7 Ways a Trip to Africa Positively Changes You

Richard Mullin is commonly quoted saying that the only man he envied had not been to Africa, for he had so much to look forward to. I can accurately relate to his words because Africa is the wealthiest continent bathed in wonders. Even imperial explorers couldn't steal enough of it. Whether you take a traditional safari or a non-traditional trip to the remotest regions, you'll encounter wildlife, people, their cultures, and landscapes of dazzling wonders that will change you forever.

Africa is a magical continent with huge, untamed wildernesses with rich, about 2000 languages (one-third of the world's), a blend of world cultures, authentic creativity, vibrant colors, heavenly flavors, and bewitching sweet sounds. Traveling to Africa and not coming home with a different world perspective is impossible; let no one tell you differently. 

7 Ways a Trip to Africa Positively Changes You

Here are the seven ways a trip to Africa will positively change your psyche for good.

1. Africa will make you feel insignificant

Like an ant on a football field, you can't comprehend how small you are till you drive through savannah plains like the Serengeti or Kidepo Valley. Plains can stretch as far as the eye can see, yet scattered with living beings unphased by your presence. 

In other instances, mountains sprout from your feet and tower over the heavens like night-summer stars, from Rift Valleys to towering snow-capped peaks, and Sahara deserts to massive chunks of rainforests and endless plains, massive freshwater lakes, and endlessly flowing rivers. Africa will make you feel like you belong and are a tiny piece of the puzzle.

2. Africa will teach you that wealth does not equate to happiness

The most rewarding lesson you'll take from a trip to Africa is that happiness comes from within. Wealth and other external possessions are just that. You'll realize that most Africans live on so little compared to your modern life but illuminate contagious happiness. 

Take, for example, Uganda or Rwanda, two tiny land-locked East African countries. They are among the poorest, yet the people are among the warmest and most friendly you'll ever meet. They would share their little wealth with strangers like you with an infectious smile for nothing in return. When checking off your safari packing list, throw in a few things of your own stuff that you would share with a warm thankful heart. Check out Pack for A Purpose for some inspiration.

3. On your African trip, you'll learn more than a dozen new things every other day.

Whether it's a new word from a different language every day or a unique taste, an unknown site, fascinating culture, surprising economic or political fact, Africa has something new to teach world travelers. 

One of the most astonishing facts, even if you knew something about it, is that Africa has 54 independent states. The continent's sheer enormity covers the same surface area as 13 countries, including the United States, India, China, and Eastern Europe, with the UK covering the island of Madagascar. The other is that Africa is the world's largest producer of diamonds, gold, and platinum. Visit South Africa's De Beers Venetia diamond mine, and you'll be blown away. 

4. Africa will make you feel alive

You'll feel pure and alive as soon as you step on the African dirt and smell the air. Africa will make you feel that way. Something ancestral and transcendental will wash over you, and you'll feel like you are returning home. 

Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. Fossils from Africa of early humans show that we lived on the African continent, somewhere in East Africa, between 6 and 2 million years ago before we migrated to other parts of the world. That's quite a long time to make you feel like you missed returning home.

5. Africa will liberate you from your modern-life problems and let set you free.

When you sit a few feet from a giant silverback with his mountain gorilla family in the misty cold wooded mountains of Uganda and peek through his eyes, listen to his breath, watch his children play, and their mothers shower them with kisses, then you know what it means to free of yourself.

East and Central African countries like Uganda have discovered the secret to nature conservation and have perfected programs like gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, and wildlife safaris to help support nature conservation and local communities. No one can perfectly describe the safari experience of trekking primates in East Africa, but you can go to Africa and find out yourself. A trip is worth it!

6. A trip to Africa will definitely ruin your regular weekend zoo visits

Watching caged animals will become a pain after you take a safari vacation in Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Bwindi Impenetrable, Zambezi, or Virunga—evocative names of lands that beam with vast wilderness consciousness, meaning, freedom, life!

Future zoo visits will feel dim and sorrowful when you look into a caged lion or intelligent ape's eyes. Africa will bring out your inner animal instincts and teach you how to live with and appreciate the natural world.

7. Africa will inspire you to travel more

Africa will draw you back and send you to faraway places to discover the amazing world you share with other sapiens. You can't get enough of Africa in a single trip. You will want to come back home, again and again, to find that which you missed last time.

If you crave a positive change in your life, take that safari trip to Africa. Here are some places you can consider for your first Africa safari trip.