The word for some conjures up visions of acacia-dotted landscapes stretching as far as the eye can see, covered with vast herds of elephants, zebra and wildebeest. There are also images of tribal people who have called Africa home for thousands o years and whose very survival has depended on their ability to live in harmony with nature. Pale anthropologists have concluded that Africa is the cradle of mankind, the birthplace of our species,
Homo sapiens, which appeared some 1.8 to 2.4 million years ago in Africa. The DNA of every human living on our planet today can be traced back to an
African ancestor.
It is the place where approximately
60,000 years ago a small group of our ancestors made
a decision to move north, probably to adapt to climate
change. Whether this decision to change neighborhoods
was a conscious or unconscious decision is not known.
And if it was a conscious decision, who made the decision
and what criteria were used? In the classic movie, The
Gods Must be Crazy, the chief of the Bushmen decided
that the Coke bottle that came from the heavens from
the Gods was an evil thing and instructed one of the
clan to take it to the end of the earth and throw it
off.
Africa also conjures up images of famine, drought, floods, wars, disease, corrupt governments, AIDS, and brutal conflicts between Homo sapiens. What decisions are being made that result in outcomes? Who is deciding and are the decisions being made consciously or unconsciously? Are decisions being made for the greatest good for all or the benefit of a few?
Africa also is synonymous
with safaris. Safari is a Swahili word meaning journey.
A safari is like a journey into the soul of Mother Earth.
Few places on our planet can we humans feel so close
to Nature and to witness the perfection of the natural
world and the importance of keeping things in balance.
As pristine as things might look, the continent has 8
of the 34 “Hot
Spots” where the biodiversity is dying at a
rate faster than any previous extinction.
You are invited to join us on one of our Focus on Africa expeditions to capture images we can use to show the magic of Africa and why the ecosystems need to be preserved and protected.
