I have been travelling a lot in past years, but I had never been in Africa before my decision to go there for 3 months. It has always been a mysterious and dangerous continent to me, so I never really dared going there. I don’t know why it took me so long to discover that wonderful part of the world. I realised during and after my trip that what we learn about Africa and the many African countries is very limited and prejudiced. I still can’t believe what a great, yet still magical continent it is. It has a wonderful diversity of people and nature and is in general overwhelmingly stunning.
I have been at home for 6 weeks now and I am still processing all the impressions I collected while in Africa. I am still fascinated looking at the pictures and enjoying the human contacts that have started during the trip. AFRICA IS STUNNING.
Here is a video to show you the beauty of Africa as I don’t have words to describe the experiences and emotions that go along with the adventure.
A mix of pictures from South Africa, Namibia , Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Zanzibar
Seeing all the animals that I only knew from zoos in their natural habitat and getting into contact with local people has given me a completely different perspective to western life. I have not only gone through a process of self-consciousness, but have also realised that the small things in life are way more important than the values we are often taught. There are of course not only good things about Africa. Once you consider the political situation there are so many, sometimes even too many things, that I couldn’t resist thinking and arguing about.
Especially in the capitalist and racist world we live in, it is promoted that being different and not having the latest smartphone is a reason to be degraded as a human being, which is obviously utter bullshit. We don’t need much to survive and to have a happy life even if our views are different, but being respectful toward the people you are dealing with is the most important value we can promote. It these times of terror, wars and refugees we should try to understand the person him- or herself and not blindly believe what we are told by the authorities. In Africa, corruption and racism are part of everyday life and are even more obvious and stronger than in our western world. Realising that the political and financial disasters were mainly caused by the western influence and colonisation made me feel like throwing up sometimes.
Who gives anyone the right to impose their beliefs onto other people and cultures?
Who decides which one is the right view?
Many people are very poor and some African governments could do so much more about the local people’s situation, but as they are trying to copy the western world their countries’ people are not helped but even more destroyed by capitalism, racism, religion and other clashes between the two worlds. Someone who has been raised in a completely different context can’t understand the completely different culture of someone else BUT people can still respect each other for what they are and what they believe in. I have constantly been preaching about basic human respect and equal opportunities and have realised how privileged I am to have been born into a place where I at least have the chance to thrive. These government often undermine education so that their higher position is maintained and can’t be put into question by their educated subjects. Who gives anyone the right who should be educated and who shouldn’t? Many of these observations made my brain go round and realising that it is awfully difficult to change something about it badly frustrates me at times.
There are always 2 sides about everything, but even though Africa is a stunning continent one should not neglect the realities and not only travel from one lodge to the next. When travelling keep in mind that everyone lives in a social system and that there are always people taking decisions about other people trying to make it through their life with their family and friends. The mingling in local matters of different distant countries, the so-called developed countries, though doesn’t necessary help local African nations evolve into a better place or a better life of the local people. Most of the times there are corporations and lots of money involved in the political decisions who then come into the country and destroy nature and the local resources. Some foreign politicians seem to feel entitled to impose their ideas and views on cultures who have a completely different view of life to start with, and their views are not necessarily worse than what we get to experience every day in Europe.
Basic respect of the human rights and individual rights to equal opportunities and education should be the major goals of a nation, because only if people feel supported we can live in a more peaceful world. First solve your own problems before putting your nose into other people’s business and beliefs. It makes me furious which rights some people seem to claim as their own while disengaging with human realities
LETS RESPECT EACH OTHER FOR WHO WE ARE, BEING DIFFERENT IS GOOD AND DEFINES OUR IDENTITY!!
The Magic of Serendipity 