Virtual Tripping » Africa

Equatorial Guinea and Gabon host the 2012 African Cup of Nations, (football), on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:20:01 +0000

2012 Africa Cup of Nations Trailer HD

Official Song Of CAN 2012.

This is a picture taken from flickr of Ghana 2008: Nigeria Vrs Ivory Coast.
Welcome to a post about the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, this is a football competition which is held in the continent of Africa. This is the 28th tournement in the Africa Cup of Nations, and is the major football competition in Africa, it is organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This year the tournement is being held by two countries they are: Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. They won the rights to hold this tournement after defeating the countries of Nigeria, along with winning bids over Angola and Libya. There had been other bids from other countries like: Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Senegal, but they were all rejected. The Confederation of Africa, made history, they sorted out the hosts of three successive tournaments which were all chosen at the same time; Angola was chosen to host in 2010, Gabon/Equatorial Guinea were chosen as hosts for the 2012 cup and the third country to host the competition in 2013 edition, was Libya, but sadley due to the Libyan Civil War, they decided to move the tournement to South Africa. They also got Nigeria to host, just incase one of the other countries were unable to host the competition.

Photo by nova3web

This is a picture taken from flickr during the 2008, Ghana tournement.

Photo by Embassy of Equatorial Guinea

This is a picture taken from flickr of View of the Cathedral from the Port in Malabo.

Lets visit the South African country of Botswana on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:59:41 +0000

♫ Botswana National Anthem ♫
Gaborone GabCity – Botswana

Photo by pmecologic

Photo by US Army Africa

Photo by Clav

So today, i am writing a post about the African country of Botswana, it is officially known as the Republic of Botswana and this country is a landlocked country and is found in Southern Africa. The people of Botswana are known as “Batswana” or their own , they are known as Motswana. This country once upon a time used to be a known as the former British protectorate of Bechuanaland, but the name Botswana arrived when they became an independent country within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. And the democratic elections have always been reasonable and fair to the citizens since it became independent. The country is flat, and up to 70% of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert. And as it is a land-locked country, it is surrounded by it’s neighbours of South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Their is border with Zambia , which is towards the north, but this border line is poorly defined, but at most is a few hundred meters long.

Photo by de Paula FJ

Photo by munir

The population of this country is just over two million people, which is quite small for the size of Botswana and it has become one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Also when it gained independence from Britain in 1966, it was one of the poorest countries in Africa, but today has it has transformed itself, and become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world to a GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita of about $14,000.Plus on top of that Botswana also has a strong tradition as a representative democracy.

Photo by Marjorie Lipan

This is a picture taken from flickr of a group of Gemsbok.

Welcome to the African country of Zambia located in Southern Africa.

Mark — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:27:15 +0000

Here are two videos from Youtube, showing parts of Zambia.

Victoria Falls Zambia

lusaka zambia

Photo by SEDACMaps

This is a picture from flickr of Zambia: Population Density, 2000.

Photo by SEDACMaps

Welcome to Zambia, this is a country also known as the Republic of Zambia, and it is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. There are alot of countries that surround Zambia and these are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The countries capital city is Lusaka, which you will find in the south-central part of the country. I have heard that this country is becoming a very highly populated country, the experts are saying that by 2050, the population of Zambia would have tripled in size. To me this is no surprise as the population around the world is expanding quite quickly. From what i have picked up on Wikipedia, the population is concentrated mainly around the capital Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt to the northwest.

Photo by austinevan

Photo by Jorge Lascar

This is a picture taken from flickr of Hippopotamuses.
Zambia once upon a time used to be inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region of what is now Zambia was reached by the Bantu expansion by ca. the 12th century. But when the European explorers started arriving around the 18th century, the country then became the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, this was towards the end of the nineteenth century. Zambia was then pretty much under British rule and was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. But then on 24th October 1964, Zambia finally got themselves free from British rule and declared independence from the United Kingdom and prime minister Kenneth Kaunda became the first head of state. The country went on to be governed by Kenneth Kaunda of the socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP) from 1964 until 1991. During the years of 1972 to 1991 Zambia only had a one-party state with UNIP as the sole legal political party. Then in the years of 1991 to 2002, Zambia then went on to be governed by the president Frederick Chiluba he was from the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy and whilst this man was in power the country saw a rise in social-economic growth and increased decentralisation of government.Then Zambia saw their third president during the years of 2002 until is death in 2008, he was known as Levy Mwanawasa. This president was to change Zambia for the best, he went on to campaign to rid the country of corruption, and increasing standards of living from the levels left by the former president Frederick T.J. Chiluba. Today the country is growing for the best and the World Bank in 2010 named Zambia as one of the world’s fastest economically reforming countries. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has its headquarters in the capital Lusaka. There is one problem, even though the country is doing better for herself, the problem is that there are still to many people on or below the poverty line and with the country growing in population this will make it even harder for Zambia to keep up her good work. But that does not surprise me, because alot of countries in Africa, maybe doing well, but have lots of their own populations on or below the povert line, not all of the countries but alot of them.

Photo by Paulssons

Photo by mgjefferies

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Zambezi River.

This is the 2011, Libyan Civil War on virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:28:36 +0000

This is a Youtube video only short, but brilliantly done, enjoy Libyan Civil War 2011. I am about to write a post about a very controversial story, some of you may agree with this and some of you will not, but i will try my best to write about this in a fair and civil manner. Right lets begin, back in february of the year 2011, a group of protestors decided it was time for a peaceful protest, sadly even though there were a series of protests, the military and Gaddafi’s regime forced them back by shooting etc. This then lead to an uprising that spread across the country of Libya, North Africa, between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and his regime and those seeking to depose him. The aim of this conflict was for the forces opposing Gaddafi creating a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council whose stated goal is to overthrow the Gaddafi-led government and hold democratic elections. What then happened was the United Nations Security Council, decide to pass an initial resolution, which would freeze the assets of Gaddafi and ten members of his inner circle, and restricting their travel. The resolution then decided to refer the actions of the government to the International Criminal Court for investigation, and an arrest warrant for Gaddafi was issued on 27 June.

Photo by daveeza

This is a photo taken from flickr of muammargaddafi composite.

Photo by http://messay.com / Messay Shoakena

This is a picture taken from flickr of the rebel protestors.

This then angered Gaddafi and in march his forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before attacking the second largest city in Libya, Benghazi. Because of this and it was looking like Gaddafi’s forces were going to march into Benghazi and kill many people, the U.N. resolution authorized member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. This was just what the rebels needed, at this stage Gaddafi and his government then announced a ceasefire, but failed to uphold it.

Photo by شبكة برق | B.R.Q

This is a picture taken from flickr of Gaddafi’s Regime.

Photo by شبكة برق | B.R.Q

This is a picture taken from flickr of a Gaddafi Soldier.
Then in August, the rebel forces took up arms and engaged in a coastal offensive and took most of their lost territory they captured the capital city of Tripoli, while Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard campaign. They are still trying to find Muammar Gaddafi, as he appears to be on the run, some of his family members are now in Algeria, their african neighbours, and i heard today, that one of his sons his dicussing his own arrest. It is still a very confusing time over there at present, but i am sure soon enough things will get better, especially as the country is recieving, funds and food from the allies. But the hospitals are still struggling and people are desperate to get their hands on their money within banks.

Virtual-tripping, presents the the Pyramids of Güímar in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Europe.

Mark — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 08:24:59 +0000

This is a post about the Pyramids of Güímar, which refer’s to six a rectangular pyramid-shaped, terraced structures, built out of lava stone without the use of mortar. You will find these pyramids in the district of Chacona,which is part of the town of Güímar on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The structures were created and built in the 19th century from what i have picked up on wikipeda, and tthe original function for the pyramids has been explained as a byproduct of contemporary agricultural techniques.

Many local traditions, and images which have survived, indicate that there were similar structures, known as, “Morras”, “Majanos”, “Molleros”, or “Paredones” and they were found in many locations on the island. But sadly over the years, the pyramids have been knocked down and used as a cheap building material. In Güímar itself there were nine pyramids, only six of which survive. Once the excavations were completed in 1998, there was 65,000 m² area surrounding the pyramids, this then became accessible to the public. You will find an information centre close by, this will provide visitors with information about the person who discovered and helped to preserve the pyramids, his name was Heyerdahl’s.

You will learn alot from the centre about Heyerdahl’s research trips and his previous ideas regarding the pyramids. There are also two pavilionswhich contain exhibits relating to Heyerdahl along with model boats, etc. Heyerdahl, believes that even though the conclusions regarding the age of the pyramids have been outlined, he feels that there was possible relationship between the existence of the pyramids and the pre Hispanic civilisation on Tenerife”. So if you go to Güímar, you should visit the museum. The official website states that the museum includes “the results of the excavation campaigns undertaken at the Park”. But the results dating the pyramids to the 19th century are not mentioned.

This is the Red Castle Museum in Tripoli, Libya, North Africa.

Mark — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 09:27:57 +0000

Below are two videos taken from Youtube showing, images of the Red Castle inthe Old City, Green Square, Tripoli, Libya.

This is a post about the Red Castle Museum or other names like th Assaraya Alhamra Museum or The Jamahiriya Museum or even the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli,this is Libya‘s national museum and it has alot of history dating back some 5,000 years from prehistory to the independence revolution (1953) era. You will find the museum in Tripoli’s Assaria al-Hamra or Red Castle—fortress, on the promontory above and adjacent to the old town district with medina Ghadema. The Jamahiriya Museum, designed in conjunction with UNESCO, has an entrance on historic Green Square or As-Saha al-Kradrah.

Photo by mvongrue

Photo by rahuldlucca

The Red Castle Museum was created in 1919, this was because the colonial Italians decided that all archaeological artifacts that they had found around the country would be better off on display, so they changed apart of the castle into this museum. Then it was about the the time of the Second World War, when the british forces, made the whole of the castle into a musuem and named it, The Libyan Museum in 1948. But it was not until 1988, when the Libyans decided to open it to the public and name it Assaraya Alhmara museum—Red Castle Museum, or The Jamahiriya Museum, with ‘state of the art’ facilities. These are the places that i would like to visit, as there is so much history in the making of these african countries, and on top of that you will get to learn more about how these peoples used to live and their religions and beliefs.

Lets visit Abuja, the Capital City of Nigeria in West Africa.

Mark — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:37:21 +0000

Welcome to the Nigerian Capital city of Abuja, you will find this beautiful touritic city located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This was a planned city, and it was built mainly in the 1980s. Abuja officially became Nigeria’s capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos. In 2006, the census population within the city was 776,298. This is a very modernized city, the skyline Abuja is mainly made up of mostly mid-range and a few tall buildings. Only recently have tall buildings begun to appear. Most of the buildings are modern, reflecting that it is a new city. There are new plans on the way to build skyscrapers such as the Millennium Tower which is currently under construction. This will be a huge tower when it is completed the structure will loom 170 meters above the city. The tower will be part of a huge cultural development complex called the Nigeria National Complex including the Nigeria Cultural Centre, a 120.000 m² structure dedicated to the art and culture of Nigeria. The Cultural Centre and the Millennium Tower have been designed by the Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti. Wow there is so much to see in Abuja like the Millenium Park, designed by world renowned architect Manfredi Nicoletti and was officially opened by the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II in December 2003.”>Millenium Park, the Velodrome, the Zuma Rock, Abuja Stadium, the national Library, and other sites to see.

This is a Youtube Video showing the Nigerian Capital City, Abuja.

Welcome to the Federal Republic of Nigeria it is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Nigeria’s name has come from the Niger River which runs through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century. This is a large county and it land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north.

Photo by LenDog64

This is a picture taken from Flickr of the Niger River.

Photo by charlotte.warren

This is a picture taken of the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria has a wonderful coastline and this lies south on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. In the country there are three of the largest and most influential ethnic groupsthey are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. But if you were to discuss religion you would find that the population is roughly split, half are Muslims and the other half are Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religion.There is alot of history in in Africa, but you will find that in Nigeria there is an extensive history. Archaeological evidence has shown that humans have inhabitated areaof Nigeria, dating back to at least 9000 BCE. If you come across the area around the Benue and Cross River you will find that this is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants. These peoples spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BCE and the 2nd millennium.

Surprisingly or not surprisingly, this country is the most populous country in Africa, and has now become the seventh most populous country in the world, but it has also become the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black.So would it come as a surprise if i was to tell you that Nigeria is listed among the “Next Eleven” economies. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009.

This is Brazzaville, the capital city of the Republic of Congo in central Africa.

Mark — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:01:44 +0000

Lets visit the capital city and the and largest of the Republic of the Congo, this is Brazzaville, it is found on the Congo River. This city faces the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the populous city of Kinshasa, which shows from the 2009 census there were more than 10 million inhabitants, which lies just across the Congo River. As for Brazzaville, back in 2001, the census showed a population of 1,018,541 in the city proper, and on the outskirts of the city in the suburbs, which are about located in the Pool Region, there were 1.5 million people. Now if you were to put the to cities together you would find there would be about 12 million people living within the two areas. Now unsurprisingly, you will find that over a third of the population of the Republic of Congo lives in the capital, and it is home to 40% of non-agricultural employment. It is also a financial and administrative capital.

Now when you look at this city, considering it is an African nation, it looks quite an up to date place to work and live in.

Photo by James Hopkirk

Photo by FredR

If you ever get the chance to visit Brazzaville, there are attractions like the St Anne’s Basilica, built in 1949, there is also a house in the city that was built for Charles de Gaulle, the french president. There are other places like the Nabemba Tower and the Congressional Palace, as well as the Marien Ngouabi Mausoleum, Brazzaville Zoo and the Poto-Poto School of Painting. The United States Embassy for the Republic of the Congo is also located in Brazzaville. But to learn more about the attractions and what to do and find in the city, please click on this link, Brazzaville on Wikitravel.

Photo by mp3ief

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Republic of Congo.

Photo by KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

Photo by Rennett Stowe

Eritrea in the horn of Africa.

Mark — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:26:00 +0000

Eritrea is a official country state in the Horn of Africa, central east coast of the continent. The capital city is known as Asmara. Eritre borders the African nations of Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. If you get to see this country you will find that towards the east and northeast of the country, there is an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, which is directly across the Arab states of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. It is a small country, it is just under 118,000 km2 or 45,560 sq miles and in 2009 the estimated population of 5 country was 5,673,520.

Photo by 10b travelling

Photo by ajsadeh

The capital city as said above is Asmara, it used to be known as Asmera, or in the Arabic language it is أسمرة. ‎Asmara, means “Made them United” in their own language of Tigrigna, it is the largest of settlements in Eritrea, and is the home to a population of around 579,000 people. Asmara is quite high up it has an elevation of 2,325 meters (7,628 ft), this is because the city is on the edge of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Great Rift Valley and of the Eritrean highlands. The countries economy is quite small, but it deals in Textiles and clothing, processed meat, beer, shoes, and ceramics, which are all the major industrial products.

Photo by CharlesFred

So has I have said above the location of this country is in the Northeast Africa and the Red Sea borders the country on the northeast and east. Eritrea is almost completely bisected by one of the world’s longest mountain ranges, these go on to form the processes that create the Great Rift Valley, where you will find there are green fertile lands to the west, which start to move on to a desert in the east. The countries southern of the Red Sea, becomes the home of the fork in the rift. The Dahlak Archipelago and its fishing grounds are situated off the sandy and arid coastline and the south part of land which is in the highlands, is slightly drier and cooler. Eritrea has four main cities they are the capital city of Asmara, also they have the port town of Asseb in the southeast, as well as the towns of Massawa to the east, and Keren to the north.

Photo by CharlesFred

This country appears to be a place where people may fear going for a holiday, but I reckon that you would be fine and there is plenty to do and see, especially if you like walks around the Great Rift Valley and the Eritrean Highlands. There are places to stay and visit and the tourism is alive and well, this is a country I myself would like to visit and get to know the locals. So if this country does have a few polictical problems, well most countries do, it is just that Eritrea, would quite probably go to war with other countries to sort out their problems.

Virtual-Tripping, explores, Soweto, South Africa.

Mark — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:53:54 +0000

Sorry to go political on this post, but i would like to say something. When i write these posts, i am always amazed by what i find, now sometimes i have more writing than pictures and other times i have more pictures than writing. You see even though words speak for themselves, you will find that pictures will also speak for themselves, so when writing a piece of work about a town or city, which is poor and very hard up, I feel you need to have pictures to show in the western world, really how lucky we all are. We moan and whinge, about everything, we appear to never really be satisfied with what we have, and we all seem to want to do better than everyone else. But if that was the case then would we have cities and towns like Soweto. The answer to that is up to you. But even though it is hard for those people in these poorer nations, in the west we do also have hard times as well, so maybe we are right to whinge and wine, maybe we are right to be better that our fellow brother or sister and maybe we are right to earn lots of money. But do remember that it is a vicious circle and for someone who wins, there will always be someone who loses, and sometimes these losses end in disaster. But also do remember that not every person is poor in these poorer nations and you can sometimes see who the winners really are and who the losers are. For example just look at these countries like Zimbabwe, North Korea, Romania, Russia and China. And there are other countries as well.

Photo by olechkaok

Soweto is an urban area which belongs to the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, and it border’s the city’s mining belt in the north. The meaning of Soweto’s name in English means South Western Townships, this is actually refering to it’s original name, Black township, it is under the power of the South African’s Apartheid government. The town’s population is historically black and this has unfortunately been the occurance of many disputes and fights due to raceism, between black and white peoples. Between the 1970′s and the 1990′s, Soweto had been drawn apart from Johannesburg and became a separate municipality. But now that things are appearing to be better, the town of Soweto has rejoined the city of Johannesburg.

Photo by Ron T

Photo by Tiago Pinhal

This is the best picture of all, because it just goes to show how good people really are in poorer countries and it is good to see people getting on with each other, especially in Soweto, which has had a very hard past. Cheers boys.