes on Lake Albert. Marking the exact GPS coordinates of that point, Fisher was later able to provide the Ugandan government with the precise location, something they intend to use to promote the spot to travelers.

Fisher and Maguire now intend to make a documentary of their travels through South Sudan, which remains the planet's newest nation. Few know much about the country and its troubled history, and it is possible the film will give many of us our first glimpse into life in that country.

Phase Three of the expedition will follow the Kagera River through Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania before making a circumnavigation around Lake Victoria. The start of that phase of the expedition has yet to be announced.

Two British adventurers are preparing to set out on one very long and demanding expedition that will see them pass through seven countries, covering more than 4250 miles (6840 km), along the entire length of the Nile River.

Inspired by Ed Stafford's record setting walk along the Amazon, Levison Wood and Simon Clarke have dubbed their adventure Walking the Nile. If successful, they'll become the first people in history to walk the longest river in the world from source to sea, and along the way they hope to encourage others to get off their couch and seek adventures of their own.

Their journey will begin in the highlands of Burundi and Rwanda before descending into the thick jungles of Tanzania and Uganda. From there they'll walk along the edge of Lake Victoria before entering the newest country on the planet – South Sudan. Crossing through the largest swampland on the planet, they'll move into North Sudan before passing into the Sahara Desert for the final leg of the expedition in Egypt. Wood and Clarke estimate that it should take them roughly 12 months to complete their adventure.

No date has been announced for the start of the expedition, but presumably you'll be able to follow progress on Facebook and Twitter once they get underway. For now though, you can get a sense of what they are facing in the short video below.

Walking The Nile from Secret Compass on Vimeo.

Whenever I talk about my long drive through Asia to Afghanistan and Nepal I try to explain how it was as much a journey through time and it was through space. In 1969 there were parts of Afghanistan that were like 1169. I lived in a "village" for a while where no one had ever experienced electricity or had heard of the United States. (Now they've all heard of the United States-- the faraway country occupying their homeland, bombing their homes, killing their relatives and running around in alien outfits that they would relate to people from another galaxy if they knew what another galaxy was. When I was there, the U.S. had landed a man on the moon; that was not something I was able to explain to anyone.) Anyway, today my other blog, Down With Tyranny is helping raise money for an electoral battle in Maine, where reactionary religious fanatics are trying to take away the rights of same sex couples to marry. Polling shows that the reactionaries will probably lose.

The reactionaries, however, should consider moving to Uganda. It's as backward and venal, at least in terms of rights for gay people, as they are. Just because the Jews (not counting the Abayudaya) rejected it as a homeland in the 1940s, there's no reason for American religionist nuts nit to move there en masse. Normal tourists, on the other hand, should probably skip Uganda. The country's tourism heyday was in the 1960s and it;s been all downhill since then. Lately they're trying for a comeback based on the flora and fauna that the backward, savage and dangerous people live around. They killed off most of the interesting wildlife, making it impossible to compete with the incredible safari parks in Kenya and Tanzania.

The country is trying to build up its tourism industry, emphasizing its Mountain Gorilla population at the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Tourists have been killed in Uganda's national parks and prudent travelers will give the country a wide berth, despite the efforts of the government to lure tourists with irresponsible and self-serving lies about how safe the country is.

The Ugandan government on Wednesday said the country is safe for tourists, despite last week' s riots that left 15 people dead, scores injured and property destroyed.

Serapio Rukundo, minister of state for tourism, told reporters here that the security situation in the East African country is under control.

"Uganda is absolutely safe. We are one of the safest countries in the world. What happened was just lack of dialogues," he said.

Rukundo's comments came after some foreign missions issued travel advisories requesting their nationals not to travel to the country and those within the country to stay indoors.

Moses Mapesa, executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority, said riots happened all over the world and has not stopped tourists from visiting the affected destinations. He said what is critical is the country's capacity to contain the riots.

"Uganda is a safe country to visit, we have infrastructure, we have capacity and we have the attractions," he said.

Uganda also has the most viciously homophobic laws of anyplace anyone would ever consider visiting. This month their parliament is determined to make the laws even worse-- way beyond their 2006 ban on gay marriage-- and seems enthralled with assigning the death penalty to homosexuality. Sounds like a veritable paradise for right-wing Republicans, though not so much for many of their elected officials like Lindsey Graham (R-SC), David Dreier, and Patrick McHenry (R-NC) to name a few who pop right into one's mind.

The blog Mad Professah Lectures points out that the atmosphere in Uganda is not just dangerous but "paranoid and hysterical." And the blog GayUganda grapples seriously with the death penalty aspects of the new law, a law that also criminalizes the "promotion of homosexuality, effectively banning political organizations, broadcasters and publishers that advocate on behalf of gay rights." Doesn't sound like the kind of place for a tourism industry to be taken seriously-- not in this decade.