Before we set off for Uganda and Rwanda to see the great apes, people consistently warned me: Africa is so dirty, messy, underdeveloped and dangerous. Why are you taking the risk? Let me educate you a little: There are 48 countries in the African continent, plus six island states. With the exception of probably South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, the rest of the continent has invariably been viewed in the same negative stereotype – vast expanse of land mass but deeply impoverished, infested with pirates, kidnappers, drugs, diseases, racism, violence and civil wars.
While such allegations might not be totally baseless, is it really like that in real life? Some people may have overlooked the fact that the Great Pyramids of Giza, the majestic Nile river, the astounding Moroccan towns painted in blue, the jaw-dropping Great Migration of East Africa, the Sahara Desert, the 5,895m-high Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of the continent – all places and experiences that many travellers have seen and are tremendously impressed by – are found in Africa. “Did you feel unsafe or threatened when you were there,” I asked some of these folks. I personally feel that Africans are particularly friendly people.
When our 4WDs passed through the streets of Uganda’s towns and villages, almost the entire country’s 48 million population (I know it’s impossible but that’s what it felt like!), men, women, the old and young, would wave at us spontaneously,.