africa
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Lions & Hippos & Panthers, Oh My!
If you’ve ever wanted to see a giraffe up close, touch an elephant trunk, or ride a Jeep on the savanna, South Africa is the place for you. The country also boasts great food, a diverse culture, and an unforgettable history of apartheid and the fight for freedom.
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Books to Read While Boarding
“In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own.” —Anna Quindlen There is absolutely no way you can convince me that anything makes travel more fulfilling than reading. For every destination I travel to, I find a book that takes place in that corner of the world. These stories, true or fictional, draw me into the place, making my destinations come alive. Nothing beats the rush of discovering the history of a place or being delighted by a romance set in a foreign city. While you’re packing your bags, consider throwing some of these books into your carry-on. I have curated a list of books that you must read as you travel to these places. If you want to travel to these places but don’t quite have the funds yet, these are perfect for you! As Jhumpa Lahiri said, “That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” Stateside Travel If you’re traveling to New York City read Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. Summer at Tiffany is the true story of two friends, Marjorie and Marty, who move to New York City in 1945. They become the first women to ever work on the sales floor at Tiffany & Co. This charming book is a homage to friendship, hard work, and the wonder of the city. If you’re visiting the Midwest, read The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald. Sara, a timid book-lover from Sweden, makes her way to Iowa to meet a pen pal. The small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa is skeptical of Sara but eventually she wins them over. Asia Travel If you’re traveling to Southeast Asia, read Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwall. Vassar Spore is a sixteen-year-old girl with a ten-year plan. What she didn’t plan on was an eccentric relative forcing her to spend the summer backpacking through Southeast Asia. Join these two on their crazy adventure. If your destination is Russia, read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Count Alexander Rostov has been sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow during a time of political unrest. This historical fiction is both a romance and a thriller. Europe Travel If you’re vacationing in France, Italy, or England read A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C. A. Belmond. Penny Nichols’s humdrum life is turned upside-down when she is left an unexpected inheritance. This leads Penny on an adventure across Europe, discovering family secrets and protecting her inheritance. Africa Travel If your trip takes you to Morocco or Spain, read A Time in Between by Maria Duenas. Sira Quiroga is a young girl from Madrid who is swept into a life in Morocco. Set in the time of the Spanish Civil War and WWII, Sira’s story is a coming of age story full of espionage, romance, and family. South America Travel If you’re exploring Brazil or the Amazon, read Lost City of Z by David Grann. Lost City of Z is the true story of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who disappeared in the Amazon while searching for a city of gold. Grann also tells of his own trips and discoveries deep in the Amazon.
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Africa: The Bolts and the Beautiful
African textiles are unforgettable. Immediately recognizable, the beautiful weaves of bright colors and bold patterns capture the eye and refuse to let you go. This iconic fashion style is found across the globe and honors a wide variety of tradition and culture.
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Sounds of Senegal
A deeply traditional musical sensation has been sweeping through West Africa’s Senegal for the past few decades, and it continues to be an ever-evolving art form that only grows in popularity in this day and age.
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Toothy Traditions
Losing a tooth is a highly anticipated milestone for young kids. Not only does it mean that they are growing, but the event may also involve an exciting cultural tradition.
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The Waters of Africa
Africa is a magical place where nature roams free alongside history and modernity. Among all of this rich culture flows life-giving rivers and waterfalls. Flowing through different environments, these unique rivers have provided man’s oldest ancestors with life and still provide for today’s current residents. Travel with us to Africa where we will flow down the Nile, across Victoria Falls, and over the Orange, Limpopo, Niger, and Congo Rivers to discover what this great continent has to offer.
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Unique Lodging Options
A large map of the world, plastered with clusters of brightly-colored sewing pins, hangs in the home of 73-year-old Myrna Towers. Each pin marks a place that Towers, her husband, Dave, or one of their six children has visited. Myrna and Dave have traveled extensively, and have lived in Great Britain, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. What the map does not show, however, is where they have slept on their travels. A cabin on the African savanna, a chateau in the Alps, and a hut in Mexico are only a few. “If you stay in Best Westerns everywhere you go, you’ll have a very typical trip,” says Towers. They are always on the alert for rare lodging opportunities.
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African Tribal Beauty
Would you ever choose to insert a metal plate in your lower lip to express yourself? Or cut patterns into your cheeks? People all around the world use body modifications as cultural self-beautification, for reasons that seem foreign to outsiders. Nowhere are these practices more deeply ingrained than in Africa, whose multiple tribes' unique cultures, traditions, and body modifications symbolize this rich history. Just in Ethiopia, the Surma tribes use body modifications to define themselves as an individualistic group of people.
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Megan Nelson: Dreaming to Africa
Megan helps conduct fish surveys as part of marine conservation efforts in Madagascar.
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Rwanda Renewed
As Brady Grayson sets out for his morning run, he notices that this city is different from Kampala, Uganda, which he left the day before. Drivers of cars observe the speed limit. Motorcycle taxis have reflectors, and their drivers wear helmets. The streets are clean. As he runs through the city and toward the outskirts, he attracts the stares of many of the locals. This doesn’t surprise him. It’s not every day you see a tall, gangly white man running through the streets of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
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Turning the Bones: Malagasy Rituals
Malagasy carry the body of a deceased relative as they participate in the turning of the bones.With one final cut into mortar and clay, the crypt falls open, the gathered family watching in near-silence. Tears fill the eyes of some; others have smiles on their faces. Two men disappear into the tomb and return carrying a bundle wrapped in linens. They carry the body of one of the men’s grandmothers.
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On Eating Insects: Bugs Bite—Is it Time to Bite Back?
For westerners who consider an eight-ounce bloody slab of cow muscle to be mouth-wateringly delicious, a crispy fried grasshopper or mealworm should pose no problem. But let’s face it, it does. And the whole “facing it” issue may be the problem. If our food has eyes and a mouth and looks back at us, it causes a gut reaction—literally. But here are five ideas to consider about insect consumption that might help you overcome your squeamishness should you be offered something six-legged to eat during your travels.
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Heritage Lights: Cape Town, South Africa
An estimated three thousand ships have met their doom off the unforgiving South African Coast—that’s one destroyed craft and crew for every kilometer of coastline. Beginning in the early fifteenth century, around the time when Vasco de Gama and Columbus were sailing toward the New World, the seas of South Africa began swallowing European sailors whole. Generations of fearful crewmen nicknamed the area the Cape of Storms.
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Fighting AIDS in Uganda
On a sunny day nearly 10 years ago, Barbara Lawson of San Francisco wandered through a residential neighborhood in Kampala, Uganda, with a local colleague. As they walked, she noticed that most of the people she saw were either elderly or children. When she remarked about it to her companion, she was told that “basically a generation had been wiped out by AIDS” and that now the area was “a neighborhood of grandparents and their grandchildren. The thirty- and forty-year-olds are gone.”
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Ditch the Ferrari, Take a Safari
A hot air balloon glides quietly over the Serengeti, providing a rare view of the wildlife below. Photo by WajahatmrThe word safari probably makes you think of people wearing khaki, bumping along in a jeep, and peering through tall savannah grass at a majestic lion. But did you know that there are other exciting ways to enjoy an African safari? Here are four ways to get a different view of Africa’s wild landscape. Balloon Safaris It’s 6 am. Dawn is just beginning to break over the Serengeti, changing the dark shapes below into trees. The only sounds that break the silence are birdcalls and the occasional ssshhh of the hot air balloon’s whisper burner. As the balloon approaches a river, the water stirs, disturbed by what look like large moving rocks. “Hippos,” the guide says quietly, lowering the balloon a bit for a better look. Balloon safaris take place at dawn, when animals are most active, and they offer a unique, panoramic perspective of the African terrain. Rides last about an hour, and they are offered year-round.
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The Four Corners of the Kitchen: Rice
Rice is just one of those foods. You can find it in the cuisine of almost every country, from Asia to Africa to North America. But just about everyone has a different—and delicious—way of preparing it. Get to know some of your fellow rice connoisseurs by trying these international recipes.
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