I came to know about your magazine by accident when I lived in South Africa for a short while on a business trip.  Rozaneh was my only source of information about home and my sole means of connecting to home.  Now that I am back after a long visit of the African countries, I thought to share with your readers an overall view of some of the countries that I have visited.

Africa is a continent that has always attracted my attention. Invited by a colleague, Zaire was the first African country I visited.  I had to travel on Air Zaire because nothing else flew to that country at the time, because of Zaireâs political turmoil.

I was brought up in an enlightened family environment where there has never been any prejudice against any race or religion.  All my life I had black friends.  However, itâs one thing seeing a few blacks here and there and another experience to travel on a jumbo-jet filled with excited black travelers, and their often enormous oversized suitcases.  Since I was the only white person onboard, traveling light, almost everyone approached me and asked me to take one of their bags for them.  Trust me it was an experience!                                     

When we finally landed in Kinshasa, the capital, the city was like any other big city in the world, with all the hustle and bustle. What shocked me at first sight was the number of children begging for food, it was surreal; what Iâd seen on TV in reality. There were also all kinds of animals, such as donkeys, sheep, goats, etc. walking in the middle of street. The side streets were dirt roads and some neighborhoods were infested with rats. The misery was quite overwhelming for a foreigner.  However, the warmth of the people and their kindness was something that-- even for me, an Iranian, famous for hospitality--was so heart warming.  After years of traveling throughout Africa, Iâve learned to look over and beyond those not too pleasant parts of the experience, and see the lovely things that Africa has to offer: kind, hardworking people.

The highlight of that trip however was when we went to whatâs called the ãInteriorä, which actually is what they call the villages within the Equatorial Jungle. On one trip, we had gone camping and we were heading to a place by the rivers Kasai and Kwilu called Oshwe. It was only a 10-12 hour drive from Kinshasa but because of the state of the roads during the rainy season it took us about 3 days to reach it. In some places, the rain had literally washed the road away!!! The forests were pitch black at nights from 6pm onwards.  As we were on the road, one night we were stopped in the middle of that darkness, we were told that a fallen tree had blocked the road and we couldnât go any further. The Chief of the village found out and told us to put up our tents in his yard until morning, while the villagers moved the tree trunk. So thatâs what we did, but early in the morning around 4am, I was woken up by sounds of buzzing and talking around me. As I looked out the tent to see what was going on, I saw the whole village gathered around my tent: I was the first white woman with ãsoft hairä that had ever set foot there÷the first white woman that theyâd ever seen!! As soon as they saw me, they stopped talking and just stared at me. The men were already out moving the tree trunk. I got dressed and came out and they all came to greet me. The kids were touching my hair and calling me ãMundeleä (White Person)!! They were the kindest people I had ever met in my life and also the poorest, but willing to share everything they had. They gave me hundreds of bananas, bags of mangoes, goats, chickens, etc.  That was the best trip I ever took. I truly will never forget those people whom I visited on my first trip.

Since then, Iâve traveled extensively to various countries in Africa because of my job. I will try to just give you an idea of those countries, nothing in depth, just a short passing picture of those magical lands.

In West Africa, Ivory Coast resembles a little Paris with trendy French speaking people, nice restaurants, boutiques and the most beautiful beaches, with hotels built around a lagoon. I also remember their main market run by mostly Muslim Africans, from Ghana and neighboring countries.

Burkina Faso, a small country bordering Ivory Coast, is called the country of ãMen with Integrityä, and indeed they are honest and exceptionally organized people. The country gets extremely hot, about 48 degrees Celsius in the shade! With an extremely hard working people.

One of the Central African nations Iâve visited was Angola and that was probably also one of the scariest, for lack of organizational structure. Angola was for long ruled by communists and you can sure feel it. I was arrested at the airport under the pretext that my passport was fake.  I had to spend the entire night at the airport waiting for the immigration officer to show up the next day to approve of the validity of my American passport and the authenticity of my visa after, I threatened I would call the American Embassy.  It was indeed a scary lonely night for me.  They could have done just about anything to me without anyone finding a trace of me. Angola is a very rich and resourceful country with very poor people living mostly in shacks, but with what they call ã parabolic antennasä (satellite dish!!).

I have also visited several countries of East Africa. Tanzania is a beautiful country by the Indian Ocean and people there are friendly and warm, though a bit reserved. They also have a communist background. The country is made of these cute little cities, with white sand beaches and a medley of diverse populations, mainly mixes of Indians and Pakistanis who years ago crossed the Indian ocean and settled there.

Kenya is also made of various ethnicities and friendly people. Being a country with many tourist attractions, people are extremely open and sociable, except for a specific tribe called the Masais, who live as primitives and believe that all the wilds belong to them, they only dress with a piece of cloth around their waists!! Kenya has the nicest Jacaranda trees and the nature looks exactly like in the movie ãOut of Africaä, which in fact was filmed in Nairobi. Thereâs also the Nairobi National Park just near the airport and you can see giraffes, elephants and all kind of animals while driving into the city.

Nairobi itself again is like any other big city with hotels, shops, restaurants, a business district and an open market with tons of people everywhere. The crime rate in downtown area is pretty high, and by crime I mean theft and burglary. So you donât want to walk with jewels and a big purse. But isnât it the same everywhere??

Ethiopia was the next country I went to, but I must say I was disappointed. The capital Addis Ababa is huge but it is extremely dry, poor and dirty. I had read a lot in the Bible about Ethiopia. Some of the historical sights were just astonishing, although it was sad to see that a nation with such a long history and ancient culture should be in that state of regression and backwardness. 

On the other hand, Eritrea, which used to be part of Ethiopia and gained its independence in 1992, is a poor but beautiful and organized country. The architecture style is Italian and the capital, Asmara, is one of the cleanest cities in the world that Iâve ever visited. Thereâs not much to do there, itâs a tiny country with really skinny people with tiny bone structure, which later on I learned was from malnutrition (a special bread dipped in a sauce made of tomatoes and onions is their main food). A big part of the population there are the United Nationsâ Missionaries that throw parties at the newly built Intercontinental Hotel, the French Club and The Italian Club!!

One of my nicest side trips was a trip to Massawa by the Red Sea, which is where the Port of Eritrea is. They in fact have 2 ports and thatâs where most merchandise enters East Africa, hence the ongoing war between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

All these trips were quite memorable and once you get over the lack of structure and comfort that one is accustomed to, Africa is a beautiful place with kind, generous and respectful people who love their villages, their parents, their extended families, etc· .Now I know why they say ã You can take an African out of Africa, but you can never take Africa out of their heart!ä 

I am only 35 now. I started my own business, mainly import export to Africa, when I was around 22, after my first trip to that continent.  My fascination for Africa is beyond words.  This beautiful continent with mostly poor nations has so many attractions that is indescribable in words alone.  Its beauty is magical and its people the kindest and the warmest.  Now that I am somehow settled down and travel less as the business is conducted mostly remotely, I have this inexplicable urge to go back every once in a while.  It is so much like going home to my own family.  Who knows maybe I was an African in my previous life.  I canât explain exactly the feeling.