If you’re planning to travel to Africa, you have probably heard a myriad of myths about the continent. Some may have painted it so grim that that made you get scared of visiting, while others may have given you very good impressions that increased your desire to travel to the continent. Regardless of what you’ve heard or not heard, traveling to Africa is an exciting experience but you must not go with the expectations of all the negative things you’ve had about it.
This will deprive you of the chance to view the continent with a better perspective and enjoy everything it has to offer for you. To help you out and to ensure that you are prepared with the right expectations and mindset, here are some of the top myths you must not believe about Africa.
You will meet lions at the airport
Most travelers from western countries always expect to see lions upon landing in African airports. To them, Africa is one whole jungle and upon coming from the plane, you’ll be greeted by the real wild nature of the continent. Well, you will be disappointed to know that this is nothing but a myth. There are no lions in African airports, and you will not even see them in the major cities. For you to see the lions, you must go deep into the jungle for the safaris or designated game parks where you can find them in the wild habitats. Therefore, sorry to be disappointed that you will not be seeing any lions at the airports.
African is a country
It is saddening to note that most people think that Africa is one big country. They don’t see it as a continent. The only realize that it is a country when they are processing their travel documents and then asked about which particular country they will be visiting. It should be known that Africa, contrary to the expectations of the majority, is not one country. It is a continent just like any other continent with various countries under different administrations. It is like the United States where you find countries making up the entire continent. Therefore, don’t be naive to think that Africa is one whole country with one administration, one passport, and one currency.
Africa is very dangerous
For very many years, the western media painted Africa as a very dangerous place where you can lose your life within a split of a second. This created an impression that going to Africa is actually risking your life. However, this is far from the truth. If it’s talking about insecurity, then there is insecurity everywhere including the United States, Britain, Canada South America, and Asia. What ought to be noted is the fact that not everywhere is safe in the world. The same applies to Africa. There are countries or regions that have not known this for a very long time, but there are also countries that have been peaceful for a very long time.
If you visit places that are known to be peaceful, you have nothing to worry about other than taking the necessary precautions to ensure that you don’t fall a victim of the thugs in those areas. Therefore, don’t think of Africa as the worst place to visit in the world because of insecurity. It is not as dangerous as they want you to think and when you visit it, you will see that indeed, it is one of the best places you can ever be in the world.
You need a lot of money to travel to Africa
This is another myth you’re likely to encounter when you’re planning your first trip to Africa. Some people will try to convince you that traveling to Africa is very expensive and you will need a lot of money. This is not entirely true. If anything, life in Africa is very affordable and with a minimal amount of money you normally spend in the States or in Europe, you’ll find more than a decent living experience in Africa.
Therefore, do not be persuaded to think that you don’t have enough money to travel to Africa. You can afford flights to Africa then you can afford to live a very comfortable life in Africa. Accommodations options are very many and you can always choose what you want depending on the kind of comfort you want. Additionally, coming from the western countries, you’ll always be treated with a lot of respect due to the perception that you may probably. However, something that you never cross your mind.
Africans are ignorant
Africans were ignorant several hundreds of years ago when they were being colonized by the whites. This is no longer the case and you must never think to act in a smart way simply because you think that Africans will not figure out what you are doing. For example, when you visit casino Kiwi, don’t try to play any tricks in a manner likely to suggest that you want to defraud them. They’re not ignorant. African have gone to school and if you’re coming from any part of the world, this is a fact that you need nobody to convince your bout. Therefore drop the perception of arrogance when traveling to Africa and know that you will be meeting intellectually capable people whom some may even possess better intellectual capacity and your brothers back at home.
Africa is dirty and undeveloped
Again, this is another classic myth you will hear when traveling to Africa. Some people will try to tell you that Africa is very dirty and undeveloped. The fact is that dirt and development are everywhere in the world. It is not a unique case to Africa. It is a fact that the western world may be more developed than Africa, but this does not mean that Africa is dirty and undeveloped. In fact, you will be surprised at some of the developments you will be meeting in Africa. If you go to the cities, you will not notice much difference in terms of development.
