As we were stating in a previous article, Africa always has so much to offer whether it is the fauna, the landscapes or a huge variety of cultures and traditions. Many of the people outside the cities or the modern life often choose to live after ancient laws, keeping their devotion to the tribe. The Maasai people are a perfect example for understanding the special connection between humans and nature.

The Maasai (also called Masai) are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs, dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well known of African ethnic groups.

Maasai society is strongly patriarchal in nature with elder men, sometimes joined by retired elders, deciding most major matters for each Maasai group. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon (ritual leader) who may be involved in: shamanistic healing, divination and prophecy, ensuring success in war or adequate rainfall. A particularity of their culture is the initiation of the young people in their long journey to become warriors and reliable men of the tribe.

Music and dance

Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody. Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons. Both singing and dancing sometimes occur around ceremonies and involve flirting. Young men will form a line and chant rhythmically “Oooooh-yah”, girls stand in front of the men and make the same pelvis lunges while singing a high dying fall of “Oiiiyo..yo” in counterpoint to the men.

The Maasai dance is called adamu (“the jumping dance”) and is performed when a circle is formed by the warriors, and one or two at a time will enter the center to begin jumping while maintaining a narrow posture, never letting their heels touch the ground. Members of the group may raise the pitch of their voices based on the height of the jump. (information from Wikipedia)

photo by Dmitri Markine

The Maasai are usually very friendly with travelers; at times they dance and sing to welcome visitors.

Pictures via 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

The post Dance with the Maasai People ! appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

In october 2010, the volcanologist Geoff Mackley came up with the crazy idea of descending into the Marum volcano which was active at that time. He gathered a team and went to Ambryum Island, Vanuatu, in an extreme adventure to approach as much as they could of the boiling caldera. To document the furious lava lake up close, they had to descend into the giant pit, facing hazardous toxic gas vapors and foul weather.  See how they managed to confront the danger in the video below.

What do you think- challenging or plain crazy?

The post Climbing Down Into an Active Volcano [Video] appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Photo by Gilles Diaz

Even if many of you probably already heard about the Telectroscope, this great invention captured our attention and we thought of sharing it. Although it had a short existence (May-June 2008), it is a famous creation that consisted in outdoor interactive video installations linking London (near Tower Bridge) and New York (Brooklyn Bridge). It was an modern art installation constructed by Paul St George (a London based multimedia artist and sculptor) who stated his inspiration was a project developed by its grand-father in the 19th century. The Telectroscope appeared one morning on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing a 37 feet long by 11 feet tall brass and wood Victorian–looking contraption. To achieve a real-time encounter between people, the installation used two video cameras linked by a VPN connection to provide a virtual tunnel across the Atlantic. The connection used links of between 8 and 50 Mbps and the images were transmitted using MPEG-2 compression.

Photo by Michiel Souren

Here is a excerpt from Telectroscope.com about the immediate effects of the unusual art installation: “The Telectroscopes connected London and New York through a number of tunnels and visual amplifiers. This enabled passers by in London to see and interact with the passers by in New York in real time. The 9–hour time difference between London and New York meant that the very first interaction between people in London and people in New York was between a group of office workers on their way to work in London and a curious NYPD officer on his night shift. The office workers at the London end were ecstatic; they had never seen, let alone interacted, with an NYPD officer in real life before. Until then, NYPD officers had only existed in the fantasy of ‘NYPD Blue’. It did not take long before the police officer was throwing his best salsa moves and the office workers in London were responding with an impromptu cha–cha.”

Come to think of it, this is also a form of unconventional tourism, wouldn’t you agree? Here is where you will find the whole story behind the Telectroscope.

Photo by David Parker

Photo by David Parker

Photo by Matthew Andrews

Photo by David Goldberg

Photo by Dmitriy

Photo by Alessio Gorati

Photo by David Parker

Photo by Matthew Andrews

Photo by Cameron

Photo by Tom H.

Pictures via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

The post Art Installation Linking People from London&New York in Real Time: Telectroscope [VIDEO] appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Tomorrow (March 20th), Hindus everywhere are celebrating a religious spring festival in an intriguing way: by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Check out our post where we covered the Holli Festival of Colors and have a look at the video below for a glimpse of this colorful, colorful day.

photo via

The post Happy Holli! appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Parkour is a physical discipline originating from France (founded by David Belle)  in which the runners chooses a route in the surrounding environment and attempts to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way, using only their body. Parkour can be practiced in any environment, but the most popular are the urban areas where dense and challenging obstacles are preferred to pump up the adrenaline. Most based on the original principle of self-preservation and the abilities to help others, this extreme sport involves discipline, interior strength, years of practice and knowledge about the environment, with all its shapes, dimensions, surfaces and many other things that have to be analyzed in order to get out without injuries from crazy attempts. Many traceurs (derived from the Parisian “to move quickly”) believe that parkour influences their thought process by enhancing self-confidence that allows overcoming mental obstacles.

In order to make a much clear picture, Belle makes a distinction between freerunning and parkour or l’art du déplacement, explaining that “the term freerunning is sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably with l’art du déplacement. While l’art du déplacement aims to enable the practitioner to be able to move quickly and creatively past obstacles, freerunning is a competition sport and includes moves such as aerial rotations and spins.” Wikipedia

Find all about it by visiting parkour.com.

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Photo by Scott Bass

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Photo by David Degner

Photo by Sam Kong

Photo by Jonathan Lucas

Pictures via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

The post Parkour, the Art of Displacement [VIDEO] appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Garma Festival is an annual festival organized by Yothu Yindi Foundation held in Gulkula, at north-east of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Before starting the festival, the ancient sound of the didgeridoo (a wind instrument) spreads around the region, calling all people to come together in unity and peace. The wild symphony of the local “musicians” announces the Garma Festival, an event that resisted over time, being the most vibrant celebration of YoIngu Aboriginal people of northeastern Arnhem Land. As the most important Indigenous cultural celebration, the festival is the perfect cultural exchange for clan groups from Arnhem Land and also for clan groups throughout the land and Australia.

Garma Festival, with its spectacular traditions and practices which include dance, song, music and art, has a spiritual significance for YoIngu, as a practice and as a place. It happens when people leave their anger and selfishness, when different values and ideas emerge and negotiate knowledge in a respectful learning environment. Garma Festival can be seen as a colorful gate between two worlds: the inheritance of YoIngu culture, one of the oldest living cultures on Earth (stretching back over 40,000 years) and the modern culture represented by Ngapaki or Non-Indigenous Australians.

More information about Garma Festival here.

Photo by Cameron Herweynen

Photo by ABC Open Top End

Photo by Wayne Quilliam

Photo by Wayne Quilliam

Photo by Cameron Herweynen

Photo by WorldNomads.com

Photo by Original Nomad

Photo by Cameron Herweynen

Photo by Cameron Herweynen

Photo by Nicole Skeltys

Photo by Wayne Quilliam

Photo by Wayne Quilliam

Pictures via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

The post Garma Festival, a Vibrant Celebration of YoIngu Aboriginal People appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Dinner in the sky is an intriguing dining concept operating in various cities around the world. The idea of a “suspended” restaurant came from David Ghysels, Belgium, who created a unique dining “custom” which uses a crane to hold  its dinners, as well as the table and waiters 50 meters into the air. Dinner in the sky is available for a session of 8 hours and can be divided or personalized in relation to customer needs. It is especially developed for those who want to transform an ordinary meal or meeting into a unique experience, with a wonderful panorama of the sights above the table.

Guests are strapped into leather seats at the table 40 meters, or 130 feet, in the air while waiters and waitresses stand in an aisle at the center of the table. The company arranges for access to on-ground facilities and handles any necessary permits.Cost depends on the location, the menu, and a list of variables that stretch from putting an opera singer in the center of the table to suspending a platform from a second crane allowing a band to circle diners as they eat. A Dinner in the Sky in Belgium costs around €15,000; in Las Vegas, it can run $35,000. More on dinnerinthesky.com.

Here is the idea put to practice in several countries across the globe:

The post Hungry for Adrenaline? Dinner in The Sky, a Worldwide Thrilling Dining Concept appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

In case you did not know, Denmark’s capital is a haven for bicycles.  We found this well made short film about Copenhagen’s cycling life by director Martin de Thurah on Good Transportation and liked it. We will let you draw the conclusions.

EXPO bicycle city from martin de thurah on Vimeo.

The post Copenhagen’s Cycling Life, a Short Movie appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Watch Kevin Richardson (aka “The Lion Whisperer” ) in action:

The post Incroyable appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.

Liu Bolin or “The Invisible Man“, as he is well known by the international media, is a Chinese artist known for taking photographs of himself, painted in order to blend in with the background. In his famous artwork series called “Hiding in the City“, Liu manages to camouflage himself in every background, whether is about a building, monument, graffiti wall, city square or colorful nature.     The main motive for this amazing art project was generated in 2005, when Liu Bolin’s art studio was shut down by the Chinese authorities because of his nonconformist way of expression. Since then, he has chosen to protest through his art (with a camouflage work which can take up to 10 hours) against the suppressive actions of the Government regarding  human rights, especially focused on intellectuals or art creators. Beside this reason, Bolin tries to transmit a worldwide message: “Me, as an individuality, I don’t fit in this modern society! If I have values and strength to protect them, then I become a menace or a threat for the mass culture.”

Pictures via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

The post The Art of an “Invisible” Man: Liu Bolin appeared first on Tourism On The Edge.