Sights From Africa (Pt. 1/3)
For the next couple of updates, we'll be taking an extended trip through Africa - visiting some of the continent's most impressive sights. From sprawing cities to incredible natural wonders - Africa's beauty and diversity is truly incredible and any trip here is one you'll remember for a lifetime.
We'll begin our trip with a postcard from the legendary Pyramids of Giza. These famous structures were built by the rulers of ancient Egypt back in 3000 BCE - primarily as tombs for pharaohs and queens. Despite the fact that their once gleaming white limestone exterior is long gone - they've stood the test of time like few structures on the face of the planet.
Our next destination is one of Africa's most iconic natural wonders - the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro. Standing 19,341 feet tall - it's Africa's tallest mountain and one of its
most popular climbing destinations. While the top might not be as impressive as it once was with many of its iconic glaciers melting due to climate change - it still offers some of the most incredible views the world has to offer.
While Kilimanjaro is easily Africa's most famous peak, it's actually said by astronauts in space that the Chadian peak of Emi Koussi is the continent's (and even the entire earth's) most recognizable natural landmark. This high pyroclastic shield volcano is located in the Tibesti Mountains and rises 11,302 feet above the northern Borkou Region of Chad.
After taking in Emi Koussi from above, we return to eastern Africa to view some more of the continent's best landscapes. Here we see a postcard from Kenya's iconic Maasai Mara National Reserve - home to some of the continent's most impressive flora and fauna.
The ruined, walled city of Great Zimbabwe is another one of the continent's most iconic sights. Built back in the 11th century CE, the local Shona people built these stone buildings as a royal palace for their Kingdom of Zimbabwe - the very name "Zimbabwe" actually meant "stone houses" in their language. The whole area remained an important trading location for hundreds of years, but was finally abandoned during the mid 1400s and it still remains unclear why.
After exploring a few sights from across central and southern Africa, we'll be catching a plane for western Africa for the last leg - and we fly over the impressive (yet heavily shrunken) Lake Chad. Once Africa's fourth largest lake, it declined by nearly 90% since the early 1970s due to climate change, population growth, and irrigation. There's been slight improvements in water levels in recent years, but the lake is still only a remnant of what it once was.
We conclude with a trip to Lagos, Nigeria. Home to over 21 million people, Lagos isn't just Africa's largest city but also one of the largest cities in the world - and also
has a reputation of being one of the world's most congested cities, which played a role in moving the country's capital to the more centrally located Abuja in 1991. Here we see a large overview of the city's impressive sprawling skyline on Victoria Island from above.
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-korver
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Previous Update: "The Alps (Pt. 2/2)"
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