By Margaret S. Emmons
Travel-by-Games
www.travelbygames.com
1 Oaknoll Court
Iowa City, IA 52246
319-466-3099
Go Travel: Africa is an educational card game that teaches the names and locations of all the African countries. Like most card games, it has 52 cards. These cards are divided into four color-coded sets of 13 cards each. Each set is a region of Africa. A smaller master card pictures the continent of Africa divided up by corresponding color into regions.
The cards are dealt out, four to a player, with a draw pile in the middle. The object of the game is to collect four-card sets in similar fashion to "Go Fish."
The plastic coated cards feature full-color high quality graphics. Each card shows a portion of the map of Africa featuring one country. Neighboring countries, water bodies, mountain ranges, and major cities are included and provide excellent visual context. A separate card has a key to the map symbols, a chart showing area and population for all the continents, and a chart of the rivers in Africa. Another card shows the population and size of each African country.
Postage stamps (which "bring a historical perspective") and photos featuring culture and places of interest are interspersed on the playing cards, supplying extra educational and discussion opportunities. Some of these photos are marked with a small black diamond symbol, indicating there is an explanation on the Supplemental Information and Pronunciations guide.
My sturdy box of cards includes three additional folded up sheets of paper: general instructions, instructions for a variation of play for very young children (Memory or Concentration), and Supplemental Information and Pronunciations for both countries and capitals. These are helpful, but I wish all the info was on one piece of paper instead. The separate pronunciation guide is appreciated, although it would be handier to have that information on each particular card.
If your family likes simple card games, try Go Travel: Africa. Why not learn something instead of just matching up cards from a regular deck?
Product review by Kathy Gelzer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2010
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