In March we will be going to Africa for a safari. We are all really excited about it. And of course as part of homeschooling we have been spending time preparing for the trip and learning about the countries we will visit (Kenya and Tanzania). In doing so I realized that I learned pretty much next to nothing about Africa either in school or in college. The only thing was a bit about Egypt and the pyramids and then a few words about the slave trade. So it has been exciting to dig in. Given the enormous size of Africa and its extraordinarily long history – likely going back to the beginnings of human kind – there is so much to learn.

Here are just some of the things I have learned.  For starters, the equator is further South than I would have placed it (try that for yourself). I can now locate more African countries on a map, including Chad, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia. And I have the beginnings of an appreciation for the amazing historical migrations that have taken place in Africa, such as the Bantu expansion. Some of these were relatively recent. For instance, the Nilotic people were pushing South into what is now Kenya and Tanzania as late as the 18th century. We are doing this as part of our weekend presentations. This past weekend, our daughter pulled together a “Jeopardy” style quiz with lots of great questions. Our younger son talked about some local customs and their origins and the older one presented on the fossil record of human evolution. Susan talked about the Wildebeest and I about some of the migrations mentioned above.

If you have any suggestions for books to read or resources to access online about Africa (Kenya and Tanzania specifically) that you have found especially interesting please let me know.