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| The biggest adventure of my trip to Africa was probably getting there. My family wasn't really supportive of my trip to Africa and told me several times I would die and not return. I was going in 1999 and just the year before both Kenya and Tanzania had the US embassies bombed by Al Qaeda killing hundreds of people. I didn't like the sound of this but it did little to change my mind. All this negativity did make me question myself on whether this trip was a good idea and if I was capable of going on my own. My mom drove me to the airport and on the way we got into a very bad accident. The car was totaled and I had no choice but to leave her there and take a taxi to the airport. Obviously, this put me in an extremely bad mood, and remember I had already been nervous because just the trip itself was intimidating. When I got to the airport I was told my plane was delayed for six hours. With so much time I just went back home. This made me feel a little better since I got to relax and talk to my family some more. My dad drove me to the airport this time and on the way he hit a deer which totaled the other car. Two accidents and two cars totaled in the same day. I'm not religious or superstitious, but it definitely began to feel that I was getting signs that suggested I shouldn't go on this trip, and continuing would just be a death wish. When I got back to the airport I was told my flight was delayed for 2 more hours. I had nothing to do. No book to read, no one to talk to, nothing. I sat and waited feeling extremely stressed out; I spent my time questioning my decision to go on the trip. After 2 hours I went up to the check in and I was told it was delayed another hour, then another hour, and so on. It sat there in boredom and stress for 6 hours total until I finally boarded the plane. When it was time to board the plane I didn't feel any better and actually felt worse. I was sure this plane would crash because it was delayed for mechanical problems; on top of that I had the two car crashes earlier in the day. My plane actually made it all the way to Ethiopia with no problems. Because we were late, we had no choice but to stay in the capital and fly out the next day. Once there I checked into my hotel and I felt much better. The biggest problem now though was I would be 24 hours late to Kenya, and I was worried the people who were supposed to pick me up would not be there. I called the tour agency in USA and they literally said they couldn't help me. When I got on my plane to Kenya I wasn't so stressed out anymore and happy not to be on yesterday's plane that I thought would crash. I sat on the plane for 3 hours but we never took off. Eventually they announced the plane was broken but it was being repaired. After sitting around for 4 hours the people around me began to yell and get uneasy. At one point one man got up and started yelling and then walked into the aisle and passed out. This made everyone else panic more and caused more chaos. After a total of six hours they fixed the plane and gave us the option of leaving or staying on the flight. I had nothing to do in Ethiopia so I stayed on the plane. There were more delays because of the people leaving who had to have their baggage removed. Finally we took off and made it to Kenya. In Kenya there was no one to pick me up like I expected. I had some hotel vouchers and I was able to find my way there and get my room. From there I asked around and ended up paying some African lady $30 to let me get on a bus that drove to Tanzania for 6 hours. Once in Tanzania I got my hotel and tried to get everything back on track. I was supposed to be picked up by someone who would drive me to another hotel in town nearby. I waited and at 11pm a car with two Tanzanians pulled up to the hotel. I asked them if they were supposed to pick me up and they didn't seem to speak any English but motioned for me to put my stuff in the car. I put everything in the car and we were on our way. It was almost midnight and we seemed to be going through some type of industrial area away from the city. At this point I figured anything could happen and I wouldn't be surprised if they were taking me to some remote area to rob and kill me. I was prepared to get out of the car and take off if this happened. It turned out I was just being paranoid because of all the other misfortunes in the night. They actually took me to where I needed to go, which was a nice hotel that was just outside the city. From here on everything in my trip to Africa was perfect and I had no other problems. |
| Africa |
| Ghana |
| Niger |
| Mauritania |
| Nigeria |
| Equatorial Guinea |
| Gabon |
| Tunisia |
| Cameroon |
| Guinea |
| Zimbabwe |
| Zambia |
| Benin |
| Togo |
| Gambia |
| Senegal |
| Malawi |
| Cape |
| Algeria |
| Burundi |
| Rwanda |
| Uganda |
| Comoros |
| Angola |
| Madagascar |
| Swaziland |
| Eritrea |
| Central African Republic |
| Lesotho |
| Mali |
| Chad |
| Kenya |
| Morocco |
| Sierra Leon |
| Ethiopia |
| Somalia |
| Ivory Coast |
| Sao |
| Liberia |
| Libya |
| Mozambique |
| Congo (DR) |
| Congo |
| Dijibouti |
| Guinea |
| Western Sahara |
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| Facts of Africa Population: 843+ Million World's population: 14% Countries: 56 Largest City: Cairo (10.8+ Million - Egypt) Official Languages: Afrikaans, Ahmarhic, Arabic, Bambara, Bantu, Bemba, Beti, Chichewa, Fang, Fon, French, Fulfude, Fuuta, Ganda, Jalon, Kabye, Kirundi, Lingala, Malagasy, Mandinka, Mende, Myene, Nubian, Portuguese, Pulaar, Sango, Sena, Sesotho, Setswana, Shona, Siswati, Somali, Siswati, Wolof, Yoruba |
| Facts on Africa Size: 30 million sq km Lowest Point: Lake Assal -156 meters, -512 feet Highest Point: Kilimanjaro 5895 meters, 19340 feet Lowest Temperature Record -23.9C, -11F - Morocco Highest Temperature Record: 57.7C, 135.9F - Libya Africa also has the: world's longest river world's hottest desert world's highest freestanding mountain |
| Burkina Faso |
| Africa is the second biggest continent and probably the least visited after Antarctica. The main reasons are because of Africa's bad reputations for its terrible diseases, stories of war and genocide, and its lack of infrastructure and extreme poverty. Out of the 42 wars currently going on in the world, many are taking place in Africa, but the majority are actually in Asia. Most of the population try to survive on about a dollar a day, so it's no surprise that many Africans resort to violence in order to make ends meet. While there are the obvious problems in Africa that everyone should be aware of and help in any way possible, people also should recognize that there are many good things about Africa as well. I was surprised myself, when I learned that certain countries in western Africa are considered some of the safest places in the world. Africa is also the continent of adventure, and has the Sahara desert, the world's second largest canyons, the highest free standing mountain, and some very exotic wildlife. Some countries also have lots of history and are rich in culture. The most obvious are the pyramids and tombs in Egypt, but you might be surprised to know that there are medieval castles still standing in other parts of Africa. |
| Click on a photo or highlighted country below |
| Verde |
| Bissau |
| Tome |
