Can a man go to Africa?

This is it. I've been growing deadly tired of th is little town and the inane landscape around me. While I don't want definitely to settle down in Africa, I'd like to pay a visit to some parts of that great continent: anywhere from Magrib to Black Africa. Places like Tunisia, Southwest Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe maybe.

I've been always crazy for deserts (Shara, Rub-El-Hali, Gibson, Atakama, Gobi, name it) but never been to any. :(

Any ideas how could a man go to Africa (apart from a 10-day tourist trip)? Please

ahm you fly there, and believe it or not they have busses and trains there as well. could be a bit of an adventure though.

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: This is it. I've been growing deadly tired of th is little town and the inane landscape around me. While I don't want definitely to settle down in Africa, I'd like to pay a visit to some parts of that great continent: anywhere from Magrib to Black Africa. Places like Tunisia, Southwest Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe maybe.

I've been always crazy for deserts (Shara, Rub-El-Hali, Gibson, Atakama, Gobi, name it) but never been to any. :(

Any ideas how could a man go to Africa (apart from a 10-day tourist trip)? Please

How much money do you have to spend and how long do you want to go for? Got to be prepared to rough it....

Lonely Planet do a book, Africa on a Shoestring for about $34 which would be a good starting point. Rough Guide do regional guides too for different parts of the continent. The Namib and Kalahari deserts in Namibia and Botswana are worth a look together with the Okavango swamps and the Chobe river. Most thinking people dont consider going to Zimbabwe these days out of principle.

Obviously some athletes from Sierra Leone wanted to stay in Oz - they went AWOL from the games. They were found in Sydney today and have applied for asylum.

Steve Lea wrote:

How much money do you have to spend and how long do you want to go for? Got to be prepared to rough it....

Lonely Planet do a book, Africa on a Shoestring for about $34 which would be a good starting point. Rough Guide do regional guides too for different parts of the continent. The Namib and Kalahari deserts in Namibia and Botswana are worth a look together with the Okavango swamps and the Chobe river. Most thinking people dont consider going to Zimbabwe these days out of principle.

Thanks for the advise, Steve! An answer straight from Africa, wow - that's appealing!

Well I'm not a man of rich - otherwise all I had to do is to book hotels for a year around throughout the contient, ha.

I would like to spend a few years definitely to be serious. But all I have is a desperate desire to go there. So I don't know. I'm gonna look for those books you mentioned above

My mum's friend married a guy from Congo bck in 1977 and they moved over there. Last time I met them was in 1989. But since then all contacts ceased to contintue. Probably they moved to France eventually.

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote:

Thanks for the advise, Steve! An answer straight from Africa, wow - that's appealing!

Well I'm not a man of rich - otherwise all I had to do is to book hotels for a year around throughout the contient, ha.

I would like to spend a few years definitely to be serious. But all I have is a desperate desire to go there. So I don't know. I'm gonna look for those books you mentioned above

My mum's friend married a guy from Congo bck in 1977 and they moved over there. Last time I met them was in 1989. But since then all contacts ceased to contintue. Probably they moved to France eventually.

Привет!

Well. Africa's calling.

This place is so laaarrrge !!! Where to begin ?

Also have friends from Congo. I met them in Slovakia while they were finishing their studies. They had been sent to a "brother country" when Congo was ruled by Communists. Well. One of them is now Slovak, another Czech, another lives in Finland and the others... in France. Two returned in Congo and we never knew what happened to them as soon as they arrived there. Many of them lost most of their relatives during civil wars...

Jiphy wrote:

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote:

Thanks for the advise, Steve! An answer straight from Africa, wow - that's appealing!

Well I'm not a man of rich - otherwise all I had to do is to book hotels for a year around throughout the contient, ha.

I would like to spend a few years definitely to be serious. But all I have is a desperate desire to go there. So I don't know. I'm gonna look for those books you mentioned above

My mum's friend married a guy from Congo bck in 1977 and they moved over there. Last time I met them was in 1989. But since then all contacts ceased to contintue. Probably they moved to France eventually.

Привет!

Well. Africa's calling.

This place is so laaarrrge !!! Where to begin ?

Also have friends from Congo. I met them in Slovakia while they were finishing their studies. They had been sent to a "brother country" when Congo was ruled by Communists. Well. One of them is now Slovak, another Czech, another lives in Finland and the others... in France. Two returned in Congo and we never knew what happened to them as soon as they arrived there. Many of them lost most of their relatives during civil wars...

Obviously it's hard to beat the like of safari Irji Ganzelka and Miroslav Ziegmund did in 1948 to promote Tatra. (They started in Egypt and ended in Mexico, I believe.) I don't care much about Central Africa (Cote d'Ivoir, Benin, Ghana, etc. or Congo), more impressed with Arab North and South.

Morroco and Tunisia celebrated their 50 years independance last week.

Maybe it is interesting to visit them this year.

I should run a travel agency...

Rimbaud's trip to Africa... Conrad's in the Heart of Darkness... and there are many more I guess...

Jiphy wrote:

Also have friends from Congo. I met them in Slovakia while they were finishing their studies. They had been sent to a "brother country" when Congo was ruled by Communists.

If you go to the Congo, can you please check if they drink 'Um Bongo'.

Its important.

Ian, there might be some current pertinent info as to what's going on in Africa on the Black Flag Cafe message boards at Come Back Alive. Click on the "www" link in this post to find the place; you might have to wade and search for what you want. Good luck.

i've got a few friends in sub-saharan africa. one is in lagos, nigeria. she's the daughter of moshood abiola, who was president of the country for about 5 minutes before he was overthrown by a military junta. her mother was assassinated and her dad died after being released because he didn't receive his heart meds while in prison. hafsat had a death sentence placed on her, but she was in the states at the time so she was safe. now she runs an NGO called KIND that works to bring democracy to west african countries--an amazing woman who would be an excellent tour guide.

i've also got a friend in south africa named sarah who would be an interesting person to hook up with. we went to grad school together and she's quite a well-respected author in cape town. her last book, the beneficiaries, was runner-up for the most prestigious book prize in south africa. she lost to j.m. coetzee, who went on to win the nobel prize for literature that year. not a bad person to lose to! she's a character and a wonderful storyteller, both on paper and when speaking. she's a wealth of knowledge about south african history and she was a member of the ANC during apartheid, even though she is white. she's another person who would make your african experience even more rewarding.

i haven't been to sub-saharan africa, but if i do go i will be asking these amazing women to take me on a tour of their respective country!

[darkgreen]Green[/darkgreen] wrote: Ian, there might be some current pertinent info as to what's going on in Africa on the Black Flag Cafe message boards at Come Back Alive. Click on the "www" link in this post to find the place; you might have to wade and search for what you want. Good luck.

Thanks, Allan, I'm checkig it right now Have you followed up to their advices? ;)

AgentWood wrote: i've got a few friends in sub-saharan africa. one is in lagos, nigeria. she's the daughter of moshood abiola, who was president of the country for about 5 minutes before he was overthrown by a military junta. her mother was assassinated and her dad died after being released because he didn't receive his heart meds while in prison. hafsat had a death sentence placed on her, but she was in the states at the time so she was safe. now she runs an NGO called KIND that works to bring democracy to west african countries--an amazing woman who would be an excellent tour guide.

i've also got a friend in south africa named sarah who would be an interesting person to hook up with. we went to grad school together and she's quite a well-respected author in cape town. her last book, the beneficiaries, was runner-up for the most prestigious book prize in south africa. she lost to j.m. coetzee, who went on to win the nobel prize for literature that year. not a bad person to lose to! she's a character and a wonderful storyteller, both on paper and when speaking. she's a wealth of knowledge about south african history and she was a member of the ANC during apartheid, even though she is white. she's another person who would make your african experience even more rewarding.

i haven't been to sub-saharan africa, but if i do go i will be asking these amazing women to take me on a tour of their respective country!

O that's impressive. Good to keep in touch with such personalities

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote:

AgentWood wrote: i've got a few friends in sub-saharan africa. one is in lagos, nigeria. she's the daughter of moshood abiola, who was president of the country for about 5 minutes before he was overthrown by a military junta. her mother was assassinated and her dad died after being released because he didn't receive his heart meds while in prison. hafsat had a death sentence placed on her, but she was in the states at the time so she was safe. now she runs an NGO called KIND that works to bring democracy to west african countries--an amazing woman who would be an excellent tour guide.

i've also got a friend in south africa named sarah who would be an interesting person to hook up with. we went to grad school together and she's quite a well-respected author in cape town. her last book, the beneficiaries, was runner-up for the most prestigious book prize in south africa. she lost to j.m. coetzee, who went on to win the nobel prize for literature that year. not a bad person to lose to! she's a character and a wonderful storyteller, both on paper and when speaking. she's a wealth of knowledge about south african history and she was a member of the ANC during apartheid, even though she is white. she's another person who would make your african experience even more rewarding.

i haven't been to sub-saharan africa, but if i do go i will be asking these amazing women to take me on a tour of their respective country!

O that's impressive. Good to keep in touch with such personalities

i'm lucky to have met them. i hope to see africa through their eyes someday.

and also...

once a man goes to Africa, can he ever leave?

AgentWood wrote:

i've also got a friend in south africa named sarah who would be an interesting person to hook up with. we went to grad school together and she's quite a well-respected author in cape town. her last book, the beneficiaries, was runner-up for the most prestigious book prize in south africa. she lost to j.m. coetzee, who went on to win the nobel prize for literature that year. not a bad person to lose to! she's a character and a wonderful storyteller, both on paper and when speaking. she's a wealth of knowledge about south african history and she was a member of the ANC during apartheid, even though she is white.

J.M. Coetzee is now an Australian! I kid you not... Your friend would probably tell you that she wasnt unusual - you didn't have to carry an ANC card...

Emma Peel wrote: and also...

once a man goes to Africa, can he ever leave?

Thursday's child has far to go...! Won't a girl leave her heart in San Francisco?

Steve Lea wrote:

AgentWood wrote:

i've also got a friend in south africa named sarah who would be an interesting person to hook up with. we went to grad school together and she's quite a well-respected author in cape town. her last book, the beneficiaries, was runner-up for the most prestigious book prize in south africa. she lost to j.m. coetzee, who went on to win the nobel prize for literature that year. not a bad person to lose to! she's a character and a wonderful storyteller, both on paper and when speaking. she's a wealth of knowledge about south african history and she was a member of the ANC during apartheid, even though she is white.

J.M. Coetzee is now an Australian! I kid you not... Your friend would probably tell you that she wasnt unusual - you didn't have to carry an ANC card...

she said it was puite popular for whites to be members of the ANC at the university of capetown, but she also felt negative pressure from elsewhere. when we were living together she even had another south african try and tell her she was a traitor...18 years later!

AgentWood wrote:

she said it was puite popular for whites to be members of the ANC at the university of capetown, but she also felt negative pressure from elsewhere. when we were living together she even had another south african try and tell her she was a traitor...18 years later!

Well there are always people like that here - the 'verkramptes' in Afrikaans, heads up their arses in English! Most people just get on with their lives here now...

Steve Lea wrote:

Emma Peel wrote: and also...

once a man goes to Africa, can he ever leave?

Thursday's child has far to go...! Won't a girl leave her heart in San Francisco?

That's a trick question. :) Time to go to a tarot card reading...

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: Any ideas how could a man go to Africa (apart from a 10-day tourist trip)? Please

Peace Corps.

I was once in my ususal mode of expressing my interest in finding a locale with perfect mid-70 degree fahrenheit weather year-round, this time expressed to my Ecology Professor, and he suggested Kenya. This suggestion wasn't well-received by me, because of the dictatorship there, so he suggested Tanzania as an alternate. Interesting that Kenya and Tanzania have perfect year-round weather, considering that humanity originated there...

Comrade Shampanyov, Last Gentleman of the Mohicans wrote:

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: Any ideas how could a man go to Africa (apart from a 10-day tourist trip)? Please

Peace Corps.

I was once in my ususal mode of expressing my interest in finding a locale with perfect mid-70 degree fahrenheit weather year-round, this time expressed to my Ecology Professor, and he suggested Kenya. This suggestion wasn't well-received by me, because of the dictatorship there, so he suggested Tanzania as an alternate. Interesting that Kenya and Tanzania have perfect year-round weather, considering that humanity originated there...

and now scandinavia, which has crappy weather and no sun for six months, is the center of humanity's happy town. the irony.

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote:

[darkgreen]Green[/darkgreen] wrote: Ian, there might be some current pertinent info as to what's going on in Africa on the Black Flag Cafe message boards at Come Back Alive. Click on the "www" link in this post to find the place; you might have to wade and search for what you want. Good luck.

Thanks, Allan, I'm checkig it right now Have you followed up to their advices? ;)

Err, not quite yet ;) .........Just for the info mainly, the creator of the site, Robert Pelton Young, has had a few TV shows aired in years past, that's how I found the site. Yes, he was the one who "discovered" John Walker Lindh while covering military action against the Taliban for CNN

You could go for 2-3 weeks doing a volunteer shift... less time commitment...

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/vol/145239070.html