Soledad Romero Mariño
Raquel Martín
AFRICA The continent of colours
MILLENARY CI V ILIZ AT IONS L EB A NON, EGY P T, SUDA N Apart from music, Egyptians made many other contributions to humanity. Mathematics, architecture, anatomy, agriculture or astronomy are also heritage of this magnificent civilization.
Giza pyramid complex They were Khufu’s, Khafre’s and Menkaure’s tombs. They were built in 2500 BC on the Giza Plateau and today we are still unable to figure out the way they were built. Considered sacred monuments, they represent the great architecture and engineering of Ancient Egypt.
Scarab Beetle It became an amulet. It was a protection against harm during life and it provided with eternal life after death.
Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) It is an aquatic plant that grows on the Nile’s shore and delta. The stem of this plant was used to elaborate papyrus, a type of old paper (it’s the origin of the word paper). Egyptians wrote hieroglyph on papyrus.
Nile River It is the greatest river in Africa. Ancient Egypt civilization originated along its bank. Many peoples moved there running away from the Sahara drought and they used the riverbed as a source of water and food. The annual river overflow made the surrounding lands extremely fertile and this helped building the huge Egyptian Empire.
Hieroglyph The drawings represent words. Only Egyptian priests, scribes and members of the royal family were able to write and read hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphic writing can be in columns or lines, from left to right or right to left. The direction in which hieroglyphs are turned determines the proper reading order.
Mount Sinai It is considered a holy mountain for Jewish, Christian and Muslims. Immediately north of the mountain is the Saint Catherine’s Monastery. In its robust byzantine walls, Moses was said to have received the Ten Commandments of Yahweh.
The cat It became an amulet. It was worshiped because it was believed to be the reincarnation of the goddess Bastet, protector of home and temples.
The market of Kassala (Sudan’s capital city)
On the square’s surroundings sits the great food market: meat, vegetables, fruit, salt, species… It is a meeting point for the tribes of the north, an exciting gathering of cultures, colours, flavours and sounds.
T HE ORIGIN K EN YA , TA N Z A NI A , MOZ A MBIQUE Nairobi In 1899 Nairobi was a train station. As years went by, it became the most populated city in Kenya and the capital city of this country. The city is located by the Nairobi river, 7 km away from the National Park. It is shocking to see the elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes or big felines walking right next to the city’s gate.
Mary Leaky Olduvai Gorge Tanzania is one of the most important places in Africa. It is a sacred place to understand the origin of our species. The ‘Olduvai Gorge’ was home to our ancestors. The fossils have been found in the gullies help us understand live in that era.
One of the greatest paleoanthropologists in history. She discovered a path of fossilized footsteps that were 3.5 million years old. They belonged to our ‘Australopithecus’ ancestors, who at the time walked upright on two legs.
The big Maasai Mara savannah It is a wild landscape south east of Kenya. Its name is a tribute to the tribe that lives here, the Maasai, and the river that flows across this area, the Mara. Big dry plains with bushes and flat top acacias form a perfect savannah. Many different animals live in Maasai Mara. The most emblematic, the ‘Big Five’. And the most abundant, the gnu or wildebeest. Every year in July gnus start their migration journey. A million of them, together with zeals of zebras, cover the plains and rives of these lands. They are thousands of animals stomping their hooves. It is an incredible and orchestrated show in search of water and food. During the 1970s, poaching in the savannah was incredibly harmful. Cheetahs, rhinoceros and elephants were victims of this chaotic activity but as of 1999 protection measures were taken in these sacred lands.
Kilimanjaro It is the highest mountain in Africa. It belongs to the group of the highest ‘Seven Peaks’ in the world and it is the most challenging adventure for alpinists. It is 5,891.8 metres high. Its white peak was clearly visible some time ago but now the icecap is reduced dramatically due to the climate warming and the merciless deforestation in the area.
Athletics Kenya is the home of the best long-distance athletes in the world. Paul Tergat and Catherine Ndereba are two Kenyan stars of world athletics.
Ngorongoro In Tanzanian highlands, the old Ngorongoro volcano has become a paradise. Its crater is am excusive shelter to over 25,000 animals (including the ‘Big Five’: leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros). Their habitat are green meadows and fresh water protected by the Ngorongoro caldera.
Lake Victoria It is the biggest in Africa and the second biggest one in the planet. The huge lake is also the main source of Nile river.
A WORLD AWAY M A DAGA SC A R
Coral reef Andavadoaka is a small fishing town. Fishing is one of the great resources of Malagasy (the name given to the inhabitants of this isle). In the depths of the coast this wonderful and colourful coral reef stretches along 450 km. It is the fifth biggest coral reef in the world.
An overwhelming variety of resources Madagascar is one of the main rice producers in the world and the second vanilla producer following Indonesia. It also produces half of the highquality sapphires, a business that is deforesting the country, very dangerous due to the poor working conditions of the miners.
Sweet and savoury fritters are also traditional in the area and they are sold in street stalls. Delicious!
Baobabs
Endemic species Madagascar offers dream-like landscapes: one can find jungles, deserts, tropical beaches and huge coral reefs. Incredible places that become a fest to any animal or plant. Thousands of species are born and grow in the isle: this is what endemic means.
Around 3,000 species of butterflies of Madagascar can also be found.
These majestic trees, the baobabs, only live on the island. Some can live up to a thousand years and become colossal trees.
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