Expedition Africa

[maddog]

I am really enjoying the Animal Planet? History? Discovery? Nat Geo? channel's program about an expedition following the footsteps of 19th C. journalist Henry Stanley on his trek to find out what happened to explorer David Livingstone.

Anybody else watching? The numbers, in both different kinds and quantities, of plants and animals in Africa is simply stunning. Not to mention SCARY!

#2202

[mulebear]

When you say Africa, you are talking about an entire continent. A continent that ranges from vast deserts, temperate forests, tropical jungles, to giant deltas. The biodiversity for the entire continent should be huge.

But compare that to something like the Great Smoky Mountains. In just under 800 square miles there are over 100,000 species that have been identified, and there are scientist who believe that there may be another 90,000 or so to still be discovered.

Your own backyard can be diverse and full of some scary creatures.

Of course, that being said, Livingston's route covered only a small area of East Africa (mostly through Tanganyika, now known as Tanzania). It is a very diverse region, but what makes it more interesting to those of us in other parts of the world is unfamiliarity of species. They seem more interesting because we don't see them everyday.

By the way, my Significant Other, while doing research at the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, held one of Livingston's specimens in his own hands. He didn't realize what it was at the time until he read the hand written footnotes signed by Livingston.

[Qingdai]

Ohh. Research in the Kew Gardens! That in itself seems cool.

[mulebear]

My Significant Other - So cool he makes Chuck Norris look like a dork.

[Qingdai]

Well, in all fairness, I think Chuck Norris is a pretty big dork. I've seen the one film where he plays a villain.

What sort of research was he doing?

[mulebear]

Chuck Norris? Maybe he watched some old Bond villains from the Roger Moore period.



Oh, you meant my Significant Other... My bad.

He was doing research for a series of books on euphorbias.

[Qingdai]

Euphorbias, I had a friend who collected those. He had them in his bedroom and brushed up against one in the night. Woke up with a nasty blistering rash.
They are lovely plants, very interesting.

[mulebear]

Depends on the euphorbia. Some are very toxic. Some... not so much.

His current plant interest is in Ant Plants and other plants that have symbiotic relationships with insects.

I'm more interested in Amophophallus and Stepelia, but I also love Calathea and Sansevieria.

Admittedly though, he's more into it than I. He likes taking care of them and I like looking at them.

[maddog]

who lives in or has visited Africa? Is it as awesome as it seems?

#2204

[mulebear]

Just South Africa for me. I have plans to visit Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya and Botswana, but those places are probably a couple of years away.

My Significant Other has been several times to South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Just from my stay in South Africa I can say, "Yes. Africa is wonderful."

But I tend to say that of every country I visit.

My photography website has several pictures from South Africa.

http://williamadams.pho.to/albums/wadams/index.htm

[BDS]

I had a great time in Africa, although I've never been to sub Saharan Africa. True, there was that brawl with the snake charmers in Marrakesh. The snake charmers themselves weren't particularly scary, but they had these cobras......

[Qingdai]

I've never been. I'd love to go though.
Especially to Senegal. I took a class about Africa when I was doing anthropology. My thesis adviser spent all her time doing politics in Senegal.

So, I read a lot about it, "So Long A Letter" is a pretty good book, that gives you an idea of the culture in the capitol.

[JoeP]

maddog's Expedition Africa!

Oh.



I thought you were planning a trip to come and visit me.

[LadyShea]

An African photo safari is on my bucket list. Not sure where though.

The trailers for this series really grated on my nerves...the personalities of the people I guess, or at least the clips they showed, made it seem more like a staged reality show going for contention and drama than a serious expedition. So I kinda refused to watch it.

[maddog]

Originally Posted by JoeP

maddog's Expedition Africa!

Oh.



I thought you were planning a trip to come and visit me.

I could in about three years .... that's how long it would take to save up the money.

I would like to visit South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Mali (Timbuktu), etc. etc. etc.

#2206

[maddog]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

An African photo safari is on my bucket list. Not sure where though.

The trailers for this series really grated on my nerves...the personalities of the people I guess, or at least the clips they showed, made it seem more like a staged reality show going for contention and drama than a serious expedition. So I kinda refused to watch it.

Yah, understandable. But really, the exposure to the plants and animals and terrain and views is pretty neat.

#2207

[mulebear]

Originally Posted by JoeP

maddog's Expedition Africa!

Oh.



I thought you were planning a trip to come and visit me.

Cool. What part of South Africa?

My Significant Other and I would love to move to Swellendam or anywhere in the Karoo. Have you ever been to Ronnie's Sex Shop?

De Hoop and Addo are awesome, by the way.

[Lauri D]

The only part of Africa I've been to is Morocco, which was pretty neat. I got a nice bracelet that I still have, and there were bellydancers in the restaurants.

Some friends just got back recently from their long-delayed honeymoon and they did the full safari and got some great pics. They said the scariest part was when they were walking along and the guide said "don't move. There's a (I think it was some type of buffalo) and it will kill you if it gets the chance".

So what *did* happen to Livingstone?

[maddog]

Oh, Stanley found him, near Lake Tanganyika. Livingstone stayed in Africa and eventually died there.

wiki article on Livingstone

#2208

[Lauri D]

So sad No one should die from malaria, it's the worst (having had it twice but benefiting from qloroquine). Why do people still die from this? Back then it was understandable, but today?! (sorry, just processing the wiki piece)

[maddog]

Originally Posted by Lauri D

So sad No one should die from malaria, it's the worst (having had it twice but benefiting from qloroquine). Why do people still die from this? Back then it was understandable, but today?! (sorry, just processing the wiki piece)

Livingstone sounds pretty much like a typical Victoria blockhead to me. I had always thought that such people as Livingstone or Scott were "heroes," but if you really look into their explorations, you find them largely incompetent.

I do like learning about the countryside of south-central Africa, though.

#2210

[Lauri D]

They find themselves woefully unprepared, for sure.