I spent a month in Egypt and absolutely loved the experience…its a place every african american should see…just to witness what our ancestors created over 5,000 years ago will leave you awestruck.
Unfortunately, Egypt is not a great place for independent travel, it is best if you are with a group, preferably an Afrocentric group. I would suggest that you plan to meet a group there, then you can stay longer after they leave and/or if time and money permits—fly down to kenya and check out a safari, the coastal city of Mombasa and the island of lamu….if it was me i would also fly down to Madagascar which has the largest variety of animal and planet life of anywhere on the planet…on route to Madagascar, i would probably stop off in the seychelles island …just writing about this makes me happy.
Regarding the African feel of Egypt, i felt it most when i got to southern egypt where the people look just like us. I was made to feel very much at home and was warmly welcomed. I had a marvelous african homecoming experience. Of course our more direct ancestors are from the west coast of africa so i suspect you might feel more of a kinship there, but maybe you could save that for another trip. Alot of african americans love visiting south africa as well. Why not check out my book, it has lots of stories about traveling in africa….
For general information and travel books on Africa, check out:
africa: a biography of the continent by J. Reader
africana: the encyclopedia of the african and african american experience by k. A. Appiah, et al
in search of africa by manthia diawara
how europe underdeveloped africa by walter rodney
africa solo: a journey across the sahara, sahel, and congo by k. Kertscher
africa on a shoestring (9th edition) by Hugh Finlay)
general information and travel websites on Africa
www.abasefortravelinfo.com/africa.html (comprehensive travel resource guide) www.allafrica.com (news, travel, information for each country) www.lonelyplanet.com (comprehensive travel guidebooks on africa) www.africanonline.com (news, travel and information about africa) www.tbwt.com (the black world today has up-to-date news about africa and the african diaspora)
Blessed be the journey, elaine