I've whipped out my International Calendar to see what might be left to tell about November before it slips away from Eastern Standard Time in a few hours. What I see is a whole lot of independence days and a slew of other politically geared occasions.

• Nov. 1--Antigua-Barbuda gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1980.
• Nov. 3--Dominica gained independence from the UK in 1978. Panama gained Independence from Colombia in 1903 and Micronesia gained independence from the U.S. in 1980.
• Nov. 9--Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953.
• Nov. 11--Poland gained independence in 1918; Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
• Nov. 18--Latvia gained independence from Russia in 1918; Morocco from France in 1956.
• Nov. 25--Suriname gained independence
• Nov. 28--Mauritania gained Independence from France in 1968 and Albania gained Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Panama gained independence from Spain in 1821 and East Timor gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
• Nov. 30-Barbados gained independence from the U.K. in 1966

Other than these, Tonga has had Constitution Day (Nov. 4); Russia, Revolution Day (Nov. 7); Brazil, Republic Day (Nov. 15); and Vanuatu has had National Unity Day, (Nov. 29)

My favorite happening of the bunch of events that occurred this month, though, is the Surin Elephant Round-Up in Thailand.

Suppose you have time-lots of it. Let's say you have 44 weeks. Perhaps you'd like to go overland from Morocco to South Africa by way of Egypt. Here's a travel adventure that will take you through 10 game parks, various cultural and historical landmarks, and enough thrills like rafting and tandem sky diving that you'll have stories to tell for years. Countries not typical as tourist hot spots are included in the mix. Angola, for example, has only allowed tourists in since 2004.

In Angola you'll see Portuguese influenced architecture and gorgeous beaches besides the 3rd largest statue of Jesus in the world. The other countries in this multi-stop, pack-in-variety approach are: Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, DRCongo Zaire, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

The highlights of this tour calledTrans Africa. Europe--CapeTown-Nairobi-Istanbul read like a cross between an outdoor wilderness experience, a cultural bonanza and a journey through an African history book. Read the itinerary and you might find yourself chomping to take this trip on. I sure am. R&R opportunities and the chance to luxuriate are built in. Africa Travel Center also offers shorter version African adventures where only parts of this trip are included.

* photo taken in Benguela, Angola by zokete.

Something in me wants to make a dumb joke about "The Spice", perhaps to drop a name like Muad'Dib and see how many people get it. My suspicions are that we don't have a HUGE number of Dune fans out there, but I'll have to confess I was a passionate, rabid devotee of the Frank Herbert series. All of which leads me to this article from Namibia, which has nothing to do with worms or oil or Muadib, but rather with sand, large, lovely mountains of sand.

The writer Joan Scobey takes us to the Namib Desert, a long, thin strip, some 120 miles wide, along Namibia's 800-mile Atlantic coast between South Africa and Angola. There, she dines on oysters, rock lobsters and fresh asparagus and gazes up at the Southern Cross in a rather wonderful sounding journey published in the Washington times. I confess to a somewhat painful twinge of jealousy as I read this, as a friend of mine, travel writer Andrew Tarica once told me that Namibia is one of the best places he's ever been. One interesting bit I gleaned from the piece here is that this region is populated by Germans, who arrived to Africa rather late to the region during the great colonization boom (the whole unification thing preoccupied them for a while in the late 1800's). So, all's I got to say is, check it.

One of the things I'd love to sample more than anything in all of Africa is the local club circuit. Yes, I said the local club circuit in Africa. For most people Africa may generate a slight image of some tribal style dance performed by half-naked, village women and men and probably won't be a land of throbbing techno dance music, but every place on this planet has a spot where the people can move freely. Even if it is only to the sound of one drum. Anywho, if you're as interested and enchanted by African dances as me, you'll want to read this piece on the Kilandukilu Traditional Ballet troupe of Angola found at On the Globe. Chances are you'll want to dance your way into the country shortly after - promise.

Today's word is a Portuguese word used in Angola:

esquerda - left

A directional word just seemed so right after reading this story. Not only can it be used in asking for directions, but you may also wish to use it to tell your not so talented dance partner which way they should be moving to the marimba beats.

Easy Portuguese online offers a small dictionary of useful words, useful phrases, and a couple of short lessons to get you started. Most have audio clips including our word for the day found here. Portuguese Language dot net has excellent historical info on the language and numerous tools to help you get motivated and be successful at learning the 6th most spoken language. For Portuguese heard in Portugal you can download mp3 audio from BBC, which I'm sure there are several similarities between the two countries. Those interested in classroom study abroad can click here for more info at Franco Americano.

Past Portuguese words: xixi, bronzeador, lanchonete

Namibia is a South African country bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and South Africa. The complex shaped, wind swept sand dunes found in country look so perfect and painted it's almost eerie. I'm pretty sure I mentioned them before or the country's Skeleton Coast known from tales of shipwrecked vessels and lost sailors wandering for miles in search for water, if only a drop and food to keep them from falling faint. After days without even a crumb lost men disappear, hungry desert animals come along, and I'm sure you can gather the rest. The Namib desert is one of the world's oldest and driest deserts on Earth and while a shipwreck hasn't been reported in some time there are other reasons to visit this vast barren landscape. Take to the skies on a fly-in safari to cover a large amount of the desert coast in a short amount of time or you can roam around by foot for a closer look should you have the stamina and verses the funds for an expensive plane ride.

There are a number of ways and reasons to visit the land and sand of Namibia. My first suggestion is through these two photo galleries. The first comes from Courtney Milne's travels and the other from Culture Focus. For extra first-hand tales in Namibia visit Calvin and Sharon's Africa Travel blog. If luxury on the coast is still of interest pop into the Skeleton Coast Camp for what looks like a very nice place to crash after your day-time safari. Unlike some of the previously mentioned African countries, a Google search on Namibia will generate several results. So happy travels and remember to take lots of water.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo are two separate neighboring countries with several similarities. For one, these two Africa lands have long been under civil unrest for many years, unstable, dark and as wild as ever. Situations in the Republic of Congo are said to have improved while the DRC is a still a huge recommended hands-off zone. Neither country is experiencing the joys from herds of tourists and probably won't for some years to come unless the armed militias and government troops both lay down their weapons.

To examine the countries differences and commonalities further, the DRC sits in Central Africa northeast of Angola and the Republic of Congo in Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and Gabon. French is the official language of both with several local langs and dialects throughout the countries. Instead of trying to navigate our way into the country by way of Orbitz or Expedia, lets play it safe and stick to a virtual tour of the Congo. Here are a few web resources to hold you over until things simmer down, but if you're a real rebel and wish to lend your hand into making the Congo a more peaceful place check out some of the sites below and take action!

• If you were to look Congo up in a dictionary Jane Goodall would probably be seen next to it. While I haven't personally followed her work or the institutes projects in Africa, she has long been associated with the sanctuary of wildlife, such as chimpanzees. Explore more about the Ngamba Island Sanctuary and Tchimpounga Reserve here.
• Read rockers of Sum 41's account in the northeastern Congolese town of Bukavu in the DRC when they experience first-hand what the violence between rebels and government troops is like during their stay when they had to flee the country themselves.
• Amel Larrieux, one of my favorite singers had a track titled "Congo" on her latest record reflecting on the country from which so much history rests and how through it all they still find time to sing and play a song in Congo. Click here to hear the track.
• See how Amnesty International is doing its part and how you can too, to protect human rights in Kinshasa, DRC.

As foreign and far as Angola may seem the country should be sounding just as familiar as home by now. Okay, well not quite, but it shouldn't sound that strange. For starters their football team will be playing in this years World Cup and CNN had a piece on the call for tourists in capital city, Luanda some weeks back. Aside from sports and warm sandy beaches lining the coasts Angola is still a very happening spot in Southern Africa. To be more precise in the location, the country borders the South Atlantic Ocean and sits between Nambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For a picture view of what the country is like check out this photo gallery at Angola.org.uk. Outside of the official tourism website, they provide some of the most extensive information you'll probably find on the web. Whether you're out for some Kizomba dance, cultural entertainment, a trip to the slave museum, or soaking up Angola's outdoors like Black Stones in Malanje, the Cuenne River, or Benguela Bay you're bound to be impressed. Heck, I was, but I'm easy to please.

Well the war in Angola is over. In case you didn't know. It has been done with for the last three years and while it may have left much of the country in shambles, officials hope to woo foreign tourists in with whatever they can. Like many African countries Angola is banking that a swing in tourism could help the economy in more ways than one. I'm sure. As for right now the country has planned the construction of six new four and five star hotels and with the little bit of long undeveloped Atlantic coastline, lush tropical forests, beautiful mountains, waterfalls, exotic birds, and other wildlife left they may be able to reel in a good number of tourists. All it takes is a little advertising to let the people know Luanda, Angola welcomes travelers! CNN provides some coverage on the country's future plans.

In the meanwhile consider Angola on your next African adventure. Careful research and planning could surely give off-the-beaten path type travelers an unimaginable experience. Lonely Planet still notes the country as being a rather unsafe place to visit, but if you must go and would like to go to find out for yourself then they also recommend a visit to the Elinga Teatro art gallery. Personally I'd consider a trip to the country just to trace the connection of the capoeira done in Brazil to their roots in Angola. That's just me.