27/11/2021
The time has come for me to focus a bit on my dream. Reintroducing my Brain child 2022 and beyond!
BELAFLIKA TRAVEL & TOURS
Need to update my website. Stay tuned
*INTRODUCTION*
BELAFLIKA Travels & Tours is an Afrocentric travel and tour company, established for the promotion of travels and tourism, from the paradigm of promoting African core values, not only for the education, enlightenment and entertainment of tourists, but also for the advancement and retention of African culture, in an ever-changing pluralistic world.
The company is located at 8 Mamie Apple Street and will popularise its tours and travels to the admiration and satisfaction of its clients.
In furtherance of its desire to continually satisfy clients, BELAFLIKA Travel and Tours has lined up *FIRST AFRICA day celebrated on May 25th. Commencing May 21 to 25, 2021 BelAflika will celebrate one week of events leading up to Africa Day.
*AIMS AND OBJECTIVES*
Among others, BelAflika Travels & Tours is centred on the promotion of travels and tours in general, and the encouragement of Africanism, particularly through connecting the dots, changing the Narrative from Pessimism to Optimism in the relationship between Africans in Africa, and Africans in the diaspora, like those in Belize.
*SERVICES*
*I. African Traditional and Belief System*
Traditional Africans practice a set of extremely diverse religions, based on oral traditions, and hugely reliant on age-long beliefs in several gods, a supreme being, spirits, veneration of the dead, and those of ancestors, magic as well as Traditional African Medicine.
These religions are best described as animism, often including various polytheistic and pantheistic branches.
Though the advent of Christianity and Islam has somewhat relegated African Traditional Religions and Belief System, and in fact made the use of Traditional African Medicine less popular, adherents, philosophers and scholars still pride it as the only true religion native to Africans, unlike the two which are alien, having been patented from other parts of the world, while they regard their medicine as efficacious and natural, unlike those of the West which have been mixed with harmful chemical substances.
BelAflika Travels & Tours will showcase these religions and belief systems to tourists, with a view to helping them explore, explain and expatiate on the otherwise mysterious parts of those religions, as well as encourage tourists on the need to try African Traditional Medicine for the treatment of ailments hitherto considered incurable.
Through provision of adequate and verifiable information, light will be shed and insights gained.
*II. African Music and Dance*
Ranging from Juju, Fuji, Highlife, HipHop to Afrobeats, Traditional music like Apala, Awurebe, Folklore and Folksongs, Oral Poetry like Ewi, Ijala, Ẹsa and so on, Africa in general, and West Africa in particular, is a land full of rich music, heavy on deep lyrics and strong on beautiful sounds.
Accompanying these are dance styles which are rythmic in nature; usually involving nearly all parts of the human body, in sync with sounds, lyrics and beats, to form a whole musico-dance experience.
BelAflika Travels & Tours, will through its services, promote rich African music and dance through the organization of festivals and concerts.
*III. African Culture and Languages*
African culture is a product of diverse populations which today inhabit the continent of Africa and the African diaspora.
Expressed in arts and crafts, folklore and religion, clothing, cuisine, music and languages, African culture is varied and manifold, consisting of a mixture of countries with various tribes, who have their own unique characteristics.
Expressions of culture are abundant within Africa, with large amounts of cultural diversity found not only across different countries, but also within single countries. African moral values have similarity across countries, for example, the morals they uphold, their love and respect for their culture, as well as the strong respect they hold for the aged, and important personalities like kings and chiefs, have been found present in nearly all African countries, albeit in different forms and patterns.
To this end, BelAflika Travels & Tours will unfold diverse African cultures across countries and within countries. Tourists are to be exposed to various African proverbs, values and ethics.
*IV. African Foods*
Africans from time immemorial, have been reputed for their distinctive dishes, and its preparation techniques.
Beautiful enough, these varieties of dishes are spread across the length and breadth of the African continent, wholly owned by respective tribes and nationalities. These foods, garnished with spices and herbs, are prepared using palm oil or groundnut oil, to create deeply flavoured sauces and soups.
BelAflika Travels & Tours will make available all kinds of African foods to tourists. Some of these delectable African foods and stews include but not limited to: Jollof Rice (especially from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia), Pounded Yam, Amala with Goat and Sheep, Calderada de Cabra from Guinea Bissau, Cassava-based foods like Fufu and Garri from Nigeria and Ghana, Porridge made of Unripe Plantain and Sweet Potato, Crabs, Shrimps, Periwinkles etc.
All assorted Vegetables and Egusi will be sourced from different ethnic groups in Nigeria, while several delicious soups and stews from Ghana, such as Mako, Cocoyam leaves, White Soup etc, will also be made available in the Centre. A fully stocked Kitchen is to be set-up solely for this purpose.
*V. Clothing, Arts and Crafts*
African men and women have their own unique way of dressing, visible in the numerous styles and designs which showcases their cultural heritage and commemorates the African beauty.
African clothing generally, is a symbol of class, creativity and allegiance to tribal roots.
BelAflika Travels & Tours will synergise various kinds of clothing, bringing out their uses and beauty. Two of those to be prominently engaged will include Adire from Nigeria, and Kente from Ghana.
The Adire is a colorfully and wonderfully made fabric from Linen, Guinea Brocade and other fanciful materials. The fabric, originally from Abeokuta, Ogun State, in Southwestern Nigeria, has now travelled across the world, and can be seen in West and East Africa, Central America and even Southeast Asia.
The Adire is an indigo-dyed cloth made by Yoruba women, through the resist-dyeing method, which involves creating a pattern by treating certain parts of the fabric in some ways to prevent them absorbing dye. The dyeing is usually done in large earthenware pots, which are partially sunk into the ground. The dye is made from indigo, sourced either from indigo leaves grown locally or imported indigo grains.
Kente on the other hand, is a fantastic African-styled fabric, woven into long wide panels, from which several panels are sewn together to make clothing for both men and women. The fitted ones for women come in skirt and blouse sets. It is made wonderfully by the coloured threads, which often represent common motifs, religious beliefs and political significance.
The colours vary significantly in line with the meaning of the pattern; blue signifying love; yellow, passion; green, fertility; gold, wealth and fertility; white, spirituality and purity, and so on.
Various arts and crafts designs into which these clothes can be made will also be exhibited to the delight of tourists at both Aflika We's Arts Gallery and its organised Festivals. These days, Adire and Kente are used making slippers, shoes, bags, t-shirts, jeans, handkerchiefs and so on. All of these will be on display at the Arts Festival, with arrangements made to train interested tourists in the making of some of these stuffs.
*VI. African Visual Arts*
Similarly, BelAflika Travels & Tours is on a mission to display the African nature, beauty, tradition and culture to tourists through innovative and illustrative artworks of African professional artists.
Through the establishment of the Arts Gallery, creative and artistic works of talented professionals and passion-driven individuals offering innovative and creative works which include clay, metal, stone and wooden sculptures, aesthetic artworks, artworks on frames, oil painting, pencil sketches, water colours and photographic prints, drumming and types of African drums, African music etc, will be displayed to tourists who walk through the Gallery.
The Gallery's importance to the activities of Aflika We Travels & Tours cannot be overemphasized, as it is the belief of its promoters that the creative arts, having succeeded in engaging the hearts and minds of people, continues to invite children, adolescents and adults to observe, discuss, solve problems and use multiple modes of thought and self-expression.
Indeed, works of arts can tell stories or simply express an aesthetic truth or feeling.
BELAFLIKA Travels & Tours will engage the services of professional artists from time to time to achieve its mission for the Arts Gallery.
*VII. Cultural and Media Studies*
Every people have a story, every culture its peculiarities; the most accurate of which is told by they themselves.
From prehistoric times to the present day, Africa has a lot to disseminate to the world. Whether in trade and commerce, warfare, rich cultural heritage, traditional institutions, or the rather unfortunate incidences of slavery and colonialism, African stories would be told in clear, visible and audible documentaries, shot in local languages and translated into popular foreign languages.
While BELAFLIKA Travels & Tours will commission many of these documentaries, it will also purchase very many of them already in circulation. The aim of this is to showcase to tourists the rich cultural heritage of Africa, particularly through stories, proverbs and folklore, via documentaries and short films, shot by Africans, wholly to dispel the usually unfavorable stories the West often push about Africa.
V111 STUDY Abroad and Service Learning Opportunities in Belize ad Africa.
BelAflika Travels and Tours will lead student groups to Africa and Africa to Belize to conduct Study Abroad and Service Learning....creating linkages for a lifetime. Maxim: I Connect, You Connect, Everyone Connect.
The Team
BELAFLIKA Travels & Tours is managed by a team of professionals from diverse backgrounds and a wide range of competencies, harnessed for the satisfaction of clients.
With a team of competent tourism practitioners, professionals and scholars from Belize, Ghana and Nigeria, clients are promised a swell time whenever they subscribe to BELAflika Travels & Tours' Services.
