Country of the Day: ALGERIA

A L G E R I A

PLACES TO SEE: Constantine, a city rich in Roman history! Algiers, the capital of Algeria, has many exciting treasures in store. The Atlas mountains are available for hiking!

LANGUAGE: Arabic...more Arabic. And Tamazight. Good thing G3 already knows that one.

SAFETY: Algeria...oh Alergia. You are not a very safe place for the White Girls in Africa. Algeria is the first country on our route so far on the travel warnings list from the U.S. State Department. Now, this is somewhat disconcerting. Here is a direct quote:

Terrorist attacks, including bombings, false roadblocks, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations occur regularly, particularly in the Kabylie region of the country.  Since early 2007, the use of suicide bomb attacks, particularly vehicle-borne attacks, has emerged as a terrorist tactic in Algeria, including in the capital.  The group that claimed credit for the December 11, 2007, suicide car-bomb attacks in Algiers has pledged more attacks against foreign targets, and specifically against American targets.

I'm not sure what else to say.

PEOPLE: Algeria, as you would know if you checked out a map, is a LARGE country in Northern Africa with approximately 35 million peeps, nearly all Muslims. However, there are more females in high-profile professions than males! Hmmm?!

EXPENSES: All we know is that they deal in DINARS. That does not mean diners. Or dinosaurs.


Algeria, land we may never see, mysterious, dark, Algeria, whose middle name may be Danger, we hope to see you one day, #4, if we can buy some visas on the black market. (Totally kidding, terrorists...if you're monitoring our blog).

XOXOX,
White Girls in Africa

Country of the Day: TUNISIA

T U N I S I A

PLACES TO SEE: El Jem - one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters in the world! Matmata - a desert of cave dwellers...where Star Wars was filmed!! Sidi Bou - a village of white houses with blue doors. Le Lezard Rouge - one of the most exotic train rides in the world!

LANGUAGE: Arabic and French. Girl 2... have you mastered Arabic yet? Get on that.

SAFETY: Tunisia is one of Africa's MOST EASILY ACCESSIBLE COUNTRIES. Many Europeans vacation here in the summer because of its exotic beaches and great attractions. Visas are not required for G2 and G3, but G1...who the heck knows. There was some report of assault on females traveling alone...but we will take care of that.

PEOPLE: Tunisia is home to 10 million people, 98% of which are Muslim. Still in Northern Africa, baby!

EXPENSES: Because Tunisia is tourist-heavy, we may have to shell out more $$$ than we'd like. But this may be one of the best countries for us to live in the lap of luxury before retreating into war-torn countries.


Oh Tunisia, #3 of 53, you are the reason we do not need to visit Europe. You are our own band of Rome, with more flavor and pizazz. We look forward to riding a train across your countryside and pretending that the White Girls in Africa will be featured in the new Star Wars movie.
XOXOX WGIA

Country of the Day: LIBYA

L I B Y A

PLACES TO SEE: Swim in the Mediterranean Sea along the Libyan coastline, go dune surfing in the Sahara desert, learn to ride camels!

LANGUAGE: Arabic, Italian, and English. Woo!

SAFETY: It is extremely hot and dry in Libya, as the country is 90% desert. Limited water is a problem, as are dust storms. Crimes occur against foreigners (a.k.a White Girls in Africa) and we may find it difficult to obtain visas. Although it is dangerous to drive at night and there is some radical Muslim terrorist activity, we feel confident that, with the right precautions, we will prevail. ALSO - long-held sanctions with the U.S. have finally been overturned last year, and relations are improving. Surely the White Girls in Libya will contribute to the growing positivity toward Westerners.

PEOPLE: Libya is home to 6.3 million people, 97% of which are Arab. 97% of the population is also Sunni Muslim.

EXPENSES: The economy is strong in Libya, so we will live here for $50-$100 per day unless we meet a nice Libyan willing to host us! However, filling up our truck won't cost hardly anything at all as oil is more prevalent than water.


Oh Libya, # 2 of 53, we long to dig our toes into your endless dunes of sand and taste the salt of the Mediterranean Sea. See you soon.
XOXOXO, White Girls in Africa

Country of the day: EGYPT

E G Y P T

PLACES TO SEE: Home of one of the oldest-known civilizations, the incredible pyramids, the sphinx, and the Nile River, Egypt is the first destination on our route.

LANGUAGE: Arabic is the predominant language, so hopefully Girl 3 will have been brushing up on her skills.

SAFETY: A fact that will soothe our mothers' nerves: cities in Egypt are safer than cities in the U.S.

PEOPLE: One of the reasons the crime rate is non-existent is because Egyptians are predominantly Muslim (90%-94%)! There is also a small presence of the Egpytian Coptic church, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world.

EXPENSES: If traveling cheaply, we can live in Egypt for approximately $8 per day.


Egypt, you will remain forever in our hearts as #1 of 53.

Wait, how many countries are in Africa?

There has been a bit of a discrepancy today concerning exactly how many countries are in Africa. As we speak, Girl 1, or The Real African as she prefers to call herself, is counting the countries on a map. This, ladies and gentlemen, is by no means a fool-proof method. Now, according to Wikipedia, there are 53 countries, as listed below. But some claim the reputability of Wikipedia is lacking (let it be known that I am not one of those people.)

#1 Algeria (People's Democratic Republic of Algeria)
#2 Angola (Republic of Angola)
#3 Benin (Republic of Benin)
#4 Botswana (Republic of Botswana)
#5 Burkina Faso
#6 Burundi (Republic of Burundi)
#7 Cameroon (Republic of Cameroon)
#8 Cape Verde (Republic of Cape Verde)
#9 Central African Republic (Central African Republic)
#10 Chad (Republic of Chad)
#11 Comoros (Union of the Comoros)
#12 Côte d'Ivoire (Republic of Côte d'Ivoire)
#13 Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti)
#14 Egypt (Arab Republic of Egypt)
#15 Equatorial Guinea (Republic of Equatorial Guinea)
#16 Eritrea (State of Eritrea)
#17 Ethiopia (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia)
#18 Gabon (Gabonese Republic)
#19 Gambia (Republic of The Gambia)
#20 Ghana (Republic of Ghana)
#21 Guinea (Republic of Guinea)
#22 Guinea-Bissau (Republic of Guinea-Bissau)
#23 Kenya (Republic of Kenya)
#24 Lesotho (Kingdom of Lesotho)
#25 Liberia (Republic of Liberia)
#26 Libya (Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya)
#27 Madagascar (Republic of Madagascar)
#28 Malawi (Republic of Malawi)
#29 Mali (Republic of Mali)
#30 Mauritania (Islamic Republic of Mauritania)
#31 Mauritius (Republic of Mauritius)
#32 Morocco (Kingdom of Morocco)
#33 Mozambique (Republic of Mozambique)
#34 Namibia (Republic of Namibia)
#35 Niger (Republic of Niger)
#36 Nigeria (Federal Republic of Nigeria)
#37 Republic of the Congo (Republic of the Congo)
#38 Rwanda (Republic of Rwanda)
#39 Sao Tome and Principe
#40 Senegal (Republic of Senegal)
#41 Seychelles (Republic of Seychelles)
#42 Sierra Leone (Republic of Sierra Leone)
#43 Somalia (Somali Republic)
#44 South Africa (Republic of South Africa)
#45 Sudan (Republic of Sudan)
#46 Swaziland (Kingdom of Swaziland)
#47 Tanzania (United Republic of Tanzania)
#48 Togo (Togolese Republic)
#49 Tunisia (Tunisian Republic)
#50 Uganda (Republic of Uganda)
#51 Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)
#52 Zambia (Republic of Zambia)
#53 Zimbabwe (Republic of Zimbabwe)

What do you think? How many countries are in Africa?

On a related note, according to the State Department of the U.S., 12 of the 53 countries currently have travel warnings. That's only 23%! This is a perfectly safe endeavor!

Who are we?

The Team (so far) consists of three white girls, who will be affectionately referred to as Girl 3, Girl 2, and Girl 1.

GIRL 3
Girl 3 (ABOVE LEFT), Kayleen, hails from Fall Creek, Wisconsin. She is a Linguistics major at Northwestern and can tell you anything you ever wanted to know about languages. She plans to master Arabic, Swahili, and French before we embark. Girl 3 also loves the outdoors and knows a thing or two about backpacking. She is the only one of the trio who has yet to breathe the African air.

GIRL 2
Girl 2 (ABOVE CENTER), Lacy, has much humbler beginnings, coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She's an English major at Northwestern and loves to write. This adventure is destined to give her enough material for several book deals! As an Iowan, she knows some things about corn and pigs, neither of which are staples in Africa. Girl 2 will be your tour guide and narrator on this adventure.

GIRL 1
Girl 1 (ABOVE RIGHT), Nicola, is from the motherland itself - the fact that she is a native of Cape Town, South Africa obviously gives her all the skills necessary for this adventure. A psychology major at Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN, Nicola has acclimated to Minnesota winters, proving that she can adapt to anything. Girl 1 has a heart for the children of Africa, which is a blessing considering she will encounter millions of them.

The Beginning

Confession: We don't know if this can be done. Travel around Africa in one year? As my mother said to me once, "Isn't Africa at war?" Are we crazy? Probably a little. Ignorant? Most definitely. Unskilled? Yes. Undeterred? Absolutely.

IT ALL STARTED with a dream. In July of 2009, Girl 1 and Girl 2 sat in a kitchen in Kampala, Uganda, eating granola and mini bananas. Across from us on the wall was the biggest map of Africa I've ever seen. The longer we stared at the map, the bigger Africa loomed before us, and its mysteries deepened. Then we thought, jokingly at the time, wistfully - you know, in one of those dreams that vanishes before it's fully formed - we thought maybe some day, we could travel around Africa, visit all of its countries and get to know something about its treasures. Then we came back to America, started a fall semester heavy with books and essays, and forgot all about it.

NOW IT'S 2010 and the dream has resurfaced. Add Girl 3 to the mix, throw in a lot of bravado, position us as college seniors unsure of our next steps, dig up the hollow wells inside of us aching for adventure...and we want to do it again.

We're more serious this time, if not any more informed. But we plan to be. We will start by detailing a specific country each day of this spring semester, progressing in order of a potential trip route.

Will you join us?