Great African Reads discussion

Join us as we read our way across Africa in 2018!


Timeframe: January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018

Object: Read a book from each country across the contiguous countries of Africa, going in either a North to South or West to East direction.

Rules and Setup: Each participant must start their own thread in this folder to chart their progress. To claim a country, you must read your chosen book during this calendar year, post about it on your personal thread, and write a short review. Please post your reviews on the links provided with each book selection and indicate that you have done so in your post on your personal thread. You may copy and paste the same review from your personal thread into these linked areas. Please keep a running tally of your points as you read your books.

Scoring: Each country has a list of options and their designated point values. 5 pt books are from the Tour d’Afrique, 4 pt books are either from our female author challenge or from past Contemporary fiction selections, and 3 point books are typically from other past book selections featured here at Great African Reads. There are BYOB (bring your own book) options if you want to pick your own book instead of those listed and even places to squeeze in any new featured monthly reads chosen throughout the year. Books read for other challenges may also be used for this challenge. You can find the book selections in the next post.

Flight hubs: Each week, four countries will be designated by random generator as “flight hubs”. If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice.

Starting Countries: You may either go North to South or West to East. All countries must be read in geographical order, unless using a flight hub.

North to South routes may start in any of the following countries:
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Egypt
All North to South routes will end in South Africa.

West to East routes may start in one of the following countries:
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Liberia
West to East routes may end in any of the following countries:
Sudan
Eritrea
Djibouti
Somalia
Kenya
Tanzania
Mozambique

Tourist Attractions: Earn additional points by visiting countries with one of the following tourist attractions. Each tourist attraction must be named in your book post and will earn the reader an extra 5 points in additional to the book points, 6 points if you add a picture of the attraction to your post. Tourist attractions you may visit include:

Botswana: Okavango Delta
Chad: Lake Chad
Congo DRC: Virunga National Park
Côte d’Ivoire: Basilica of Our Lady Peace
Egypt: Great Pyramid of Giza
Gambia: Kunta Kinteh Island
Ghana: Cape Coast Castle
Kenya: Maasai Mara
Lesotho: Afriski
Libya: Martyr's Square
Malawi: Lake Malawi
Mali: Great Mosque of Djenné
Morocco: Majorelle Garden
Niger: UTA Flight 772 Memorial
Rwanda: Volcanoes National Park
Senegal: Lake Retba
South Africa: Boulders Beach
Tanzania: Mount Kilimanjaro
Uganda: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Zambia: Victoria Falls

Please feel free to ask any clarification questions in this post. Books and point lists will be posted shortly. Happy travels!

FLIGHT HUBS

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 1/15-1/21:

Ethiopia
Liberia
Gabon
Angola

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

I have a couple of questions. What if I would like to also travel west to east?

If I get to Chad, I don't have to read a book by an author from Chad or set there. I could read a group regional read instead?

Also, if I "visit" Nigeria both ways, do I need to read two different books?

Susan wrote: "I have a couple of questions. What if I would like to also travel west to east?

If I get to Chad, I don't have to read a book by an author from Chad or set there. I could read a group regional re..."

Susan, you can also travel west to east.

You can read a regional read for Chad instead of a book by a Chad author or a book set in Chad. It does earn fewer points, though.

I'm not sure what you mean by visiting Nigeria both ways. Hopefully, one of the following will answer this.
If you are talking about both going north to south and west to east simultaneously, I guess it depends on your timing, since they are read in geographical order. If you had to choose a country to read twice, Nigeria is probably your best bet, since there are many books from here.
If you are doing a round trip hub, you only need to read the country once - when you first reach the country.
If you double back on your route and go through Nigeria a second time you will have to read another book for the country.

Hope that helps.

Diane wrote: " Each tourist attraction must be named in your book post and will earn the reader an extra 5 points in additional to the book points, 6 points if you add a picture of the attraction to your post.."

So do they have to mention the attraction in the book to do this, or can I just mention it in my post?

Beth wrote: "Diane wrote: " Each tourist attraction must be named in your book post and will earn the reader an extra 5 points in additional to the book points, 6 points if you add a picture of the attraction t..."

The attraction does not have to be in the book. You just receive extra points for reading a book from a country with an attraction. Just mentioning it is enough.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 1/15-1/21:

Ethiopia
Liberia
Gabon
Angola

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 1/22-1/28:

Malawi
Algeria
Eritrea
Togo

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 1/29-2/4:

Ghana
Cape Verde
Eritrea
Somalia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 2/5-2/11:

Morocco
Sao Tome and Principe
Mauritania
Sierra Leone

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 2/12-2/18:

Gambia
Egypt
Cote d'Ivoire
Namibia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

i wish I had time to find out more of the four countries, currently my reading is very much East Africa orientated, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya I am gathering information for my second novel on Africa.
Anybody out there who was in Uganda when Idi AminDada was in charge?

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 2/19-2/25:

Mali
Tunisia
Mozambique
Senegal

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 2/26-3/3:

Zambia
Algeria
Zimbabwe
Uganda

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 3/4-3/12:

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tanzania
Sao Tome and Principe
Gambia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 3/13-3/18:

Togo
Cameroon
Botswana
Burundi

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 3/19-3/24:

Chad
Seychelles
Central African Republic
Equatorial Guinea


If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 3/26-4/1:

Mozambique
Equatorial Guinea
Swaziland
Burkina Faso

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 4/2-4/8:

Somalia
Angola
Togo
Guinea-Bissau

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 4/9-4/15:

Egypt
Algeria
Botswana
Mauritius

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 4/16-4/22:

Guinea
South Sudan
Nigeria
Kenya

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 4/23-4/29:

Lesotho
Congo (Republic)
Niger
Comoros

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 4/30-5/6:

Djibouti
Libya
Rwanda
Sudan

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 5/7-5/13:

Benin
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Madagascar
South Africa

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 5/14-5/20:

Chad
Equatorial Guinea
Zambia
Somalia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 5/21-5/27:

Cote d'Ivoire
Mauritania
Rwanda
Sudan

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

Hey, which countries for this week?

Rowizyx wrote: "Hey, which countries for this week?"

Thanks for the reminder, Rowi.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 5/28-6/3:

Niger
Liberia
Cape Verde
Tanzania

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 6/4-6/9:

Djibouti
Sao Tome and Principe
Gabon
Ethiopia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 6/10-6/16:

Chad
Guinea
Botswana
Sierra Leone

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 6/18-6/24:

Madagascar
Burundi
South Africa
Mozambique

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 6/18-6/24:

Rwanda
Angola
Niger
Kenya

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 7/1-7/8:

Gabon
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Egypt

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 7/9-7/15:

Mauritania
Cape Verde
Tunisia
Eritrea

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 7/16-7/22:

Mozambique
Comoros
Chad
Cameroon

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 7/23-7/29:

Zimbabwe
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Egypt

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 7/30-8/5:

Liberia
Sudan
Zambia
Guinea-Bissau

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 8/20-8/26:

Algeria
Congo DRC
Burundi
Kenya

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 8/20-8/26:

Ethiopia
Mauritius
Morocco
Guinea

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 9/3-9/9:

South Africa
Sierra Leone
Botswana
Eritrea

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 9/24-9/30:

Djibouti
Cote d'Ivoire
Angola
Namibia

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 10/1-10/7:

Burkina Faso
Egypt
Ghana
Malawi

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 10/8-10/14:

Eritrea
Rwanda
Djibouti
Niger

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 10/15-10/21:

Liberia
Sudan
Sierra Leone
Guinea-Bissau
Swaziland


If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 10/22-10/28:

South Africa
Botswana
Congo DRC
South Sudan


If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 10/29-11/4:

Cameroon
Burundi
Zimbabwe
Algeria

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

The following countries were chosen as flight hubs from a random generator for the week of 11/5-11/11:

Togo
Comoros
Zimbabwe
Eritrea

If you reach one of these countries during its week as a fight hub you may either skip over one country in your route or take a round-trip side excursion to visit any other hub country of your choice. Non-contiguous countries are included as hubs to allow side excursions to these areas.

Is it possible to visit Madagascar or Mauritius?

Susan wrote: "Is it possible to visit Madagascar or Mauritius?"

Yes, as a side excursion. It won't count as part of your continuous trek, though.

Can you use any country on the west coast for west to east? For example, would Angola be within an West to East, or North to South? I was just curious about this challenge.