African Animals

My husband and I took our boys to Busch Gardens in Orlando for spring break this year. We were amazed by what we saw. It was truly an African Safari. We encounter so many animals that we had never seen before. We were able to see rhinoceros, impalas, hyenas, hippos, and more. I wanted to do a little more research and found a website that I enjoyed. http://www.africanfauna.com/ This website gives the opportunity to take a closer look at the animals that live in the African Safari. I wanted to take a closer look at the rhinoceros since I know very little about the animal.

Pictured above is the black rhinoceros. There are five different species of the rhino and they are actually part of the horse family. They have thick skin and a horn in the middle of the head (the black rhino has two horns). They are herbivores, live in grasslands or woodlands, and can become agressive if they feel threatened or provoked. Humans are a predator because they have hunted the rhino for its horns. However, trading rhinoceros horn is illegal all over the world because they are endangered. There are only 2,500 rhinos left, when 100 years ago there were almost a million of them in Africa.

African Music

I decided to take some time to look at the website devoted to African music. http://www.afropop.com/ This website covers modern day music and gives history to traditional African music. Here you will be able to learn more about popular artists and hear some of their music. You will be able to read reviews, get tour information, and they even have some recipes for some African cuisine.

The link that I focused on the most was the link titled "Explore." This dropdown link gives you the option to explore by artist, region, country, or style. I tended to focus mainly on the "country" link. This link will give you information on each country's history (politically and musically). After reading the history on a few of the countries, I was shocked to learn how much South American has influenced African music. I was also shocked to learn that in many countries, Zimbabwe for example, that traditional music is beginning to be overlooked. Radio is controlled by government here and other popular music is taking the place of their traditional sounds.

Traditional African Clothing

I found this website that gives detail to the different clothing that different African tribes wear. Many African tribes favor bright clothing with bold designs. The website gives detail to different tribes and for this I focused on the traditional Swazi clothing.

Although this photo is not the best, it still gives some idea of what traditional Swazi attire looks like. The outfit on the person on the left is that of a young warrior. He wears traditional skins over his knees, as well as a spear, shield with tassels, fighting stick, and neck, arm, and leg bands. The center photo is that of a married woman. Married women wear their hair up, while unmarried women wear their hair loose without covering it. The married women also wear long skirts. On the right is the costume of a Swazi girl dressed for an initiation dance celebration. She wears traditional head gear, jewelry, loin cloth, and tassels.

I find the clothing of traditional tribes to be so interesting. Their clothing really expresses who they are. Everything they wear has meaning. They don't just role out of bed and throw sweat pants on.

Here is the link to this site: http://www.rebirth.co.za/traditional_african_clothing.htm

African Rainforest Conservancy

I found an interesting website that is dedicated to the preservation of the African Rainforest. The site's address is http://www.africanrainforest.org/. This site was put together by African Rainforest Conservancy or called ARC. This site gives us insight to the dangers that the people of the rainforest face everyday. This site contains articles and videos full of good details about how this organization is educating African people on how to conserve their rainforest.



The Eastern Arc project is a project that covers the nine mountain ranges situated in a half-moon shape in Southern Kenya and eastern Tanzania. This area is the sole habitat to thousands of plants and animals found no where else.



I watched the video about the Lulanda Village Project and loved it. I recommend that everyone watch this video. It is very short, but full of information. It shows how these villagers are learning ways to work together to save their land. I was shocked to see how they have to maintain the fire lines constantly to keep the wild fires from their villages.