Changa's Safari is a Sword and Soul adventure series, a fiction story based on African culture. However, the adventures of our fearless merchant and his crew are centered in the historical reality of the 15th century. The continent was vastly different then, filled with kingdoms and empires that evolved from thousands of years of traditional development, not the political boundaries drawn by retreating colonial powers that exists today.
The Swahili cities that occupied East Africa's coast were not politically unified. Each city was its own state, controlled by individual kings or sultans. What unified them was their language, Swahili and their livelihood, trade. They took advantage of the monsoons, seasonal winds that blew west during the summer and east during the winter. These intrepid merchants traveled back and forth from East Africa to East Asia, exchanging good from the East African interior with goods and spices, fabrics, porcelain and other goods from Asia. Cities such as Pemba, Kilwa, Mombasa, Sofala and others were well known not only in Africa but in Asia as well. They were so well known that the eunuch merchant Zheng He of the Middle Kingdom sailed a large fleet to the African coast to trade with these cities.
But Changa's adventures did not only include this oceanic part of what was known to many as the Silk Road. A series of incidents occurred which forced him to travel to Africa's vast interior and come in contact with some of Africa's great empires during that time. His amazing journey takes him to Ethiopia, Kanem/Bornu, Songhai, the Yoruba city-state of Oyo and eventually back to his own homeland of Kongo. All the while Changa and his crew deal with all sorts of challenges, natural and unnatural while sharing glimpses of these wonderful cultures.
Many of you have read Changa's Safari and have been swept up into these adventures. Now we're proud to bring them to you as a graphic novel series, beginning with the Changa and the Jade Obelisk graphic novel. Our Kickstarter drops January 8, 2020. Until then you can follow us via our Facebook group of subscribe to our website for updates. Based on the books by Milton Davis and produced by a collaboration between MVmedia, LLC and 133art, Changa and the Jade Obelisk will be a visual adventure like no other. Prepare to set sail soon!
