The Great Travel List, Part V: Africa and Oceania

Sadly, this will be the last installment in our great travel list (unless of course we think of more places to go, which is inevitable I'm sure). On with it!

AFRICA

• Egypt - Egypt was my only love almost through high school, and it has been a lifelong dream to go. In addition to pyramids, temples, mummies, and tombs, I am also fascinated by Islamic, Coptic, and Ptolemaic architecture. Thanks to a most generous 21st birthday present by my parents, Shewara and I will get an all-expenses paid trip to the Land of the Nile in March of 2006. Absolutely cannot wait. Not only will it be a trip to my favorite place, but it will be a trip to my favorite place with my favorite person. What could be better?
• Morocco - I have heard generally good and interesting things from most of the people who have spent time in Morocco. It's supposedly a fascinating mix of traditional and contemporary, as well as North African and European influences. Plus we can go to Casablanca! If you are going to experience North Africa, then this is the place to do it (since Libya and Algeria really don't sound all that appealing).
• Zanzibar - A small island off the coast of Tanzania (Tanzania's name is a combination of the mainland's colonial name, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar) it has long been a trading post for African merchants and Arab sultans. Clink on the link to read more about Zanzibar, courtesy of Wikipedia. Supposedly one of the most unique places in the world.

AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA

• Australia - Australia may require up to three trips - one for each coast, and a wildcard (the Outback? Uluru? Tasmania?). Great beaches and scenery highlight a nation with one of the most interesting histories on the planet. Founded as a penal colony by the British, Australia has been inhabited far longer than most regions of the world - almost 100,000 years. How people got to an island continent so soon after the rising of Homo sapiens without the use of modern boats baffles many paleoanthropologists to this day. Moreover, the Aborigines (of which there are thousands of distinct groups) fascinate me. They have the most complex lineage system on the planet, so mind-boggling that even the the people who study these "primitives" haven't figured it out yet. Ha! Other than that, it just seems like a generally fun, relaxed, and beautiful country.
• New Zealand - I love the Maori! Great art and a fascinating culture. New Zealand is also the site of the filiming of Lord of the Rings - which can give you a small clue as to how breathtaking the scenery is. Mountains, gorges, beaches, valleys, and volcanoes highlight one of the most spectacular and daunting landscapes on Earth. Even better, wherever you travel in New Zealand, you are never more than sixty miles from the beach or the mountains. Amazing.
• Pacific Island Nation - Pick one. Though the cultures of the South Pacifc are rather diverse, their topography is not, and life their is much more harsh than travel magazines would have you believe. We'll visit one cool place like American Samoa or Vanuatu or Fiji, and then see how we like it. Definitely worth a shot though!

Well that's the end of my great travel list. Maybe we provided some good insights on where you should travel to. You can't travel with me, though - unless your name is Shewara.