The question of safety in Kenya usually pops up when someone has checked out the US State Department's "Travel Warnings" and been surprised to see Africa's #1 safari destination on the list. While I would not venture to the Somali border for a picnic, I'm quite positive this area is not on any standard safari tour. The main point being, that you are quite safe to travel to Kenya if you avoid the border areas and don't wander around the cities at night with your cameras gleaming in the moonlight.

Most visitors will enjoy Kenya's many attractions in the hands of a competent ground operator, they will fly between national parks, or drive short distances in a vehicle with a trained driver. These are all factors that probably make it safer for a tourist to visit, than an expatriate working in Nairobi, as far as theft and other crime goes.

Do, check out the State Department warnings and watch the news for any upcoming elections. They can and do cause a little more unrest, but usually don't affect the national parks anyway. For more in depth tips see: Is it safe to visit Kenya?

_{Image - Tembo House Balcony, © Campi Ya Kanzi, Kenya}

Tour operators can save you lots of time and money when planning a trip to Africa. This is especially the case if you want to go on safari. The logistics and choices for safaris in East or Southern Africa are mind boggling. So talking to someone who knows the what, where and how is worth the small mark up you pay for the service.

If you've ever tried to book and pay for flights on some of the smaller airlines in Africa as an independent traveler, you'll know what I'm talking about. I like to have total control over every aspect of my own trips, but almost missed my entire gorilla tracking safari in Rwanda (and those permits are not easy to get), because the airline changed their schedule by a few days. Since I'd booked it myself, I had to spend hours on the phone changing everything around at considerable expense.

There are some African vacations that you can easily book yourself. A week in Morocco is fun to plan independently, with excellent public transport and a multitude of lovely Riads to browse through - it's simple. The same goes for a week in Cape Town. You can rent a car and just go explore with a good guidebook and a little research.

But for most destinations, and multiple country trips, it's the logistics that make it difficult to plan a trip independently, especially if you don't have a lot of time. And that's where a little expertise and knowledge goes a long way to ensure a relaxing and interesting vacation, rather than a frustrating slog.  I've come up with a number of other reasons that will help you determine when to use a tour operator to book your African vacation - click here to check them out.

More About: African Vacation Planner l Safari Planner l Responsible Tour Operators

Scientists recently discovered the deepest living animal in one of South Africa's gold mines. It's a roundworm, capable of surviving in some very hot water. It gets warm when you're 3 km below the earth's surface. The water they found the roundworm (Halicephalobus mephisto) in, dates between 3,000 - 12,000 years. That's quite a vintage. The worms reproduce asexually and enjoy eating bacteria.

South Africa is filled with bizarre creatures. My favorite oddball safari star is the giraffe. With a blue tongue, 5 inch head nobs, and an ability to last for weeks without water - it's not even necessary to point out the length of its neck. The pangolin is a close second, but difficult to spot. A shame really, I'd love to see one feed with their long sticky tongues. When not in use, they pull their tongue back into a special sheath that retracts into their chest cavity

The ogre-faced spider could win an award for scary and bizarre. It looks terrifying, but it's quite harmless, yet fascinating. It spins a web between its long front legs, stretches it nice and wide, and then leaps down onto its victims to trap them in it.

Africa Travel's contributing writer Melissa Shales has recently written about the truly bizarre Coelacanth, a real living dinosaur. It's thought to be the missing evolutionary link between fish and reptiles. Growing up to 1.8m (6 ft) long, they have eight fins altogether with hollow spines (the literal meaning of the word 'coelacanth'). The second pair of side fins were initially thought to be proto-legs, but are actually used, both pairs together, in a weird whirring action, to help when hovering. They have large eyes and small mouths which are hinged so that they can open extremely wide. Only 1.5% of their brain cavity is used by the brain - the rest is full of fat.

Read More About: The Coelacanth l The Pangolin l Africa's Scary Spiders

What weird creatures have you come across in South Africa?

_{Image of the Ogre-Faced Spider - © Robert Whyte}

Africa will be represented by Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea in the FIFA Women's World Cup held in Germany from June 26 - July 17, 2011. The Nigerian Super Falcons are the reigning African champions. The team is captained by Precious Dede, a veteran goalkeeper who has played in two previous World Cups. Equatorial Guinea surprised many Africans when they won the Women's African Championships in 2008. By reaching the final in 2010, they managed to nab a spot at their first FIFA World Cup. The team is captained by Genoveva Añonma.

Women's soccer in Africa is growing in popularity. Personally I've seen many more girls kicking around a soccer ball on dusty pitches in Rwanda, Ghana and Tanzania in the past few years, than I ever have before. I took a little video of some school girls playing at a school in Atsiekpoe, Ghana, have a look.

The women's national teams are woefully underfunded of course, so these ladies who have made it to the World Cup deserve our support. Nigeria's Super Falcons are in Group A and will play against France, Germany and Canada in the first round. Equatorial Guinea's Nzalang Nacional are in Group D and will face Norway, Austria, and Brazil in their first round. You can watch the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup matches on ESPN in the US, CBC in Canada, and on Eurosport in Europe.

More About: FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 l Football in Africa

_{Image -- Perpetua Nkwocha, Nigeria, © Getty Images/Jeff Gross}