The Great Hunter

The Great Hunter book cover — AFRICAN TALES THE GREAT HUNTER written by Gcina Mhlophe illustrated by Rachel Griffin Barefoot Books Step inside a story

The Great Hunter — page 1 — Welcome to Africa THE SECOND LARGEST continent on Earth Africa is filled with amazing diversity rich cultures fascinating peoples incredible wildlife and vastly differing environments from the enormous dry Sahara Desert in the north to the dense rainforests of West and Central Africa to the rocky Kaapvaal region of the south rich with diamonds and gold There are more than fifty independent countries in Africa and on the islands off its coasts It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea the Atlantic Ocean the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean while the Equator runs almost exactly through the middle of the continent The history of Africa is as rich and varied as its many cultures Indeed it has the longest human history of any continent Fossils of the earliest humans were found here along with evidence of bone tools and rock paintings The first great African society began in Egypt in 3400 BC where it flourished for nearly three thousand years while important cities also rose up along the banks of the Niger River in West Africa The merchants of these early African kingdoms relied on trade journeying great distances over difficult caravan routes through the deserts and plains The arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century began with Portuguese exploration of

The Great Hunter — page 2 — the coasts of Africa as they looked for a safe route to India and continued through the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century with the Dutch the French and the English As these Europeans settled in Africa they formed boundaries that paid no heed to existing local ones and defined colonies under European rule In the 1960s a period known as the Decade of Independence most African nations threw off foreign rule and started governing themselves once again This brought about a new blossoming of arts and culture as the different countries of Africa began to explore their identities with their newfound freedom Today Africa is a continent where modern universities rise next to ancient pyramids where wildlife safaris take visitors to explore the rolling plains where small villages thrive side by side with big cities Like peoples the world over those who live in Africa have faced many hardships including civil war drought and disease but despite this they remain strong supported by their families and wider communities and delighting in the rich cultures they ve nourished since ancient times Vastly different from north to south east to west Africa is a remarkable place unlike any other on Earth 3

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