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Africa Geographic Travel

Ebola is scary – it’s a very serious rare disease

Africa is the world’s 2nd largest continent. At 30 million square kilometers, it is SO large that United States fits inside of it 3 times over!

And yet infrequent outbreaks of Ebola affecting the West coast of Africa (specifically the countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea) have some people cancelling safaris to this vast continent.

If you’re going on safari, you are going to be a very, very long way from these countries – in many cases, even further from them than you were before you left home.

Here are some places that are closer to the Ebola outbreak than the popular safari countries of South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and so on:

London, England – 2 924 miles / 4 707km from Ebola

Paris, France – 2 780 miles / 4 474km

Rome, Italy – 2 794 miles / 4 497km

Barcelona, Spain – 2 292 miles / 3 688km

Is Ebola keeping you from travelling to these places?

Only a crazy person would warn you against visiting Rome, London or Paris because of Ebola, yet they are both closer and receive a higher volume of West African travel than typical safari destinations.

Get a clear perspective on where the outbreak is happening.

Have a look at our map below for a clear, realistic perspective on where outbreaks have occurred, in relation to where you would travel to on safari.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak and proximity to safari travel destinations by Luke Hardiman
The 2014 Ebola outbreak and proximity to safari travel destinations by Luke Hardiman

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.

For more information: World Health Organisation

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HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF AFRICA GEOGRAPHIC:

  • Travel with us. Travel in Africa is about knowing when and where to go, and with whom. A few weeks too early / late and a few kilometres off course and you could miss the greatest show on Earth. And wouldn’t that be a pity? Browse our ready-made packages or answer a few questions to start planning your dream safari.
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  • Plan your safaris in remote parks protected by African Parks via our sister company https://ukuri.travel/ - safari camps for responsible travellers

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Africa Geographic Travel
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