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Travel is Learning, and a Great School of Thought

Anthony Abraham

Tour Guide, Arusha, Tanzania

| 4 mins read

To me, the biggest and most important learning tool has been travelling. What I have noticed is that travelling is like the biggest and broadest classroom or lecture hall that one can explore. It is like when one travels, you encounter different types of lifestyles and cultures from around the globe. Seeing different landscapes and experiencing different climatic zones in the world. Being born near the equator, one might think that all areas in the world have overhead sunlight all year round, but it comes as the opposite. Only countries near the equator and those within the tropic belts of 23.5% north and south of the equator are favoured with year-round and long periods of overhead sunlight. This makes the equator and the tropical belt areas favoured for travel, especially in the hot seasons of the year, counting it as the high season or summer holiday season. These belts in the tropics play a crucial role in the weather patterns, with winds moving from warm to cool or cold areas. This gives us the seasons on the equator. We have the northeastern monsoon wind in the months of April/May and the southeastern monsoon in the months of October/November. These trade winds have been essential for centuries, facilitating Indian Ocean navigation by relying on these trade winds.
I would like to move to another case study, the Great Rift Valley and the River Nile, which have contributed to much of Africa's history. Seeing the Great Pyramids in the upper north of the river in Giza. Also, a lot of historical sites are found along the Rift Valley, having two ridges: the Albertine Rift Valley in the west and the Gregory Rift in the east. Many historical sites are found in these ridges. Not to forget the oldest town of Abyssinia, currently known as Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a rich history, including the oldest church in Lalibela. Each and every day, one can discover something written but not yet heard. I was amazed to learn that the old and original name of Africa was Alkebulan. My history teachers had never taught or mentioned that name, even in college. Egypt also has a lot that one can learn, being among the early civilization areas on the continent of Africa.
Even the landscapes that surround us have a lot to teach us, from the tectonic movements of the Earth to many more learning experiences. These landscapes play a good role as water catchment areas and survival gear for the locals, assisting in carbon sequestration and life support for living creatures. Taking an example of the majestic Kilimanjaro, standing at 5895 meters above sea level, a popular tourist destination and an important land feature for water catchment support and oxygen supply. Being in the base camps, one is favoured with fresh oxygen from the mountain forest.
Lakes and oceans play an important role in carbon sequestration and support the lives of living organisms all around. Oceans play a crucial role in cleaning the environment and sterilization caused by their salinity. Visiting parks will enable one to learn about the ecology and biosphere. You will see different animals and bird species and learn a lot from the observed behaviour.
A great platform like tourHQ will enable our travellers and our guides to learn and share experienced knowledge. I recommend travellers around the world to use this great learning platform at tourHQ. You will be taken care of by insiders who know their area best. 

Also,  I would like to thank you all for sparing time to go through this article. Thanks a lot. I will share more in upcoming articles. God bless you all.