African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1282: Chapter 291: Sense of Distance

The three siblings, Maria and her brothers, had little interest in the unfamiliar ”Mount Kilimanjaro.” After all, the territory of Tsarist Russia covers more than 20 million square kilometers, and various geological wonders are abundant within it.

However, it’s quite intriguing that East Africa dares to assert Mount Kilimanjaro as the highest mountain in East Africa.

Princess Maria said, ”Has the East African Government measured all the peaks nationwide? As I know, there should be quite a few tall mountains in East Africa as well, and measuring the height of these peaks should be quite challenging!”

Maxim said, ”As far back as I can remember, Mount Kilimanjaro has been recognized as the highest peak in East Africa, as stated in geography textbooks, and in recent years, there hasn’t been a discovery of a taller mountain than Kilimanjaro, nor any exceeding data in other regions outside East Africa.”

Geographical surveying is a lengthy, extensive, and complex process, akin to measuring land area, sea area, lake numbers, mountain heights, none of which are simple.

Moreover, it is quite possible that over time, previous data may be overturned by successors, just as in previous eras, the Soviet Union overturned its first highest peak’s data more than once.

Prince Maxim also said, ”Usually, no one pays attention to the source of this data. Anyway, when I was in school, that’s how the geography textbooks described it, not only Mount Kilimanjaro, but also the empire’s largest lake, Great Lake (Lake Victoria), the deepest lake, Soron Lake (Lake Tanganyika), nobody knew who summarized these data.”

”Nevertheless, over the years, the result of our East African countries’ geographical survey is that these data have not been overturned.”

This was obviously Ernst’s doing, since the first generation of East African textbooks can be traced back to the time of the founding of Heixinggen Military Academy, when Ernst participated in drafting, unintentionally incorporating many 21st-century geographical knowledge.

At this time, Crown Prince Aleksey said, ”These are small issues. Even if Mount Kilimanjaro isn’t the tallest mountain in East Africa, what does it matter? When eventually a taller peak is found, then other things can be said, after all, geocentrism can also be replaced by heliocentrism, these mountains are still standing there, an answer will ultimately be found.”

Thus, under the Tsarist prince’s series of theories, the group no longer focused on the issue.

Looking at the vast, primitive forest to the East, Crown Prince Aleksey asked, ”By the way, Prince Maxim, do you have lions and elephants in your East African forests? These are the most iconic animals of East Africa; we haven’t seen them yet!”

”The forest is so close here, your Rhein Empire must have its own royal hunting ground!”

Basically, European nobility all have their hunting traditions, naturally the Hohenzollern Family is no exception.

Though Aleksey is frail, this makes him desire the wild and conquest all the more, as people often wish for what they lack, and Aleksey, a hemophilia sufferer, hopes for a robust body, naturally no exception.

Of course, there’s also youthful curiosity for the unknown; lions and elephants, crocodiles, and other famous African wild animals naturally trigger this prince’s curiosity.

Prince Maxim said, ”Royal hunting ground, naturally we have one, but it’s not in this area, this rainforest is an undeveloped region, there’s definitely no shortage of wild animals inside.”

”However, the lions and elephants you’re thinking of are likely not here; typically, lions and elephants live in savanna regions.”

”It’s not that there aren’t unique species in forest regions, but they’re not common, like the African forest elephant, which is typically distributed in the Congo rainforest, quite a distance from here.”

”The rainforest surrounding Rhein City, especially the periphery, probably doesn’t have many wild animals. Our long-term development in East Africa has led to a sharp decline in the number of wild animals domestically.”

”If you truly want to see animals, I could take you to the city zoo later, where you can see various animals unique to Africa, lions, hippos, crocodiles, rhinos, zebras, hyenas, elephants, all are available.”

Upon hearing this, Aleksey immediately gave up and said, ”I don’t want to see those caged animals; it’s too uninteresting since we have seen them in Europe too. European zoos even have wild men discovered from places like Africa.”

”I want to see those wild animals roaming freely on the savanna or in the forest, especially the legendary large groups of animals strolling across the African savanna; that would truly be spectacular!”

Hearing the kid’s words, Prince Maxim said with some helplessness, ”Then you’ll be disappointed, East Africa is not like other places in Africa, those undeveloped areas you mentioned are more common in West Africa, as for us in East Africa, they can only be seen in specific protected areas.”

”The most famous of which is the Serengeti Grassland, from historical times in East Africa that’s the national protected area, or the country’s most famous wildlife reserve.”

”We haven’t developed much there, so you can see the massive herds, even see tens of thousands of wild animals migrating in massive displays depending on the season.”

Upon hearing this, Aleksey said excitedly, ”Then can we go there to see?”

Maxim said, ”Then you’ll have to wait a while, the Serengeti is over a thousand kilometers away from Rhein City, and to get there, preparation is necessary.”

”Due to low development there, the Serengeti is also quite dangerous; the wild animals have stronger instincts, and there’s a large number of them, and they’re not weak in attack either.”

”To travel to the Serengeti Grassland, special vehicles, firearms, and various supplies are required.”

Aleksey said, ”Over a thousand kilometers isn’t too far, after all, from Saint Petersburg to Moscow is just six to seven hundred kilometers; from Dar es Salaam City to Rhein City is just over a thousand kilometers.”

Different nationalities perceive distances differently, like the Dutch who might go abroad at random by walking a short distance.

Both Russia and East Africa are major powers, with Russia having nearly ten million more square kilometers than East Africa, of course, this is pre-World War I data.

Therefore, a thousand kilometers isn’t considered far for Aleksey and others; living in such mighty nations might mean casual travel between two cities starts at several hundred kilometers.

Like Aleksey’s family, that is the family of the Tsar, although they primarily reside in Saint Petersburg, they occasionally go to Moscow, Russia’s second-largest city.

Moscow is Russia’s secondary capital, and the Kremlin is the Tsar’s residence, although the Tsar’s family rarely goes there.

The Rhein Royal Family also has a profound understanding of distance perception, as East Africa is after all the world’s second-largest country (in terms of area); East Africans usually travel extensively.

Taking Ernst’s family, for example, they can’t always stay in Rhein City, occasionally they might go back to First Town City, their hometown, or vacation in the Great Lakes Region, or inspect various places around the country.

Since relocating the capital to Rhein City, everything has become more convenient, as for the whole of East Africa, Rhein City is considered centrally located.

Therefore, starting from Rhein City, it’s quite easy to travel across the country, but when it involves going abroad, that’s another matter entirely; because of the inland location, Rhein City is indeed among the least suitable places for going abroad.

Currently, with the premise of unclear guarantees for aircraft performance, transportation tools mainly consist of railways, highways, and sea routes, and East Africa’s foreign exchanges generally rely on sea transport.

Opting for the latter means must transfer, as land transportation is highly developed, from the coast to inland can be reached swiftly, even within a day, whereas if it were in ancient times, placing the capital in Rhein City would basically mean East Africa abandoned the seas.

During ancient communication speed, the enemies might have conquered the coast, and it’s only then that Rhein City receives the news of enemies arriving in East Africa, when the cabbage flowers are already cooled.