One of the things to cope with when you travel to a new country, or a new continent, is weather. After being asked a question of how do I like Slovenia, I’m always asked how do I find the weather and my answer is always too cold and too hot.
It is always a surprise to a lot of folks because according to the geography they remember from school, the whole Africa is a desert. The picture which comes to the minds of those who have never been to Africa and never tried to revisit the books to read more about Africa is that we all live in one wide country and South Africa is our capital.
I am sorry to break the media bubble and for poking holes in the reference books kids use in school.
Africa has never been a country and it will never be. It is the second largest continent with about 54 countries, each country being different (climate, culture, form of government, language, skin colour tone …).
I am not sure, but it would not be a surprise to find out in this era that children in Europe and USA still have books which show Africa as a desert, with half naked guys holding spears chasing animals and living in grass thatched houses. If you have missed that, then you would not have missed a starving child with ragged cloths and a running nose. I guess parents must be still using the phrase of “finish the food on your plate, in Africa kids have nothing to eat”. Have I mentioned something you have heard or seen?
We are living in the best of times with modern technology and people now travel more than ever for pleasure. Why not try to read more about Africa or choose few countries to visit. Go there get you own insight and come back here to tell your story. Even if Africa has the hottest deserts, unsurprisingly, such a large land mass has a wide variety of climates, grab your map or google one and take a look:
– Tropical rainforest – found particularly in the centre of the continent and also along the eastern coast of Madagascar.
– Humid sub-tropical – found in the southwest.
– Mediterranean – mostly on the northwest (Mediterranean) coast and in the southeast
– Savannah – found to the north and south where it replaces the rain forest. There are distinct wet and dry seasons.
– Steppe – away from the equator, to the north and south, the savannah grades into drier steppe.
– Desert – here there is little rainfall and wide differences between day and night temperatures. The Sahara in the north is the world’s largest desert. The Kalahari in southern Africa covers an area larger than France.
– Highland – largely found in the east, below the Horn of Africa.
– Marine – largely in the southeast.
Uganda being one of the countries crossed by the equator, we neither have the extreme cold or hot temperatures. We basically have dry and rainy seasons and without bragging or maybe just a little bit, we have summer throughout the year and I had never thought how amazing that is until I traveled and felt the cold and the extreme hot.
Do not get me wrong, I do appreciate good when I see it. However I do miss the sun all year around, I have come to appreciate the changes in the seasons and what they represent. There is a lot to look forward to, the nature shows its miracles every season and that is worthy experiencing.
I can not stop admiring the wonders of nature, everything was lifeless few weeks ago. The days were groomy, trees had no leaves, grass looked miserable … Now it’s like rebirth, everything is getting brighter, colours everywhere, trees are trotting with little leaves, flowers are blossoming, grass is getting greener. People are smiling, wearing makeup and great colours. Meeting up for coffee and spending time in the sun. Shopping is in full swing and plans for summer are made.
We do not get to see the same changes in seasons back home (in Uganda not in Africa). A friend was spot on saying that now nature is layering up and people are layering off. The sky is blue, the sun is smiling down to us. What is there not to like about SPRING.
Author: Catherine Nakato. She comes from Uganda. Writes a blog xPlorCity, She recently started to co-present on Radio Študent on programme sunrise Africa. Loves fashion and is passionate about Meetups for business, culture and women empowerment.