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Africa

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Introduction

Going home from Giza

Going home from Giza

© All Rights Reserved davecallan

Africa is a vast continent of diverse cultures and landscapes. Surpassed in size and population only by Asia, Africa boasts about 14% of the worlds' population and over 20% of the total global land area. Most of this land is dominated by desert and savannah plains, though there are also stretches of rain forest.

Owing to its history of being a colonised land, traditional African culture is infused with Arabic and European influences.

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Sights and Activities

Major cities

Landmarks

  • Lake Victoria - Africa's largest lake, measuring a remarkable 68,800 square kilometres.
  • Victoria Falls - one of the biggest and most beautiful waterfalls in the world, which can easily compete with the Niagara Falls, Iguazu Falls and the Angel Falls in Venezuela.
  • Mt. Kilimanjaro - Africa's tallest mountain and the highest free standing mountain in the world.
  • The Nile River - arguably the longest river in the world (some say the Amazon might be longer).
  • Sahara Desert - the world's second largest desert (after Antarctica).
  • Giza Pyramids and the Great Sphinx - perhaps the continent's most famous attractions.
  • Mud Mosques of Timbuktu, Djenné and Mopti, but generally found throughout most places in Mali and also to a lesser extent in Burkina Faso.

Safari

Safaris were 'invented' in Africa and although it just means 'trip' or 'travel' in Swahili language, the term is internationally used when someone is going to visit Africa's national parks, in search of the Big Five and hopefully more animals.

One of the best countries for a safari is Tanzania, which has two of the best known parks in the world: the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Other traditional countries to see Africa's beautiful nature and wildlife are Kenya, South Africa and Botswana. South Africa is perfect for a self drive safari. This applies to Botswana as well, but you really need a 4wd here. Other highlights regarding wildlife in Africa are Etosha national park in Namibia, several parks in Zimbabwe and Zambia and visiting the mountain gorillas in the mountainous areas of Uganda and Rwanda]].

Beaches and Islands

Africa has very fine beaches, especially in the east. Of the coast of Africa are several islands to enjoy the beaches as well. The most important ones are:

  • Kenya - several good places along the entire east coast, for example near Mombasa.
  • Zanzibar and several other islands in the region, like Maffia.
  • Seychelles
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique - loads of opportunities, like the Bazaruto archipelago and near Pemba in the north.
  • West Africa - especially Ghana
  • Northern Africa - most notably Egypt which has great snorkelling and diving in the Red Sea op top of that.

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This is version 16. Last edited at 14:00 on Aug 19, 08 by Utrecht (-116). 26 articles link to this page.

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