Africa

Africa is the third continent in the world by land area and has more than one billion inhabitants. Bordered by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Africa is a vast land mass that stretches for 8,000 kilometers from north to south and 7,500 from east to east. Despite having more countries than any other continent (54 today), this number does not reflect the enormous variety of peoples, customs, races, creeds and cultures that inhabit these lands and that explain, in part, the long history of conflicts that have affected the human development of the continent.

Africa is a land of contrasts: the enormous Sahara desert is interrupted by the Nile River, which rises in the interior of the continent, covered by jungles and huge lakes such as Lake Victoria. Although the savannah is probably the image that foreigners most often associate with Africa, there are hundreds of different ecosystems, even finding snow on the heights of Kilimanjaro and some mountains in South Africa.

The adventure opportunities on this continent are enormous: you can travel the desert in Tuareg caravans, traverse the jungles in search of gorillas, go on a safari among lions, sail in canoes or rest on a paradisiacal island in the Indian Ocean. However, not everything is nature. There are vestiges of rich ancient cultures (such as the Egyptian pyramids or Timbuktu) and there are still communities of tribes that maintain their customs and traditions. Despite the generalization of Africa as a continent plagued by wars, poverty and corruption, there are also developing economies that have cosmopolitan cities.

Africa is the source of the human race. The world's second largest continent in both area and population, it offers visitors a unique combination of natural wonders, renowned prehistoric sites, numerous and often extensive remains of several of the world's most important ancient civilizations, vibrant cultures, remote peoples and modern cities. . Africa has coastlines on the Indian Ocean to the southeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Red Sea to the northeast, the Gulf of Aden a little further south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. This huge continent is more than 8,000 km (5,000 miles) from north to south and 7,500 km (4,800 miles) from east to west with some islands even further out and contains many very different peoples, religions and cultures. Africa has more than 50 sovereign countries, the most of any continent.

Some claim that Africa's Nile River is the longest river in the world (other geographers argue that the Amazon is longer); the Nile runs 6,650 km (over 4,100 miles) from Burundi to Egypt. The Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second largest in terms of discharge and the deepest with depths of more than 230 m (750 ft) in places. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,890 m (19,340 ft). Lake Assal in Djibouti is the second lowest point on Earth, the saltiest lake outside of Antarctica, and one of the hottest places on Earth. While the first activity most people associate with Africa is safari, there are endless possibilities for adventure. For example, you can buy handicrafts in the markets, venture into the Sahara with a Tuareg caravan, visit traditional villages, trek through the jungle to watch gorillas, relax on tropical islands in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, eat exotic snacks, paddle down a river . In a pirogue or journey through the savannah on a colonial-era railway.

Africa's cultural diversity cannot be overstated: most countries are internally diverse, and there are huge differences between northern Muslim countries with their Arab and Berber-influenced cultures and sub-Saharan nations, including the rainbow nation of South Africa which has strong European influences in addition to Bantu and other African traditions. It is also the continent with the most genetic diversity among the population by far: there is much more genetic diversity among Africans than between Africans and the inhabitants of any other continent. Despite what the lack of media coverage might have led you to believe, Africa is not one country, but more than 50 countries, so making generalizations about "all of Africa" is impossible. Furthermore, partly due to the nature of colonial borders,

Despite rapidly growing economies in many places, there are still many pockets of poverty in both the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. While poverty, corruption, and ethnic and religious violence exist in some parts of the continent, much of Africa has made impressive progress, with many cities having growing middle classes and facing problems such as traffic jams or crowded public transport. , rather than the war or famine you might have heard about in some 1980s development aid commercial or documentary.

 

North Africa

Morocco · Algeria · Tunisia · Libya · Egypt · Sudan · Western Sahara
While the vast dunes of the Sahara cover most of its territory, the Mediterranean coast has a privileged climate that has allowed the development of great cultures. From the markets and Islamic architecture of Marrakech, one can jump to French influence in Tunisia and Algeria or to Roman ruins in Libya. Meanwhile, Egypt attracts millions of tourists who visit not only the mythical pyramids of Giza, but also the vibrant city of Cairo or the beaches of Sharm el-Sheikh.

 

Sahel

Mauritania · Mali · Niger · Chad
Although its aridity and ongoing armed conflict keep sub-Saharan Africa from tourist destinations, there are still some gems to know in the Sahel. Timbuktu, the ancient capital of the empire of Mali, and Agadez were important centers of medieval caravans that roamed Africa. Between the steppes and mirages, one can still recognize the nomadic cultures of the Sahel, such as Tuaregs.

 

African horn

Ethiopia · Eritrea · Djibouti · Somalia (Somaliland)
Ethiopia is considered the cradle of mankind and is one of the oldest and most unique civilizations on the planet. Surrounded by Muslims, Ethiopia maintains a primitive version of Christianity from which shrines such as Lalibela arose. The region, mountainous and arid, has beautiful inaccessible places. Unfortunately, violence and authoritarianism hinder tourism development in Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti.

 

West Africa

Cape Verde, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin
The most densely populated region of Africa stands out for its symbolic and vibrant cities, where you can still feel the African culture, such as Dakar, Lagos or Abidjan. The region's rainforests are home to thousands of animal species, such as elephants, gazelles, hippos and monkeys. Cape Verde, meanwhile, is a good alternative for seeing spectacular little-known beaches.

 

Central africa

Cameroon · Central African Republic · Gabon · Equatorial Guinea · Sao Tome and Principe · Congo · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Angola
The heart of Africa is covered in impenetrable jungle, inhabited by gorillas, leopards, crocodiles and hundreds of unique species that managed to survive the threat of humanity thanks to beautiful national parks such as Garamba. The Congo River is the foundation of this region, rich in natural resources, but for many years immersed in violence and interethnic conflicts. The coastal regions, more politically stable, present beautiful beaches to enjoy.

 

East africa

South Sudan · Uganda ·Kenya · Tanzania · Rwanda · Burundi · Malawi · Mozambique
Some of the continent's most iconic scenes are in the region. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, dominates the savannah. Animals such as lions, gazelles, elephants and rhinos roam the world famous parks such as the Serengeti and Masai Mara, and the volcano park in Rwanda is the best place to visit the mountain gorillas. While Nairobi is a modern city in full bloom, Mombasa and Zanzibar manage to blend historical charm and beautiful beaches.

 

South Africa

South Africa · Namibia · Botswana · Zambia · Zimbabwe · Lesotho · Eswatini · St. Helena
Nature is amazing in every corner of the region. Unique landscapes such as the Okavango Delta, which runs into the Kalahari Desert, the huge Victoria Falls or the wildlife of the Kruger National Park, attract tourists from all over the world. After the end of apartheid, South Africa received a new impetus, becoming one of the most developed countries on the continent. Cape Town is probably one of the most attractive cities in Africa. Meanwhile, in the highlands there are traditional kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland, which still retain their traditions. Finally, Mozambique stands out for its beaches and historic island, which gives it its name.

 

Indian islands

Madagascar · Seychelles · Mauritius · Comoros · Mayotte · Terr. British Indians French australia
Madagascar, a product of its isolation from the rest of Africa, is a place of unique natural beauty: 90% of its flora and fauna can only be found on this island. The Seychelles and Mauritius archipelago have become important tourist destinations thanks to their beautiful white sand beaches and clear water. In Comoros, you can find the same beaches, but they are much less popular and more inaccessible. Meanwhile, Reunion captivates with its mountainous and steep landscapes.

 

Cities

Accra, the capital of Ghana
Addis Ababa: The capital of Ethiopia is one of Africa's "global cities" as the headquarters of the African Union and many non-governmental organizations. Chinese investment built the AU headquarters and a new light rail line.
Cairo: The bustling capital of Egypt is the most populous city in North Africa and a gateway to Ancient Egyptian heritage.
Cape Town - The mother city of South Africa with Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope and many other attractions.
Dakar: the capital of Senegal and the westernmost city in Africa.
Johannesburg: South Africa's largest city and perhaps the continent's key economic and financial center.
Luanda — Angola's capital and largest city, which has experienced a great renaissance in the last decade.
Marrakech — a mix of old and new in Morocco.
Nairobi — the capital of Kenya, the largest city in East and Central Africa, and home to the only UN agency headquarters outside of Europe and the United States.

 

Other destinations

Aksum (Aksum) — the ancient capital of Ethiopia, famous for the ruins of several palaces and their stelae
Dogon Country — a region of south-central Mali famous for its isolated cliff-embedded villages and very distinct culture
Kruger National Park: surely one of the best known national parks in Africa
Leptis Magna: conceived by the Roman Empire as a model city, its ruins are still impressive
Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain on the continent and one of the most impressive views in Tanzania.
Serengeti National Park – Along with the Maasai Mara National Reserve across the border in Kenya, this is Tanzania's best-known national park and one of the most famous on the continent.
Valley of the Kings – burial place of several dozen Ancient Egyptian pharaohs and the site of King Tut's tomb
Victoria Falls: These waterfalls between Zimbabwe and Zambia are among the most impressive in the world
Volcanoes National Park – Filled with stunning rainforests and volcanic landscapes, hikes and is perhaps the best place in the world to see the rare mountain gorillas.

 

History

Non-Africans often think of sub-Saharan Africa as consisting solely of hunter-gatherer societies prior to European colonialism. However, these views are often rooted in racist pseudoscientific theories used by Europeans to justify slavery and later colonialism from the 16th century to the early 20th century. While hunter-gatherer societies were widespread across much of the continent, many parts of sub-Saharan Africa were in fact home to great cities and civilizations dating back to medieval times.

 

From the dawn of humanity to the first empires

The earliest precursors of humans, most notably Australopithecus afarensis (named for the Afar region of Ethiopia), the species to which "Lucy" belonged, lived and walked on two feet as early as 3 million years ago. Remains of later species such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus (the first hominid to leave Africa, as far as we know) were found in other parts of East Africa such as Kenya, Tanzania, and around the Great Lakes. Homo sapiens (modern humans), probably originated in southern Africa or eastern Africa somewhere in what is now Ethiopia or Kenya. The oldest Homo sapiens remains to date are about 195,000 years old and were found in Ethiopia, but there are also indications that Homo sapiens may have been present earlier in southern Africa. Some of the early hominid remains, as well as their tools, are on display in various museums in Ethiopia, Namibia, and other countries. The Cradle of Mankind is a site in South Africa with many early human fossils.

North Africa has a recorded history dating back to approximately 3300 BCE. with numerous buildings, ruins, writings, arts and crafts that have left us traces to marvel at. The ancient Egyptian based pharaonic civilization was the most enduring and one of the most impressive ancient civilizations. Egypt was one of the first cultures to construct monumental buildings, form a hierarchical state, and wage large-scale wars with standing armies, and it was one of the most stable empires in recorded history, often surviving and absorbing foreign invaders, immigrants and usurpers and converted them (culturally) Egyptian.

South of the Pharaonic civilization and sometimes within its sphere of influence was the Nubian culture, which had a long history of mutual influence with its neighbors to the north and even came to rule Egypt for a short time. Its most famous remains are the pyramids of Meroe, Sudan. Another early center of settled civilization and later an early center of Christianity outside the Roman Empire was Ethiopia, where the Aksumite Empire reigned from the 4th century BCE. C. and the 7th century AD. and served as an important trading partner of the Indian and Mediterranean powers.

Today, the legacy of the ancient African civilizations lives on; many of its monuments, temples, and cities are well-preserved and have become popular tourist attractions, and museums house its artifacts. Modern Jews believe they are the descendants of ancient Egyptian slaves, and Ethiopians of all faiths believe they are descendants of the union of Queen Sheba and King Solomon (most thought Sheba was referring to what is now the nation of Sheba). Yemen, but many believe that the queen also ruled Ethiopia). Outside of North Africa, Sudan, and Ethiopia, however, very little is known about African history before 1000 AD, as most people were hunter-gatherers (similar to some cultures still found on the continent today). ), without writing systems or durable structures, or handicrafts, apart from some cave paintings.

 

Classical antiquity

The Phoenicians, based in what is now Lebanon and part of the Syrian and Israeli coasts, colonized North Africa and established the city of Carthage (now a suburb of Tunis). Over time, the Carthaginian Republic became a separate republic and a rival to the Romans as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. The Romans destroyed Carthage in the Third Punic War in 146 BC., burning it to the ground.

In the period after 360 B.C.., Europeans invaded the continent. The Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered what were then the Egyptian parts of the Persian Empire in 326 BC., he founded a city that bears his name and declared himself pharaoh. Egypt would come under the rule of one of his generals after Alexander's death and, under the Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexandria became one of the main centers of Jewish, Greek and Egyptian philosophy and culture. It was here that a library containing "the wisdom of the ancient world" was located and it was here that the Jewish holy books were translated into Koine Greek. Beginning with the Punic Wars, the Romans entered the African landscape as a main draw, founding cities such as Leptis Magna, before partially Hellenized Egypt also became Roman in 31 BC. North Africa and later Nubia and Ethiopia were also among the earliest centers of Christianity with the first Christians in the area as early as the 1st century AD, even before Christianity spread to other parts of the Roman Empire. A famous exchange of letters between Pliny the Younger (then Governor of Carthage) and the Emperor Trajan is among the best-known sources for the treatment of Christians in the second century AD. Few documents remain from this time, but evidence suggests that heterodox forms of Christianity such as Gnosticism, which were not in line with the officially sanctioned version practiced in Constantinople, were popular in North Africa, and Egypt seems to have been a center of precursors of Christian Monasteries and of apocryphal gospels (that is, religious texts not included in the "official" Bible). Gnostic Christianity, Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt in 1945 and have been translated into many languages. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church also recognizes various apocryphal gospels, which were not included in the canon by the European churches, as part of the canon to this day.

 

Muslim conquest

The Muslim invasion and the beginning of the Arab slave trade in the 7th century AD. they changed the cultural landscape of the North and much of East and West Africa. The newly formed Arab Caliphate conquered North Africa and the Horn of Africa in a few decades. Due to the cunning policy of nominal tolerance combined with taxation for Christians and Jews, the Muslim conquerors were able to pacify and religiously assimilate the conquered areas with remarkable speed. Some scholars have suggested that the aforementioned heterodoxy in much of the African provinces of the Roman Empire aided in the easy conquest of Islamic conquerors who were more tolerant of (or at least indifferent towards) forms of Christianity not in line with Constantinople. In the west, the Berbers intermarried with the Arab invaders to become the Moorish population that later invaded the Iberian Peninsula. When Damascus was invaded at the beginning of the eighth century, the Islamic religious and political center of the Mediterranean moved to Kairouan, in Tunisia. Their progress was limited only by the dense forests of western and central Africa and the coastal areas of the east. The last region to come under Muslim influence was Nubia (now North Sudan) in the 14th century. While some Christian and Jewish heritage is still visible in North Africa, actual followers of those religions have become few and far between and Islam is culturally very dominant from Egypt to Morocco and south to Sudan and Northern Nigeria. While Christianity is dwindling due to conversion and emigration from its former centers in Egypt and elsewhere, Judaism all but disappeared in the decades after Israel's establishment, when most Jews left or were expelled. That being said, Jewish communities continue to survive in Tunisia and Morocco, albeit with much smaller populations than before Israel's establishment.

The VII-IX centuries were a period of significant changes in the history of sub-Saharan Africa. In the west, there was a rise of large and powerful inland kingdoms, such as Ghana (in Mali and Mauritania, unrelated to modern Ghana, capital at Koumbi Saleh), Dahomey (lasted until French capture in 1894, now Benin, capital in Abomey), Za/Gao (in Mali and Niger), Kanem (in Chad) and Bornu (in Nigeria). As many of these kingdoms converted to Islam (usually a king's conversion included the conversion of his subordinates, at least nominally), trans-Saharan trade grew as salt and gold were transported to Libya and Egypt in large caravans, a trade made possible by the introduction of camels from Arabia in the 10th century that would support much of the area from northern Nigeria westward to Mali and Mauritania until the 19th century. The introduction of Islam also brought writing to many African civilizations for the first time, with some of their cities eventually becoming important centers of Islamic studies. During the 13th-16th centuries, many of these early kingdoms were replaced by new empires, chief among them Mali (in Mali, Guinea, and Senegal), Kongo (in Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, capital in M'banza-Kongo), and later Songhay (in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, capital Gao), Ashanti (in Ghana, capital Kumasi) and a plethora of small kingdoms and single-ethnic city-states arose. Many of Mali's most popular tourist destinations, including Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao, rose to prominence during this period when they became centers of commerce and Islamic scholarship. Mansa Musa, one of the kings of Mali, is often said to have been the richest person in history. The Hausa people in northern Nigeria began to organize themselves into walled city-states, of which remnants remain in Kano, and would eventually consolidate into the Sokoto Caliphate (1804-1903), with its capital in present-day Sokoto. Coastal and forested West Africa remained largely unorganized, with the exception of a few Yoruba city-states of Benin, Ife, and Oyo, along with the small Dahomey and Igbo empires, all in present-day Benin and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Islamic influence and the prosperity of the Indian Ocean trade increased in East Africa as ships from Arabia, Persia, India and even Southeast Asia dropped anchor in major ports from Somalia to Mozambique, bringing spices and in exchange for slaves and ivory. This area, known as the Swahili Coast, would become home to many city-states such as Kilwa Kisiwani, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. Between the 7th and 19th centuries, more than 18 million people were taken from the region as part of the Arab slave trade, roughly double what the Atlantic slave trade would bring to the Americas. Today, that influence remains in the culture and cuisine of many places, especially in the Indian Ocean islands such as Zanzibar, Comoros, Seychelles and Mauritius, and the descendants of these slaves would go on to form the Siddi community in India, who continue to retaining many African traditions even though they now speak Indian languages instead of African.

Southern Africa remained largely undeveloped, with mainly nomadic hunter-gatherers such as the San people, but contained some small kingdoms. The Kingdom of Zimbabwe (namesake of the current state) was one of the most notable, having built the most important stone structures in pre-colonial sub-Saharan Africa in its capital, Great Zimbabwe. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe in modern eastern South Africa also left behind smaller stone ruins. Both profited from trading gold and ivory with Arab and Asian traders.

Despite the spread of Islam, Ethiopia would continue to hold its own as a bastion of Christianity. Among the most impressive examples of Christian architecture dating from this period are the 13th-century rock-cut churches of Lalibela.

 

European exploration and early colonialism

While some Genoese, Castilian and French explorers managed to reach parts of West Africa in the Middle Ages, European exploration of the continent began in earnest when Prince Henry "the Navigator" set out to acquire African territory for Portugal in the mid-15th century. century. The Portuguese reached Cape Verde in 1445, and by 1480, they had charted the course and began trading the entire coast of Guinea (present-day Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria). In 1482 Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo River, in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1498 Vasco da Gama sailed up the eastern coast, where in Kenya his expedition established a trading post at Malindi before finding a guide to take them to india.

This voyage established the Cape Route around Africa. The Portuguese established numerous forts along the African coast and established a very profitable trade. Initially they maintained good relations with the locals and remained the dominant European power on the coast of Africa until the 17th century, while Spain, France and Great Britain began to explore the Americas.

The lucrative trade and the large amounts of gold obtained by the Portuguese attracted other nations to the continent. As the demand for labor in the Americas grew, Portuguese sailors began taking shiploads of slaves to the Americas, beginning the Atlantic slave trade. In the early 17th century, the Dutch fought the Portuguese to gain control of most of their West and Central African ports, some of which (for example, Luanda) would later be retaken, and established a couple of dozen forts of their own, notably on Gorée Island in Dakar and at the Cape of Good Hope, a port they hoped to use for trade routes to East Asia and which has become present-day Cape Town. In 1642, the French built their first fort on Madagascar (which they claimed in 1667) and in 1663, the British built their first fort on the mainland in The Gambia. Swedish traders established a fort on Cape Coast, which was later dominated by the Danes in the vicinity of modern Accra.

 

19th century imperialism

In the 19th century, European attention shifted from establishing coastal ports for trade to fighting each other to colonize the continent and explore its unexplored interior. With slavery abolished by Britain and its great efforts to thwart slavery throughout the world, Europe began to look for other sources of wealth on the continent. The most successful European colony, the Dutch Cape Colony, was taken over by the British in 1795. Napoleonic France conquered Egypt in 1798, notably discovering the Rosetta Stone, only to be driven out by the British and then the Ottoman Turks. France invaded a significant amount of the West African coast and the Barbary states of Algeria, cutting off rampant piracy in the region. Tales of brave adventurers traveling inland to find places like Mount Kilimanjaro and the rumored "inland sea" (the Great Lakes) and the city of gold on the Nile sparked a mid-century wave of exploration primarily by Jesuits and others. Catholic missionaries in the Southern, Eastern and Great Lakes regions of Africa. Chief among the explorers was the British national hero David Livingstone, who as a poor missionary with few porters explored much of southern and eastern Africa, flowing down the Congo River from its sources and searching for the source of the Nile in West Africa. and central, French, Belgian and Spanish explorers ventured into the Sahara to find the legendary gold mines of Timbuktu and Mali and the Congo in search of the pygmies and the great hairy people (gorillas) of Greek legend.

As accounts of the interior of Africa reached Europe, nations and merchants began to see the continent as a major source of trade and wealth, similar to their Asian exploits, while the philanthropic and missionary class saw a great opportunity for "Christianize" and "civilize" the "wild" people of Africa. With the introduction of social Darwinism, many countries saw Africa as a great opportunity to establish colonial empires and establish their pre-eminence among other European nations, mainly Germany, to catch up with other European nations, and France, to recapture the glories lost in North America and under Napoleon. Great Britain and Portugal joined this fight for Africa when their interests were threatened. In 1885, the Berlin Conference brought together the European colonial powers to divide the continent into colonial territories defined with many straight lines and without input from any African kingdom or settlement. After the meeting in Berlin, Italy was designated as the "protector" of Ethiopia. In 1898 Italy waged an all out war to colonize Ethiopia and they were defeated at the Battle of Adwa. This was possible because all Ethiopians united under Emperor Menelik II to stay united; however, more importantly, Ethiopia was armed with European weapons and therefore the disparity in weapons did not favor the Europeans as much as elsewhere. This is the first time the Africans defeated the European invaders and made Ethiopia the only African country never to have been colonized by a foreign power (Liberia, the other country to survive the Scramble for Africa, was formerly a US territory). .

At the same time, disaster hung over the people of the Congo, land awarded to Belgium at the Berlin Conference and treated as the private property of King Leopold II, who proceeded to enslave the people and subject them to mass murder and mutilation when production Rubber targets were not met. Millions of people died in a genocide that lasted into the 20th century, ending only in 1908 when global criticism forced the king to relinquish his private ownership of the land and it became a Belgian colony under the control of his parliament. Joseph Conrad wrote the novel Heart of Darkness from his experience witnessing some of these crimes, which were also condemned in Mark Twain's satirical pamphlet The Soliloquy of King Leopold and another pamphlet, The Congo Crime, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Colonialism would be devastating to many of Africa's civilizations, with possibly the most notable victims being Benin City and Kumasi, both of which were large pre-colonial cities that were razed to the ground by British invaders in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many cultural artifacts from both cities, as well as from other civilizations, were looted in the ensuing wars, and these are now mainly on display in various museums in the Western world, including the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the early 20th century, Britain began a series of deadly South African wars from its Cape Colony to the surrounding African and Boer (white descendants of the Dutch) lands in modern South Africa, bringing Cecil Rhodes to fame for his vision of uniting Africa under British rule from Cairo to Cape Town. There was a WWI battle in German East Africa (Tanzania) which the British lost, although after the war, German possessions were divided between France, Belgium and the UK, with South Africa de facto taking over what is now Namibia until 1990. The Union of South Africa gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1930 and the Afrikaner minority voted to become a Republic in 1960 (see 20th century South Africa).

In the prelude to World War II in Africa, Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia, but was driven out in 1941. The Axis also tried to capture North Africa, but was dislodged by the Allies. It was the social changes resulting from the war, in which tens of thousands of Africans fought for their colonial power, and the Atlantic Charter that led to the spread of nationalist movements after the war.

 

Decolonization and the legacy of the colonizers

The decolonization of Africa began with the independence of Libya from Italy in 1951. The colonial powers employed various means of control over their colonies, some giving natives representation in government and cultivating a few civil servants, while others maintained a firm control with a fully European government. In some countries, nationalist movements were suppressed and their leaders assassinated or imprisoned, while others achieved independence peacefully. In the 1950s, Guinea, Ghana, and the North African nations gained their independence nonviolently. In Algeria, France violently fought independence movements until 1963. With the establishment and new constitution of the Fifth Republic of France in 1958, French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa ceased to exist, and after a brief "community" with France, the countries of these regions gained independence in 1960. By 1970, all but a handful of African nations were independent. The Portuguese fought bitterly to keep their African possessions until 1975; all but one became independent through war. Zimbabwe was the last major colony to gain independence from a non-African colonial lord, in 1980, after a 14-year period of rule by a white minority government unrecognized by Britain, the former colonial power. In 1990, semi-autonomous Namibia gained independence from South Africa, and in 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia after a protracted war. South Africa remained under firm control by its white minority, repressing its black population under a system called The Portuguese fought bitterly to keep their African possessions until 1975; all but one became independent through war. Zimbabwe was the last major colony to gain independence from a non-African colonial lord, in 1980, after a 14-year period of rule by a white minority government unrecognized by Britain, the former colonial power. In 1990, semi-autonomous Namibia gained independence from South Africa, and in 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia after a protracted war. South Africa remained under firm control by its white minority, repressing its black population under a system called The Portuguese fought bitterly to keep their African possessions until 1975; all but one became independent through war. Zimbabwe was the last major colony to gain independence from a non-African colonial lord, in 1980, after a 14-year period of rule by a white minority government unrecognized by Britain, the former colonial power. In 1990, semi-autonomous Namibia gained independence from South Africa, and in 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia after a protracted war. South Africa remained under firm control by its white minority, repressing its black population under a system named after a 14-year period of rule by a white minority government unrecognized by Great Britain, the former colonial power. In 1990, semi-autonomous Namibia gained independence from South Africa, and in 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia after a protracted war. South Africa remained under firm control by its white minority, repressing its black population under a system named after a 14-year period of rule by a white minority government unrecognized by Great Britain, the former colonial power. In 1990, semi-autonomous Namibia gained independence from South Africa, and in 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia after a protracted war. South Africa remained under firm control by its white minority, repressing its black population under a system called apartheid until 1994. Morocco maintains control over Western Sahara despite an established independence movement, and this remains a point of contention between Morocco and Algeria. After years of civil war, South Sudan became independent following a referendum in 2011.

The Europeans divided Africa with complete disregard for the cultures and ethnic groups in Africa, often dividing a people between two or more countries and forcing people with a history of struggle or different religions into one country. Furthermore, the lack of civil service training before and even after independence left most countries with dysfunctional governments. Leaders tended to reward their own ethnic groups with jobs and money and, in many cases, oppressed other ethnic groups. This has been a cause of many post-independence conflicts in much of sub-Saharan Africa and has led to dozens of protracted civil wars (particularly in Sudan, Angola, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), genocides (particularly the Rwandan genocide), countless coups, and countless inept and corrupt leaders. During the cold war, some leaders took on the big power blocs while others stayed in power mainly because they were backed by either side. Especially after the cold war ended, some countries like Somalia fell into protracted infighting and are considered failed states as no one really has power over the state as a whole and local con men and militias cannot provide more than government functions. more basic. (with the exception, in that case, of the formerly British-occupied area of Somaliland). The discovery of valuable natural resources such as oil, uranium, diamonds and coltan (columbite-tantalite, a mineral from which the rare earth metals niobium and tantalum are extracted, in very high demand for technological products such as mobile phones ) is one reason separatist movements have emerged, motivated in part by warlord greed and in part by neglect of resource-rich areas that want a share of the profits, such as the wealthy enclave in oil from Cabinda, Angola and the Niger Delta in Nigeria.

Fortunately, there are numerous examples in Africa where past conflicts have given way to functioning governments, offering some hope for Africa's future. The bleak picture that is often painted of Africa as a whole could not be further from the truth in many places, and thanks to tourism, more stable and accountable governance, and fast-growing economies, some African countries are now looking to the future. bright of which the first signs are already visible.

 

Climate

As the second largest continent, there is a wide range of climates. However, since the continent is almost centered on the equator, much of the continent is quite warm/temperate and very few small areas of the continent experience temperatures that could be considered "cold". In temperate regions (parts of northern Morocco and the Mediterranean coast, as well as South Africa), temperatures generally range from 10°C to 30°C (40°F-90°F) throughout the year. Closer to the equator and on islands like Cape Verde or Mauritius, temperatures can only vary by less than 20 degrees Celsius (15-35°C / 65-95°F) throughout the year. In deserts and arid regions like the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, temperatures routinely reach 40°C or higher (and even 50°C or higher in the heart of the Sahara) but because sand doesn't retain heat like it does makes the soil wet, those same places can easily drop to 15 ° C at night. However, there are some bastions of cooler weather. Higher elevations such as the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and Algeria or the mountains of Lesotho are quite cold and snowy during the winter and Mount Kilimanjaro, almost on the equator, is cold all year (cold enough to bear! glaciers!). The peaks on islands such as Réunion, the Canary Islands, Cameroon and other countries are cold enough to require a jacket for much of the year.

A much more important factor to consider when traveling to Africa is when the rainy/monsoon season occurs. Weather varies a bit even in neighboring countries, so check the page for the country you're visiting for more information. In West Africa, the season begins in March around Cameroon, but not until June in Senegal or the Sahel and ends around September. While rain may not be a big factor when traveling to southern or eastern Africa, it is very problematic in western Africa and on the islands of the Indian Ocean. In West Africa, the rains will often flood and make many roads and railways impassable and, due to poor drainage, can literally cause rivers of water to flow down streets and sewer lines to overflow. In the Sahel, it can cause flash flooding in low-lying areas. In fact, drowning is said to be the most common cause of death in the desert, as flash floods can surprise people walking in wadis (dry riverbeds).

The biggest weather-related hazards for travelers to Africa besides flooding are lightning strikes and tropical cyclones. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has more lightning strikes each year than any other country in the world, especially in the eastern part of the country near Goma. The risk of lightning is greatest from western Kenya/Tanzania and Ethiopia west to Senegal and south to Angola, Zambia and northern South Africa. Tropical cyclones affect islands in the Indian Ocean, and the season runs from November 15 to April 30 (May 15 in Seychelles and Mauritius). Tropical cyclones also infrequently affect the Horn of Africa near Djibouti and Somalia, but when they do, the arid lands cause extensive flooding. Tropical cyclones often form off the west coast of West Africa (Guinea/Senegal) during the early part of the Atlantic hurricane season (June-August) and will rarely impact Cape Verde, so these storms in particular they are called "Cape Verde-type hurricanes".

 

Read

Achebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. The classic work of modern African literature. Although set in pre-colonial Nigeria, Achebe's magnum opus is in a sense the history of the European colonization of Africa as a whole. It was groundbreaking when published for telling an African story from the perspective of Africans, rather than Europeans. At the time, it was standard to present African cultures as primitive and simple; Achebe broke this assumption by describing the richness and complexity of an African society.
Battuta, Ibn. The travels of Ibn Battuta. The travel journals of the legendary explorer Ibn Battuta, considered one of the greatest travelers in history. In 1325, he embarked on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca from his native Morocco at the age of 21, and over the next three decades he passed through more than 40 modern countries traveling more than three times the distance of Marco Polo. almost contemporary. His voyage from 1325-1332 visited North Africa, Somalia, and the Swahili coast (Kenya, Zanzibar, and Tanzania). A voyage between 1349-1354 visited Timbuktu, passing through modern Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Algeria. A few modern translations exist, including Samuel Lee's 1829 translation (The Travels of Ibn Battuta. Cosimo Classics, 2009. ISBN 978-1605206219) and a 2003 one by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (The Travels of Ibn Battuta. Macmillan UK, 2003 ISBN 978-0330418799), which also retraces Battuta's footsteps in the early 21st century and published a few other books about his travels. Battuta's pilgrimage to Mecca, traveling through medieval North Africa and the Middle East was the basis for the 2009 IMAX film (Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta, IMDb). UC Berkeley has a good online account of his travels.
Downden, Richard. Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. Public Affairs, 2010. ISBN 978-1586488161 This book attempts to examine the continent of Africa and explain why Africa is the way it is. This book has numerous case examples that highlight the issues/struggles facing the continent and its people today. 592 pages.
Kapuscinski, Ryszard. The shadow of the sun Vintage, 2002. ISBN 978-0679779070 Memoirs of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, who came in 1957 to see the first states gain independence, and offers insight into the tumultuous years of the late 20th century on the continent.
Meredith, Martin. The fate of Africa: a story of fifty years of independence. PublicAffair, 2005. ISBN 978-1-58648-398-2 One of the best and most comprehensive books available to cover Africa's tumultuous recent history, from the events leading up to independence through the 21st century. 752 pages.
Naipaul, VS. The Mask of Africa: Insights into African Beliefs. Picador, 2010. ISBN 978-0-330-47205-0 Examines the complex interactions of traditional religions, Western religions, and other beliefs in modern African society in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Gabon, and South Africa.
Reader John. Africa: a biography of the continent. Vintage Books, 1997. ISBN 0-679-73869-X Covers the history of the continent from early man to the first decades of independence, including ancient societies and peoples, early exploration by Westerners, colonization, and independence. 801 pages.

 

Population

Policy

After Africa's messy divorce from its European colonial powers, many African countries found themselves embroiled in political power struggles and civil wars. However, since the 1980s, the nations of this continent have grown closer and many conflicts on the continent have seen neighboring countries positively intervene rather than intervention/invasion by European and Western powers. Most African countries are developing democracies, fighting corruption, but moving towards democratic values, such as free and fair elections, freedom of expression, and participation in government by various layers of society.

However, there are some countries that still have authoritarian governments, dictatorships and kleptocracies. Prior to the peace accords that ended the civil war in both countries, Angola and Mozambique were one-party communist states and remain under the control of these parties, which have shifted from Marxist-Leninist to far-left and socialist ideology. they retain communist symbols on their flags. Coats of arms, national anthems and other national symbols. Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea remain among the most authoritarian countries on Earth, with a severe crackdown on the opposition.

Several national governments have weak control of their territory, such as Somalia, both Congos, the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, and Mali. In addition to national governments, some "tribes" continue to retain kings/chiefs recognized by the national government as well as the local population and are sometimes even given limited autonomy/authority over "tribal" lands. The problem of "tribalism" that plagues many African countries is something of a misnomer, as many of these "tribes" are ethnically and linguistically more diverse and different from each other than most European ethnicities, and were often forced to live in one state. due to the arbitrary nature of colonial borders.

Today, more than at any time in the continent's history, the continent's nations are cooperating on important issues and are increasingly relying on themselves to stop conflict and broker peace, rather than allow the UN and major powers Westerners do it. The African Union (AU) is the continent's response to the United Nations and promotes unity and conflict resolution. It was established in 2002, with its administrative headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and represents all African nations and territories, and various European possessions in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The AU has made some gains in promoting human rights, development, economic integration, harmonizing trade/customs/immigration rules and intervening to stop conflicts (especially in Somalia) and unconstitutional power plays in the member states. However, much work remains to be done and corruption remains rampant, many countries suffer from political/ethnic conflict and quality measures in development, education, health and human rights remain low.

 

European influence and development aid

European colonial powers remained active in many nations after independence; France maintains close diplomatic ties with many of its former colonies, and many of the others, such as the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Belgium, have large communities of African immigrants from their respective former colonies. The United States, largely freed of the stigma of the "former colonial power," has long been active in promoting conflict resolution, human rights, and providing development aid and emergency assistance. While development aid rarely exceeds 1% of donor country budgets, some African countries depend or have depended in the past on aid money and credit from countries and international institutions such as the World Bank. While there has been a shift in focus from large-scale projects like dams and highways to more local initiatives like rural electrification or public transport for individual cities, the issue remains controversial and some African voices have even called for an end to aid. development. total. Another problem with World Bank loans is that new (democratic) governments often have to pay back old loans that their (authoritarian, kleptocratic) predecessors have withdrawn and squandered or misappropriated, thus forcing their political agenda to conform to the wishes. of the government. World Bank largely instead of its own people. The question of whether some or all of these "onerous loans" should or could be forgiven is another contentious issue between creditor nations (mainly European and North American) and African debtors. Another source of money for many people and countries are the so-called "remittances", that is, money that emigrants from African countries send to their friends and relatives in their former countries of origin. While this has sometimes helped grow local economies and generated much-needed investment, the extreme reliance of some areas on this source of income has created a host of economic problems. As a traveler, you will probably notice that Western Union and similar services are available almost everywhere, as they are frequently used to receive remittances. - that is, money that emigrants from African countries send to their friends and relatives in their former countries of origin.

 

Chinese influence

China has been a major factor on the continent since 2000 and Western diplomats are now trying to catch up and fight for influence with China. The Chinese demand for natural resources is great, and the Chinese have approached many African governments without the stigma of being a wealthy Western nation or caring much about the values (human rights, political freedom, etc.) of the governments they deal with. Another selling point for them is the large number of SOEs they have and the integration between the Chinese government and the SOEs they use to mine and build roads and infrastructure compared to the relationship between Western governments and private companies. China has largely pursued mineral rights by building infrastructure and seeking lucrative concessions for its state-owned companies as an initial "payment" for resources that will later be extracted. When building, they will almost always import Chinese workers to complete such projects, while native Africans are rarely if ever employed. As a result, it is not uncommon to see teams of hundreds of Chinese camping and working to build a new road or housing project. The most auspicious gift from the Chinese is probably the new $200 million headquarters complex for the African Union, built and financed by China and opened in 2012. Whether Chinese involvement proves beneficial or just another form of neocolonialism remains to be seen. . it is a controversial issue both within the countries in which China is involved and outside of them.

 

Religion

Most of the continent professes traditional African religions, encompassed within the loose group known as animist. This means that they believe that spirits inhabit animate or inanimate objects. Said likewise, it usually persists under the guise of universalist religions such as Islam or Christianity. There are also believers of Rastafarianism.

Islam has a dominant presence in the north and prominent in the Sahara, the Sahel, West Africa and East Africa. Monophysite Christianity, though older than Islam, was confined to Ethiopia. From the 20th century, Catholicism and Protestantism acquired increasing importance.

However, both Islam and Christianity find themselves in Africa with more or less sectarian syncretisms such as Kimbanguism or the "Date with Life" Church, which persist and reproduce thanks to the implicit strength of the concepts of traditional religions. Traditional African religions have a prominent presence in America, especially voodoo in Haiti, the Yoruba religion and the religions of the former Kingdom of the Congo in the Caribbean and mainly in Brazil.

There are also Hindu minorities, in fact in South Africa there is a small Indian community.

Religion and spirituality are important throughout Africa. The most prolific religions are Christianity and Islam, with considerable numbers of atheist/irreligious Africans and followers of traditional religions. Exact percentages of religious adherents vary widely among reputable sources, with approximately 40-45% Christian, 40-50% Muslim, 10-15% indigenous, and 5-10% irreligious.

Christianity spans a large region, encompassing almost all of southern, central, and eastern Africa, and has a long history in Africa. Egypt is closely associated with the history of the early Christian Church. Ethiopia was one of the first nations to adopt Christianity as its official religion (in 330 AD). Most Christians are Protestant or Roman Catholic and mix it with indigenous beliefs, except for the Orthodox populations of Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Christian missionaries and the desire to "civilize" tribal Africans through conversion was a major impetus for European colonization.

 

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar and lasts between 29 and 30 days. Muslims fast every day for its duration and most restaurants will remain closed until fast breaks at dusk. Nothing (including water and cigarettes) is supposed to pass your lips from sunrise to sunset. Non-Muslims are exempt from this, but should still refrain from eating or drinking in public, as this is considered highly impolite. Working hours are also reduced in the corporate world. The exact dates of Ramadan depend on local astronomical observations and may vary somewhat from country to country. Ramadan concludes with the Eid al-Fitr festival, which can last for several days, usually three in most countries.
March 23 – April 20, 2023 (AH 1444)
March 11 - April 9, 2024 (1445 AH)

If you plan to travel to Africa during Ramadan, consider reading Traveling During Ramadan.

 

Islam is the largest religion on the continent by number of adherents (according to most sources) but, bolstered by the large Muslim populations of Egypt and Nigeria, it covers a smaller geographic footprint. All North African countries are overwhelmingly Muslim, and only Egypt has a sizable Christian minority, but irreligion is growing, especially among urban youth. Almost all of West and Sahelian Africa is also majority Muslim, except for Cape Verde, Liberia, Ghana, Benin, and Togo. Nigeria, Chad and the Ivory Coast are evenly divided between Muslim populations in the north and Christian ones in the south. Islam was first brought to the continent in the centuries after its birth, spreading across North Africa and then spreading up the Indian Ocean coast by traders and seafarers to the shores of Kenya, Tanzania and the Comoros. The Swahili language is heavily influenced by Arabic. Most Muslims are Sunni, with a large population of moderate Sufis in West Africa and Sudan, who often combine Sunni Islam with traditional beliefs. Attempts have been made to promote more conservative forms of Islam since the 1990s, through Muslim NGOs and assistance from Saudi Arabia, although this coincides with fears of radicalization and the rise of al Qaeda and other Islamist groups in parts of the north. of Africa and the Sahel. (particularly Mali, Niger and Algeria). In certain Muslim regions, compliance with religious law is expected, such as not consuming alcohol (but khat is fine). Attempts have been made to promote more conservative forms of Islam since the 1990s, through Muslim NGOs and assistance from Saudi Saudi Arabia, although this coincides with fears of radicalization and the rise of al Qaeda and other Islamist groups in parts of North Africa and the Sahel (particularly Mali, Niger and Algeria).In certain Muslim regions, compliance is expected religious law, such as not consuming alcohol (but khat is fine.) Attempts have been made to promote more conservative forms of Islam since the 1990s, through Muslim NGOs and assistance from Saudi Arabia, although this coincides with fears of the radicalization and rise of al Qaeda and other Islamist groups in parts of North Africa and the Sahel (particularly Mali, Niger, and Algeria) In certain Muslim regions, compliance with religious law, such as not consuming alcohol, is expected (but khat is fine, where legal) and the covering of female members, and extreme offense is committed when these rules are broken or, worse yet, Islam or its prophets are insulted.

Traditional African religions are practiced by many Africans, either exclusively or as syncretic elements woven into their practice of Christianity or Islam. There is no single unifying aspect of these religions beyond the fact that they are all based on oral tradition and animism. In some cases, the belief is not in particular deities, but rather in "magic". Among the common, but certainly not universal, elements of indigenous African religions are:

Recognition of a dual god or gods and respect for natural elements as supernatural beings.
Respect for the cyclical nature of life (agriculture, rain/drought, waxing/waning moon): the "circle of life";
Communication with ancestors is practiced or an integral part of communication with god and other deities;
Healers and traditional healers are consulted on a wide range of topics, such as physical, psychological, spiritual, moral and legal matters. They can also facilitate communication with ancestral spirits and/or use magic and sorcery, hence the term "witch doctors".

Magic plays a role in many traditional African beliefs. Magic refers to the interaction between the natural and supernatural worlds, the visible and the invisible. Wizards, witches, shamans, and sorcerers are believed to have special abilities to manipulate communication/relationships between the two worlds, either for better or worse. Unfortunately, it is somewhat common (especially in rural West and Central Africa) for people to claim that others are using magic for inappropriate reasons and are witches. Accusations of being a witch or using magic/witchcraft often lead to ostracism of people: women are thrown out of homes, children are abandoned by parents, are subjected to violent/painful exorcisms, and are frequently killed. In some places, witches are believed to be the source of terminal diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

The Vodun religion practiced in Togo and Benin (a precursor to Haitian Voudou and related religions among the African Diaspora in the Americas) believes that all creation is divine and therefore carries the power of the divine. This explains how certain plants have the ability to heal and why mundane "fetishes", such as statues or dried plants/animals, have healing and rejuvenating powers.

Hinduism is practiced by the large populations of ethnic Indians in the former British colonies of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa, where many Indians were indentured servants for British masters. Mauritius is the only African country where the majority of the population practices Hinduism (52%). Judaism has a long, if not well known, history on the continent. The Beta Israel of Ethiopia are legally recognized Jews and are believed to be descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes (the Tribe of Dan). There is also a large Jewish community in South Africa, mostly descendants of immigrants from Lithuania in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many Jewish communities existed throughout North Africa, some from the early diaspora, while others fled persecution in Iberia in the 7th and 15th centuries. Those communities are now almost completely gone, having immigrated to North America, Israel, and France to escape persecution or expulsion directly after the founding of the state of Israel, though vestiges of these communities still survive in Morocco and Tunisia.

 

Getting here

By plane
The continent has perhaps the least extensive air route network of any inhabited continent in the world. When flying to major destinations like Johannesburg, Nairobi or Accra, there are a fair number of options and airfare costs are above average compared to routes of similar length around the world. Airfares tend to be cheapest when booked from a European capital that has a strong colonial link to your destination, which usually means from London, Paris, Brussels, and Lisbon. Egypt also has abundant economic connections with the Middle East and Europe. However, less popular destinations like Brazzaville or Niamey can only be served by a few flights per week operated by major airlines and the cost of airfare can be expensive. Some African airlines (such as Air Namibia) only serve their neighboring countries, with one or two (or no) flights to Europe.

Africa's major airlines, South African Airways, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, offer a decent level of service to the continent's capitals and other major cities and fly to many major cities around the world. Few other African airlines operate intercontinental flights and many have poor or questionable safety records and poor service levels. Many flights to Africa are available from/through Europe and the Middle East. Keep in mind that many airlines are part of alliances and codeshare agreements and it is likely that you will be flying with more than one airline.

See your destination article for more specific flight information. Please note that many African countries only offer a few international flights each day, or in some cases, each week. While it is not difficult to get to South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria or Egypt, getting to Malawi or Togo can be quite a challenge.

Of Europe
There are more flights to Africa from Europe than from any other continent. Popular holiday destinations such as Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Cape Verde, Kenya and South Africa are well connected to major cities in Europe, even with discount airlines and charter flights. Royal Air Maroc, Afriqyah Airlines, Kenya Airways Jet4you and EgyptAir have a good selection of European destinations and Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, South African Airways and Arik Air serve a couple of major cities (London, Paris etc). The cheapest flights to African cities are usually through the former colonial power of the African country. Cities with large immigrant populations such as London, Marseille and Paris have a good number of flights to Africa. Turkish Airlines flies to 39 destinations in 30 African countries as of 2014.

From Asia and the Middle East
Almost all of the North African countries, along with Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, have extensive connections to the Middle East. And similarly, countries with large Muslim populations are likely to have a connection to Jeddah/Mecca year-round or seasonally (for example, during hajj). Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways have greatly expanded their services to Africa and offer connections to many major African cities at competitive prices than European airlines.

Of the Americas
Several destinations are served non-stop or directly from the United States, including Johannesburg, Lagos, Addis Ababa, Accra, and Dakar. Limited service is available from Brazil (to Angola and the Canary Islands), Canada (to Algeria), Cuba (to Angola) and Venezuela (to the Canary Islands). South African Airlines, Delta, United and Ethiopian Airlines are the main carriers between the US and Africa. The Johannesburg Delta flight to Atlanta is the second longest flight in the world both by distance (13,582 km) and scheduled time (16 hours and 40 minutes).

From Australia
There are only a handful of direct flights connecting Johannesburg with Perth and Sydney. Also, there is a connection between Mauritius and Perth.

By road or ferry
The only land connection to another continent is the 163 km wide Isthmus of Suez, which is located in Egypt (although the Sinai Peninsula is sometimes considered part of Africa for geopolitical reasons). Therefore, the only way to enter Africa is through Egypt. Most people driving from the Middle East to Africa travel through Jordan and take a short ferry to Egypt to avoid transit through Israel, as Egypt's two African neighbors (Sudan and Libya) deny entry to people with Israeli stamps or Egyptian/Jordanian stamps indicating travel to Israel.

Even though there is only one narrow land crossing to the continent, there are other ways to get vehicles to Africa on short ferries. The short crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco is crossed by several ferries daily and is relatively cheap. Other car ferries include:
Italy - Tunisia ferry is operated by a couple of different companies. However, you have to go through Algeria to Mauritania/Niger -or- Libya to Egypt, both very expensive and difficult to enter with a car.
Car ferries from Spain/France to Algeria are operated by Algerie Ferries. Their website is only in French.
Yemen-Djibouti ferries may operate weekly or more frequently (information on this crossing is sparse and conflicting) to avoid Egypt (due to extremely high import duties) or Sudan (as the Ethiopia-Sudan border is prone to banditry). It is also possible to cross by dhow on motorbikes or small/light vehicles.
Car ferries from Port Sudan, Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia run daily and are a great way to avoid the very high fees to enter Egypt, although visas for South Africa are difficult to obtain.
Ferries link Morocco with Spain and Gibraltar. In addition, there are also connections between mainland Spain and its African possessions of Ceuta and Melilla, from where you can drive across the Moroccan border.

A number of overland trucks make trips that cross between Europe or the Middle East and Africa, these companies are listed below under "Move / Overland trucks".

Boat
Many Mediterranean cruises call at North African countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Some liners will stop in the Canary Islands or Cape Verde on transatlantic voyages or in South Africa, Madagascar, Mombasa, Zanzibar, the Seychelles or Mauritius on round-the-world voyages.

In other parts of Africa, cruises are limited to luxury or "boutique" cruise lines, often aboard small and fairly expensive vessels or "cargo cruises" that don't offer much to "passengers" but can spend a few days in a handful of ports. Grimaldi Freighter Cruises has weekly sailings to West Africa making the round trip from Amsterdam in 38 days.

The Seychelles, Réunion and Mauritius are popular destinations for yachts and private boats, but piracy in the Horn of Africa has kept many European ships away.

 

Commute

Visas
The general rule of thumb that visas are more difficult to obtain for countries that have more authoritarian governments and are less "classic" tourist destinations also applies to Africa, although there are exceptions. Also, with few exceptions, it is easier to enter most countries if you are from a "first world" country. Visa requirements and costs for African countries vary depending on your nationality/citizenship and by country. Many countries in southern and eastern Africa have visa-free visas or visas available at the airport or at the border crossing for the EU, US, Canada and some other nationalities with a minimal amount of paperwork and waiting. On the other hand, some countries have onerous requirements that often differ between their embassies and border crossings.

Most West African countries require visas for travelers from outside the region. In some cases, these visas can be processed at airports or (less frequently) at borders, but this is often not an option. West African embassies are not widespread outside the region (generally confined to former colonial metropolises) and visa services are sometimes unavailable in some neighboring countries. Sometimes visas are issued quickly, sometimes it is a long and expensive process. Check before you start a trip through the region, as regulations and practices change often.

There are four customs unions in force in Africa:
Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini)
West Africa (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Niger, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone)
Central Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Gabon)
East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi)

 

Accessibility

By plane
There are a number of reliable airlines that ply the African continent. Chief among them are:

South African Airways (SAA) (Johannesburg, South Africa), has daily flights to most major political and economic centers in southern, eastern and central Africa. If you're flying from the Northern Hemisphere to somewhere north of South Africa, don't forget to check how much backtrack you'll have to do and if it's worth it. The flight from Washington, DC stops in Senegal, but if you get off there, SAA has no connections anywhere else.
Kenya Airways (Nairobi, Kenya), connects more African cities than any other airline on the continent. Partly owned by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, it offers good service and frequent flights to all countries in the East African region and many other major African and international destinations.
Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), carries more passengers than any other African airline and offers direct service from many European cities and Washington to its hub in Addis Ababa. From there it has very good coverage to many cities in Africa. The flight to/from Washington refuels in Rome. Your mileage can be used on Lufthansa services and Lufthansa miles can also be used on Ethiopian.

There are also many airlines that are noteworthy in certain regions, such as TAAG Angola Airlines (South/Central Africa), Arik Air (Nigeria), Afriqiyah Airways (Central/West Africa, but its hub is in Tripoli), Royal Air Maroc (West/Central/North Africa, but its hub is in Morocco), Air Mali (West Africa), Air Burkina (West Africa), Air Austral (Indian Ocean), Air Mauritius (Indian Ocean), Tunis Air (North Africa ), and Jetlink (East Africa). Many other African airlines offer flights to more remote locations.

by car
If you want to drive your own car around Africa, see also Carnet de Passage

For tourist trips, it may be less expensive to hire a taxi than to rent a car, but be sure to negotiate taxi fares beforehand. Traveling on rural roads can be slow and difficult in the dry season and can be interrupted by flooding in the rainy season. If you plan to travel in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, avoid the rainy months of May through October above the equator and the rainy months of November through April below the equator. Some roads may be inundated or inundated during these months.

Traveling by car outside of big cities can be dangerous. The main roads are generally well maintained, but there are few divided highways in Africa. Also, rural car accidents are quite common due to the high speed limits and the presence of wildlife in these areas. Driving at night is discouraged, especially in rural areas, and visitors are encouraged to hire reputable tour operators for safaris or other game-watching expeditions.

by bus
The bus service is extensive in Africa and in almost all countries it is the main means of transport for both locals and tourists. Bus and minibus styles vary across the continent; see the country pages for more information.

with thumb
Locals walk in vehicles with strangers throughout Africa, often paying the driver a fee in exchange for the favor or service. The distinction between a private vehicle and a taxi is blurring, and in many countries the informal taxi business flourishes by picking up people who want a lift on the side of the road. In some areas, such as Johannesburg, hitchhikers use specific hand signals to indicate where they wish to go and it is common for vehicles to carry multiple people at the same time in a particular area. Foreigners may be exposing themselves to considerable personal risk when traveling in this manner, and it is important to understand the political and social climate of each region before doing so.

by land truck
Some people with limited time or who prefer not to make their own arrangements opt for the "overlander" experience. Many operators run tours in large trucks that are comfortable and equipped with facilities for around 8-30 people. They are usually run on a fairly tight schedule and cover a long distance, such as "Nairobi to Johannesburg in six weeks". These tours run across the continent, but East and South Africa are by far the most popular destinations. Accommodation consists mainly of tented camps. Most meals are staged and many are prepared by those on the trip (cooking duties are rotated during the trip), and free time is scheduled (like everything else). However, Victoria Falls, Swakopmund, Zanzibar and Serengeti National Park. Some people really enjoy these tours, especially when they don't have enough time to organize all the travel arrangements themselves. Others loathe the very idea of traveling in a group, thinking that they keep you out of touch with the "real" Africa. Whatever the case, they are a very different way to travel in Africa. The people who take these tours tend to be young at heart and a bit adventurous; these tours are not luxury trips.

by train
Most of the railway lines in Africa were built by the colonial powers, often at great human cost, with the primary goal of extracting wealth from the interior to coastal cities for export. After the fall of colonialism, many lines have not been extended or maintained. Therefore, passenger railways in Africa are few and far between and most are short, slow and within a single country. However, during the 2010s, Chinese and European investment has rehabilitated several lines and also built new standard gauge rail lines in several countries.

The states of Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, in North Africa, have railway networks of adequate quality, some of which are even favorable to those of some countries in Europe or East Asia, with connections to most of the major cities. In 2018, Morocco inaugurated Africa's first true high-speed rail line between Tangier and Rabat. However, due to political tensions (and partly due to the sparse population in the border areas) there are no international train services between these countries. For travelers to and from Egypt, the ancient Wadi Halfa to Khartoum in Sudan, the train is useful as it connects with the ferry across Lake Nasser to the Egyptian rail terminus at Aswan. A unique experience, but not very useful as a means of transportation, is to ride the world's longest train in Mauritania, either in the caboose or in open iron ore wagons. Libya has no railways and plans for change that were derailed by the political troubles that have rocked this country since the 2010s.

South Africa has a long history with passenger rail, there are night trains from most major cities several times a week. In addition, the Gauteng province is served by the rapid Gautrain, which connects the major cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to OR Tambo International Airport. There are no proper international trains to South Africa, but several lines terminate in border towns, making it fairly easy to travel from neighboring countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Most other southern African countries have some form of passenger service, but the quality and frequency vary greatly. Finally, for those with money to splurge, there are luxury trains like the Blue Train and Rovos Rail, offering luxurious old world charm.

East Africa has long had declining services, but due to recent investment several new lines have opened between major cities. Both Ethiopia and Kenya now power new trains connecting major cities. The classic TAZARA line, which connects Dar es Salaam with Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, is still in operation, passing through several national parks. Central African countries have fared worse with little or no investment, and the railways prove it. Angola has rehabilitated its rail lines, but services remain irregular. There are very limited and erratic services available in other countries.

Some services remain in West Africa, with Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Abidjan being the most usable for tourists. However, Nigeria is investing heavily in rail and several new intercity trains have come up.

Boat
Where there is water, there are usually boat services to some extent. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, boats are the main mode of transportation due to the extensive network of rivers and the lack/quality of roads and railways. Some notable river trips in Africa are:

Along the Niger River, small wooden dugout canoes ranging in design from a 2 person canoe to ~10 person wide canopy boats with ensuites. Traveling by canoe is slow, but the Sahelian landscape and the people you meet on the boat and during stops make this a memorable African experience. Due to the falls, pirogues on the Niger only operate in Mali and Niger.

Along the Congo River, large, old, and often crowded ferries connect cities along the river in the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic. Small boats from the villages come out and moor to these ferries to sell food and goods, and the boat is a bustling market with hundreds of people most of the time. The conditions on board these ferries are bad and bearable only by the most experienced travelers. Talk to the captain to see if you can use one of the few rooms to sleep.

 

Language

There is no dominant language in Africa, but if you are traveling to West or Central Africa, French and English will be the most useful in these nations and regions. Arabic is the dominant language in North Africa, although French is also widely spoken. English is also useful in many countries and predominant in much of southern Africa. Swahili is the most useful language in East Africa. In Ethiopia, most people speak Amharic, which is indigenous to Ethiopia. Even if you know a general language like French, it's always a good idea to bring phrasebooks for the native languages. In Senegal, for example, despite being part of French-speaking Africa, visitors are likely to find Wolof very useful and sometimes necessary when dealing with residents. It is also useful to have a basic knowledge of the language used by a country's former settler (for example, German is useful to know if you are going to travel to Namibia, as there is a large white German-speaking population). The more you want to interact with the locals or get out of the cities, the more important it is for you to have resources to communicate in the local African languages.

Africa's linguistic diversity is exemplified by South Africa, which has eleven official languages, some of which have the most complex sound inventory in any human language, with over a hundred different sounds to distinguish meaning. By comparison, English has less than half that number.

 

See

Flora and fauna

Many visitors are drawn to African flora and fauna and several countries benefit from safari tourism in African national parks.

 

Natural wonders

Africa is home to many famous natural wonders, from the Nile River, the world's longest river, to Victoria Falls. The continent is home to two of the world's four volcanoes with permanent lava lakes: the spectacular Mount Nyiragongo, which rises hundreds of meters above Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Erta Ale in Ethiopia's severe Danakil Depression (the others being the Mount Erebus in Antarctica and Kilauea in Hawaii). The adventurous tourist can scale both volcanoes to stand on the rim and gaze in awe at the bubbling lava below - an especially incredible sight at night! Mount Cameroon and its glorious expanse of lava also create a beautiful site with a variety of flora and fauna.

 

Landscapes

Roughly centered on the Equator, Africa is known for landscapes typical of warmer parts of the world.

North Africa is dominated by the vast Sahara desert wedged between the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Apart from the coastline and the banks of the Nile, this is a dry and remote part of the continent. The most notable (and probably most accessible) mountain range here is the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The highest peak is Jbel Toubkal, the highest mountain in Africa that is not located in the east of the continent.

South of the Sahara, the vegetation gradually increases the further south one travels. From the southern Sahel onwards, the terrain is fairly flat with savannahs and steppes. However, this is not the case at these latitudes in the eastern part of Africa; this is the northern end of Africa's "backbone" of several mountain ranges that stretch from Ethiopia to South Africa as an extension of the Nile. East central Africa is also where the largest lakes can be found, including Lake Victoria . Named after the 19th-century British Queen Victoria, this is the world's second-largest freshwater lake by surface area and the source of one of the two branches of the Nile. Southwest of the lake, just over the Halfway to the Indian Ocean, lies Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro.

Bisected by the Equator, unsurprisingly, the heart of Africa is dominated by rainforest. The Congolese rainforest is the second largest in the world, remote and mostly uninhabited, and going here is often more of an expedition than a sightseeing trip. The central eastern part is also the best place to go on the mainland if you are interested in volcanoes.

Farther south, the landscape becomes increasingly drier, especially in the western half. Namibia in particular is known for its deserts and canyons. The landscape is different in the east with picturesque mountains and waterfalls including the mighty Victoria Falls, yes it was named after the queen too. On the highland plateau of this corner of Africa lies Lesotho, the only country in the world that lies entirely higher than 1,400m above sea level. The southernmost part of the continent, in other words South Africa, is reminiscent of the northernmost edge with a Mediterranean climate and subtropical vegetation.

There are also several island nations or territories located in the oceans off mainland Africa. As a rule, they are mountainous with mountain ranges often consisting of volcanoes. Surrounded by the sea, as a general rule they have cooler temperatures than inland places at the same latitudes.

 

Historical civilizations

While the continent's diverse and unique wildlife is often all that is mentioned when it comes to African travel, as home to the oldest civilizations on the planet, Africa has equally impressive cultures and history. The most famous civilization on the continent, and possibly the world, is that of ancient Egypt. From the southern city of Abu Simbel to Luxor and all the way north to Alexandria and Cairo, including the pyramids of Giza, the sole survivor of the original Seven Wonders of the World and the most iconic symbols of this ancient kingdom. Sites of the Kingdom of Nubia that had close ties to Egypt can be found in Sudan such as Gebel Barkal and many other pyramids in Meroe. There are also remains of the ancient city-state of Carthage that can be found in present-day Tunisia.

Ethiopia offers many ruins of the ancient kingdom of Axumite where the queen of Sheba ruled. The obelisks and the ruins of Dungur in Axum were built before the kingdom's conversion to Christianity, while many other great monuments, such as the Ezana Stone and the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, where the Arch of the Alliance, were built after the conversion as religious places. Other famous Christian structures built later by the kingdom's successor, the Abyssinian Empire, especially during the 12th and 13th centuries, can also be found in Lalibela.

In West Africa, structures from the former Mali Empire can be found in Timbuktu and Djenne. Although there are Islamic influences, the architectural styles of the Kingdom of Mali's mosques remain quite unique and recognizably African. The cliff dwellings of Mali's Dogon country, built by the Dogon people, are also impressive ancient structures in Mali. Remnants of the Ghana Empire can be found in parts of Mauritania and Mali, including archaeological sites at Koumbi Saleh, Oualata, and Aoudaghost. Often overshadowed by other monuments in Africa, the Sungbo Eredo in Ijebu Ode, Nigeria, built by the Yoruba people, is actually the largest remaining pre-colonial structure on the continent. Today it towers over the city, covered with vegetation. The royal palaces of the Kingdom of Dahomey are still in their former capital of Abomey, and the ruins of the Kingdom of Kongo can still be found in their former capital of M'banza-Kongo. While largely destroyed by the British during the Scramble for Africa, Benin City and Kumasi still contain some relics of the Kingdom of Benin and the Ashanti Empire, respectively. In Sokoto, Nigeria, remnants of the Sokoto Caliphate can still be found in local museums as well as the Sultan's palace, and the city remains one of Africa's leading centers of Islamic studies.

Ruins of the ancient Swahili culture can be found in the coastal areas of East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania. Swahili structures combine elements of African architecture with Islamic architecture, which was quite prominent around the 14th century. Some of the most famous Swahili structures include the Gedi ruins and the pillar tombs around Malindi and Kilwa Kisiwani. Mombasa and Zanzibar's Stone Town boast Swahili structures spanning hundreds of years from their earliest days to the 18th century.

In southern Africa, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe have fascinated visitors ever since they were discovered by Europeans. No European had believed that the inhabitants of black Africa were capable of creating great monuments for themselves until the ruins of this ancient culture were discovered.

The ruins of the ancient city of Carthage, near Tunis, testify to the greatness of the Carthaginian Empire.

Many cities, such as Leptis Magna, Timgad and Dougga, boast Roman ruins as impressive as those in Europe itself. Many other European structures can be found across the continent, dating back to the early days of imperialism. One of the more unique European-influenced styles is the Cape Dutch style found in South Africa, which traces its origins to the first white settlers in sub-Saharan Africa in the 17th century. Although clearly influenced by Dutch architectural conventions, it has also moved significantly away from European architecture to suit African conditions, making it a unique style in its own right. Uniquely among white communities in Africa, the descendants of these Dutch settlers, now known as Afrikaners, have developed their own ethnic identity and generally consider themselves African rather than European.

 

Music

Music has been called "the common language of Africa" and is a part of daily life in most African nations. Western popular music (including jazz and rock'n'roll) has its roots in African-American folk music, and more and more African countries have a prominent pop music scene. South Africa is known for its jazz musicians who participated in their own unique genre, among the most famous being trumpeter Hugh Masekela.

 

Do

Safari

Safari, a land journey to view impressive African wildlife, is arguably the biggest tourist attraction in Africa. Most countries, except in the north, have at least one national park with organized safaris. A safari can take a variety of forms, from a simple day trip by minibus to week-long stays in a lodge. Usually it is a 4x4 ride through the savannah in search of the "big five": elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and buffaloes. These safaris are mainly offered in southern and eastern Africa. Many parks have strict regulations on visitor activities and behavior, along with admission and camping fees. Among the best-known parks are South Africa's Kruger National Park, Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater, Namibia's Etosha National Park, Botswana's Okavango Delta region, and Tsavo East/West National Parks and Tsavo National Park. Nairobi.

The three basic styles of safari are driving safari, walking safari, and mobile safari. Some regions also offer safaris by boat/canoe, horse, elephant, or by hot air balloon or light aircraft. The driving safari is by far the most popular form of safari and is better for most beginners as it is easier, often cheaper and generally allows you to see more wildlife. A driving safari can be a one-day affair, but often includes a couple of nights camping or in lodges. Low-priced driving safaris are often conducted in minibuses without a guaranteed window seat. Luxury safaris will likely include trips in a small-group 4x4 vehicle and stays in posh lodges with pools and spas. A walking safari consists of walking, either for a few hours or several days, with fewer opportunities to see many animals, but allows hikers to get up close to some animals and have experiences such as stumbling over the bones of a recent lion kill. For mobile safaris, a camp is set up each night of your safari; it could also contain a portable camp lunch. On an air safari, the visitor flies directly (or very close) to a lodge, rather than hours of ground transit.

For the most basic trips, travelers should budget at least US$70 per day, while some of the most visited parks can cost US$100-150 per day. Luxury travel can easily exceed US$1000/day. If a price offer seems too good to be true, it often is, and there's probably a good reason for it. This can be the result of hidden fees, gross errors/omissions/lies when calculating a price, an unlicensed operator, abusive labor practices, poor equipment, trip length, and extras you may not have thought of or that this operator plans to charge a fee for. elevated. Double check what each tour operator provides at their cost and be sure to get a written agreement prior to payment and departure. Self-drive safaris are possible in some parks, but are strongly discouraged for beginners.

 

Mountaineering

Africa does not have high, jagged mountain ranges comparable to those of the Himalayas, the Andes, the Rockies, or the Alps, and there are very few mountains that require technical equipment. The Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; Drakensberg in South Africa and Lesotho; the Semian Mountains in Ethiopia; and the Rwenzori Mountains between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the only sizable mountain ranges on the continent, all with numerous peaks that can be easily climbed. In addition, there are some tall volcanoes along the Great Rift Valley, on islands in the Indian Ocean, and in Cameroon. Some of the most climbed or unique mountains on the continent are:

Jbel Toubkal (4165 m) near Marrakech, Morocco is the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains and can be climbed without technical equipment in summer.
Mount Cameroon (4040 m) near Douala, Cameroon is the highest peak (actually a volcano) in Cameroon and is famous for the 1986 Lake Nyos disaster, when the lake released an enormous volume of carbon dioxide gas. carbon, suffocating thousands. It is possible to do brisk hikes to the top and back in a day.
Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in Tanzania, near the Kenyan border, is the highest peak on the continent, the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and perhaps the most climbed mountain on the continent, due to its accessibility and lack of equipment technical. The variety of landscapes that one passes from the bottom to the top makes it a destination that almost every climber has on their bucket list.
Mount Kenya (5199m) is the highest mountain in Kenya and is also a popular climb with many non-technical climbing and hiking trails through lush landscape and is less than 200km from Nairobi. The surrounding national park is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Table Mountain National Park (1086m) overlooking the city of Cape Town has hundreds of routes to the plateau, ranging from easy trails to technical rock climbs. In November 2011, Table Mountain was named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Mount Nyiragongo (3470 m) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the border with Rwanda is one of the 3-4 volcanoes in the world with a lava lake in its crater. One climb takes ~8 hours and involves camping on a ledge at the top, a safe 700m above the lake, overnight (of course the steaming, bubbling lava is most spectacular at night).

Rappelling and rock climbing can be done in many parts of Africa, with many opportunities in South Africa.

 

Trekking and hiking

Most of the mountain ranges and highlands of Africa are suitable for trekking. The Drakensberg in South Africa and Lesotho, the Garden Route in South Africa, the Ethiopian Highlands and Mali's Dogon Country are the most popular trekking destinations in Africa and most guidebooks for these countries describe the most popular routes. In the dense jungles of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you can go on treks, almost always organized, to pygmy settlements. There are established hiking trails in the highland forests of Fouta Djallon in Guinea and in Cameroon.

The Aïr massif in Niger is popular for hiking around its scraped-sand rock formations and oases, usually short distances from your transport by camel or vehicle. You can also go hiking in many forests with established trails. In Uganda, Rwanda, and the adjacent Democratic Republic of the Congo, trekking to see the endangered mountain gorilla is a major tourist draw, though permits cost US$500 to spend hours walking through rainforests and spending 1 hour near of the gorillas.

 

Dive

There are quite a number of excellent diving sites in Africa. The Red Sea off Egypt offers clear and calm waters. Diving in the Indian Ocean is common to all islands and to the mainland from southern Kenya. Diving in South Africa is most famous for "shark dives", where divers are lowered into cages to watch sharks feed on the bait, although other diving opportunities exist. Few inland spots are popular with divers; Lake Malawi, which is clear, deep and full of unique species, is the only lake with a significant number of dive operators.

 

Relax on a beach

Africa has a very long coastline with thousands of beautiful beaches, as it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic, west.

 

Sports

Soccer is the most widespread and popular sport, and games between countries often attract tens of thousands of patriotic fans who cheer to fill basic stadiums. Seeing a soccer match in Africa is a must; Try to dress in the colors of the local team and join the lively celebration with your neighbors! The biennial Africa Cup of Nations is the continent's premier championship. The most recent ACoN was held in South Africa in 2013. Future Cups will be hosted by Morocco (2015) and Libya (2017). South Africa hosted the first FIFA African World Cup in 2010.

Rugby union is played by several former British colonies in southern and eastern Africa. The South African Springboks are among the best teams in the world. And while traditionally associated with the white and specifically the Afrikaner part of the population, they now have a significant following among all ethnic groups after Nelson Mandela wore a Springbok jersey during the 1995 world cup which was held and won in South Africa.

Cricket is also played, especially in the former British colonies.

 

Buy

Money

The three easiest currencies to exchange within Africa are the euro, the US dollar and the British pound sterling. In some countries with a large tourism sector, Australian and Canadian dollars and Japanese yen can be exchanged at major banks and some exchange houses, but you will receive a poor exchange rate as these currencies are rare and more problematic for the banks change them. The continent is roughly divided between regions where the US dollar is easier to exchange and use and others where the euro is. In southern African countries, the South African rand enjoys a dominant position in the region (see below) and can be easier to exchange than other currencies. Generally speaking, you will experience low exchange rates outside of most of these countries and even restrictions on currency movement.

Due to concerns about counterfeiting, money changers, banks and probably even merchants will not accept US dollar bills that are worn or more than ten years old. Oddly enough, it seems to be a rule among anyone who trades a lot in dollars and will find it difficult or even impossible to get rid of worn or old dollar bills. The same does not seem to happen with euro banknotes, but it does with other non-African currencies.

With few exceptions (most notably the South African rand), African currencies are generally not accepted by banks or moneychangers outside their home territory, or at least not at a decent exchange rate. The currencies of some smaller countries are not interchangeable and lose value abroad, and some countries prohibit the export of their currencies and confiscate and even fine people who leave the country with currency (most notably the Angolan kwanza).

There are three currency unions in Africa:
Common currency area (using South African rand): South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, and Namibia.
West African CFA Franc (XOF): Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Central African CFA Franc (XAF): Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon

Some countries that are part of a monetary union also mint their own currency (such as the Namibian dollar), which means that both forms of currency are legal tender.

Despite sharing the same name and the same exchange rate (655,957 CFA francs = €1), the two "CFA franc" currencies are issued by different banks and are not interchangeable. A merchant from Benin will not accept a 1000 CFA Franc note from Gabon and vice versa. In fact, even with banks and exchange houses it will probably be easier (and you will receive a better exchange rate) to exchange banknotes in euros or even US dollars. Given the fixed exchange rate, if you visit any of these countries, the euro will receive a more favorable exchange rate.

The Mauritanian ouguiya and Malagasy ariary are the only two non-decimal currencies in use in the world, divided into fractions of 1/5 known as khoums and iraimbilanja, respectively.

 

American dollar

The US dollar has been the de facto currency of Zimbabwe since the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar and the granting of foreign currency as a bargaining chip in January 2009. Dollar coins are not generally accepted in Zimbabwe and you may have trouble getting them. get change for small purchases. The Djiboutian franc (178.8 = US$1) and the Eritrean nakfa (16.5 = US$1) are pegged to the dollar.

The US dollar is the easiest currency to exchange (and can receive a better exchange rate compared to the euro) in South Africa and East Africa, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Liberia. Many tour operators, tourist attractions, and hotels in these regions set their prices in dollars, and some even go as far as offering low exchange rates or even refusing the local currency. Also, many countries in these regions set their visa prices in dollars and will only accept dollars (or perhaps sterling).

 

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the territories of Mayotte and Réunion in France, the Canary Islands in Spain, and Madeira and Porto Santo in Portugal. West and Central African CFA francs are pegged to the euro at 655.975 (previously just 100 to the French franc). The Moroccan dirham is pegged (with a trading band) to the euro at approximately 10 dirhams per euro. The Cape Verde escudo is pegged at 110.265 to one euro and the Comoros franc is pegged to 491.9678 to one euro. The São Tomé and Príncipe dobra was pegged at 24,500 to 1 euro in 2010 to ensure stability; in 2004 it was worth only 12,000 per euro.

The euro is the easiest currency to exchange and receives the best exchange rate in countries whose currencies are pegged to the euro, with strong European ties, and/or where the majority of tourists are European. This generally corresponds to North Africa, the Sahel, West Africa and Central Africa with the exceptions of Egypt, Sudan and Ghana, neither the euro nor the dollar is better, nor is Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. Due to the recent creation of the euro and the long-standing status of the dollar, keep in mind that there are some regions of Africa where people have never heard of the euro or will see it as useless.

 

South african rand

The South African rand is an official currency and is widely circulated in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland) and Namibia. Although the latter three issue their own currencies, they are pegged 1:1 to the rand and are not legal tender in the other countries as is the South African rand. The rand has also been accepted in Zimbabwe since the demise of the Zimbabwean dollar, but not as much as the US dollar. It is also easily exchanged (and sometimes accepted as payment) in Botswana, Mozambique, and most tourist locations in Botswana and Zambia. Namibia mints a local currency that is also legal tender along with the South African rand in Namibia, so always be aware of the form of currency used on goods for sale.

 

Markets

Many African countries and tribes are known for their crafts. High-quality sculptures, utensils, and textiles can be found for a fraction of the price of a similar item made in a high-income country.

North Africa is known for rugs.

 

Prohibited items

The ivory trade is prohibited in almost every country in the world, with heavy penalties and even jail terms for violators. Many animal products (some commonly found in fetish markets) are also banned in Western countries, such as turtle shells, tusks from any animal, or any part or item made from an endangered species. Some conservation-minded African countries will prosecute all offenders to the fullest extent of the law... so be careful buying animal products unless you want to spend years in an African prison. Please note that even if an item can be exported from an African country, it may be illegal to import it into a Western country; the EU and US have strict laws on importing animal products in the name of conservation. See also animal ethics.

Some medicines that can be bought without a prescription in Western countries or parts of Africa may contain ingredients that are considered illegal narcotics or controlled substances in some countries. In particular, diphenhydramine is a "controlled substance" in Zambia and several Americans have been fined and jailed on drug trafficking charges for possessing the over-the-counter allergy medication Benadryl (also called Dimedrol) and the pain reliever Advil PM, whose main active ingredient is diphenhydramine.

Drug trafficking is as common a crime as it is in most Western countries. The list of substances that are considered prohibited or restricted drugs varies from country to country. Khat, widely grown and consumed in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, is an illicit drug in most other African countries. Organized drug trafficking is a major problem in Guinea and Guinea-Bissau en route from South America to Europe.

As in most countries, check your local antiquities laws before attempting to leave the country with anything that appears to be over 100 years old.

Always make sure that the diamonds or other jewelry you are buying can satisfy 2 conditionsː

The quantity, weight and/or total value of the jewelry you purchase can be legally imported into your country of origin.
No jewels or diamonds are Conflict Jewels, which means they are mined and/or sold by terrorist groups, rebel groups, or mined in unsustainable ways.

 

Eat

Food varies enormously and you can find Arabic-influenced cuisine (in the north), as well as food of European origin (in South Africa and Namibia) or local food originating from pre-settlement times. While you won't find five-star restaurants in every city, or indeed in every country, if you keep an open mind, you're in for some truly amazing once-in-a-lifetime dining experiences once you venture outside of standard tourism. .

 

To drink

As might be expected from a continent as large and diverse as Africa, there is a wide variety of drinking options. Although South Africa has come to be known as an internationally recognized wine region, drinking anything alcoholic in Muslim-majority countries or predominantly Muslim areas of countries like Nigeria can be unwise or even illegal. There are also a variety of non-alcoholic beverages that originated in Africa or have been perfected here, such as rooibos tea in South Africa or coffee in Ethiopia.

 

Sleep

While commercial districts and tourist cities have high-end hotels, accommodation can be very basic off the beaten path.

While camping in a national park can be an exciting experience, be aware of dangerous animals and crime.

 

Stay safe

Africa has a bad reputation for genocidal dictators, and while much of Africa is safe to travel to and many of the continent's tourist attractions are far from conflict, there are many regions where conflict and/or general lawlessness exists. Terrorism, religious extremism and piracy are also a concern in some areas with a recent rise in militant Salafi groups.

Jihadist groups are mainly concentrated in the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Sahel region, as well as their adjacent areas. Somalia, where warlords have fought for control since the collapse of the central government in 1993, and the Central African Republic, where widespread lawlessness and rebels exist in most of the country, should only be visited by experienced travelers who Be very competent about the dangers. that exist. Otherwise, these areas should be considered off-limits regions. The exceptions are Somaliland, which is de facto independent and relatively secure, and the isolated Dzanga Sangha National Reserve of the Central African Republic.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to the second largest jungle after the Amazon and most of the country is impassable by land. The eastern and northeastern regions are home to rebels and general lawlessness and have been home to the bloodiest conflict since World War II. The safest regions are the west (including Kinshasa), the south (near the Zambian border, including Lubumbashi), and some points practically on the border, such as Goma, Bukavu, and Virunga National Park.

The Central Sahara is home to numerous problems, notably the growing presence (or at least the impact) of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in much of Saharan Algeria, northern Mali (north of Timbuktu, east of Gao and near the border with Nigeria), and the eastern tip of Mauritania has led to several kidnappings (including a beheaded Briton, abducted near the Mali-Niger border) and a pair of suicide bombings in Nouakchott. Since the end of a civil war in Mali in 2012, the north of Mali (including Timbuktu, Gao and the borders of Mauritania and Niger) is very dangerous due to the presence of Tuareg and Islamist rebels. A Tuareg uprising has left much of the area around Agadez, Niger, once a popular tourist destination, off-limits and unsafe. Several borders in the Sahara are closed or highly insecure as a result of banditry: Libya-Sudan (closed), Libya-Chad (closed), Chad-Sudan (unsafe due to the Darfur conflict), Chad-Niger (banditry), Libya- Niger (banditry), Mali-Algeria (no road crossings, AQIM), Algeria-Mauritania (AQIM), Mali-Niger (AQIM/rebels), Mali-Mauritania (AQIM/rebels) and Algeria-Morocco (closed).

Parts of Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Chad are home to rebels and it is important to get up-to-date information on which parts of these countries are safe to visit (see warnings on those pages). Northern Nigeria is home to Islamic extremists who have carried out several attacks against non-Muslims, mainly other Nigerians, but there is still a significant risk to Westerners. The region around the Niger River Delta has been home to rebels for decades. Similarly, in Sudan, only the western regions of Darfur and the south-central "border" between the North-South conflict are dangerous.

Many countries in Africa are very dangerous for gay travelers, with extreme levels of homophobia widespread in the general population. Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries and in some cases carries a life sentence or even the death penalty. Nigeria and Uganda have gone a step further by making it a crime to know someone is gay and not reporting it to the police.

 

Crime

Crime in major African cities is generally high, and traveling at night is generally not advisable. While much of this involves scams, muggings, or petty theft, violent crime is also common. Check the “stay safe” areas of the individual countries you are traveling to.

 

Wildlife

In most of Africa, dangerous wildlife should be less of a concern, if any. In some parts of East Africa and South Africa, an abundance of potentially dangerous animals can be found, but most of the time any traveler would be perfectly safe in a vehicle with their tour guide. However, attacks and deaths do happen (rarely with foreigners, but commonly with locals) and it is better to be well informed. Nile crocodiles can be extremely dangerous and swimming is not an option in most low-lying areas of East Africa. Lions and leopards can be dangerous, but you are unlikely to encounter them on foot unless you are extremely foolish. Large herbivores such as elephants and rhinos can also be very dangerous if aggravated, even while in a vehicle, hippos are the animals most likely to attack or kill a human without provocation and should be avoided without an experienced guide . Venomous snakes do exist and are plentiful, but you are very shy and unlikely to see one let alone bite you. When it comes to pests, most insects in the country are no more dangerous than those found in any other country, and spiders are mostly harmless to humans. Despite all this, easily the most dangerous non-human animal on the entire African continent is the mosquito, which infects large numbers of Africans with malaria each year, and tsetse flies that cause sleeping sickness are also a major problem. in some areas. (Check individual country and region pages and WHO reports to see if the places you plan to travel are affected by these diseases.)

 

Staying healthy

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of HIV infection and AIDS on Earth. A 2005 UN report says that more than 25 million Africans are infected, more than 7% of adults on the continent. Be very careful with any sexual activity in Africa. HIV infection rates among sex workers are extraordinarily high.

Bushmeat of gorillas, monkeys, chimpanzees and baboons should be avoided. Due to its similarity to humans, a number of diseases (including those not yet discovered or poorly studied) can be spread by consuming its meat, especially if it is not heated sufficiently. HIV is by far the most famous disease transmitted by other primates, but others include Ebola, anthrax, and yellow fever.

As tap water doesn't always meet hygiene standards, bottled water (be careful to take a look at the seal before opening the bottle, as some people just refill bottles with tap water) is an option if you want reduce the risk of traveler's diarrhea. , especially on shorter stays. Always remember to drink enough, especially in hot weather, and avoid drinking too much alcohol when you are unfamiliar with your surroundings and/or have recently arrived.

Various infectious diseases, including those transmitted by mosquitoes, are a problem in parts of Africa. Vaccines, medications, and other precautions may be recommended to prevent infection. A non-exhaustive list for travelers to think about: dengue fever, malaria, measles, polio, rabies, yellow fever. Measles and polio vaccinations are routine in many countries, but you should make sure yours are up to date.

 

Connect

Phone

Calling codes for countries in Africa are generally 3-digit numbers beginning with 2, in the form +2XX. Some examples are +233 for Ghana, +263 for Zimbabwe, +254 for Kenya, and +262 for Reunion. The exceptions are Egypt and South Africa, with the 2-digit country calling codes +20 and +27, respectively. You can find a full list of country calling codes here.

Traditional fixed telephony services are scarce. South Africa and the North African countries are the only regions on the continent that have decent quality. Largely because of this, mobile phones have proliferated across the continent. Don't be surprised when you find yourself in a seemingly remote corner of the continent and in the middle of a poor tribe, when a man pulls out a mobile phone to show you photos of his family or asks you to find his Facebook profile to send him a friend request. . In many places, he will receive offers from merchants to use his mobile phone for a fee, in the same way that he would be asked to buy a wood carving or rug. Texting is more commonly used than calling.

If you decide to buy a mobile phone locally, beware of counterfeit phones. Smartphones are likely to be cheaply made versions of phones a couple of years older than those found in Western markets (that's not to say you can't find the latest Galaxy S or iPhone). If you decide to bring a phone from home, it would be best to bring a GSM phone (the most common type of network around the world). A GSM phone will have a removable chip, called a SIM card. The SIM card in your phone can be replaced with a SIM card for a local network, allowing you to access local mobile phone networks. Minutes can then be purchased to use and added to your phone. It's not too hard to find a dealer that sells scratch cards to replenish minutes/texts/data for your phone; just scratch to reveal a PIN number and enter it into your phone (per the instructions). The cost of buying a SIM card and minutes is much less than the charges for roaming with a mobile phone network in a Western country.

Faster data networks are being installed at high speeds across the continent (3G and 4G). However, outside of major cities, data service is often at very slow 2G speeds (comparable to dial-up internet or worse). Many telecommunications companies limit the use of 4G / 3G networks to postpaid customers.

 

Internet access

Computers are out of reach for most Africans. Therefore, computer stores (cybercafés) are common throughout the continent, except perhaps in the most remote corners of the most inaccessible countries (Chad, CAR, Somalia). Many computers are full of viruses and malware. With a little bit of computer skill, you can load a flash drive or burn a CD with an antivirus program and possibly an alternative web browser (Firefox, Opera, Chrome) for use on public computers in internet cafes.

Wi-Fi Internet access is becoming more common. Most luxury hotels along with some mid-range hotels (mainly in more developed countries) will offer Wi-fi internet access for guests. Some may charge a fee for this. It is preferable to use your personal laptop, tablet or smartphone with a Wi-fi connection to Internet cafes to access bank accounts, email, social networks and other sensitive accounts.

The fastest internet services can be found in North Africa, parts of West Africa like Ghana, Nigeria, and around East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda), where an impressive rollout of new, fast fiber-optic networks cables to the Middle East has made Kenya a promising hotspot for tech companies and international businesses that require fast connections. South Africa has the most developed and fastest internet connections on the continent. In contrast, some less developed countries and regions continue to rely on slow satellite connections, with speeds comparable to or even worse than the dial-up connections once common in Western countries. Ghana is also emerging as one of the most consistent Internet service providers in Africa, with the use of dongles being especially common. Wifi hotspots are also available in hotels, pubs and university campuses.

Internet censorship is a problem in several countries on the continent, often implemented or increased for political reasons. This often consists of blocked social networks and other communication tools; less frequently, governments may shut down the internet entirely around elections or other contentious events.

 

Post

Postal networks are generally slow, if not unreliable. Boxes and packages shipped to destinations outside of the continent can take weeks or even months to reach their destination. FedEx, UPS, and DHL maintain a good network of offices in major cities across the continent, and the ease of shipping, speed, and increased reliability make the higher shipping costs worth it.

Postal posting is available in some countries (check with your national postal service first) and allows mail to be sent to a post office, where it is held for the recipient. No address is written on the piece, just the recipient's name, city/country, zip code, and "Poste Remaining". Make sure the sender spells her (the recipient's) name correctly and clearly. The recipient shows up at the post office, presents identification (such as a passport), and pays a small fee. Since some post offices are quite disorganized, make sure the clerk checks your first name and any possible misspellings (describe them, ask to see items with a similar name, look under Q instead of O).