Facts about Africa Part2

Facts about Africa
Part II

As I visited or stayed in various countries in Africa, I worked and mingled with all kind of people but of course the best results are acquired when relaxing around a beer…
That’s where you learn about your surrounding, safety issues, the dos and don’t, what the culture around you is all about and most of all, what the political climate is. I will go through a couple of African countries so you can get a grasp of what is really happening out there.

I’ll start with Burundi; Burundi is an amazing small country, 27834 km² a bit smaller than Belgium and slightly smaller than Maryland, with about 8 700 00ha. You will find there wonderful people, but do me a favour if you happen to go there, DO NOT TALK ABOUT POLITICS, you say the wrong thing at the wrong time, you will be faced by 24 hour law…. Which means you will have 24 hours to leave the country by any means, so be advised.
The people will welcome you with an open heart. The customs like in most places in Africa, like to talk to you at arrival and ask you where you coming from, purpose of visit and what are all the gimmicks and gadget in your bag and what they are for etc…. I think you get the idea.
Another tip for the traveller, avoid short hair, like an army crew cut, wearing army cargo pants or similar clothing, I don’t think you want to be mistaken for a mercenary, that could land you in a lot of trouble.
When you through all this, there is a lot of places of different interest to go to, welcome to Burundi…
You can hang out by the Marina by the Lake Tanganyika, enjoy the sundowner, meet new people and exchange information. The golf course and the equestrian club are also good spots to meet people.
The locals of any race back grounds are very friendly and always willing to help you in any way in your journey.
The country is very rich in nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin and limestone.
I’m sure you all heard about the “genocide” which took place in Burundi and Rwanda. As a lot of countries in Africa there are some conflicts happening from time to time. In Burundi like in Rwanda a conflicts happens every ± 20 years. The reason for this is simple, not like the media tend to say and show, but when the population density is for example, 680 ha/km² and increases over the years to 1300 ha/km² in rural areas, bear in mind there’s no multi storey flats in those areas, you will face frictions and tensions which will sometimes lead to a “Coup d’Etat”, as the people will have the impression that the President is not doing his job, _ “ yeah, I’m sure some of you will think that way, but trust me it’s not always the case.”_, but surely it will result in some type of violence.
Whatever the President’s tribe origin is you will have Hutus and Tutsies taking on each other.
Just to tickle your brain a bit now, what about the people born from a mix family Hutu/Tutsi, the half casts? Where do they stand? Which side are they going to take if they take any? (Comments welcomed)
Rwanda is very similar to Burundi, in the colonial times it was called Rwarundi because the two countries were in fact one. But the difference came in after the 90’s genocide where people had to flee to neighbouring countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, DRC and even as far as RSA, Botswana and Namibia.
Now if you go to Rwanda which at the origin was a French speaking country is in fact bi lingual, French and English. It’s really the first country in Africa I know that changed from one language to two over a period of five years. The people are also friendly but you can still see the pain they endured during the genocide.

To be continued......