Beautiful Africa - 1st edition!

Proudly presenting Beautiful Africa's kickoff! This first edition has kicked off with a strong focus on the Middle East.

First of all (and first to contribute to the carnival!), Howidiedtoday presents Siwa, Egypt: An Isolated And Flourishing Oasis Populated By A Community Of Gracious Berbers, a dream holiday in a mysteriously beautiful oasis where people go out of their way to welcome visitors to their town.

"I know that most people think of Egypt as being Middle East," she says, "which is why I thought it would be even more unique for this article to be featured. "

Zenofeller presents Xenophillia, where he talks about Egyptian perfume! Ha, I have been to Egypt just once in my life, and that was 21 years ago. I remember our excursion to the pyramids, the mini Pepsi cola bottles and the tiny boutiques, filled with just that: perfume!

In Naseer and the Lute, Szavanna presents a story about Tunisian music lessons and tells what it was like to fulfill a dream and learn how to play the Arabian lute - "a beautiful string instrument" that similarly to the violin is "fretless".
Read and enjoy!

In 1/3 of the Water Planet, Tim Abbott presents his reflections on deserts and his firsthand experience with Namibia.
"Deserts are alive," he writes, "and have supported life of remarkable variety and resilience. "This is a very interesting post about one of the most fascinating landscapes on earth. Go and have a look!

In Best Dressed Nigerians Hated by South Africans, Izz talks about his encounter with African inter-racism in South Africa when looking for a decent barber.

"My point," he writes, "we can learn a lot from places that are melting pots of nations and kaleidoscope of cultures such as Sunnyside."

Beaman presents some good humour in Constance: Noodle and Laxatives in Berlin; a short truestory about a girl from Cameroon in Berlin.

Finally, there is a post at the former Ishtar News site entitled First day for the 19th time. I have been going back and forth between Africa and Europe for as long as I can remember, and yet, the cultural differences never cease to amaze me. For the Twentieth 'First day experience', have a look at Back in Niger hosted on this site.

That concludes this edition. Thank you for your contributions! The next carnival is scheduled in mid July.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of beautiful africa using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Ishtar

Beautiful Africa - a blog carnival

The blog world is full of interesting carnivals, but I as couldn't find a relevant carnival about Africa, I decided it was time to create one. With so much negative information about Africa being portrayed all the time, I thought it would be nice if we could assemble some of those positive stories; stories that highlight Africa's beauty, dignity, variety and culture.

This is a carnival for all of those who have experienced Africa and have been touched or inspired by this so called "dark continent" in any way. You may or may not have been there yourself, it can be about someone else, a story that inspired you etc. The aim of this carnival is to bring forth all the dignity, beauty, variety and human warmth of this huge continent, which is so often neglected in international media today.It's a very open carnival actually - you don't even need to have been in Africa to submit a contribution. All you need is to be positive about it! This first edition will kick off in a few days, starting with "a personal experience of Africa". Anything you have to tell; sharing the magic of this vast continent.

Submit your post/article here! The carnival has three posts so far, two from Egypt and one from Black Africa.

Ishtar