Augustas Kligys Katja Lachmann
  TIPS, TRICKS AND OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT AFRICA  
Expedition

Photos

Letters |augustas|

Letters | katja |

Tips & Tricks

Guest Book

Links

Banners

 
ALL AFRICA (21)
angola(1) benin(1) botswana(3) burkina faso(2) burundi(1) cameroon(2) central african republic(3) chad(1) comoros(1) congo(2) congo (zaire)(2) cote d'ivoire(1) equitorial guinea(1) eritrea(1) ethiopia(11) gabon(1) gambia(1) ghana(1) guinea(2) guinea-bissau(1) kenya(6) liberia(1) madagascar(1) malawi(4) mali(2) mauritania(2) morocco(1) mozambique(4) namibia(1) niger(2) nigeria(2) rwanda(2) senegal(2) sierra leone(1) south africa(9) sudan(1) swaziland(1) tanzania(6) togo(1) uganda(5) zambia(6) zimbabwe(4)
| 1...5 | 6...10 | 11...15 | 16...20 | 21...21 | [share your information]
SEARCH AFRICA:

ON THIS PAGE:
o Words in Amharic language (Ethiopia)
o Calendar in Ethiopia
o Exotic of South Africa’s Northern Cape
o Time confusion in Ethiopia and Tanzania
o Magic phrase in Swahili language
Words in Amharic language (Ethiopia)
My name is John Sime John neaw
What is your name? Simih maan neaw
Where are you going? yet neaw yemitihedew
Are you going to Addis? Wede Addis neaw yemitihedew? or Wede Addis Tihedaleh?
Are you going to eat? Litibela neaw?
Are you going to sleep? Lititegan neaw?
Are you going towards Addis? wede Addis eyehedk neaw?
I am going to eat Libela neaw
I am going to sleep Litegena neaw
I am going to die Limote neaw
No money Genzeb yelem
Gas station benzin madeya
Traveler (hitchhiker, backpacker) teguazge
Where to go Yete lemehed
Where to get off Yete liwrede
Where is the city center Mehal ketema wedet neaw?
OK, fine etc. Eeeshi ("Ok" also works in cities)
I am tired Dekmognal
Go away! Tifa kezih (the most apropriate)
Stop the car! Mekinawin akum!
I do not know Alawkim
Toilet sheent bet
So you would say Sheent Bet Alle? Just remember shit alley and you'll be fine ;)
"bet" = house, "alle" = where OR you go there
Entrance megbia
Exit mewtchia
City ketema
Country agere
Yes awo
No aye
And eena
Thank you ameseginalehu
The word for Thank-you, amasiganalo (phonetically), is very rarely used, but the Ethiopians are delighted if you do say thank you in their own language, and you wind up making friends as well.
by oumer, updated: 14/05/2004, created: 02/05/2004 [ethiopia]
Calendar in Ethiopia

Ethiopian year is composed of 13 months. 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 days that becomes 6 days during leap years. Currently it is 1996 in Ethiopia (2004) and if you didn't have a blast at the turn of the millenium, you can still have one after 3.5 years in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopians celebrate New Year, when in Europe we have September 11. It means, in 11/09/2004, in Ethiopia they will celebrate the first day of year 1997.

More about Ethiopian Calendar:
http://www.ethio.com/calendar.html
http://www.ethiopic.com/calendar/ethiopic.htm

by oumer, augustas, updated: 12/05/2004, created: 06/05/2004 [ethiopia]
Exotic of South Africa’s Northern Cape
Three participants of Lithuanian team in XV INQUA Congress in South Africa chose the geological excursion route in Northern Cape to see the sands of Kalahari, diamond fields and stone engravings of prehistorical people. The Big Hole – Kimberley Diamond Mine visited told us about the 21 carat first diamond the Eureka found in South Africa on the banks of Orange River near Hopetown in 1866 (Beaumont, 1999). The number of diggers had grown to 2 000, with most of them being in tent camps in the vicinity of present-day Barkly West. In 1870-71 within 5 m of each other three rich diamond-bearing volcanic (kimberlite) pipes were found. Soon the cook of restaurant, near the place where he and his seven friends were camping found an even richer source. The pipe was first worked individually, but this become increasingly more costly and hazardous as the hill was transformed into Kimberley Mine. Gradual amalgamation of adjacent holdings culminated in 1888, when the major remaining company was absorbed by De Beers, who than operated the mine until its closure in 1914. The “Big Hole”, reputed to be the largest hand-made cavity on earth, has a diameter of 500 m and a maximum shaft depth of 1100 m. The 22.5 million tons of rocks removed from it yielded 14.5 million carats of diamonds. About 1.2 km depth of these pipes around Kimberley have been eroded away over the past 90 millio years. The total number of diamonds removed in this way throught southern Africa has been estimated at 3 billion carats. Estimated that alluvial, nearshore and cntinental shelf mining has, as yet, produced only 0.6% of that total.
Geological site at Nooitgedacht was proclimed a National Monument in 1936. The recent removal of Karoo sediments has exposed volcanic Andesites belonging to the Vendersdorp Supergroup. On the surface of these latter may be seen striation, while overlying Dwyka remnants include tillites. From evidence of this kind it has been deduced that glacial radiation took place from a number of Ice Center at a time of late Carboniferous – early Permian when area was close to South Pole. On some of the surface there are also pecked engravings made during the past two millennia. Also due to numerous stone pecked engravings is famous the low hill on the farm Widebeestkuil.
Near the Norlim settlement visited, the extensive lime tufas deposited over time by the Thabasikwa River, which is fed by perennial springs that issue from dolomite rocks some kilometers further upslope. There in 1924 the about three years old Taung child skull, the type specimen of Australopithecus africanus was recovered.
The southwestern Kalahari sand sea, bordered in the west by the Namibian highlands and in the south by the Orange River, is covered by extensive dunes of linear form. Wind velocities are too low to move much sand in Floradora area, even when the vegetation is sparse. At the Witsand the bleaching of sand due to perennial waters that seeps to the surface is observed.
Wonderwerk is an ancient solution cavity. The investigation have reveled that the deposits there have an accumulative thickness of about 7 m. The drawings representing game animals garnish the walls of the cave. According the findings, the cave was started to used for living by Stone Age people 900 thousands years ago.
The low hill on the farm Widebeestkuil is famous due to numerous stone pecked engravings. The high concentration of the finds as hominid evolution in South Africa is the Mc Gregor Museum in Kimberley.
by Petras Sinkunas, www.geo.lt, created: 09/05/2004 [south africa]
Time confusion in Ethiopia and Tanzania
It is worth to know, that some countries are measuring the time in a slightly different way.

When it is 6:00 am according to "normal" Time Zones, it is 0:00 in Ethiopia and Tanzania. In other words, the logic is, only when you wake up (at 6am), you start counting hours of the day. And you do that from 0:00.

For example, if they say, that the bus leaves at 11:00 in a day time, they actually mean 17:00.
by augustas, created: 06/05/2004 [ethiopia, tanzania]
Magic phrase in Swahili language
The following phrase in Swahili language might be sometimes useful for the travelers

TAFADHALI NAOMBA MSAADA, KUSAFIRI

Literal translation: please(tafadhali) i am asking(naomba) help(msaada) to travel(kusafiri).
Another interpretation:
"Please, i am asking for permission to travel".

One russian traveler was suggested this phrase by some Tanzanian policeman.
by augustas, created: 01/05/2004 [kenya, tanzania, uganda]
| 1...5 | 6...10 | 11...15 | 16...20 | 21...21 |