Africa's top ten World Heritage sites
Across Africa there are unique historic monuments and places of great natural beauty that are listed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. Here is a small selection.
'Louvre of the Desert'
With 4,500 works of ancient rock art, Tsodilo has been called the 'Louvre of the Desert.' The Tsodilo Hills in the Kalahari Desert have provided shelter and resources for humankind for over 100,000 years. This is an impressive archeological record of human culture and interaction with nature down the millennia. It was added to the World Heritage list in 2001.
Diversity of wildlife species
The Dja Reserve in southern Cameroon is one of the largest and best protected rain forests in Africa. It contains over 100 species of mammals and almost 350 bird species. The Dja River, which almost completely surrounds the reserve, forms its natural boundary. The population of Baka pygmies are allowed to hunt traditionally.
Lamu - interaction with many different cultures
Lamu Old Town is the best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa. Arabic, Portuguese, German and British cultural influences have their left mark on the small island of Lamu which has retained its traditional building style of coral stone and mangrove timber. It is an important center for the study of Islamic culture.
Unique to Madagascar
A 'forest' of limestone needles, unspoiled wooden forests, lakes and mangrove swamps are a habitat for rare birds and 11 species of lemur. 80 percent of the plant species found in the Tsingy de Bemaraha Integral Nature Reserve on the island of Madagascar do not exist anywhere else.
Ancient churches carved out of rock
The 11 cave churches in Lalibela were carved out of rock 800 years ago and the tallest is some ten meters high (33 feet). They are still places of pilgrimage and devotion. Biete Ghiorgis (House of St. George) is the best preserved.
Climate change on Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro scales a height of 5,895 meters and is Africa's highest mountain. It is also Africa's largest volcano though it has been dormant for a long time. The snow-capped peak is a famous Tanzanian landmark but it may not last indefinitely. Climate change could force the glaciers to retreat and rob the mountain of its white top within 20 years.
Cultural heritage threatened
Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual center for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa during the 15th and 16th centuries. Three earthen mosques bear witness to this prestigious past. Parts of this cultural heritage were destroyed by Islamists in July 2012. They smashed shrines they considered idolatrous.
'Smoke that thunders'
Mosi-oa-Tunya - 'the smoke that thunders' - is the indigenous name of the huge sheet of water that noisily tumbles down basalt gorges sending up an iridescent mist visible more than 20 kilometers away. This is the Zambezi River on teh border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. It was named Victoria Falls by explorer David Livingstone in honor of the British sovereign in the mid-19th century.
Wonder of the ancient world
Temples, tombs and pyramids offer a perfect backdrop for Hollywood movies. Memphis, 20 kilometers (13 miles) from Cairo is also Egypt's chief tourist attraction. In antiquity the Great Pyramid of Giza was regarded one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The ruins of Memphis and the pyramids have been on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites since 1979.
Cradle of humanity
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area deserves World Heritage status on two fronts: it contains the world's biggest crater and is a spectacular reserve for thousands of lions, zebras, flamingos and other wildlife. It is also one of the cradles of humanity, where hominids left their footprints in the ground 3.6 million years ago.