Blogs from Africa - page 3372

Arriving at Adbidjan around 11:30 a.m. local time, we had a splendid aerial view of the city and its waterways coming in. I thought of Abidjan as being right on the coast, but is separated from the ocean by the Ébrié Lagoon. We transferred from the airport to the Hotel Ivoire InterContinental, a very modern high-rise hotel that had opened in 1964. (It is still in operation as the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire.) There was an afternoon orientation tour around Abidjan by mortorcoach. The hotel was located in the Cocody district, across Baie de Cocody from the commercial part of the city. Immediately in back of the hotel was the headquarters of Radiodiffusion-Télévision ivoirienne (RTI). It was interesting to note that a number of African-American guests were staying at the hotel, on holiday to learn about ... read more

Cairo was the tenth stop on the Around the World trip. The group stayed at the Nile Hilton. It was a new hotel then, with a gallery of clothing and other shops as one entered. The hotel was preparing for the arrival of a delegation to Egypt of leaders from emerging African nations. We had a city tour of Cairo, including the Citadel and a view out over Old Cairo. A highlight was the the Egyptian Museum. I certainly enjoyed seeing the many Egyptian antiquities displayed there. We went to Giza to view the pyramids and the Sphinx. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most iconic structures in the world. Standing 454 feet (139 m) the age of the pyramid has been disputed over the years. Generally it is attributed to Khufu and ... read more

Because of our route derailment we are in Madagascar right now. We are traveling around the coast line meeting all of the Austronesian. These people originally came from Indonesia using prahus to migrate and settle Madagascar. A prahus is a canoe that has long hulls that extend to the side and create a more stable boat. They speak Malagasy, and brought many of their customs over from Indonesia such as blowpipes, rice cultivation, stilt houses, and domesticate plow cattle. They have also told us that they have brought over bananas, sugar cane, and coconut from their local lands.... read more

I have arrived in the first of the cities in which I plan to spend time in, Mogadishu. This is one of the most important cities on the East African coast and one of the most involved in trade in the world. Mogadishu is situated directly on the coast of Africa, and relatively far North for a Swahili City-State. It is located in an area which allows it to trade fairly easily throughout the Indian Ocean trade routes. Cities in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China can all be reached by sea from this city. From what I can tell now, the culture here is similar here to Baghdad's. The population is predominantly Muslim and kept afloat by the work of slave labor. We visited Fakr ad-in Mosque which was built only six years ... read more