Circumnavigating Africa: 3 Lessons I Didn’t Expect to Learn

When I say “Africa”, what do you think of?

Lions, elephants, and safaris? Poverty, malaria, and “help feed a child in Namibia!” informercials?  Genocide, war, and political upheaval? Pyramids, souks, and bustling medinas?

The truth is Africa is all of those things, and so much more. The continent is comprised of 1.419 billion people who live across 54 countries which span over 11.73 million sq miles. There are over 2,000 living languages, 3,000 different ethnic groups, and over 1 million species of animals. It’s a place of both unbelievable wealth and crushing poverty. Profound expression and crippling repression. Intense love and murderous hate.

Over the past 52 days I’ve dipped my toes into 13 different countries as the Zaandam cruised an entire lap of the continent.

During the journey, I saw and felt so much joy, life, excitement, hope, and growth. I also saw and felt so much sadness, hopelessness, inequality, and desperation.

Encounter 1:

I started perusing the wooden bowls and hippo figurines strewn across the ground on an orange cloth. I counted down in my head, 3, 2….. “Hello I give you good price!” Browsing in peace doesn’t exist in Namibia. Or at any market in Africa for that matter.

A young woman in a bright blue ensemble squatted next to me, eager to make a sale. All I had was 80 Namibian dollars (roughly $4.60USD). I pointed at set of wooden salad spoons with cute giraffe handles. “Ah no my friend… 80 is too little.” She pointed at little tea spoon the size of my pinky—“This!”  We looked at each other, and broke out laughing with a mutual understanding the deal was terrible.

We began a back and forth game of making each other absurd offers. I’d point to a 5-foot-tall giraffe statue. She’d point to a little beaded dung beetle. We’d laugh and throw up our hands with each offer.

I ended up with a little bowl, and she asked if I had anything from the US for her two kids. I dug through my backpack and whipped out a hair scrunchie covered with crowns from a bat mitzvah and a packet of blurry, sub-par postcards with different images of Petra’s top sights. You would have thought I told her she just won a new car.

Other vendors caught whiff of the excitement. The next thing I know I’m handing everyone postcards. Is this what Oprah feels like?! You get a postcard! You get a postcard! You get a postcard! People were genuinely excited. But it wasn’t because of the crappy blurry picture of a place they thought was my home (although I informed them it wasn’t and it would be cool if Petra was my home). It was because of the simple gesture of kindness and willingness to converse and connect.  

This man gave me a beaded gecko keychain in exchange for the postcard.

Encounter 2:

I was strolling along another market in Namibia on my way back to the ship. An impossibly small women with a baby swaddled around her back came up to me with a strained smile, “I give you good price!” I had zero dollars left. I explained I had no money with an apologetic smile and continued on.

She followed, but the smile dripped town to desperation–  “Give me that sweatshirt! Or your shoes!”

All I could eke out was, “I’m so sorry…” as I kept walking.

Her energy got more frenetic. “You have no money? Just to the ship and get some a bring it back! Or clothes. Anything.” The baby starting crying, hammering in the rusty nail of guilt right into my gut.

 

In order to understand Africa today, it’s essential to understand the basics of the “Scramble for Africa.”  

I’m going to give you a total crash course on colonization of Africa and the after effects. There are hundreds of books dedicated to the topic, and I’m going to attempt to summarize it in under 500 words.

The extent of my grade school education on Africa was Ancient Egypt. I was totally naïve to the fact that Africa was the Wild West for Europeans colonizers from Spain, Portugal, France Germany, Britain, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands. Everyone swooped in to capitalize on all the wealth the continent held—gold, ivory, diamonds, gum, textiles, and, of course, humans. Africa is also conveniently located between the East and West, making the port cities ideal stops on the various trade routes.

The colonial powers built up ports, fortresses, and towns and extracted every penny of profit the land had to offer. Many of the structures remain today, such as the ones pictured above. The African people were used and abused every step of the way for both their bodies and what said bodies could dig up from the ground. There was no economic integration between the colonizers and colonizees, and all the money was quickly shuttled back to Europe.

A handful of countries, mostly in the north, started decolonizing in the first half of the 20^th century. The bulk of decolonization occurred between the late 1950s-1975.

The pattern went something like this: Country fights (and wins) a war for independence. Country enters civil war as competing groups vie for power. The winning party fails to maintain peace (aka loads of corruption and extortion). More fighting breaks out as political and ethnic groups compete for control of the resources.

Because things aren’t complicated enough, Russia, North Korea, and China have been pumping their investment dollars in as they vie for fat pieces of that natural resources pie. The US has done similar things in South America.

As a result, many countries in Africa have extreme income gaps. The big wigs up top are making bank off the land while the people working on said land might have to walk 30 minutes just to get questionably clean water. Unemployment rates are mind-boggling high (a tour guide in Angola said it’s around 70% in the country, a speaker from South Africa said it’s pushing 50% there.)

If you can’t find work but have a family to feed, what do you do? Some starve. Some get innovative. Many steal. Perhaps it’s pickpocketing. Maybe it’s armed robbery. Or it could be getting together a militant group and driving through villages shooting down the people and pillaging any scraps of wealth.

To sum things up: things are extremely complicated.

Prior to the trip, I was naïve to the colonization of Africa. Let’s be honest… I’m still naïve on the topic and have so much learning to do. However, having a basic understanding of what happened has helped me wrap my head around why so many African countries face so much turmoil, war, and corruption.

My brain has been furiously trying to digest the experience, and I keep coming back to one quote I heard along the journey.

“In Africa, we define wealth as the difference between what we want and what we have.”

By that definition, I encountered some people who’d give Bill Gates a run for his money.

In the United States, we are consumed by our wants as social media and pop culture incessantly remind us of everything we don’t have. Perhaps consumerism has more than one meaning. Nice cars, trendy clothes, the latest technology, that cool kitchen gadget everyone is reviewing on TikTok. There’s always something new to want.

Western culture usually defines wealth monetarily, but other cultures see wealth as so much more than dollar figures. I think it’s fair to swap out “wealth” with “happiness” in the equation from the quote above.

happiness = what we have – what we want.

Tens of thousands of people in the richest, most economically prosperous country in the world are miserable because what we want exceeds what we have, putting us in a perpetual happiness deficit.

In Africa, there are millionaires, prosperous industries, big cities, and wealth. But there are wide wealth gaps and extreme income inequality, as visualized in the two photos above from Luanda, Angola. Millions of people live on less than $2.15 USD a day. Access to water and sanitation facilities isn’t always available. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from the likes of malaria and diarrhea. Infant mortality is high. 146 million people are starving.

Yet, people are able to create a happiness surplus because they place high value in what they have (family, community, tradition, religion, culture, etc) while tempering wants. I met countless people with bright smiles and positive energy who were excited to talk, dance in the streets, and simply share a moment.

But that’s not true for everyone.

Even if a person is able to whittle down their wants to the bare minimum it takes to simply stay alive, haves are still not enough. A happiness deficit is created. I came across an unfortunate amount of people like the woman in encounter 2. Desperate with hints of anger and glimmers of sadness.

Strolling around knowing that the money I spend on one meal out could support a family in Madagascar for an entire month ripped my insides to shreds.

Over my travels I’ve noticed and partook in 2 primary ways of coping with “Travelers Guilt.”

1. Make the observation that “people have so little, yet they are so happy!”

People living with very little means create their own happiness because they tamper down their wants to their bare bone needs. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be happier if they had more. I’d bet all the money I have that people would be happier if they had access to clean water, enough food, and didn’t have to worry about their child dying from malaria or dysentery.

Research shows that money DOES matter for happiness. A study at Purdue University used data from a Gallup World Poll which surveyed 1.7 million people across 164 countries to look at the relationship between money and happiness. They found that a yearly income $60k-75K is ideal for emotional well-being. Some researchers have found that there is a threshold where added dollars don’t mean added happiness. Others disagree. As a whole, 75K tends to be the golden number cited across blogs and science journals alike for ideal happiness.

“Happiness” is subjective. Each country will have a unique minimum dollar figure that’s relative to their values, lifestyles, and earning potentials. There is disagreement about what the ideal income is. But no researcher is saying that money doesn’t matter.

Observing people struggling with a smile and concluding “money doesn’t buy happiness” is self-serving observation.

2. Make the observation, “My tourism dollars will make a difference!”

Visiting Africa with an “I’m making a difference” humanitarian approach is a popular strategy for alleviating the guilt of having so much relative wealth and privilege.

I’ve created a term for it: the Western Savior Complex.

Shopping in local markets, tipping tour guides, paying entry fees at museums, so on and so forth are great ways to feel as if you’re making a difference because you are injecting money into the local economies. When people live on less than $2.50USD a day, a $20 tip could cover over a week of living expenses.

But there are a few qualms.

Just because you’re spending dollars via tourism doesn’t mean said dollars are going to people who need it. When you take tours through travel agencies, chances are the dollars are getting clogged at the top. Corruption is a real problem in most African countries. The captain of the Zaandam said that it was more common than not for ports to demand extra fees that were likely created on the spot. I went on a couple tours that had police escorts. They claimed it was for safety or speed, my guess is that the police just wanted a pretty penny for their services.

What can you do?

• Tip your guide and driver in cash.
• Consider avoiding organized tours and hire a local driver for the day instead.
• If you do go on an organized tour, do your research into the company and look at how many levels your money has to trickle through. (I.E Viator to the Tour Company to the Local Operator to the Guide and Driver)

Just because you’re spending dollars via tourism doesn’t mean you are creating a lasting meaningful change in someone’s life. Most places in sub-Saharan Africa don’t get enough tourism for it to be a viable livelihood. That crisp $20 certainly provides relief for a short period of time, but it’s merely the low hanging fruit. Western tourists go back to their $6 oat milk lattes and the recipient of said $20 likely goes back to scrambling.

Handing over a few dollars is an easy way to alleviate the guilt of having so much relative wealth. It can certainly make someone’s week, but in reality, people need so much more. Malaria nets, vaccines, medical professionals, education systems, jobs so that adults can work and kids can go to school, wells, soap, so on and so forth are all essential for helping societies flourish.

But you know what people really need? Functioning governments that don’t steal from the people.

On the ship, there was a fascinating guest lecturer who spent 7 years doing a full lap of Africa in a van. (Check out his story HERE.) He said that the only foreign aid making a difference that he saw was Doctors Without Boarders and Mercy Ships. The sad truth is that donated money often doesn’t make it to the people who need it, and physical aid given often falls into the clutches of militant groups who swoop in to get a piece of the pie. Teaching someone to fish doesn’t mean the person gets to keep the fish they catch.

By all means give tips, spend money, DO YOUR RESEARCH to find organizations that are actually doing something, and be the reason why someone gets immediate relief. But exploring with a humanitarian angle is self-serving.  

The Realization I Had On How to Approach My Travels….

The political and socioeconomic issues most countries in Africa face are incredibly complex and mind-bogglingly challenging, and no single person can fix them. But the first step to change and progress is awareness. Learn about the challenges people face, connect with locals, and share your experiences.  

Rather than visiting the continent wanting to teach and make a difference- A “How can I change Africa?” mindset. Visit wanting to learn and absorb the cultures around you- A “How can Africa change me?” mindset.

I started approaching my time in port with the latter mindset, the quality of my experiences changed.

When visiting a new place, it’s normal to compare it to your own way of living, standards, and ideals. But something I’ve learned over my travel experiences is that you’ll never understand a culture if you can’t take off your own cultural lens. In the United States, an American bias is ingrained in us where we believe everyone across the globe wants democracy, capitalism, and our ideas of freedom.

Spoiler alert: not everyone wants those things.

Putting my own culture aside and having conversations where I was the student, not the teacher is when I really started to get tastes of so many cultures across the continent.

Here are some of the big takeaways.

1. Issues like combating climate change and conservation are a privilege to worry about.

Deforestation, dwindling animal populations, and changing temperatures will take a toll on billions of people in the future. But when you’re worried about feeding your children, you don’t have the privilege of worrying about how the Cheetah population in Namibia is doing. Access to education to learn about these issues, the science behind them, and the implications for the future is privilege in of itself.

Many places in Africa are being dramatically impacted by climate change. Hold governments and big businesses accountable and do your part to the best of your ability. But climate change isn’t a battle we can expect everybody to think about, know about, and fight for.

2. Be Wary of the Law of Unintended Consequences

Carrying on from takeaway 1…asserting stances on fighting climate change and conservation might be well intended, but be aware of who they might impact.

Example: Palm Oil

The Argument: Palm oil production is causing major deforestation. People are burning through rainforest and jungle to plant palm trees, which is hurting already dwindling indigenous animal and plant populations.

Boycott Palm Oil!

What You See Online:

Seeing the Other Side….

I visited a palm oil farm in Ghana. A young man with blistered hands excitedly walked us through the process from fruit to oil. An older woman (his mother perhaps?) showed how the oil could be eaten, and how the fruit itself could be rubbed over your skin as a pseudo lotion.

There were three young girls peeking at the group from afar. I went over to say hi. They didn’t speak English and I didn’t know a lick of the local language. But we waved to each other and giggled at our charades. They posed for a picture and I couldn’t help but teach them a couple poses.

That palm oil farm is what is keeping those girls alive. They aren’t worrying about the orangutans or if Miami will be under water by 2060. The girl in the green had a hard protruding belly that must have been some type of medical issue—the sad truth is she might not even live to see 2060. Boycotting palm oil and driving businesses to failure MIGHT save the orangutans. But it will certainly devastate the lives of girls just like this. Plus, the big guys up top will just move on to another cash stream.

Side Note About Palm Oil: Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop. One hectare of land can product 3.3 tons of palm oil. For comparison, 1 hectare of land only produces .7 tons of coconut oil. Thus, palm oil supplies 40% of the world’s vegetables oil demand on just 6% of the land used to produce all other vegetable oils.  

Boycotting palm oil isn’t the answer. Supporting sustainable palm oil is.

The law of unintended consequences rings true throughout Africa. In the efforts to fight deforestation, curb pollution, and help the environment, never forget to think about who it might impact. Then, we can innovate and problem solve to come up with solutions that help everybody.

(A great example of positive change is rise of ethical animal tourism aimed at supporting conservation. Those 15K safaris give countries incentives to preserve wildlife and crackdown on black markets and trophy hunting.)

3. I am so privileged to have been born in the United States.

I thought I had developed intense gratitude for my privilege after exploring places like Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico. But places I saw in Africa were on a whole different level.

I feel both intensely grateful and incredibly guilty. I’m typing away on my fancy computer in a cozy home with coffee number 2 steaming to my right. My current stresses are figuring out a few travel details for the next adventure and deciding what my next career path will be.

On the one hand, my problems are impossibly small compared to the challenges people across the world face. On the other hand, saying “I should always be happy and okay because someone out there has it worse than me” isn’t mentally healthy.

Everyone will have their own way of coping. Mine is to continue learning about the places I’ve been, humanize the data by sharing my stories, and to not take the things I have for granted.

This adventure of circumnavigating Africa is one that I’m still thinking through and digesting.

Cheers to another travel experience in the books… stay tuned for the next one….