Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Africa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Africa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Africa
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Africa:
- 30.459933, -94.899900
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Africa
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Liberty County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Liberty County
- Since Africa is near San Jacinto County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Jacinto County
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Africa ...
We found nine communities that share the name Africa.
Within Texas, the name Africa is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
In addition to the above occurrences of Africa, we know of four communities located outside of the United States and Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Saint Charles County
- Although located in Saint Charles County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Charles County community of Africa.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Communities Beyond North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Africa ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Big Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Clark
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Drews Landing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drews Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drews Landing
- Drews Landing is located in San Jacinto County
- Hightower
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Hoop and Holler
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoop and Holler have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoop and Holler
- Hoop and Holler is located in Liberty County
- Keno
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Lake Water Wheel
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Water Wheel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Water Wheel
- Lake Water Wheel is located in San Jacinto County
- Marvels
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Pelican
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Sam Houston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sam Houston have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sam Houston
- Sam Houston is located in Liberty County
- Seaman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Shepherd
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shepherd have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
- Shepherd is located in San Jacinto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,424 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shepherd <5>
How Far From Africa to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Africa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Africa once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Africa and extending to:
- Liberty, which is the Seat of Liberty County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Africa to Liberty, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 169 miles [272 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,166 miles [1,876.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,032 miles [11,316.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,754 miles [12,478.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,629 miles [9,059 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Liberty County: www.co.liberty.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Africa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Africa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4599, Longitude: -94.8999 |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Africa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Africa could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <7> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Africa to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.389 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.366 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.091 degrees. |