#adventure docs

[globaldocsproject]

ZIMBABWE

This is the third entry from the “Lost Kingdoms of Africa” series to feature on this Project, after Ethiopia and Morocco. It centers around the incredible ancient city of Great Zimbabwe, the huge stone ruin after which this African nation is named. It was considered such a feat that when Europeans first found it they refused to believe Africans could have built it, a belief that persisted under the racist Rhodesia colonial regime. This documentary actually doesn’t visit the nation of Zimbabwe until about two thirds of the way through, taking its time to visit the trading partners and cities made out of coral on the Swahili Coast, in modern day Tanzania and Mozambique. This is part of an effort to show not just the city itself, but to make sure the viewer understands that this was an African city built by some locals who were rich off the gold trade. Many people don’t know about Great Zimbabwe, but even today it is very impressive.

[globaldocsproject]

MALI

This edition of “Digging for the Truth” (last seen exploring Angkor Wat in our Cambodia entry) travels through Mali to explore the legacy of Mansa Musa, the medieval King of the Malian Empire, who was so rich with gold that when he traveled through Egypt on a pilgrimage to Mecca the local gold market crashed. The host pitches things at a very low intellectual level aind makes sure that his local guides explain things multiple times to be certain the audience gets it, but he’s at least very game. He jumps into the insane gold mining pits that are still used today with barely any hesitation. At that time, Timbuktu was the gateway where the caravans coming south through the Sahara met the resources coming north from West Africa, and it became a huge center of both commerce and learning. Today, as even the host notes, it looks less impressive, but they are still able to find trunks full of medieval manuscripts stashed away in random closets and handed down through the generations.