History

22 October
Sun Festival, Abu Simbel, Egypt
Be one of the privileged few to witness the sun’s first rays piercing the inner sanctum of Abu Simbel, lighting up the statues of the gods Amun-Ra, Ra-Herakhte and Ramses. Fittingly, the adjacent statue of Ptah (the god of darkness) is never illuminated. A feat of ancient engineering ensured this phenomenon occurred only on 21 February (the alleged date of Ramses II’s coronation) and 21 October (Ramses II’s supposed birthday). The painstaking UNESCO project to relocate Ramses II’s greatest monument in 1972 has led to both the Sun Festivals taking place here a day later, on the 22nd day of the respective months.

July

Film fest
Celebrate African and world cinema in South Africa at the Durban International Film Festival. Over 300 screenings in 22 venues. 22 July – 2 August

Saturday 26th September 2009

Slide into an ape suit and join a thousand others as they run through the streets of London in the annual Great Gorilla Charity Run. The 7km City of London route takes in sights such as Tower Bridge and The Tate Modern.

Edition 46: Spring 2009

Renowned Zimbabwean sculptor Patrick Mavros will host glass engraver Philip Lawson Johnson and painter Annabel Pope at his eponymous gallery in London (Fulham Road, SW3 6HS) for a five-day exhibition of wildlife in art this May. 

January

Desert date
Mali’s Le Festival au Désert is a unique event modelled on traditional gatherings and celebrations of the Tuareg people. Great people. Great music

8-10 January

Edition 44: Autumn 2008

The vivid images of award-winning photographer Andy Rouse have long been leaping from the pages of Travel Africa magazine, notably in his regular Photoschool column.

October

Got a date?
The annual three-day date festival in Morocco’s Erfoud region hosts musical celebrations, Berber tents and a whole lot of dates.
Early October

Edition 44: Autumn 2008

Ian Craig, founder of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, and Jonathan Kipkorir Nteere, a Maasai from The Mukogodo Forest, will speak at the Royal Geographical Society on Wednesday 19 November as part of the 15th American Express Conservation Lecture in aid of Tusk. Their talk, Conflict in Northern Kenya: A Conservation Opportunity, will explain how the foundation of the unique Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) organisation is allowing historical land-based conflict to be mitigated through conservation.

Edition 44: Autumn 2008

Carl Bruessow, executive director of the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust and Founder Trustee of the Nyika-Vwaza (UK) Trust, will be giving a lecture on the conservation challenge facing Mount Mulanje and the Nyika Plateau 60 years after Laurens van der Post.

Exhibitions and Talks

Round the world by bike
Monday 12 May, 6.30pm, RGS, London SW7. RGS and IBG Members and guests only.
Alastair Humphreys talks of his four-year journey across five continents, 60 countries and 46,000 miles. A low-budget, spontaneous expedition by bicycle that ranged from the Dead Sea to AndeanPeaks, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, and from the desert of Sudan to a Siberian winter.

by Kate Eshelby

Gravity-defying human totem poles thrust high up into the tent; dressed in animal skins, swirls of raffia on their feet and defiantly painted faces, they balance confidently one on top of the other to form lofty pyramid structures. Then the tempo heightens, the stage seamlessly transforms to the frenzy of a team of basketball players darting around on unicycles, blowing whistles, dressed in bright hooded tops and trainers, moving to pulsating hip-hop beats, nets of light pirouetting out as the bicycle wheels spin at full speed.