Why I love Africa

BBC listeners and readers share their personal experiences of the African continent.

Here are the latest contributions celebrating Africa's flexible time, its donkey carts, its grandmothers and its sense of hope.

Elizabeth Pinard, Botswanan in the UK

I love Africa because it is home. I grew up in Botswana and, in spirit, a part of me will always roam its vastness.

Its beauty is harsh, inimitable and unforgettable. From desert to jungle, the diversity of the African continent is extensive.

Where else do you find a road sign warning you to watch out for a donkey cart on a dual carriage way?

Botswana is no exception, as it boasts the Kalahari Desert and a unique inland delta, the Okavango; not to mention the mopane forests of the north, or the salt pans.

However, it is not only the physical aspect of Africa that engrains itself in your soul, but also the culture: Greetings coming before anything else.

What in England is none of your business to enquire in Botswana is a prerequisite to any transaction.

In Africa, there is always time to talk.

Indeed, the concept of time is different. Everything takes place at a leisurely pace. It is normal to be late.

I don't know much of Africa as a whole, but the part I do know, I will always love.

Where else do the cattle graze the roundabouts of a capital city during a drought?

Where else can you photograph vultures on the side of a road feeding on a carcass?

Where else are you treated to so many smiles?

Where else are cattle the third from top road users after cars and donkey carts?

Where else do you find a road sign warning you to watch out for a donkey cart on a dual carriage way?

There is extreme heat, extreme hunger, extreme thirst, extreme suffering, but also extreme beauty: A combination which haunts the soul forever.

Evelyn Jepkemei, Kenya

I love Africa because of my grandma.

She lives in a grass thatched house. She doesn't live in an expensive apartment.

She is the richest of all because she is rich at heart and she is African

She has no radio or TV. She has no running water.

She has a small garden and a granary. She keeps a few chickens.

She doesn't wear expensive jewellery. She sometimes has no shoes.

She does not have money.

But she has all her relatives and neighbours around her. She knows no loneliness.

She entertains guests all day. All her children and grandchildren are proud of her.

She does not have the wealth of the world. The West would say she lives below the poverty line.

That is my grandma.

She is the richest of all because she is rich at heart and she is African.

It can only be in Africa, where you live to the full.

Pam Dennis, a Nigerian in Rwanda

Unfortunately the image the outside world has of Africa is a continent ravaged by war, and where in whose mysterious bowels reside the goriest examples of untamed savagery and barbarity.

It is true that for some decades now, Africa has been the theatre of fratricidal wars, which are decimating peoples and destroying their natural and cultural resources.

Pam believes Africa can bring calm to the continent's chaos

It is also true that today we find ourselves in a continent where individuals are deprived of their rights as humans. People are driven from their homes, becoming homeless in their own country.

Countries like Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria and Ivory Coast present a horrifying amalgam of war, famine, ethnic, tribal and religious violence ravaging the "Dark Continent".

Today Africans can no longer afford to live without seriously reflecting on what it means to be an African in today's world.

The African situation remains gloomy and the sufferings continue.

Nevertheless, I continue to love my Mother Africa because we do not lose hope! We can and we shall rescue ourselves from our present plight.

We know that we can doubtlessly bring order to our chaos, stability to our crisis of habitation, peace to our theatre of war and paroxysm of horror, life to our crisis of survival, realism to our crisis of authenticity, mutual security to our crisis of national co-existence, and hope to our crisis of relevance.

This is why I love and die for my Mother Africa.

What do you think?

Do you find Africa annoying, frustrating and slow or is it fun, fast and exhilarating? Share your joys and sorrows of the continent in the new 2005 BBC competition - Why I love Africa.

If you have photos to accompany your contribution send them to [e-mail], otherwise use the form at the bottom of the page. Entries should be no more than 300 words.

The best will be published on the news website and broadcast on the BBC World Service's Network Africa programme. Some will receive small prizes.

Use the form below to send your entry.

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