The Adventures of An African Lady Traveling Through Africa

The continent of Africa holds such fascinating mysteries explored over centuries, the exotic and alluring vibrancy of its multifaceted nature has been one that enthralls those who seek its dark pleasures. A continent resplendent with old glories and such fascinating history dotted with conflicting grandeur and dilemma, where poverty and riches exist side by side in dignified parallels, with an energy so pulsating it cuts across you in the atmosphere as one traverses  the continent.
It is the essence of this Continent whose spectacular sunsets and unbelievable  sunrises, whose flow of incredible landscapes that leaves one breathless, bewitching the senses in such  sublime manners that inspired me to foray into founding an artsy lifestyle label to help further tell the beautiful stories about Africa.

It was on a trip to Gambia in 2014, I had stayed at a private studio residence in Senegambia and walked to the Kairaba beach hotel everyday, the natural ambiance filled with pulsating vibrant colors often entranced me in those daily walks and it did happen that on one of those days I had worn a lovely Kaftan I had designed with big wild flowers emblazoned across it in front, it fascinated my friends so much and one of them literally wanted it off my back, later that evening as I strolled back to my apartment, creative thoughts began to flow through me as I drank in the vast array of beautiful scenery, I felt I could translate these landscapes through clothing and if my friends reactions were anything to go by, many other people would fall in love with the designs and that was the birth of my lifestyle label ‘’My BeautifulAfrica’’
There is so much beauty around us in Africa but we had always focused on the wars,hunger and poverty.
I wondered why Africans often neglected to transform all the beauty around them into something tangible to be branded and traded with,I bet if we collectively pursue these lofty ideals the continent would witness a dramatic change.

Travel across Africa had always fed my soul, there was this one time I left Johannesburg for Randburg and got to the apartment I booked late in the evening, I had checked in and was so tired I just flopped on my bed, the next thing I heard was the piercing sound of thunder and the rains came in such great torrents I was actually transfixed, it was such a surreal evening in the veld that year and the beauty of it was so enchanting that I felt this was nature in all its grandeur, I just lay on that bed drinking in the landscape before me, the wild trees, and  water gushing down the slopes, it was such awesome and soothing scenery it sent me to sleep.
Another trip to a remote beach lodge in Ivory Coast one year,was truly magical,the beach was so pristine , the flora and the fauna and the exotic ambiance even as we drove along the road on our way back had me thinking that we haven’t really appreciated all that Mother Africa is offering us, one major flaw I noticed in most of my trips was the issue of ease of movement, it was easier and cheaper for me to get a ticket from Lagos  and fly to London than to Abidjan, these were factors militating against development of  trans-Africa travels and also by extension affects businesses across Africa.
Finally on an evening when I had stood on Table Mountain in Cape Town South Africa  with a couple of my colleagues, the majesty of the landscape around me took my breath away, if we were to harness the beauty of Africa, we would unveil that untouchable quality that is evident yet not quite understood, visible and yet ethereal,revealing an uncanny attraction that is so magnetic about our Continent.We would  delve into the sand dunes of the Sahara,the lush spectacles of the greens of the Savannah, the striking landscapes of the Veld and the breathtaking waterfalls and seas across the continent, like Victoria falls,the pulsating colors that drift like aroma’s though the innumerable thick of its populace and the glistening moonlights that defines many unfathomable depths about the Continent.
My journey still continues  across Africa
Clara Okoro