No more snow or below-zero temperatures? Wake up every morning to bright sunshine and the songs of tropical birds? That’s the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on the edge of Lake Victoria. Or to the roaring of the ocean, with a spectacular sunrise guaranteed every morning? Zanzibar, the spice island, or Mombasa, the vibrant tourist centre on the Indian Ocean, with its 16th century fortress and old town largely intact. Perhaps a national park within a stone’s throw from your room, with lions, gazelles, rhinos, hippos and a bewildering array of monkeys. You’re in Nairobi, the mile-high capital of Kenya, home of the marathoners and long- and medium-distance men and women runners. Or further inland, forested mountains rise beyond more forested mountains, as far as you can see. Kigali, the spick and span, highly organised capital of Rwanda, whose only offer to tourists is the mountain gorilla? Only offer? A comfortable two-hour drive from the capital and you reach the forest where the shy creatures hide and can be visited by few people at a time. A once-in-a-lifetime experience.
East and central equatorial Africa must be one of the most beautiful places on earth; some even claim it’s the original Garden of Eden! Eternal spring, bright colours, fascinating flora and fauna, tropical fruits throughout the year, and friendly and welcoming people. You won’t need to pack a sweater; just plenty of sun-blocking lotion and a wide-rimmed hat. Yet, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania –with its fabled Serengheti Game Reserve, the largest collection of wild animals anywhere- struggle hard every year to clock one million tourists each. Rwanda has just set out attracting visitors. Yet, one big advantage of all these countries is that almost everyone gets by in English, especially when tourists are around.
There are a few perceptions, unfortunately inaccurate yet somehow understandable, that keep many people away. One is the idea that the continent Africa is one big country, and a bloody coup in, say, Chad, or the continuing mayhem in Somalia, shown on TV news, mean I must cancel my holiday in Kenya or Tanzania. Distances in Africa are huge, and communications are still poor, except between main urban centres within the same country or two neighboring countries. Thus, despite the bombs and shooting in Mogadishu, travel to Nairobi or Entebbe is as safe as travel was to London and Paris when the former Yugoslavia blew up in the early 1990’s.
Another is that Africa occasionally erupts into extremes of violence: Rwanda in 1994; northern Uganda from the late 1980’s until 2006; Darfur; a riot in a South African township; Kenya’s post-election troubles early last year; the ongoing war in eastern Congo; Moslem-Christian “clashes” in northern Nigeria; the child soldiers and blood diamonds – Liberia and Sierra Leone. This is true. But Africa is a huge continent of one billion people, with most countries still getting to grips with democracy, the proper organization of society, the building up of institutions, the distribution of its immense resources, and modern lifestyles. There’s bound to be a little friction here and there, but it’s rare that visitors, even many of the local people, are affected. Hospitality is almost sacred in Africa and the visitor has to be treated well, as a point of honour.
Corruption, greed, chaos, primitive practices like witchcraft, unsafe drinking water, undisciplined drivers, con-men (and women), bed-bugs, the smells, all add to the risk or discomfort. With a little common sense and preparation, however, no tourist or visitor, not even the back-packer, need come across any of these unless he goes out of his way.
Africa has its own kind of order, its standards of cleanliness –remember that Africans are used to trying to keep clean and smell pleasant in the midst of heat, dust and having to walk long distances. And, above all, Africa is spontaneous, and a constant source of originality, novelty and enjoyment for anyone who’s ready to look and listen. For example, the names of the public taxis, ranging from the inspirational (God is good), through British soccer (ARSENAL), to street-wise advice or the latest political gossip. And every problem has a solution. Hakuna matata! reads the logo on the tourist T-shirts.
Africa lives outdoors. There’s a sense of continuous movement, life, music and rhythm and colour – and children and smiles everywhere. It’s a youthful continent, with half the population below fifteen years of age, yet has great respect for the elderly, the source of wisdom and experience, who are always welcome to live with their children when they get too old to look after themselves.
Yes, there is the downside: the poverty and famine; street children and child labour –including children exploited in “sex tourism”; the absence of just wages and working conditions; unemployment and men drunk by mid-morning, especially in the villages; and the tough lot of women who are often considered inferior yet have to work hard to keep the family together.
And the outstanding: the spirit of enterprise and making a fortune from lowly beginnings; the corporate organizations run exclusively by people in their late twenties and early thirties; the huge families where parents have sacrificed themselves to send most of the children through university; the parents who go without food so their children can have supper; and how people manage to survive without any social security safety net, thanks to the extended family.
Africa is truly a new experience, and not only the dazzling blue waters and coral reef of the Indian Ocean, the annual wildebeest migration of Masai Mara, the snow-capped peaks of the Mountains of the Moon (Rwenzoris), or Kilimanjaro rising thousands of feet out of the surrounding savannah. Africa is mainly its people, coping cheerfully with today, and ready for whatever tomorrow might bring. That’s the best souvenir you can take home: the mal d’Afrique, the longing to go back again.
Martyn Drakard is a freelance writer who works and resides in East Africa.
RSS