Tuesday, April 29, 2014

My Trip to Africa

  I had a wonderful time in Africa and I hope you enjoyed my project, thank you for listening!

Day 8: Libya

   I woke up a little sad because I was going to leave that day. First I went for breakfast, and after breakfast I went swimming in the hotels pool. I was swimming for about 1h 30min, but then I had to take a shower and pack all my stuff. My flight was going to leave for London at 15:35. I was taking British Airways to London, and Finnair to Helsinki. My flights back to Finland costed close to 2000€.  I would drive home with my car that I left in long term parking. On my way to the airport I saw a huge Did You Know bilboard. It said:
 Did you know that Libya´s population is about 6.3 million?
 Did you know that most of Libya´s population is concentrated in the narrow northern strip, and that    there aren´t as many people living in the desert areas of the country?
 Did you know that Libya´s life expectancy is 80 years?

   I don´t think I knew any of those answers before that  bilboard...

   If you ever do go to Libya you should visit The Temple of Zeus, Tripoli Zoo, Museum of  Libya, Tripoli and Al Bayda.

   Even though Libya is a dangerous place, it was still nice to visit and see what it was like.

Libya is in Northern Africa


Libya´s Flag

Libya´s Coat of Arms

Day 7: Libya

   I woke up at 9:00 feeling very happy. I went downstairs and had breakfast. During the time when I was eating , I was thinking what my agenda would be for the day. This is what I came up with:

11:00 Tripoli Zoo
14:00 Temple of Zeus, Olympia
16:00 Museum of Libya

   After I ate breakfast I got ready to go to the zoo. I was very excited to see all the animals! When I got there, there were alot of people. But waiting in line didn´t even take that long. The service there was fast. They had all the animals you coulg think of there! It was amazing. They were all so cute!

 I also learned something about animals living in Libya there. Libya´s national animal is the Arabian eagle. Other typical animals of Libya include: camels, barbary sheep, fennec desert foxes, exotic tortoises, and many lizards and snakes.

Arabian Eagle
Camel
  
Barbary Sheep

Fennec Desert Fox
Exotic Tortoise

Green Lizard

Snake     

  
   After the visit at the zoo I went for a visit at the Temple of Zeus. The temple is in Cyrene, present-day Libya. It is very old and important. It was spectacular! It was very interesting to see how the temple was built and to see the architecture of the building.

   Next it was time to go to The Museum of Libya. It opened in 2010 which means it is quite modern. Actually it is very modern because they have incredible technology! They have a screen where you can watch videos about the exhibition. But the cool thing about the screen is that it floats in the air. It´s a fog screen. People can walk through it without getting wet! The museum was interesting but probably not the highlight of the day. At the museum they had very nice sculptures and statues.





   After the interesting visit at the museum I went to a restaurant near my hotel, but I only got a salad because I wasn´t that hungry. When I got to the hotel I went for a swim in the hotels swimming pool. It was refreshing and fun. After that I took a shower and went to bed.

Day 6: Libya

   When I arrived in Tripoli (capital city of Libya), Libya it was early in the morning. I was very tired after the very long car ride. I checked-into my fancy hotel and went straight to sleep. I slept in to about 11:00. After that I went and ate breakfast near to the hotels lobby. It was called the ball room. It was very big and fancy. It´s paint job was amazing. I ate until I was full and then I went back to the hotel room and brushed my teeth. There was one thing that I kept noticing. The hotel workers said hello in a different language.  So I asked them what Libya´s official language was. They said it was arabic, but of course they have different dialects all over the country. I thought the language was really cool. After I was done with setteling in and cleaning myself up, it was 12:30. I decided that I would go help poor comunities and children.

   I drove over to one of the poor comunities in Libya. When I arrived there were other people helping them too. There were people putting together houses and buildings and lots of things to make their comunity better. I helped with building the school for the children who lived there.  I also went to a bookstore and bought some school books for the children. I bought history, geography and math books. They actually didn´t cost that much, they costed 2-3 libyan dinars per book. The total cost of all the books were 38 libyan dollars. I took a peek at at the books and actually learned something. I learned a little of Libya´s history and government: In 2011 after ruling far over 42 years Colonel Gaddafi was killed by rebels looking to over throw the government. Libya was then officially declared liberated and in July 2012, Libya elected worked towards democracy. The general national congress as the governing party. This was the first free election in Libya in over 60 years!

I also learned some of the Libyan religions: Most of the Libyans are sunni muslims, but there are minority groups of christians and buddhists. Even though only 0.3% of the population are buddhists, Libya has the largest concentration of buddhism in Northern Africa. This is primarily due to the Asians working in the country.

 I also learned some geography: Libya´s natural resources are oil, gass and petrolian products. Libya´s climate is semi-arid (very dry) and arid (very dry). The vegetation is  desert (sand and stones, very little vegetation), semi-desert (sort grasses and and drought-resistant scrub) and evergreen trees and shrubs (plants and small trees with leathery leaves). Libya is not known for their plant species, they only have 14 species! The Mediterranean coast and the Sahara Desert are Libya´s most well known areas. The Sahara Desert is a barren wasteland. Wasteland dessert areas are over 500 kilometres. They also have beutiful beaches on the coast, but if I want to wear a swimsuit I have to go somewhere private. Women do not swim without being fully dressed here in Libya. Libya also has productive agricultural zones when they grow crops like wheat and barley.

  It felt like I was only reading for 10 minutes, but actually I was reading for about 35 minutes. Woops... I needed to get back fast before people would start asking where I was. When I got back a couple people asked me where I was and I answered:´´Traffic´´. I walked over to the lady that was going to be a teacher and handed the books to her. She thanked me and strolled off. We kept working on the school, it was almost finished . All that needed to be done was to paint it and get the equipment inside. I was helping the poor people all day.  Once the school was painted we started bringing desks and chairs in. By the time the whole school was done it was already 21:00. We got it done pretty fast because there were alot of people helping.


   I was starving! I hadn´t eaten anything all day! I went to a restaurant downtown. There they served traditional African food. I had stuffed zuchini and bazeen. Bazeen is barkey dough served with tomato sauce, eggs, potatos and mutton. It was pretty good, but the stuffed zuchinis were better.

   My dinner costed in total 20 Lybian dinars. After dinner I went home took a shower, brushed my teeth and went to bed.


Trip to Libya

   I drove to Libya at about 21:15. I arrived to Libya early in the morning. When I got there I went to check-into my hotel. I was staying at Rixos Al Nasr Tripoli, it is a 5 star hotel.

Day 5: Ghana

   I woke up at 9:00. I didn´t have breakfast because I wasn´t hungry from dinner. Here was my agenda for the day:

12:00 National Museum of Ghana
14:30 Busua
17:00 Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum
21:15 Bye bye Ghana

   I sat in my hotel watching tv until it was time to leave for the museum. I didn´t have to drive far to get to the National Museum of Ghana which is in Accra, so where I was staying. It is the largest and oldest museum out of the 6 that are in Ghana. It was built in 1957 as a part of the independence celebration. In the museum you learn about Ghanian culture and history.

   The museum was very interesting! It was worth going to see. I learned alot about Ghanian history: Kwame Nkrumah helped lead Ghana to independence. In 2006 China invested 66 million to fund developement projects to help gain energy and mineral supplies. In March 2007, Ghana celebrated 50 years of independence from Britain. In 2007 Ghana expirienced the worst flooding they have seen in over 30 years. 2007 oil was discovered attracting international investors such as, UK oil company which has invested 4 billion pounds into this area. Ghana is rich in minerals.
                                                                     Kwame  Nkrumah
                                                                        Flood in 2007

   Next I drove to Busua. When I got there It was quite crowded. But luckily I found a chair to sit in. At the beach I relaxed in the sun, swam and tried to surf. Surfing was so much fun! But it was also quite hard. I fell of 100 times in the beginning but in the end It got more and more rare. Surfing was so far the highlight of the day. The water was warm which made it nice to swim. Busua was awesome! I loved it!






   Next in my agenda was to go to Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum. It is a museum and park in downtown Accra. The museum and park was built and dedicated to Kwame Nkurumah, the former, well-known Ghanian leader. He was the first President of Ghana. It was very beutiful and big. The museum has the remains of Kwane.

                                              Inside is the ramains of Kwame Nkurumah

   That was all the sight seeing for Ghana. Nice plces to visit are Kakum National Park, Busua, River Volta, Elmina Castle and Nzulezo. I enjoyed my stay in Ghana alot! Here are some pictures of Ghana on the map, the flag and the coat of arms.

                                                                 Ghana´s Flag
                                                             Ghana´s Coat of Arms



Day 4: Ghana

   When I arrived in Ghana I felt a sleepy. I was also a little hungry. It was so late in the evening, so I decided to just stop by a grocery store and pick up a little something to eat. By the time I had checked into my hotel I was already half asleep. I had a dream where I was revising what I had learned on the plane. I learned lots about Ghana because there were several articles about Ghana in the magazine I was reading about Africa. This is what I learned; Ghana is in Central Africa and it´s capital city is Accra. Ghana´s neighbouring countries are Togo, Burkina and Cote D´Ivoire. Ghana´s main language is English . The population in Ghana is about 26 million. The life expectancy is 64 years, which is still quite low when compared to Finland which is over 80 years.  Ghana is a constitutional republic and their President is John Dramani Mahama.

   I woke up the next morning fealing great! It was 9:00. I went to the grocery and got juice, fruit and a bread for breakfast. The climate seemed to be hot and humid (tropical) and the vegetation where I was staying was clearly savannah (tall grass parkland with scattered trees), but I read that in South-West Ghana it is more tropical rain forest (many species of lush, tall trees). I wanted to visit River Volta that day so I left and I was hoping I could swim there too. On my way there I was listening to a documentary on the radio about Ghana´s geographical features. It was good documentary and I learned something from it. Ghana has a few mountains and several hills that rise up to 900 metres above sea level. The highest mountain is Afadzato, whih rises 1,500 metres above sea level. Also, several rivers pass through Ghana. The most important river that passes through is River Volta, It also streams into a lake called Lake Volta, and then into The Atlantic Ocean. Other large ones are Pra, Ankobra and Tango.

   Soon enough I had arrived.  I was beutiful! The water was refreshing and the landscape was amazing. I took lots of great pictures there too!
   Next I decided to go to Kakum National Park. So I got in the car and headed over. The car ride felt very long without any documentary on. Finally I was there and I was very excited for the tour and seeing all the animals. Before the tour started the tour gide told us a little about Ghana´s wildlife. Ghana´s native animal list is very large. It includes: mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, aquatic and marine animals, spiders and birds. There are 504 species of fish, 728 species of birds, 225 species of mammals and 221 species of amphibians and reptiles have been recorded in Ghana. Sadly a large amount of species are in danger. Natural resources in Ghana are gold, oil, timber, diamonds, bauxite and manganese. Crops that are grown in Ghana are tabacco. Minerals found in Ghana are diamonds and gold. Energy found in Ghana is oil and hydro. It was very interesting to hear him speak.

   It was quite similar to the tour I took In Hwange but I cant decide which one was nicer. My favorite animal in Kakum was the monkeys  in the trees. They were funny and there were banana peels everywhere!

   It was about 15:45 and I wanted to go see a castle. Idecided I would go to Elmina Castle. On the car ride there I saw lots of beutiful landscapes. When I got there I headed for the doors of the castle. There was no tour there, you could just go around freely. The castle was very old. It was opened in 1482.  The castle is a very important historical building and there has been a couple movie shoots there. The castle was very beutiful! It was big too. It was also interesting to hear tales about the castle and the people who lived there.


    It was about 18:30 when I was going to go eat dinner. I ate at a restaurant in the city centre. The food there was yummy! I got so stuffed there that I almost couldn´t get up! After having dinner I went back to the hotel and got ready for bed.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Trip to Ghana

   My flight left at 15:25. I flew with Air Zimbabwe to Congo, and then I drove to Ghana. It took a very long time! My hotel was in Accra. My hotel was called Golden Tulip Accra, it is a 4 star hotel. My plane ticket cost 372€, and I rented a sporty red Mercedes to get me around.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Day 3: Zimbabwe

   I woke up at 8:00 and went to eat breakfast. I was going to leave for Ghana after going to visit the Traditional Craft Village near Victoria Falls.

   11:00 Traditional Craft Village
   15:25 Bye-bye Zimbabwe

   When I arrived at the Traditional Craft Village I saw an old village. There were some tribal tents and traditional tribal outfits. It was a interesting place. You could listen to stories and see what life is like in African tribes. It was a tour, and was included in the Victoria Falls tour, but I skipped the Victoria Falls part. I learned lots of things when I was there! I learned lots of basic information about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe´s main languages are English, Shona and Northern Ndebele. Zimbabwe´s life expectancy is about 51 years, which is actually really short. Female population is larger than mens. The population of Zimbabwe is about 14,244,744. Zimbabwe´s government is republic presidential system, and their president is Robert Mugabe.





  
   I also learned about the vegetation and land use in Zimbabwe. Savannah covers most of Zimbabwe´s land. There are many national parks in Zimbabwe. There are some patches of sub-tropical forests in Eastern Zimbabwe. Land in Zimbabwe is used for mixed farming, grazing and stock rearing, and rough grazing. Crops that are grown in Zimbabwe is tabacco. Minerals found in Zimbabwe are iron ore, gold and copper. Energy found in Zimbabwe is hydro and coal.

   My trip in Zimbabwe was wonderful! I think the highlight of the trip was definately Victoria Falls. Out of many places to visit in Zimbabwe, I advise to visit the following; Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park,  Balancing Rocks, Harare, Bulawayo and the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe.

   I will still give some pictures and maps of Zimbabwe.




                                                         Zimbabwe´s flag
                                                           Zimbabwe´s coat of arms

Day 2: Zimbabwe

   I woke up at 8:00 and went to breakfast in the hotels dining room. The breakfast was delicious! This was my day:

   10:00 Hwange National Park
   14:00 Victoria Falls
   18:00 Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe
   21:00 Hotel

   The Hwange National Park was full of dangerous animals. There were elephants, buffaloes, lions, hyenas, cheetahs, jackles, monkeys, giraffes, antelopes, zebras and other smaller animals. We were driven around the park in a Jeep. The animals actually got really close to the car! It was very interesting!


 I learned that Zimbabwe is one of the last rhino ranges. There are white and black rhinos there, but there aren´t alot of them. I also learned that the largest lizard in Zimbabwe is the leguaan. It is a creature that can reach over 2m. It spends most of it´s time laying around watering holes.
                

   After my visit at the Hwange National Park, I visited Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls was the coolest place ever! It was so beutiful! The air there was refreshing because it was quite humid, but it was humid in the good way. Victoria Falls is known around the world for it´s beauty. When I was there I learned that the geographical features of Zimbabwe are mostly rivers, but there are others too. Here are some that they told us about; Victoria Falls, Zambezi, Limpopo River, Balancing Rocks and Mount Nyangani.

                                                                  Victoria Falls
                                                                         Zambezi
                                                                       Limpopo River
                                                             Balancing Rocks
                                                              Mount Nyangani

   After the beutiful Victoria Falls I visited the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe. It was very interesting there. It was quite a big place, and I covered what I could. I learned that Zimbabwe was colonised by Cecil John Rhodes in the late 1800s. He named the land Rhodesia after himself. Zimbabwe became an independent country on the 18th of April 1980. I also learned lots about ancient animals there. After the long day of sight seeing I was ready to go back to the hotel and sleep.

   
  

Day 1: Zimbabwe

   Zimbabwe is in southern Africa, that is why it took such me such a  long time to get there. When I got out of the airport it was about 13:00. I was tired after the long journey but I was also excited because I was in a different country. The climate outside seemed to be semi-arid, very dry. I also saw on the news that Central Zimbabwe's climate was temperate, mild, and that East Zimbabwe's climate was tropical, hot and wet. The vegetation seemed to be low trees and shrubs with spines or thorns (thorn forest). I also saw on the news that the majority of Zimbabwes land was savannah, tall grass parkland with scattered trees. Zimbabwe´s largest and capital city is Harare but the 2nd largest city is Bulawayo. After I looked around I went to go pick up my rental car. It was a black 5-seater Audi.  I decided that I would first go to my hotel and take a shower. I was staying at a 5 star hotel in Victoria Falls called The Victoria Falls Hotel. It was very fancy! By the time I checked-in, got cleaned up and got settled in it was already 15:30. I wanted to go grab something to eat. I went to a casual restaurant right outside of my hotel. There I found out that Africans eat bugs as a source of protein and they are said to be tasty! But don't worry, I didn't try any...  Some of the bugs they eat include; ants, grasshoppers, stink bugs, mopane worms and locusts.
 
     After I had eaten I wanted to see the sunset. The sun set at 17:38.
    The sunset was amazing! It was gorgeous! After the sun had set I went to my hotel and went straight to bed because I knew the next day would be busy.