My fourth installment of "Fun Africa Facts" is unofficially brought to you by Chappies, the jaw-breaking chewing gum I grew up on in Malawi.

Did You Know...

• Morocco was the first nation in the world to recognize the newly independent United States in 1777.
• Hippos can't swim, they walk along along the bottom of rivers or lakes.
• There is a building called Palacio de Ferro (the Iron Palace) in Luanda, Angola's capital, designed by Gustav Eiffel (same guy that designed the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel tower).
• You can cage dive with crocodiles in South Africa.
• Hyena poop is white, courtesy of the calcium in the bones it crushes for dinner.
• Bamako, Mali's capital is the fastest growing city in Africa and ranked 6th in the world.
• White rhinos and Black rhinos are both in fact greyish, it's their upper lips that distinguish the two species. White rhinos have a square upper lip, Black rhinos have pointy upper lips.
• The banjo originated in Africa and was brought to America by slaves in the 18th century, they modified the instrument based on traditional folk lutes from Senegambia.
• Individual wildebeest can cover over 30,000 miles in their lifetime.
• We can thank the Ivory Coast for producing more than 40% of the world's cocoa crop.

More Africa Facts...

_{Image of a Black "check out the lip" Rhino -- © Getty Images}

The LA Times had an interesting article this weekend that discusses the serious danger elephants in parts of southern Africa pose to villagers living close to wildlife reserves and parks. The fact is, there are many communities in Zambia and Botswana where elephants eat crops, crush homes, and charge people. But no one seems to care because much wealthier folks (i.e. tourists) spend a huge amount of money to come and see these fascinating creatures. As a result, the respective governments go to great lengths to protect the animals, and do seemingly little to protect the local communities.

It's not that easy for the governments. They know it's their job to protect people as well as wildlife, and tourism brings in sorely needed foreign currency as well as employment. Some say there are too many elephants, but one glance tells you that may be true for certain pockets in Southern and East Africa, but as a whole, African elephants are endangered. Others say there are too many people. But the real problem is rarely over-population -- it's usually a matter of unequal distribution of resources.

Now, if local communities could at least benefit from the money being spent on safaris, it may be worth their while to figure out how to keep their family safe, without harming elephants. And that is precisely what needs to be done for humans and wildlife to figure out a way to co-exist peacefully. Because it's difficult to convince a father not to kill the animal that may have just gored his son.

There's no easy answer to this dilemma. It's vitally important to protect wildlife in Africa but it just can't be at the expense of African people.

Read: LA Times: Southern African elephant: treasured killers.

More About: Africa's Most Dangerous Animals l African Safaris l Elephants

_{An elephant getting too close for comfort -- © Norman Norris}

My husband will probably get a donkey and my in-laws certainly deserve a camel, they've been through a lot this year. I'm of course shopping with Oxfam this Christmas season and their list of funusual gifts just keeps growing every year. My children may not appreciate a pile of manure in their Christmas stocking, but luckily for them they won't be smelling it. The beauty of shopping with Oxfam is that your gift will actually go to person who truly needs it elsewhere in the world, and you get to keep the bragging rights.

Oxfam is one of the best charities working in Africa, so you can be assured your gift will end up in the right hands. A camel won't suddenly appear on your doorstep, but the true gift of giving will. If you run out of ideas for teacher gifts, how about getting a pair of school uniforms in their name, it'll set you back just $20 and will truly help a family in need. It's certainly more valuable than adding to their collection of mugs.

More About: Africa Travel Gift Ideas l Christmas in Africa l Shopping in Africa

Regional flights in East Africa have always added a significant expense to travel itineraries and to make things worse, the schedules are often sporadic. But despite the suspension of Tanzania's national airline (Air Tanzania) last December, things are looking up. Precision Air seems to have moved into the slot as Tanzania's most important airline, and is now partnered with Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways appears to be doing well and is also adding to its significant portfolio of destinations with new scheduled flights to Bangui, Kisangani and Malabo.

RwandAir is adding flights to Goma, Brussels and Dar es Salaam, and also has a codeshare agreement with Ethiopian Airlines. I'm planning to check out RwandAir's services next June from Kilimanjaro to Kigali. Their handy schedule allows me to take a quick side-trip to check out the gorillas after a Tanzanian safari.

540 the region's only low-cost regional airline is also adding to their growing list of destinations. You can fly from Nairobi to Zanzibar, Malindi, Kilimanjaro, Lamu, Entebbe, Mombasa and now Lodwar (northern Kenya). 540 is an excellent option for independent travelers, you can book online and they e-mail your tickets. Now there's progress.

If only they can figure out a direct flight to East Africa from the US. Ethiopia is the only destination in the region with an "open skies" agreement, but you still have a stop in Rome along the way. Uganda just signed an agreement this week with the FAA but we'll have to wait to see if Entebbe can meet the various conditions required before any flights are actually scheduled.

More About: African Airlines l African Airports l East Africa

_{Image - © 540 Africa's Low-cost Airline}

The 2010 World Cup will take place next summer (11 June - 11 July) in South Africa. Team USA will be participating and if you'd like to cheer them on in the world's most exciting sporting event, you should plan your trip now. FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup tournament, has allocated Team USA match tickets to just 3 tour companies in the US. You can get tickets for all matches the US team will play in, as well as semi-final and final tickets if you book a tour.

It's worth booking a tour since it will be very difficult to find flights, accommodation and transport during the month of the World Cup tournament. South Africa is almost twice the size of Texas, the World Cup will be played out in 10 stadiums scattered across the country, so you'll need some help getting from place to place. There are also just a couple of direct flights a day from the US to South Africa, and seats will fill up quickly. Find out all about tours for the 2010 World Cup, by clicking here.

More About: 2010 World Cup l 2010 World Cup Stadiums l 2010 FIFA Designated Tour Operators

_{Image © Getty Images/Tyler Edwards}

If you're planning to be in Africa this Christmas you may be wondering whether to pack your stocking and santa hat. In most cases it would be entirely appropriate to do so since there will be more than 300,000 Christians celebrating along with you. It's not quite as commercial in Africa as in other parts of the world. Gifts are more likely to consist of a new school uniform rather than a new Wii game. But food, friends, church and family are similarly a big part of celebrating Christmas.

Other events and festivals in Africa this December include a desert festival in Tunisia complete with camel racing; a harvest festival in Swaziland; a music festival in Ethiopia and a carnival in Cape Town.

Find out more about these major festivals in Africa this December including dates and venues.

_{Image -- Zulu Christmas Ornament -- © Marion Boddy-Evans}

I've always had the sneaking suspicion that animal group names are more poetic than scientific. Come to find out, that many of them actually are made up by some eccentric lady more than 500 years ago. Dame Juliana Berners wrote an essay on hunting in the Book of St Albans in 1486. In the essay she classified groups of animals with nouns that she simply thought sounded good. And so we have a gaggle of geese, an army of ants, a school of fish, a pride of lions, a troop of baboons and some of my favorites:

A crash of rhinos
A cackle of hyenas
A coalition of cheetahs
An obstinacy of buffalo
A conspiracy of ravens
An intrusion of cockroaches
A murder of crows
A tower of giraffes
A bloat of hippos
A leap of leopards

Some groups of animals have more than one name. You can say a herd of buffalo, a troop or a gang. But I think an obstinacy of buffalo sounds best, don't you? The good thing about group names having their basis in poetry and not science is that we can simply make them up ourselves. How about a snort of hippos, a rumble of elephants, or a polka of leopards?

Find more group names from the San Diego Zoo and the NPWRC.

_{Tower of Giraffes -- © Getty Images/Theo Allofs}

Since bad news is news, and Africa has its fair share of that, we often end up skimming the headlines and never really get to know much about the individuals affected by war, famine, poverty and disease. Most poor or marginalized people have stories that are seldom heard, they have no voice. Advocacy.net is an organization that is trying to give a voice to these marginalized communities. They have blogs written by students (mostly from the US and Europe), who spend 3 months in remote communities, listening to personal histories and helping people claim their basic rights. If you've ever wanted to work or volunteer in Africa, read some of these blogs. They're eye-opening, educational, moving and important.

Current fellows of this program include Ned Meerdink a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He's based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His latest post includes a current update on the security situation in South Kivu; an explanation of an local alternate fuel program he's helping to raise money for; and a report on the successful distribution of new school uniforms and supplies that benefit children of single mothers, widows, and victims of sexual violence. He says "A small gap in fighting opened up the roads for movement South from Uvira, and now lots of kids are back in class, albeit a bit late."

Click here to read more Advocacy Project blogs. And if you're interested in this program or just want to find out more about volunteering in Africa, here are some resources to get you started:

• Short-term Volunteering and Voluntourism in Africa
• Conservation Jobs in Africa
• Volunteer Resources in Africa
• Family Volunteer Vacations in Africa

You may well know that over 2000 languages are spoken in Africa. The guttural sounding Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) dialects in the north, give way to softer sounds as you travel further south. And when you reach the very southern parts of Africa, a strange clicking noise enters into the vocabulary. When I visited Cape Town for the first time, it was the conversation interspersed with clicks that excited me most on arrival. I ignored my luggage making its way round the conveyer belt a few times, just to listen to the customs guys chat about the weather in Xhosa, it could have been Zulu. Either way, both have clicks and make up two of South Africa's 11 official languages. (That's right, eleven official languages).

I had previously been under the impression that "clicking" was exclusive to San Bushman languages. I didn't expect to hear it under the glare of city lights. If you want to hear a sample, check out this video of a young man in Port Elizabeth, patiently explaining the various Xhosa clicks. Or this young man telling a tongue-twisting Xhosa tale at the Robben Island Museum. I also found a delightful Zulu song, with plenty of clicks to go around. I'm Dutch, so it's easy for me to roll my R's as well as any Latina, and my G's sound nice and throat-cleary. But, heaven help me, I absolutely fail at any and all variations of the click.

I recently got some beautiful photos from Linda Fogarty who travels to various parts of Africa for work. I've added them to my ever growing gallery of pictures that have been sent to me over the years. If you have any photos of your travels to Africa that you would like to submit, please use this form.

This particular set of photos are not ordered in anyway, I think it simply showcases the diversity and beauty of Africa. But, if you're looking for a destination in particular, there are lots more sets to take a look at, click here for a list.

_{Village in Lesotho -- © Linda Fogarty}