Tales of Pirates and Fairies in Africa

Africa is the second largest continent in the world. It has a colorful history, flavored with mystery. If one wanted to write about this continent they could easily publish thousands of books and millions of articles. I have a pinboard on Pinterest which I named “Mother Africa”. As of today, it has about 200 pins. The images are varied and unique and link to very interesting reading material. Just in case you don’t have access to Pinterest, the original content links can be found at Ancient-Origins.net. See “References” below. This site has over 12,000 articles and its purpose is to try to reconstruct the history of humanity by reporting on archaeological findings, scientific discoveries, mysterious phenomena, and more. 

Have You Ever Heard of Black Caesar?

I sort of have a fascination with pirates. There is nothing glamorous about them really. I mean … they’re thieves. But my fascination is with all the places they traveled in the world. Most of the stories I have heard about pirates placed them on the beautiful islands of the Caribbean. The most famous and notorious pirate is Edward Teach aka Blackbeard.

Most people have heard of Blackbeard. But have you ever heard of Black Caesar? Well! It turns out he was an African Chief who was lured onto a ship owned by slave traders with the promise of gold and other treasures. When he realized that he was being transported to the New World to be a slave, it was too late. But would you believe it? The ship he was on ran into a hurricane and the vessel sank. He escaped and turned to a life of piracy. Guess who he teamed up with? Blackbeard! The story goes that he was the lieutenant of Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. In the end, however, the authorities caught up with him and he was tried and hanged for piracy.

There are Fairy Circles in Africa?

I’ve heard of crop circles, but fairy circles are a new topic for me. Another thing that’s new and different? I don’t usually associate fairies with Africa. But there are fairy circles found in the Namib Desert of southwestern Africa and they are much like the crop circles in that they are circular patches of ground. All kinds of stories developed around the crop circles such as they are the work of aliens from another planet. As for the fairy circles? There are also lots of stories. One of the stories is that they must be the footprints of the god Mukuru (from the mythology of the Himba people who live in Namibia and Angola).

Of course, a team of researchers conducted computer simulations and they have theorized that these fairy circles could be the combined result of two natural processes: root-eating sand termites and self-organizing plants that competes for water. The team believes these theories will not only explain the fairy circles in Africa but in other parts of the world like Australia. Umm? I don’t usually associate fairies with Australia either. 

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Ancient-Origins Article References:

• Ḏḥwty. (13 Apr. 2019). “Black Caesar: The African Chief Who Was Captured by Slavers and Became a Pirate”. (history-famous-people)
• McDermott, Alicia. (26 Jan. 2017). “Secrets Behind the Namibian Fairy Circles May Finally Be Solved”. (news-general)

Original Source

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My Dream Travel Bucket List Includes 4 African Countries

Starting in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous travel bans or restrictions have been implemented by various countries. Both the airlines and the cruise lines have taken heavy hits financially and are taking desperate measures in the hopes that they will recover. Still! That doesn’t stop many people from dreaming and making up travel bucket lists of places they’d like to see. 

Image credit:  Amazon.com

In the USA, in March 2020, the pandemic was announced. If you do a generic online search of the phrase “travel bucket list”, you will find people still publishing their lists. In fact, I’ve seen some lists that specifically indicate that these are “Post-COVID” travel wishes. Why not? If there had been an Internet during the Black Plague of the 1300s that affected Europe, you would probably have found bucket lists. An article published by Scientific American stated that Europeans survived the Black Death and those survivors lived even longer. Don’t you imagine that those survivors probably wanted to see another part of the world after that experience?

Most of us want to be optimistic about this modern-day plague and believe that one day, hopefully soon, the world will once again be our “oyster”; even if we are already senior citizens. I have always admired people who were 70+ years of age and still traveling the world. They planned out the places they would visit during retirement and they’re loving it!

So below is a quick list of 4 countries in Africa that are on my bucket list. How did I decide on these locations? I have either met someone from that country, online or in person. I figure if the rest of the citizens are as nice as they are, that’s a place I’d like to see. I might have become fascinated after watching a movie that was filmed on location in that country. It could be that I found a YouTube music video and loved the music or I watched a cooking show that showcased the cuisine from that country and my mouth started watering. It’s one of those reasons.

1. Botswana

2. Cameroon

3. Ethiopia

4. Morocco

Image credit:  Amazon.com

♦ Botswana: Met a blogger who writes about all the various tourist destinations in this country (yourbotswana.com). The blog post I liked the most was the “photo safari”. People don’t go on safari to shoot the animals. They go to shoot photographs. Also, there is a movie about this country which stars two of my favorite actors: David Oyelowo, and Rosamund Pike. It’s a true love story between an African prince and a British citizen, and in addition to learning about how these two managed to have a successful marriage, against all odds, the film teaches the viewer a lot about the history of Botswana.

Botswana | History - Geography | Britannica

Botswana Tourism Organisation | Official Site of Botswana

15 reasons to visit Botswana – YourBotswana

♦ Cameroon: Met a stranger at a gas station in America. He was very nice, had a delightful accent when he spoke, and I could tell by his clothing that probably wasn’t from ’round here. He needed some assistance at the gas pump and I helped him out. We had a short conversation and I asked him where he was from. He said he was visiting from Cameroon. He filled up his car and I told him that I hoped his stay in America would be pleasant. Off he went. But I couldn’t help but wonder if the folks from Cameroon were as nice as he was. Years later I was watching a musical TV show and the host had invited a guest to sing with him and also play the guitar. The music was amazing. The guest entertainer was from Cameroon and his name is Richard Bona. If you have not heard him perform, you are missing an amazing talent!

Cameroon | Culture, History, & People | Britannica

Cameroon Travel Advisory – travel.gov

♦ Ethiopia: The most outstanding fact about this African country’s history is the fact that they were never colonized by the Europeans. Another fascinating fact is the “Jewish connection”. Some people say that Solomon, the famous Jewish king has a relationship with Sheba, one of the queens of Ethiopia. From that relationship, a child was born. When the queen returned to her own country, it is believed that she was a convert to the Jewish religion and that she raised her son in the Jewish faith. That story is not in the Jewish scriptures, i.e. Old Testament. But nobody has come up with a different explanation for how there came to be practicing Jews in Ethiopia. Today, there are thousands of Ethiopian Jews who willingly relocated to Israel to live. My curiosity is piqued. Last but not least there is a TV cooking show called “No Passport Required”. The host Marcus Samuelsson is from Ethiopia and for one of his shows, he spotlighted the people from Ethiopia who had made their way to America and were living in Washington, D.C., but still maintained their heritage and traditions; particularly, through their food (4).

Ethiopia | History, Capital, Map, Population, & Facts | Britannica

Ethiopia Travel Advisory - travel.gov

♦ Morocco: Casablanca is a city in Morocco. Tell me who would not want to visit Morocco after watching Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the movie Casablanca? In case you have not watched this 1942 Hollywood movie, it is a movie based on true events. The movie won the best movie award and the director won the best director award at the Oscars.

Morocco | History, Map, Flag, Capital, & Facts | Britannica

Moroccan National Tourist Office: Travel to Morocco - Official

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So that’s it!

Of course, this bucket list is based on the assumption that there is peace in the land, no political and social upheavals going on, no major natural disasters have occurred or are predicted to occur, crime is not rampant, it's not dangerous to go there in terms of one's health, and … there is Internet access!

Do you agree with my travel bucket list of African countries?

If not. which African countries would you recommend?

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Source Credit: Content first published at ArticleWritingJobs.com. It has been revised, updated, and republished at Read.Cash.

More People Will Speak French by the Year 2050

French is the second most studied language in the world. But it is believed that a boom in French-speaking African states will significantly increase the percentage of global French speakers by the year 2050. You don’t say? Because even though, according to a list for 2020, French is included among the most commonly spoken languages in the world, I still sort of wondered why more people in the world didn’t speak the language. (O.o) 

So glad to know the French language might become a more spoken language and not just a studied language. I love the language. When I lived in Maryland USA from 1988 to 1995, there was a school there that taught the children in French. At the time it seemed odd. But I guess the educators were thinking ahead! What vision!

Original Source

Looking for fun ways to help your students learn French grammar? Wifienne Brigitte Humbert has designed a grammar game set -- and it is available to the public for free! https://t.co/CW5vbWLWe9 pic.twitter.com/MBX5YIuqHn

— Women In French (@WomenInFrench) August 21, 2019

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Human-Interest Story: Refugees Given Hope

Kids in the film’s cast and crew live in a remote refugee camp, Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya. They are waiting, to be resettled in the U.S., Australia, Canada or Europe. But IF peace and security return to their countries, they would like to go back home. They are called the Lost Boys of Sudan; but the "kids from different countries — Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda — and religious backgrounds".

The camp was started in 1991. In 2011, a 19-year-old Congolese refugee named Jean Michelle Batakane had an opportunity to leave the camp and get an education. He returned to the camp and continued his education by educating others.   He was determined not only to put his new skills to use, but to give the kids living in the camp HOPE!

He used a camcorder, a laptop, and started offering courses to kids who wanted to learn film production. It's a wonderful story. Now the children who are refugees have dreams of a future.

Meet the Teenagers Who Started a Film ProductionStudio in Their Refugee Camp