Travels to the rare countries of Africa. Discovery of Africa: expeditions to the "black continent"

about the materials of the Portuguese intelligence officers and the Jesuits already in the 80s. 17th century a map of Ethiopia was drawn, and the Europeans knew it better than any another African country, except, of course, the Mediterranean. And at the end of the XVII century. french doctor Charles Jacques Ponce finally established its connection along the Nile with the Mediterranean Sea (the Portuguese penetrated there from the Red Sea). In 1698, while in Cairo, Ponce was invited to Ethiopia by its ill sovereign (Negus) Iyasu I. Having joined the Jesuit mission at the end of May, S. Ponce climbed the Nile - bypassing the rapids above Aswan through the Nubian desert - and along the Blue Nile in February 1699 reached Sennar (at 13 ° 30 "N. latitude), where he spent three months From this city, he traveled east to the capital Gondar, lying on the Ethiopian highlands north of Lake Tana. Having cured the Negus, S. Ponce set off on a further journey. He crossed the mountainous Northern Ethiopia from Gondar to the port of Massawa on the Red Sea, where he arrived in September 1699, thus linking his route with the usual Portuguese. Through the Red Sea, he returned to Lower Egypt, and from there to Fran tion.

In 1762, a Scottish doctor was appointed to Algiers as an English consul. James Bruce. He learned - during the service - Arabic and some other languages \u200b\u200bof North Africa, visited, "exploring the ruins of the Roman period", all southern mediterranean countries from Morocco to Egypt. In 1768, D. Bruce went from Alexandria to Ethiopia, probably on some special assignment. He went up the Nile to the city of Kena (at 26 ° N. Lat.), traveled by caravan route through the Arabian Desert to Quseir on the Red Sea, bypassed him on the ship northern shores and along Arabian coast moved to the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and from there to the African coast and reached Massawa, having completed the study of more than 3 thousand km of the Red Sea coastline. From Massawa he reached Gondar (February 1770).

D. Bruce lived in Ethiopia, practicing medicine, until 1772, visited Lake Tana and again - after Pedro Paish - established that Abbay - the Blue Nile, mistakenly accepted by D. Bruce as the main source of the Nile, flows from it; he knew from hearsay about the second source, but considered it a small river. D. Bruce returned to Egypt, following down the Blue Nile and the Nile, i.e., repeated in reverse direction the path of Sh. Ponce. “Bruce made few real discoveries, but he himself was very reluctant to recognize the achievements of his Jesuit predecessors” (D. Baker). His book "Travels to discover the sources of the Nile in 1768-1773." in five volumes, completed by publication in 1790, made a great impression in England and drew the attention of geographers to Africa in general and to the problem of the Nile in particular. Another important result of his expedition was the astronomical determination of many points along the route.

The left bank of the Bahr el-Abyad (White Nile) - the Kordofan plateau and especially Darfur lying to the west of it - remained for the Europeans of the 90s. 18th century "mysterious country", although it was connected by busy trade caravan routes with Ethiopia (through Sennar, on the Blue Nile) and with Upper Egypt (through Asyut, on the Nile). From Asyut to El Fasher, the capital of Darfur, led the so-called "forty-day journey" - about 1700 km through the chain of oases of the Kharga depression, deserts and dry savannahs; and the first of the Europeans passed through it in 1793, joining the Sudanese caravan, the English archaeologist William George Brown. In addition to trade, which may have been a disguise, he wanted to explore Darfur, but the local sultan did not allow this. And Brown spent about three years in El Fasher and its environs, until the Sultan allowed him ... to return to Egypt by the same “forty-day journey” (1796). Despite the limited opportunities for observations and collection of materials, Brown wrote a valuable report, which until the end of the 20s. 19th century In 1824, he passed through Darfur and (for the first time) through Kordofan during his six-year journey through the North East Africa German Eduard Rueppel. remained the only book that gave some idea of Darfur (the area of this country, now part of the Republic of Sudan, is about half a million square kilometers).

In West Africa, Europeans in the interests of the slave trade primarily explored the Senegambia rivers. In the 17th century the British operated mainly in the river basin. Gambia and in the first quarter of this century rose along it 600 km from the mouth, but stopped there. Only in 1723, that is, after more than a hundred years, did an Englishman Bartholomew Stibs proceeded another 500 km up the valley of the river. Gambia, to the northeastern massifs of Phuta-Jallon. He established that it was not connected with the Niger, and came to the correct conclusion that the Gambia begins somewhere nearby, on the massif. A few years later, British officers W. Smith And D. Leach filmed the entire river. Gambia and put it on an accurate map (1732).

The studies of the French operating in the Senegal basin were distinguished by a large scope. By the second quarter of the 17th century. they scouted the lower and middle reaches of the Senegal well. By the end of the century, as a colonial explorer, he stood out Andre Bru, director of a trading Senegalese company. He ruled the colony from 1697 to 1702 and from 1714 to 1725. During this period, having surveyed the Atlantic coast between 16 and 12 ° N. sh., Bru was the first of the Europeans in Tropical Africa to move from the "point colonization" of the Portuguese type, that is, from the establishment of trading posts on the coast, to the organization of colonial territorial arrays by penetrating into the interior of the mainland. He twice ascended the Senegal to the confluence of the largest (left) tributary of the Falem and placed Fort Saint-Pierre (now Senudebu) on the lower Falem. One of his agents followed Falemé to the first rapids. A group of other employees of A. Bru, after a month-long journey up Senegal, reached the waterfalls, that is, they reached the Futa-Jallon plateau, from which the river originates. Bafing, after the confluence with the river. Bakoy, which is called Senegal. But the sources of the river were still unknown, and its connection with the Niger was assumed. The reports of A. Brew, compiled on the basis of his observations and on the basis of interrogation data, were processed by the colonizer of Guadeloupe, the missionary Jean Baptiste Laba and published in 1728 in Paris under the title A New Description of West Africa. This book is a valuable primary source for the study of the life and pre-colonial history of the peoples of tropical West Africa.

Major African geographic issues

1788 on the initiative Joseph Banks(satellite of D. Cook), the British "African Association" arose. The task of the new society was to explore the inner regions of Africa in order to develop British trade there and establish British dominance. In the last quarter of the XVIII century. these areas of the mainland were known much more than European historians and geographers usually believe, but they are familiar not to scientists, but to “practitioners”, mainly to Arab slave traders who penetrated far into the interior of the mainland from the north and east. The European slave traders - the Portuguese, the British and the French - who carried out their unclean operations on the Atlantic coast of Africa, from the mouth of Senegal to the mouth of Kunene, inclusive, also had information about a lot. But, unlike the Arabs, they themselves rarely went to the hinterland, as they acted mainly through local agents and the African tribal elite. These slave traders were very reluctant to share their geographical knowledge with the scientific world. Before European geographers at the end of the XVIII century. were primarily four major problems associated with the four great African rivers: 1) Where are the sources of the White Nile? 2) Where does the Niger begin, how does it flow and where does it flow? 3-4) Where do the Congo and Zambezi begin and how do they flow? (Only their lower reaches were known.)

The fifth problem is the study of the tributaries of the great African rivers in order to determine their basins and the possible connection between them. Among other things, the probability of a bifurcation of their converging tributaries was assumed, therefore, the possibility of trans-African inland waterways from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean (Congo-Zambezi), from mediterranean sea to the Indian Ocean (Nile-Congo-Zambezi) and to the Gulf of Guinea (Nile-Niger). The sixth problem is the study of the East African great lakes and Lake Chad and their connection with the great rivers. The seventh problem - finding out the main features of the relief of the African continent - was resolved along the way.

since the interests of England and her rival France were at that time most connected with West Africa, the "African Association" at first highest value contributed to the solution of the Niger problem. She sent several expeditions to reach this river from the Mediterranean Sea, since caravan routes across the Sahara to Timbuktu, which lies on the middle Niger, have been well known for many centuries. But all such attempts ended in failure or death of travelers. Then the association decided to organize research from Upper Guinea and for this purpose invited a 24-year-old Scots doctor Mungo Parka. He probably needed a job and agreed to risk his life for a small reward: his expedition cost the association only £200.

In 1795, M. Park arrived in the Gambia. In December, he went east with two African servants: an adult (he is also an interpreter) and a boy. For himself, he acquired a riding horse, and for cargo (supplies, trinkets and tobacco for exchange) - two donkeys. M. Park tried to pass through areas where Islam had not yet penetrated; yet several times it fell into the hands of the Moors (Muslims), who, according to him, sometimes plundered it, but did no other harm. After a while, the adult servant refused to go any further. On July 21, 1796, M. Park, moving east, reached a large river near Mount Segou, which the Africans called Joliba. M. Park had no doubt that this was Niger: “Under the morning sun sparkled before me ... the majestic Niger, which ... in this place is almost as wide as the Thames at Westminster. He slowly rolled his waters to the east ... ".

At this time, M. Park was ill with tropical malaria, was very emaciated, his clothes turned into tatters, the “goods” were used up or stolen. He decided to confine himself to inquiring information about the further course of the river, he heard that it was about two weeks' journey from Segou to Timbuktu, but did not learn anything about where the river flows further and where it ends. "Who knows? .. Maybe at the end of the world!". A few days later, having passed the Joliba coast for about 50 km (to the village of Sansanding), he turned back, referring in his report to the onset of the rainy season and to the possible danger from the "merciless fanatics" - Muslims. Due to illness, he spent several months in a village between Segu and the mouth of the Gambia. Only in April 1797 was he able to continue his journey to the sea. He arrived in England at the end of 1797. His book Journey into the Deep of Africa in 1795-1797, published in 1799, made a strong impression on the public. However, experts clearly understood that M. Park, in fact, did not even approach the solution of the Niger problem: after all, he saw only a short section of Joliba carrying its waters to the northeast, whose upper reaches, middle course and mouth remained unknown. About the second expedition of M. Park and his death in the section "Journey of the Park".)

middle of the 17th century. the Portuguese tried several times to penetrate into the interior of Equatorial Africa. The Franciscan missionaries acted mainly on the Congo: from the mouth of the Congo they rose above Stanley Pool Lake, apparently reached the mouth of the river. Kwa (Kasai), the left tributary of the Congo, rose along the lower Kasai to the mouth of the river. Kwango, and according to the latter - a great distance to the south. Although these achievements were kept secret, some information about them penetrated into Europe: geographers of the late 17th century. the strip between the Kwango and the ocean was described as an explored area. To the south, the territory between the river. Kwanza and the ocean, where the most important centers of Angola - the cities of Luanda and Benguela - arose.

Unlike the Franciscans, the Italian Capuchin preachers, sent by the pope to the Congo with the consent of the Portuguese king, It was a forced measure: locals“for some reason” stubbornly did not want to convert to the Christian faith. made no secrets from their geographical observations. One of them, Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi, in 1654–1670 traveled all over Angola, showing "such exorbitant" apostolic zeal "that he introduced blacks to Christianity by repressive measures: he burned idols, severely condemned tribal leaders for the ancient custom of polygamy, subjected to painful tortures those who refused to accept the new faith." (J. Verne). In 1687, in Rome, he published notes containing the most reliable characterization of the nature of Angola and the Congo. This work formed the basis of the work of the already mentioned J. B. Laba. From the notes of D. Cavazzi, it can be determined that he penetrated "into the outback" 1100 km from the coast, having visited the upper Kwango and through the upper reaches of the numerous left tributaries of the Kasai reached the sources of its right tributaries near 10 ° S. sh. and 23°30"E

The Portuguese achieved significant success in the Zambezi basin, where not only slave traders and missionaries operated, but also gold seekers. The gold-bearing country of Monomotapa continued to attract them especially. There is no doubt that Portuguese slave traders, gold prospectors and ivory traders penetrated as early as the 17th century. along the Zambezi to the west, deep into the mainland, much further than the rapids of Quebrabas. Maps of the 17th-18th centuries testify to this, giving some idea of Central Africa on both sides of the Zambezi. However, quite reliable, historically proven Portuguese travels into the depths of Central Africa date back to the end of the 18th century.

Francisco José Lacerda, Portuguese colonizer (originally from Brazil), in the 80s. served in Angola. In 1787, he explored the Kunene - the largest river in West Africa, between the Congo and the Orange (its length is 945 km) - and found that it was navigable in the middle reaches to the rapids. Then he became convinced that its headwaters were approaching the headwaters of another large river - the Kubango, The Kubangu River (in the lower reaches of the Okavango) is lost in swamps, the so-called Okavango Basin, in Central Africa, at 20 ° S. sh.; its length is 1600 km. flowing to the southeast, and decided that that river was connected with the Zambezi. This incorrect assumption was refuted only half a century later. David Livingston.

In the 90s, while serving in Mozambique, F. Lacerda was alarmed by British expansion in South Africa: he believed that it threatened the disunited Portuguese coastal colonies. In order to avert the danger, Angola and Mozambique should have been connected by a continuous strip of Portuguese possessions in the basin of the upper and middle Zambezi, then almost unknown to Europeans. F. Lacerda seduced the Portuguese government with the significant benefits offered by the direct trans-African trade route between Angola and Mozambique, and received funds to organize a large expedition to the "country of Kazembe" Kazembe (military commander) - the title of the hereditary rulers of the outlying regions of the state of Lund, which existed in the 17th-18th centuries. in the southern part of the Congo basin and in the adjacent part of the Zambezi basin. located in the river basin. Luapula, the right tributary of the river. Lualaba (upper reaches of the Congo River). The expedition, which included several African merchants, was led by the traveling merchant Manuel Pireira. In 1796 from Tete, on the river. Zambezi, accompanied by a detachment of armed slaves, he headed northwest through the mountainous terrain and reached the middle course of the river. Lwangwa, a major left tributary of the Zambezi. After crossing the river, he crossed the Muchinga Mountains, the watershed of the Zambezi and Congo basins, and reached another major river- R. Chambeshi. Although the African companions called it the Zambezi, they explained to M. Pireira that it was a different river.

Continuing the route to the north-west, the expedition crossed a large shallow lake - most likely, the travelers moved through the Bangweulu swamp, which in the rainy season forms a single reservoir with an area of up to 15 thousand km² with the lake of the same name. M. Pireira's companions informed him that this swamp lake is connected by channels with the river. Chambeshi and from the river. Luapula, along which the expedition reached the residence of the ruler of the "country of Kazembe" (near 11 ° S), east of Luapula. Having received an audience, M. Pireira, accompanied by the country's ambassador, returned to Tete by the same route, having covered more than 2.5 thousand km in both directions through unexplored terrain. He exaggeratedly assessed the possibilities of trade with the "country of Kazembe", but his message was an extra trump card in the hands of F. Lacerda.

M. Pireira was the first European to enter the Congo basin from the Indian Ocean. A description of his journey has been published on English language in 1824 in London. But the geographers of the first half of the 19th century, like the contemporaries of M. Pireira, failed to appreciate the importance for geographical science of the news he brought about the river system. Luapula, sometimes considered the main source of the Congo.

The route of M. Pireira was used by F. Lacerda. In October 1798, with several companions, he reached the "country of Kazembe", but soon died there of malaria. The rest of the expedition set out in July and returned to Tete in November. They collected a lot of geographical material, but, as always, it was classified. And half a century later, D. Livingston had to explore the paths to Central Africa almost anew.

the Portuguese in the Cape area Good Hope did not establish a permanent settlement. When were they driven out of southern seas, the Dutch winners settled near Table Bay and built a settlement there in 1652, from which the “City of the Cape” grew - Kapstadt (now Cape Town), which became the starting base for expansion into the deep regions of South Africa to the east and north. To the east of the Cape, search expeditions until the middle of the 18th century. explored all the coastal regions of South Africa up to and including Natal. Note the expedition August Frederick Beutler, which in 1752 penetrated the river. Great Cay, which flows into the Indian Ocean at 28 ° 30 "E. Due to hostility, the Bantu had to return.

North of the Cape Party Yana Dankarta in 1660 opened the river. Olifants, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean at 31 ° 30 "S, and the Olifantsrifir Mountains, stretching for 150 km along its left bank. Further progress to the north slowed down: the Dutch found the Upper Karoo, an unattractive semi-desert plateau for them, where wandering Bushmen hunters were only occasionally met. looking for " copper mountains"carried out two expeditions to the north of the Cape. For r. Olifants, having reached about 30 ° 30 "S., he encountered great difficulties and retreated. His attempts prompted the governor of the colony Simone van der Stela in 1685 to organize a new expedition. In December, at the end of a phenomenally rainy season, he reached the semi-desert country of Little Namaqualand (at 29° 30 "S) and discovered a copper deposit. To the north, the area seemed even more barren (the Dutch did not know that a large river flowed 80 km) and returned home at the end of January 1686. Searches in the northern direction were stopped for a long time.

Only in 1760 did a Dutch farmer and elephant hunter Jacob Coetze, passing from the Cape to the north, crossed the Small Namaqualand and for the first time reached a large river, which he called the “Big” (and it was the Orange River, correctly Oranskaya - see below). J. Coetze traced it for about 80 km, crossed it near the mouth of a short drying tributary and for the first time found himself on the territory of Namibia. J. Coetze met here several Hottentots, who told him about people with long hair, supposedly dressed in linen clothes and living six days' journey to the north. In mid-August 1761, a large research expedition of the government commissioner set off in search of them. Hendrik Hop, which included several scientific specialists and J. Kutze as a conductor. North of the river Orange in October, the Dutch discovered the desert mountainous country of the Great Namaqualand plateau. After a successful hunt for giraffes, X. Hop, with the main part of the expedition, in search of people in linen clothes, penetrated to about 26 ° S. sh. - beyond the northern tip of the Karasberg Mountains (top 2202 m). Further north, into a dry country with dry rivers, the Dutch, scorched by the heat, did not dare to go and in April 1762 returned to the Cape.

Swedish naturalist Andreas Sparrman, student of K. Linnaeus, Another of his students, the botanist Carl Peter Thunberg, made three long expeditions in almost three years of his stay in South Africa, discovered and described many new plant species. His fundamental work "Cape Flora" made him famous as "the father of Cape botany". The published travel diaries of K. Thunberg contain an ethnographic description of a number of South African tribes and their relationship with each other. a participant in the second voyage of D. Cook, completed a 10-month (end of July 1775 - mid-April 1776) journey through the southernmost part of Africa, quite well known to the Dutch colonists. A. Sparrman made no geographical discoveries, but in 1779 he compiled the first map of the coastal strip about 200 km wide between the Cape and the river. Great Fish, which flows into the ocean near 27 ° E. e. He also gave the first scientific description of the Bushmen and Hottentots, which is of historical and ethnographic interest even today, described the quagga, the two-horned rhinoceros, the wildebeest and the hippopotamus.

In 1777 a Dutch captain of Scottish origin, later a colonel, Robert Jacob Gordon, having passed to the northeast through the Big Karoo depression with sparse vegetation, climbed the Big Ledge to the west of the Snowberg Mountains and reached upstream"Big River" at its southernmost bend (near 25 ° E). In honor of the then ruling Orange dynasty in the Netherlands, he christened the Orange River (later distorted into Orange). Going down the river valley, he discovered the mouth of the river. Vaal, its largest tributary. A year later, an employee of the Dutch East India Company, a Swede Henrik Vikar- it is not known how - reached the river. Orange near 20°E and discovered the Augrabis waterfall - one of the largest in the world (146 m high). He traced the course of the river to the mouth In the XX century. river mouth area Orange "gave" a sensation: in 1908 to the north, and in 1926 to the south of it, rich placers of diamonds were discovered, and the marine placers of the region, according to experts, are "fantastically rich". over 500 km. In the same year, 1778, the Scottish botanist William Paterson, collecting plants for the estate of the Scottish countess who sent him, proceeded from the Cape to the river. Great Fish, simultaneously completing the determination of the coordinates of a number of points. In mid-August 1779, he and R. Gordon visited the mouth of the river. Orange. Returning to the Cape, W. Paterson observed numerous herds of African gazelles, numbering 20-30 thousand heads (these animals were soon completely exterminated), and gave the first description of giraffes. A. R. Gordon walked 850 km up the valley of the river with a survey. Orange to the mouth of the river. Vaal.

At the end of the XVIII century. farthest north of the Cape penetrated the expedition of a Dutch farmer Willem Van Renen, confident that in the deserts north of the river. Orange should be gold. Having crossed in November 1791 across the lower reaches of the river, he defeated base camp in the mountains of Great Namaqualand and carried out a number of search routes from there. To the west, the Dutch advanced to the Bay of Whales, now Walvis Bay, near the Southern Tropic, and opened a strip of seaside Namib Desert- one of the most barren in the world, and to the east for the first time got acquainted with the semi-desert and desert part of the huge (about 630 thousand km²) Kalahari depression. The longest (15 days) route is to the north, to approximately 19° S. sh., made a member of the expedition Peter Brand passing through the semi-desert highlands of Damaraland for the first time. He loaded the wagons with "gold" ore - actually copper - and returned to the camp. The expedition of W. Van Renen returned to the Cape in June 1792.

gent of the French East India Company, wealthy and educated nobleman Etienne Flacourt, who settled in Fort Dauphin (the southeast coast of Madagascar), was unable to establish peaceful relations with the Malagasy, neighboring and distant, but nevertheless for five years (1650–1654) at the head of expeditions completed a number of routes to the interior of the island. Without obtaining the consent of the company, in February 1655 he left for France, where in 1658 he published his "History of the Great Island of Madagascar" - a detailed and thorough summary of the information he collected about the nature, resources and inhabitants of the country. His "History" to the XIX century. remained the only one and to this day is the most valuable historical document, like his second work "Report ...". Both works were published in Paris in 1671, at the beginning of the 20th century. the latest edition has appeared. E. Flacourt was the first to report a giant bird that received in the 19th century. name epiornis; it was destroyed by man in the 17th-18th centuries.

The small French settlers were repeatedly attacked by the Malagasy tribes that inhabited the southern hinterland of the island. The company, having declared in 1665 the whole of Madagascar as its possession under the name "Dauphin's Island", was interested in increasing the number of colonists and in every possible way assisted everyone who wished to go there to settle. She was clearly in a hurry: by that time, the French had entrenched themselves only on a narrow coastal strip of the east coast, and even then not everywhere. Officially, this part of Madagascar became a French colony in 1670. In 1667, about 2,000 Frenchmen, including women and children, arrived at Fort Dauphine. The threat of famine immediately arose in the city, and then a merchant advanced Francois Martin. Along the east coast, he walked more than 900 km and organized the purchase of rice on the river. Maninguri, which flows into the ocean near 17 ° S. sh.

In order to get cattle from the Sihanaks, that is, the lake people, he led a detachment of 19 Frenchmen and 4 thousand coastal Malagasy, whom the Sihanaks had long raided. With these forces, F. Martin penetrated into the center of the northern part of Madagascar, climbing the Maninguri. At the height of the summer rainy season, through the forest jungle, the detachment at the end of December 1667 reached a shallow flowing lake Alaotra, the only relatively large (about 200 km²) natural reservoir of the island. But there were many Sihanaks, their villages were well fortified - and the coastal Malagasy fled, and F. Marten retreated.

We are so accustomed to European comfort and service that the idea that on vacation you will have to protect yourself from deadly insects and carefully study local procedures in order to return home unharmed, terrifies travelers from big cities. Vladimir Churkin traveled to a dozen "decent" countries, but having visited Africa twice, he said that the impressions of meeting with lions, elephants, flamingos, hyraxes and colobuses in their natural environment worth all the hardships and dangers that await along the way.

Safety

What you need to know when going to Africa? The first and most important thing is to get vaccinated. In Africa, it is unlikely that someone will ask you to show a certificate, but they must be done for your own safety.

Vaccinations against yellow fever, tetanus and typhoid are required. But there are no vaccinations for the most dangerous diseases that you can pick up there, malaria and sleeping sickness.

Therefore, when you arrive, you need to look at the pharmacy, what medicines and antibiotics can cure sleeping sickness and malaria, and buy them right on the spot.

Just as not all malaria-carrying mosquitoes carry malaria, tsetse flies whose bite causes sleeping sickness may not infect you. Three of us were bitten by flies, but, fortunately, everything worked out. Just pay close attention to your well-being, because sleeping sickness at first is very similar to a cold.

By the way, in Africa it is not recommended to wear white and black: these colors attract tsetse flies. It is better to walk in something yellow, red or blue. It is also advisable not to wear flip-flops, but to walk in high army boots because of the abundance of snakes, scorpions and all sorts of unpleasant living creatures under your feet. Exception - tourist places where you can afford lighter clothing. Plan your route carefully, but be prepared for the fact that everything can go wrong if a car breaks down on the road, as it did with us. In Africa there is no winter and summer, there is a dry season and a rainy season. Most best time for a trip - in the off-season, when there is a lot of greenery and animals. This is the end of February - March, or in autumn, in October-November.

About transport

We traveled in a large company, took three jeeps without guides and escorts, and traveled around African countries on our own. I was pleasantly surprised by the uninterrupted cellular. Phones worked everywhere, even in the most remote corners. Sometimes, however, the SMS service was not available, but this is not the most necessary option on the way.

For those who are traveling for the first time and are afraid of extreme sports, you can take a car with a guide. In general, among those who travel to Africa, everyone, as a rule, is ready for extreme sports. If a person has a love for strong emotions in his blood, then he will like Africa. If he is used to comfort and safety, then, definitely, it is better not to go there.

It is better not to travel around Africa at night: if the nights are cold, numerous animals go to the road for the night to bask on the warm asphalt, so there are a lot of animals on the road. In the early morning, condensation accumulates on the asphalt, high humidity is created, which attracts thirsty animals, they come to the road and drink from puddles.

At night, it is also difficult to see large animals on the road. An elephant, for example, is not visible at all, since the headlights of a car do not reflect it. It can be seen only twenty meters away, as in the well-known phrase that the elephant is the easiest thing to miss. By the way, a “kenguryatnik” is fixed on the bumper of all local trucks to soften the blow from a collision with an elephant.

It may happen that the car breaks down on the way. We lost almost a day while the locals were fixing the car, and in the end we had to go to the place of lodging for the night. This is dangerous not only because of the animals, but also because the traffic in many African countries is not right-handed, but left-handed. And if out of habit you go to the right, you can get into the oncoming lane. In addition, local truck drivers like to shine with high-beam headlights. I suspect that this is either a strange feature of the local greeting on the road, or they warn of danger in this way.

About housing

Most convenient option– book lodges, small houses with all amenities, gathered together in a protected area. Along with this, lodges are also the most expensive type of housing, especially in national parks where they can cost up to $250 per night in a single room. At the same time, you still have to pay for entry into the national park.

Before the trip, we carefully researched all possible accommodation options, so the lodge we stayed at for $70 for two was more of a miracle.

On our second trip, we rented three jeeps with tents attached to them, and slept only in tents, on campsites, the best of which are in South African countries - South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. You will have to pay about 100 dollars for entering the territory of the camp sites. It is impossible to sleep in cars, and not at all because of the lack of amenities, but because of the strongest hum of mosquitoes.

Just imagine - the squeak of one mosquito sometimes does not let you fall asleep, then there are whole hordes of them. If you don't close the windows, you can suffocate.

About food

Perhaps the brightest gastronomic discovery with us happened in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in one of the most famous restaurants in the world - Carnivore, famous for its meat dishes.

The menu there is more like a guide to a safari park: giraffe, antelope, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, ostrich, buffalo, crocodile. In general, there is definitely nothing for vegetarians to do there. The kitchen is designed as an open hearth in the center of the establishment, making cooking part of the attraction.

We tried crocodile meat there. Looks and smells like fish but tastes like chicken. In Kenya, back in the 70s, a ban on hunting was introduced, so the animals are specially bred on the ranch before being sent to the plates of sophisticated meat eaters.

And in Africa you can try "monkey brains". The name itself is terrible, but everything is much more harmless. This is just a fruit that looks like an orange, only larger. In Namibia, a local merchant sold these fruits along the road. At first we took them for oranges, but breaking the hard shell, we found a viscous gray-brown mass resembling a brain. The contents tasted like baked apples. We have never met these fruits outside of Africa.

In fact, there were no particular problems with food: there are many shops on busy roads. It is better to take something that does not spoil for a long time. We only had a refrigerator in one of the cars. Be sure to buy as much bottled drinking water as possible. The locals have immunity to water from sources, but tourists are better off not taking risks. Another one interesting feature African continent: cola in stores is several times cheaper than ordinary drinking water. From our first trip, we arrived with seven kilograms, because we drank cola most often.

About animals

Once in Africa, stay away from hippos - the most dangerous animals on the continent. They can kill a person just like that, for no reason. If elephants can attack when they feel threatened, then hippos, as territorial animals, can simply attack as soon as they see a stranger in their territory. They run very fast, their sluggishness is only visible.

Once we were standing and looking at the hippos, the locals came up to us and asked for money. But as soon as one of the hippos turned around, they gave a tear.

I don’t know the exact statistics, but in Africa, hippos are leading among the animals from which people die.

Going on a photo safari in national parks, be prepared that you may be fined about $ 1,000 for trying to get out of the car. You can lean out of the window, but you can’t get out of the car and move to the side for your own safety. Wild animals are accustomed to cars, for them it is something inanimate, harmless and unfit for food. Man and machine are one. But as soon as the tourist moves away from the car, it turns into a snack.

Many tour operators offer hunting in Africa, but few people know that tourists hunt baited animals. It is useless to hunt wild animals there. Here, local residents involved in this business, rangers, feed and tame animals.

If you have an extra 20 thousand dollars, you can come to hunt an elephant. In my opinion, all this is very vile and low, because these animals are actually domesticated. This is not the kind of hunting where you need to track down prey, here animals just walk around, not expecting any danger from a person. They don't expect to be shot. It's like killing a cat or a dog in the park.

Those who like to sleep should not go to Africa. To enjoy local fauna gotta get up before dawn. Only then can you find all the most beautiful predators and their potential victims in one place. So, for example, a group of zebras not only peacefully coexisted, but was at a dangerous distance from the lions. At the same time, both of them saw each other, but did not make any attempts to attack or escape.

We met hyenas, filmed their angry faces. It turns out that hyenas only attack those who are shorter than them. Therefore, the local Maasai tribes put jugs on the children's heads or put high hats on them.

In fact, Africa is a continent unique in its climatic, natural and mental characteristics. What is the fact that it is the cradle of humanity. It was in Africa that the most ancient remains of "House of Reason" were discovered on planet Earth - in Latin " Homo sapiens".

hot continent occupies a fifth of the land mass of the planet Earth and thus is in the honorable second place in terms of area among the continents after Eurasia. Warm waves crash from the west on the coast of Africa Atlantic Ocean, eastern beaches caress the waters of the Red Sea and indian ocean. The relief of the mainland impresses with its diversity: the most beautiful fertile plains - savannas, are replaced by the majestic Atlas Mountains and the most big desert on the planet - Sahara. On the described continent, the Nile River, the second longest in the world after the Amazon, flows, thanks to which there is some kind of life in the deserts. The Nile begins at the source of the Rukarara River in East Africa (although often the best minds in terms of geography count from the famous Lake Victoria, but this is a moot point) and, having passed through most of the continent, ends in a majestic delta near the Mediterranean Sea.

ABOUT fauna and flora of the African continent in general, you can write books (which, by the way, was done), because the diversity is simply amazing - more than 2,500 representatives of the animal world fly, crawl, swim, roam and run through the mountains, plains, savannahs, rivers, lakes and deserts. Only here there is a great opportunity to see huge migratory herds of herbivorous mammals, hear the trumpet calls of elephants and the menacing roar of predators. I believe that most have heard or even seen the big five African - lion, leopard, elephant, both types of rhinoceros (black and white) and buffalo, these animals are especially coveted trophies of hunting safaris in Africa. impassable rainforests are an excellent home for great variety monkeys.

Vegetation is directly dependent on climatic zones: in the tropics, various trees, lianas, ferns feel great, and arid places have chosen the so-called "stone" plants, which look more like unusually shaped stones than representatives of the flora; in such areas, if you wish, you can see a rather strange plant called velvichia. I probably incorrectly indicated the epithet "strange", rather "amazing", since its leaves reach a diameter of three meters. Currently, on the African continent, special attention is paid to the preservation of flora and fauna, for which nature reserves and parks are being created.

Sights of Africa with a high degree of probability can be described as one of the most intriguing and interesting on the planet. Tourists, travelers and just people who had the good fortune to visit the hot mainland in their lives would not hesitate to visit it more than once ... Let's see some of the places and structures that are worth seeing with your own eyes at least once in your life.

So ... In South Africa, on the border of the states of Zambia and Zimbabwe, on the Zambezi River, the majestic Victoria Falls. This creation of nature is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and is one of the main attractions of Africa. It is worth mentioning that immediately after the waterfall there is a certain section of the Zambezi River, on which a large number of rapids, which attracts lovers of rafting and kayaking.

Next, we will move to the island of Madagascar, where in the Menabe region, on a dirt road, there is Alley of baobabs. Trees soar into the sky for thirty meters. There are several dozen of them in total, and the age is estimated at eight dozen years.

Alley of baobabs Alley of baobabs
Djemaa El Fna Square Djemaa El Fna Square
Victoria Falls Victoria Falls

Don't forget the famous Sphinx, resting next to the Great Pyramids on the Giza plateau, which are included in the list of seven wonders of the world ancient world. Great Sphinx is the oldest one that has survived to this day. monumental sculpture lion with the face of Pharaoh Khafre.

Next in line is Morocco Marrakech city with its world-famous Djemaa el-Fna square. This place attracts thousands of tourists from different countries. This area has a relatively nightmarish name - "The area of severed heads." It was here that at one time all the robbers of the state were executed. Currently, Djemaa el-Fna is, so to speak, an "open-air theater".

East Africa, Tanzania. At the edge of the Serengeti ecosystem lies the impressive ngorongoro crater, which is a round basin with steep walls, scientifically - a caldera. The most interesting thing is that for many centuries absolutely unique environment habitats of the animal world, since the representatives of this kingdom, due to the structural features of the funnel, were not able to get out.

This list can go on and on, which we will do in the corresponding section of our portal.

Tunisia Hotels Tunisia Hotels
National park. Kenya National park. Kenya
great pyramids great pyramids

IN tourism The African continent is a place where it is hard not to find entertainment or activities to your liking. Lovers of sunbathing and splashing in warm waters seas and oceans are sent to Egypt, Morocco, or Tunisia, whoever prefers " historical tourism"study the Great Pyramids, the Valley of the Pharaohs, the ruins of the city of Carthage. The followers of the German zoologist Alfred Brehm go to the national parks of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, those who are accustomed to the usual amenities for any European arrive in South Africa - the city of Johannesburg, or on the islands of the Republic of Cape Verde.

Unfortunately, it is worth stating the fact that for normal and safe tourism less than half of African states are adapted. Various wars, confrontations constantly disturb this continent, thereby preventing civilized development tourism business. However, not everything is so terrible: in Lately tourism infrastructure is steadily developing even in previously completely closed states, as an example, I can cite Mali and Djibouti.

La Digue Island. Seychelles La Digue Island. Seychelles
Mauritius island Mauritius island

Talking about Africa, it will not be superfluous to mention islands. In a tourist sense, they are far ahead of the mainland itself - what are they worth sunny canaries, relaxing on which you can not only sunbathe on the magnificent beaches, but also "break away" at great parties, which you will not find anywhere else in the world. Madagascar island offers to study the unique animal world and wonderful beaches with white sand Mauritius attracts impenetrable exotic jungle, and Seychelles in general and in principle represent a real paradise on earth.

Speaking in general about tourist trip to Africa you need to prepare for the following: this is a rather long and relatively expensive flight, mandatory vaccinations, which in no case should be neglected, as a rule, difficult acclimatization and total price travel in general. Thus, we can say that a tourist who decides to travel to Africa is, so to speak, "ideological", that is, one who is not afraid of numerous not always pleasant obstacles. However, I think that no obstacles can play a special role when you have the opportunity to see the endless savannahs, innumerable herds of various animals on them, hear the roar of the majestic Victoria Falls, or feed the Madagascar lemur directly from your hands. Thus, a trip to Africa is a real exotic, informative and exciting vacation!

May 19th, 2014

AKWAAABA * GHANA AND BURKINA FASO
Author's journey of Ulita Lipskova

West Africa is about people. different. About kings and backgrounds, colorful Ashanti ceremonies and elegant initiation rites. About weddings - streets and funerals - quarters.

Here you can sit in Accra or Abidjan or Bobo-Dioulasso and drink mango juice by the road. Just. And watch life like a movie. Here you can observe how Muslims and animists, voodoo and mganga coexist peacefully.

Akwaaba - welcome

Day 1. Arrival
Arrival at Vnukovo airport at 03:30. Flight. Arrival at 19:25. Transfer to the hotel.Night V hotel.

The Cassena people and their traditional way of life

Day 2 Accra Ghetto And Coffin Factory . Ghana is famous for its hospitality and originality.visit Embassies of Burkina Faso. visit Nima ghetto - an area inhabited by immigrants from Ghana, Niger and Chad. Visit to a workshop in the areaTeshi, where coffins of various shapes are made, from submarines to large scorpions. City Tour. Dinner. Overnight at the hotel.

Night in the ghetto

In the workshop of an undertaker from Ghana

Fort at Elmina

Day 3. VOODOO RITUAL. In the morning, meeting with one of the most powerful voodoo sorcerers of Accra and participating in a voodoo ritual with a goat sacrifice lasting 4 hours. Traditional lunch. Meeting with the traditional leader of the Kumasi region. Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

Kente fabric is made up of brightly colored stripes that are woven into intricate patterns and have a symbolic meaning.

Day 4 . SLAVE TRANSFER FORT . visit National Parka Kakum, famous his cable car Expensive, sprawling on altitude from 20 before 41 m above level land. visit most major V past fort By transfer slaves from Western Africa V America. Fort Elmina (in Arabic mina-el - the fortress was founded inXVcentury, and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site).Night V bungalowon the ocean.

In the Kakum forest

Day 5. AQUASIDAE FESTIVAL . We leave early in the morning V Kumasi - the capital kingdoms Ashanti And king asantehene, once revered most influential leader V empire Songhai, Later - V Ghana. Pvisiting colorful festival aquasidae. Sutb festival: ablution golden chair - symbol faith And power, on which once seated king Ashanti. Asantehene Osei Tutu II himself will appear in all his glory and with royal regalia. In the past, kings wore up to 50 kg of gold.Festivalheld on Sundays every 42 days.He is interesting more And because on him going big quantity people, men And women V traditional dashiki, kufi And clothes ashanti. The people are having fun and dancing. The action takes place in the Mankhia Palace.An opportunity to greet the king in person. Traditional dinner.Night V hotel V Kumasi.

IN fishing village fancy

Day 6. VISIT A VOODOO WIZARD. In the morning aboutdeparture to Tamale.In the evening, visit the voodoo sorcerer - the leader of the village Vovagu - Tuu Nana. This sorcerer talks to animals for slaughter and lulls them with his spells, and they go to another world. Overnight at the hotel in Tamale.

At the sorcerer

Day 7. VILLAGE OF WITCHES. Moving to Endy.

In the village of witches

villages witches - This West African « chip». Usually « sentence» rendered topics, whose relativesor acquaintancesBy Which- That reason suddenly died. The average African simply does not accept natural death. Hence the belief in the other world, fetishes associated with Thanatos and other magical things. Speaking of Africa, especially Western, one must really distinguish between a sorcerer and one who is calledInyangaor Mganga - a herbalist, he is also a healer.We will visit a non-tourist village of witches. Usually This elderly, But Not Always, women. There are few men here.They will tell us O his everyday life And O volume, How found themselves Here. After lunch - moving V Bolgatangu. Visit to the local handicraft market, where there are a lot of leather handicrafts. Dinner andoh V hotel V Bolgatanga.

Zotentaari - No. 1 sorcerer in Northern Ghana

Zotentaari's domain south of the palace

Continued here:

The history of the discovery of the second largest continent on the planet deserves special attention. Many scientists, sailors and forwarders have devoted their lives to exploring such a mysterious and resource-rich continent.

The history of the study of Africa dates back to ancient times. The first sailing around the coast of Africa was made by the ancient Egyptians as early as 600 BC. On the eastern side, they managed to swim to the Suez Canal, and on the western side, to the Gulf of Sidra. Travelers explored not only the Nile River, sailing along its entire course to the north, but also discovered deserts:

Arabian;
Nubian;
Libyan.

The Phoenicians, who served with the Egyptians, were able to completely bypass the entire mainland by water in the 6th century BC. A century later, Hanno from Carthage was able to bypass the western direction of Africa to Cape Verde.

And in the Middle Ages, this country began to seriously interest Europe, which at that time traded with the Turks. High price Indian and Chinese goods, which were successfully resold by the Turks, prompted the Europeans to look for new routes to India and China in order to buy goods cheaper.

Soon all the ancient expeditions were forgotten. Africa remained unexplored.

The first discoveries of the mainland

From the history of the discovery of the "black continent", it is the Portuguese with their expeditions who are considered to be its discoverers. It is difficult to say who and in what year discovered Africa, because it was discovered in parts.

The African continent acquired its full features in the 15th century. It is 1415 that is considered the starting date for the movement of the Portuguese to the south side of the mainland along its coast to the West, which lasted as much as 85 years. The first who began to organize expeditions to African lands was the prince of Portugal, whose name was Henry. Then the discovery of Cape Boyador in the western part of the African coast. The researchers mistook this cape for south point mainland.

In 1446 Cape Zeleny (Cabo Verdi) was discovered. The sailors were surprised by the appearance of green palms, because this meant that the desert was over and that there was still life in the equatorial latitudes. The entire western part of Africa was explored, and its central part continued to beckon with its mystery.

The Portuguese traveler Diego Cao in 1484 was the first European to reach South Africa by crossing the equator. Bartolomeo Diaz was his follower when King Juan II of Portugal sent out an expedition again, which he led. Thanks to her, the Cape of Good Hope was discovered in 1487. Having made the discovery of the cape, the Europeans were able to lay a short sea route for trade with eastern countries. From 1497 to 1499, Vasco da Gama was the first to circumnavigate the mainland from the south, reach India and return to Portugal.

Francesco Alvarez was engaged in the study of Ethiopia, and Estevao de Gama sailed and crossed the Red Sea to Suez.

Then other countries became interested in the study of Africa. So, in the middle of the 16th century, scientists and travelers from England joined the Portuguese, followed by those from France, and then from Germany. An African Community was even formed in London. It was responsible for the preparation and equipment of expeditions. It was a very expensive pleasure, so the royal courts of Europe were involved in financing such trips. Many expeditions were unsuccessful, many researchers died, but more and more people who wanted to know the secrets of great Africa found interest in everything new.

Deep into Africa

Sea expeditions made it possible to get acquainted with coastal areas mainland. And the wide African prairies have long been unknown to man. In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers got acquainted with the island of Madagascar, despite the fact that in the 10th - 14th centuries there were Arab trading posts on its territory, its exact map was drawn up in 1517. The explorers sailed along the western and eastern coasts of Africa. But they were still afraid to penetrate into the very heart of the mainland.

At the border of the 18th and 19th centuries, European travelers penetrated deep into Africa. Most of all they were interested in the minerals of this part of the world. The most convenient ways to penetrate deep into the mainland were rivers. But no one knew anything about their character.

A quarter of a century later, Alexander Leng discovered that Niger begins in the northern east of Sierra Leone. And researchers from England, Hugh Clapperton, Dixon Denham and Walter Oudney, proved that this river is not connected with Lake Chad, but around it takes a turn to the south.

And from 1849 to 1855, Heinrich Barth and Adolf Oferwerg began to explore the high plateau in the famous Sahara desert. They were able to overcome more than 20 thousand kilometers and put them on the map. But the exploration of Africa did not end there.

The exact date of the discovery of South Africa, unfortunately, is also not known. Exploration of the depths of Africa began to be actively carried out only in the 19th century. The first attempts to penetrate deep into the mainland were unsuccessful. Travelers died due to various ailments, as a result of exhaustion and in skirmishes with local tribes.

by the most famous researcher African territory is the Englishman David Livinston. After graduating from a medical college, he entered the service of the London Missionary Society, from where he was sent to South Africa. There he not only helped the local tribes as a doctor, but also studied their customs and languages. He was the first to cross Africa from East to West through the Kalahari Desert.

He also owns amazing discoveries:

Victoria Falls (named after the Queen of England);
lake Dilolo;
Nyasu;
Shirva.

All your route and all geographic features he mapped with the utmost precision.

Only in the 19th century, representatives of different countries began to conduct full-fledged expeditions, continuing to explore the interior of the country. Thus, researchers from Germany, G. Rolfs and G. Nachtigal, crossed the Sahara desert and reached the Vadai massif. And from 1876 to 1878, the Russian traveler V.V. Junker was engaged in the study of the geographical and ethnographic data of Africa, who compiled the hydrography of the source of the White Tseluyu. As a result, by the beginning of the 20th century, such rivers as the Nile, Zambezi, Niger, Congo were fully explored and deposits of useful resources were discovered.

Today, Africa continues to be little explored. Many of its territories have not yet been explored.

Contribution of Henry the Navigator

Heinrich (Enrique) the Navigator was a Portuguese and loved military affairs. For 40 years he was the organizer of sea expeditions to explore the African coast. In what year did Henry the Navigator discover Africa? It is 1415 that is considered the year of the discovery of the Atlantic coast of Africa. The ships moved along the coast and returned again to Portugal. This is how Madeira and the Azores were discovered.

It was the island of Madeira that became the first Portuguese colony, where grapes and sugar cane were actively grown.

For several decades, Henry was collecting expeditions to the Canary Islands. Since the underwater rocks at Cape Bojador did not allow ships to sail further, this cape was increasingly overgrown with legends about dragons. When in 1434 it was possible to get around it, and opened new way V West Africa, then Prince Henry became known as the "navigator". It is interesting that Henry the Navigator personally was never present on distant sea voyages.

As a result of his activities, the territory for the trade of the Portuguese was expanded, and slave colonies appeared in some European countries. Henry approved of the slave trade, because it seemed to him that with the help of slaves he could convert the pagans to the church.

In 1458, Henry the Navigator sent the last expedition, led by Diogo Gomes. He managed to bypass Green Cape and reach the Rio Grande, which he himself named so.

Thanks to his sea expeditions, sailors managed to explore and map about 3,500 kilometers of the western part of the African coast, from the Sahara desert to the Gulf of Guinea.