We're less than a week away from our trip to S. Africa. The trip is two-fold in that it was a personal trip that Rhonda desired to go on after she found out she was cancer free September a year ago. It was also enthusiastically the location of the next installment of our Take A Leap Webshow. The segment will highlight Rob Crawford, a Black American, who has spent more than a decade in S. Africa, and a few of his friends and associates. It will highlight their motivation to move to S. Africa and their perspective of Africans views of them being Black Americans. We'll also share the sights and sounds of Cape Town and it's colorful neighborhoods, and a safari outside of Johannesburg where we expect to see the Big 5.
A few weeks ago, we have found some interesting news about our ancestral background based on an Ancestry DNA test previously taken. Here are the results:
Africa 93%
Cameroon/Congo 31%
Ivory Coast/Ghana 29%
Senegal 16%
Nigeria 7%
Benin/Togo 6%
Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers 3%
Mali <1%
America 1%
Native American 1%
Europe 6%
Ireland 5%
Iberian Peninsula < 1%
Interesting enough, most Black Americans who take the test are less than 80% African. However, because of our strong family connection to the South where the slaves were known to have journeyed from the West Coast of Africa, our 93% African heritage is quite impressive and denotes only a recent occurrence of the other ancestral backgrounds. I thought we were more Native American (1%) because of our great-grandmother's features, but apparently we're more European (5% Irish) than American. A visit to Dublin maybe on the horizon, along with Ghana (29%) which has also been on our bucket-list of African destinations to travel to!!
A few weeks ago, we have found some interesting news about our ancestral background based on an Ancestry DNA test previously taken. Here are the results:
Africa 93%
Cameroon/Congo 31%
Ivory Coast/Ghana 29%
Senegal 16%
Nigeria 7%
Benin/Togo 6%
Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers 3%
Mali <1%
America 1%
Native American 1%
Europe 6%
Ireland 5%
Iberian Peninsula < 1%
Interesting enough, most Black Americans who take the test are less than 80% African. However, because of our strong family connection to the South where the slaves were known to have journeyed from the West Coast of Africa, our 93% African heritage is quite impressive and denotes only a recent occurrence of the other ancestral backgrounds. I thought we were more Native American (1%) because of our great-grandmother's features, but apparently we're more European (5% Irish) than American. A visit to Dublin maybe on the horizon, along with Ghana (29%) which has also been on our bucket-list of African destinations to travel to!!
Knowing our background makes the trip even more intriguing considering the very first stop-over will be in Senegal (16%) for a one hour break and refuel before heading on to Cape Town via Johannesburg. Senegal's Goree Island is home of the monument known as the "Door of No Return" which is a doorway high above the Atlantic Ocean and symbolic of slaves final step from Africa on-board the slave ships to America.
What do you know about your family history? Any surprises?
