MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR 

Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic, Malagasy:Repoblikan'i Madagasikara , French: République de Madagascar) is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world), as well as numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from India around 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in complete isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot in which over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by human settlement.
Initial human settlement of Madagascar occurred from 350 BCE and 550 CE by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo who were later joined around 1000 CE by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel. Other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is often divided into eighteen or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands.
Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by a fragmented assortment of shifting socio-political alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, the majority of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles. The monarchy collapsed when the island was conquered and absorbed into the French colonial empire in 1896, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, termed Republics. Since 1992 the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in a popular uprising in 2009 the last elected president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign and presidential power was transferred in March 2009 to Andry Rajoelina in a move widely viewed by the international community as a coup d'état.
In 2011, the population of Madagascar was estimated at around 21.9 million, 90% of whom live on less than two dollars per day. Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs or Christianity. Ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascar's development strategy. Under Ravalomanana these investments produced substantial economic growth but the benefits were not evenly spread throughout the population, producing tensions over the increasing cost of living and declining living standards among the poor and some segments of the middle class. Current and future generations in Madagascar are faced with the challenge of striking a balance between economic growth, equitable development and natural conservation.

CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA

CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA

 

Cape Town (Afrikaans: Kaapstad; Xhosa: iKapa) is the second-most populous city in South Africa and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is also Africa's most popular tourist destination; Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East.  Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.

Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. As of 2007 the city had an estimated population of 3.5 million. Cape Town's land area of 2,455 square kilometres (948 sq mi) is larger than other South African cities, resulting in a comparatively lower population density of 1,425 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,690 /sq mi).

The centre of Cape Town is located at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula. Table Mountain forms a dramatic backdrop to the City Bowl, with its plateau over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high; it is surrounded by near-vertical cliffs, Peak and Lion's Head. Sometimes a thin strip of cloud forms over the mountain, and owing to its appearance, it is colloquially known as the "tablecloth". The peninsula consists of a dramatic mountainous spine jutting southwards into the Atlantic Ocean, ending at Cape Point. There are over 70 peaks above 1,000 feet (300 m) (the American definition of a mountain) within Cape Town's official city limits. Many of the suburbs of Cape Town are on the large plain of the Cape Flats, which joins the peninsula to the mainland. The Cape Flats lie on what is known as a rising marine plain, consisting mostly of sandy geology which shows that at one point Table Mountain it was an island.

There is no certainty as to when humans first occupied the area prior to the first visits of Europeans in the 15th century. The earliest known remnants in the region were found at Peers cave in Fish Hoek and date to between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago. Little is known of the history of the region's first residents, since there is no written history from the area before it was first mentioned by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1486. Vasco ad Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. In the late 16th century, Portuguese, French, Danish, Dutch and English ships regularly stopped over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper and iron with the Khoikhoi in exchange for fresh meat. In 1652,Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie, VOC) were sent to the Cape to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies, and the Fort de Goede Hoop (later replaced by the Castle of Good Hope). The settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the authorities to import slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar. Many of these became ancestors of the first Cape Colored communities. Under Van Riebeeck and his successors as VOC commanders and later governors at the Cape, an impressive range of useful plants were introduced to the Cape – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region.

NUBIAN DESERT

NUBIAN DESERT 

 

The Nubian Desert (Arabic: صحراء النوبة‎, Şaḩrā’ an Nūbyah) is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 400,000 km² of northeastern Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea. The arid region, a largely sandstone plateau, has lots of wadis flowing towards the Nile. There is virtually no rainfall in the Nubian, and there are no oases. The traditional inhabitants of the area are the Nubians.
The world's earliest known archaeoastronomical megalith was erected in Nabta Playa in the Nubian Desert in southern Egypt. The Nubian Desert is known for turtles crossing its path.
The town of Abidiya is located nearby.
This desert is the only habitat for the critically endangered palm Medemia argun, which only appears rarely in some oases in the deser

ATLAS MOUNTAINS

ATLAS MOUNTAINS

Description:

 

The Atlas Mountains (Berber: idurar n Watlas, Arabic: جبال الأطلس‎) is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,167 metres (13,671 ft) in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. The population of the Atlas Mountains are mainly Berbers. The terms for 'mountain' in some Berber languages are adrar and adras, believed to be cognate with the toponym.
The mountains have been home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa, often more like those of Europe; many of them are endangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include the Barbary Macaque, the Atlas Bear (Africa's only species of bear; now extinct), the Barbary Leopard, the Barbary stag, Barbary Sheep, the Barbary Lion (extinct in the wild), the Atlas Mountain Badger, the North African Elephant (extinct), the African Aurochs (extinct), Cuvier's Gazelle, the Northern Bald Ibis, Dippers, the Atlas mountain viper, the Atlas Cedar, the European Black Pine, and the Algerian Oak.

MARRAKESH

                     Marrakesh

 Marrakesh (Berber: ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ Mərrakəš or Murakuc, Arabic: مراكش‎ Murrākuš, local pronunciation: Mərrakəš), known as the "Ochre City", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakech is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, being also the fourth largest city in Morocco according to the 2004 census.
Like many Moroccan cities, the city of Marrakech comprises both an old fortified city (the médina) and modern neighborhoods, the most prominent of which is Gueliz, for a total population of 794,620 and 1,063,415 in the metropolitan area (2004 census). It is served by Ménara International Airport (IATA code: RAK) and a rail link to Casablanca and the north.
Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna.The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant

Metéora

Metéora

Metéora

A rare geological phenomenon, a quirk of nature as it were, created these looming rocks which thrust skywards from the plain of Thessaly, as if striving to come closer to God. These peculiarly impressive natural sculptures are known as Meteora because they do indeed seem to hang or hover above the plain. Their summits, totally isolated from the rest of the world, were refuge for many hermits from as early as the 11th century. Three hundred years later the first monasteries were founded. Most of the monasteries were built or renovated in the 16th century. Nowadays six are in use.

The Theopetra caves 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Meteora had inhabitants fifty millennia ago. The cave of Theopetra, Kalambaka, radiocarbon evidence for 50,000 years of human presence, Radiocarbon 43(2B): 1029-1048^.

In the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles.

They were the first people to inhabit Metéora. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 1800 ft (550m) above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani. As early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks.

The exact date of the establishment of the monasteries is unknown. By the late 11th and early 12th century, a rudimentary monastic state had formed called the Skete of Stagoi and was centered on the still-standing church of Theotokos (mother of God).^[1] By the end of the 12th century, an ascetic community had flocked to Metéora.

In 1344, Athanasios Koinovitis from Mount Athos brought a group of followers to Metéora. From 1356 to 1372, he founded the great Meteoron monastery on Broad Rock, which was perfect for the monks; they were safe from political upheaval and had complete control of the entry to the monastery. The only means of reaching it was by climbing a long ladder, which was drawn up whenever the monks felt threatened.

At the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's 800-year reign over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century. Six remain today. There is a common belief that Athanasios (founder of the first monastery) did not scale the rock, but was carried there by an eagle.

In 1517, Nectarios and Theophanes built the monastery of Varlaám, which was reputed to house the finger of St John and the shoulder blade of St Andrew.

Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break". In the words of UNESCO, "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 metres (1,224 ft) cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction." In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. During World War II the site was bombed. Many art treasures were stolen. 

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

Location: EGYPT.

Description:

Valley of the Kings, Arabic Wādī Al-Mulūk, also called Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, Arabic Wādī Bībān al-Mulūk, long, narrow defile
just west of the Nile River in Upper Egypt. It was part of the ancient city of Thebes and was the burial site of almost all the kings (pharaohs) of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties (1539–1075 bce), from Thutmose I to Ramses X. Located in the hills behind Dayr al-Baḥrī, the 62 known tombs exhibit variety both in plan and in decoration. In 1979 UNESCO designated the valley part of the World Heritage site of ancient Thebes, which also includes Luxor, the Valley of the Queens, and Karnak.
    The kings of the New Kingdom (c. 1539–1075 B.C), fearing for the safety of their rich burials, adopted a new plan of concealing their tombs in a lonely valley in the western hills behind Dayr al-Baḥrī. There, in tombs sunk deep into the heart of the mountain, pharaohs were interred, as were several queens, a few officials of high rank, and the numerous sons of Ramses II. The plan of the tombs varies considerably but consists essentially of a descending corridor interrupted by deep shafts to baffle robbers and by pillared chambers or vestibules. At the farther end of the corridor is a burial chamber with a stone sarcophagus in which the royal mummy was laid and store chambers around which furniture and equipment were stacked for the king’s use in the next world.
    The walls were in many cases covered with sculptured and painted scenes depicting the dead king in the presence of deities, especially the gods of the underworld, and with illustrated magical texts similar to those found in funerary papyri, designed to help him on his journey through the nether regions. There were a number of these texts; they represent differing but not necessarily conflicting views of the afterlife, in which the king had to undergo trials and surmount perils. In the “Book of That Which Is in the Underworld,” for instance, he travels in the boat of the sun god through 12 divisions that represent the 12 hours of the night. In the “Book of Gates,” giant serpents guard the portals through which the sun has to pass as strange demons help or hinder the boat on its way. Other funerary compositions include the “Book of Day” and the “Book of Night,” which depict Nut, the sky-goddess, spread out across the heavens, as well as the “Book of the Heavenly Cow,” in which Nut is transformed into a cow on whom Re ascends to the firmament. Astronomical figures decorate the ceilings of several burial chambers.
    Virtually all the tombs in the valley were cleared out in antiquity. Some had been partially robbed during the New Kingdom, but all were systematically denuded of their contents in the 21st dynasty, in an effort to protect the royal mummies and to recycle the rich funerary goods back into the royal treasury. In the time of Strabo (1st century bce), Greek travelers were able to visit 40 of the tombs. Several tombs were reused by Coptic monks, who left their own inscriptions on the walls. Only the little tomb of Tutankhamen (reigned 1333–23 bce), located on the floor of the valley and protected by a pile of rock chippings thrown down from a later Ramesside tomb, escaped pillage. The wonderful treasures that were exhumed from Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 and that now reside in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo vividly indicate how rich the burial of a great pharaoh of the empire’s heyday must have been. The longest tomb (number 20) belongs to Queen Hatshepsut (reigned c. 1472–58), whose burial chamber is nearly 700 feet (215 metres) from the entrance and descends 320 feet (100 metres) into the rock.
    The largest and most complex tomb in the Valley of the Kings (number 5) was apparently built to contain the burial chambers of many of the sons of Ramses II (reigned 1279–13), the greatest king of the 19th dynasty. This tomb, which had been previously discovered but dismissed as insignificant, was again located in the late 1980s and partially excavated in the 1990s. The uppermost of the tomb’s two levels contains a central pillared hall and various corridors leading away to dozens of chambers.

EYPTIAN MUSEUM, CAIRO

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM, CAIRO

Location: EGYPT

Description:

    The Egyptian Museum is called the symbol of faith for the Egyptians. The actual name for the museum is called The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities and it is located in Cairo, Egypt. The stories of Egypt are spread across seven thousand years. It is considered to be a treasure for the country of Egypt. The design of the grand museum was a consequence of an international competition. This competition was held by the UNESCO. The architecture of the museum is very complex. It offers its visitors a worthwhile time. The museum provides enchanting cultural, pleasurable and educational time.
    The museum will help Egypt become a heart of the history and be a part of the Egyptology. The aim of the museum is to take hold of the diversity of the heritage that Egypt holds. The museum creates a great experience for the tourists by helping them connect the history to the present. It has one of the best antiquities artifacts collections.
    This is one place that would always help you discover new things. The ground floor gives a vivid history of Ancient Egypt. There are good security checks while entering the building. Every time a new object is displayed as the best object of the month. It also has very imperative items that belong to the Egypt and are more than five thousand years old. There are some other masterpieces that belong to the fiftieth century and hence should not be missed. It also has some Old Kingdom’s small statues that have families and shows people working. If you move clockwise, it takes you to an area that would take you to the future.
    In the far end of the museum, one can find material from the “heretic” pharaoh, also known as Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV). Tourists who have genuine interests in knowing the Egypt culture must not miss this site.

SAHARA DESERT

SAHARA DESERT

Location: NORTH AFRICA

Description:

    The Sahara Desert is the largest and the hottest desert in the world. It is spread over more than 9,000,000 Square Km (3,630,000 sq miles). It covers the most of North Africa and is as big as the United States. The desert starts at the Red sea, across the Mediterranean, and over to the Atlantic Ocean. It is spread over 12 African nations, Egypt, Chad, Algeria, Eritrea, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Sudan, Western Sahara, and Tunisia.
    The history of the Sahara Desert goes back thousands of years. The sand dunes of the desert are big that they reach heights of 600 feet.
    Life in the Sahara Desert is very difficult due to its climate. It receives less than 3 inches of rain every year. It may rain twice in one week, to an extreme of no rainfall over the next three years. Oasis are scattered throughout this desert, however, because of its size, it’s not easy to trace.
    The Sahara Desert is the hottest place in the world with the temperature reaching up to 57.7 degree Celsius (135.8 degree F). Scientists have said that the desert expands and shrinks. Currently, it has been recorded that the Sahara is growing southward by 48 km every year.
    The typical fauna that can be seen in the desert are domestic camels and goats. As far as the wild life is concerned, it is a common sight to see a scorpion, monitor lizard, sand vipers, wild dogs, ostriches, cheetah, and many more. The only types of birds that can be visible are African Silver bills and black throated fire finch.    

TEMPLE OF KARNAK, LUXOR, EGYPT, WONDERS OF AFRICA

TEMPLE OF KARNAK

Location: EGYPT

Description: 

Karnak temple is the biggest temple in Egypt owing its monumental size to 1300 years of construction. It was started by XII dynasty's Sesostris I. After that every pharaoh down to the Ptolemic period tried to stamp his authority by outdoing the previous one in his (or her) contribution. Karnak actually encloses three separate temples, the biggest being the temple of Amun, the biggest God of the new kingdom. Since it is humanly impossible to cover every corner of the temple, we had to  restrict ourselves to the following sections - all of which is in the temple of Amun.

The temple used to be connected to its counterpart, the Luxor temple, via an avenue of sphinxes most of which except a few yards outside each temple are destroyed by now. Our approach to the temple was through this avenue of ram headed sphinxes which ended in the first of the six pylons. The first pylon is actually still unfinished and the abandoned mud ramp behind along with some nearby unfinished columns give us an idea of the ancient methods of construction. The most impressive object in the forecourt following the first pylon is one of the surviving columns erected by Taharqa, the Nubian king. The forecourt also contains a triple shrine dedicated to the Thebean triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu and a granite colossus of Ramesis II with his favourite wife Nefertari nestled between his feet.

Beyond the second pylon lies the no. 1 highlight of Karnak, its grand hypostyle hall. Started by Seti I and finished by his son Ramesis II, this hall contains 134 gigantic columns, the biggest being 23m tall and 15m in diameter. Ten adults standing with their hands stretched apart around the pillars can barely measure up to their circumfrence. The hall covers an area of 6000 sqm, more than twice as big as the St Paul's Cathedral in London . Beyond the hall are obelisks erected by Tuthmosis II and his daughter Hatshepsut. Of them, the obelisk erected by Hatshepsut is most well preserved, thanks to the wall constructed around it by her stepson in order to hide her work from the outside world. Obelisks of Hatshepsut are currently spread out throughout the globe occupying important locations in New York, London, Istanbul and  Rome and part of it is also in the Sydney museum.

Beyond the next pylon are the reliefs showing the conquests of Tuthmosis III, Egypt's greatest conqueror and popularly known as the Alexander of the east. Some of the listed conquered cities still posses their original names! Another interesting part of the temple is the Hatshepsut's wall which still retains most of its original  carvings and colours except for her figure which had been destroyed by her stepson way back in 1500 BC, the first instance of a political vandalism! The best example of the longevity of the ancient Egyptian colours can be seen in the back of the temple inside the Tuthmosis III's victory chamber. The 2000 year old figures of Jesus and Mary drawn by ancient Coptic Christians (which in all probability could be the oldest church art) are fading away revealing the bright colours of the underlying 3500 year old ancient Egyptian paintings! The chamber also houses a statue of the triad which has been conveniently adapted to form a crude cross and the most famous of ancient graffiti, the name of Champoleon - the translator of the hieroglyphics.
The temple of Amun also contains couple of histories most famous reliefs: the treaty of Qadesh signed by Ramesis the great and the Israel stone of Merneptah. The former,  the first ever treaty signed in the history, is the biggest proof that the overwhelming victory claimed by Ramesis was all hocus-pocus and the latter, the first ever mention of the word Israel, is the biggest proof that Merneptah is the biblical pharaoh.

BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA, WONDERS OF AUSTRALIA

BORA BORA

Location: FRENCH POLYNESIA

Description:

Bora-Bora, volcanic island, Îles Sous le Vent (Leeward Islands), in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. It lies in the central South Pacific Ocean, about 165 miles (265 km) northwest of Tahiti. The mountainous island, some 6 miles (10 km) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, has Mount Otemanu (Temanu; 2,385 feet [727 metres]) and twin-peaked Mount Pahia (2,159 feet [658 metres]) as its highest peaks. It is surrounded by coral reefs. On the west side of Bora-Bora is a large lagoon in which the smaller islands of Toopua and Toopua Iti protect a spacious harbour, popular with yachtsmen. Vaitape, the principal village and administrative centre, is on the west coast. The island’s name—the Tahitian spelling of which is Porapora—means “First Born”; according to tradition, it was the first island created after Raiatea. Bora-Bora was sighted by Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen in 1722, visited by Capt. James Cook in 1769 and 1777, and annexed by France in the late 19th century. During World War II the island had an Allied naval base, and the islet of Mute, on the northwest side of Bora-Bora’s reef, was an Allied air base; the airport is still in use. Tourism is Bora-Bora’s primary economic activity. Chief products include copra, vanilla, and mother-of-pearl. Area 14.7 square miles (38 square km).