In the darkness of the Akeley Hall of Mammals, swarms of kids gawk at beautifully staged dioramas of Africa’s wildlife. The stuffed safari, nestled in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, includes taxidermied leopards...
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“Man is the wisest of living being because he has a hand. The hand is man himself”, said Greek philosopher Anaxagoras. This affirmation aroused the ire of Aristotle, who provided an antithetical response: “Man’s endowment with hands is the...
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Deep in the heart of Mali, a treasure of inestimable value is being slowly, painstakingly resurrected from the Saharan desert. In Timbuktu, where sand storms have raised the street level to a point that citizen have to step down through the front...
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“Help yourself,” runs an Egyptian proverb, “and the Nile will help you.” The Nile as we see it today is the product of peoples who have been helping themselves for the past 5000 years. Ancient Egypt couldn’t have existed without the Nile River...
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There is a famous stretch of dirt road on the west coast of Madagascar between Morondava and Belo Tsiribihina. It is called The Avenue of the Baobabs (or Alley of the Baobabs) and it’s a bucket-list must. Between 20 and 25 baobabs, which can live...
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“Long ago, in the freest period of my life, I had worked as a teacher in Africa for six years straight. I had revisited the continent every few years after that, sometimes staying for months. I had been up and down half a dozen great rivers...
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