A thought which have, if not bothered me, made me think is, why Africa? For a Norwegian, Africa is far away and it's a poor place. Africa is represented in the media as backwards, discriminating and unfair. Still, there is something about Africa that attracts a certain type of people, including me. Why? I will try to illustrate that using a few photos:
A broken bridge? Yes, I think that this is a part of the reason. A broken bride is just an example of the sense of wilderness one can experience in Africa. Being a child of urban areas in developed countries in a digital age, it is only fair that the opposite of this should fascinate me. A broken bridge represents remoteness, poverty, underdevelopment and a victory of nature - the exact opposite of the world I know. It also opens for dreaming about helping the country and being a good person.
This photo was taken with an underwater camera from my kayak. It was fairly far out at sea, where sand had been washed together and almost formed an island - people were looking for edible shells. Again, this represents the anti-urban culture discussed above. Except for poor people, I also experienced a flock of flamingos and giant tortoises while kayaking in Africa. Further kayaking in Angola would probably have let me see large fish and other exiting things.
Having discussed nature, I feel that looking at urban Africa would be interesting. This picture shows Luanda in 2003 as seen from Miramar. Luanda, the largest city in Angola and the oldest European city in Africa south of Sahara, is a good example of urban Africa. Urban Africa is, compared to urban Europe, not urban: Pigs and chickens may very well run in the street, and the street may very well just be a dirt-road. The fact that shops and restaurants are near, turning it into a city, is simply less important to the experience.
And once again, the choice of picture falls on rural Africa. This image means a lot to me, that day I felt like travelling through another time, a time I had barely read about in books about colonial Angola. My fantasy that Angola was developed and beautiful, was abruptly distracted by the appearance of this tractor. The tractor, of course, moved slowly and did not appear abruptly, but for a daydreamer, time may act very weirdly. Still, the experience was in no way bad - I once again got a confirmation of the kindness and tolerance of the Angolan people, and not at least their sense of self-irony.
The last picture is one of my favourites from my three years in Africa and, without doubt, the one that sets of most emotions in me. In a sense, the image has become a part of my dreams about Africa, together with a very few other things. One of these is an old trading post or medical station a little north of Luanda. We visited this place once, it was very remotely located and getting there took half the day (and getting home the other half). As we approached it from Luanda, the old building was at my right hand side, and to the left, oily grounds (this was the reason for our visit - to look at the geology of these rocks). The building was old, the white paint worn off and windows and doors were missing. As I walked around a little, I found gun shells and my fantasy was set of. Looking around, my fantasy developed into a story and the story I will always remember. It is as much about human life as about Africa - about the terrible war and how it breaks you down.
Although stories like these seem off topic, I think that they are what fascinates me about Africa. The place gives one a lot of time to think and reason - write poetry or dream. Further, one experience unique things that contribute to these fantasies and dreams. And remember, it is the small things that make Africa big!
