Michoacan is a beautiful state of Mexico pierced by the volcanic range of the Cordillera Volcanica, caracterised by colonial towns like Morelia or Patzcuaro, the center of the 130.000 Purepecha Indians. One of the largest events is Noche de Muertos or Night of the Dead celebrated around 2 November, the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations with a blending of both pre-Hispanic and Catholic beliefs and traditions. Noche de Muertos is celebrated most strongly in the towns and villages around Lake Patzcuaro which was the center of the Purhepecha Empire. As in other parts of Mexico, altars to the dead erected in homes and on graves and covered with offerings such as bread, fruit and other items. One aspect which is unique to the event here is the lighting and floating of hundreds of small candles and flowers on Lake Patzcuaro on the night between 1 and 2 November. Colonial cities of Michoacàn are like another Spain, but with a Mexican flavour. Morelia, the capital of the state, is one of the country’s most significant colonial cities with an aristocratic feel. An impressive pink stone cathedral dominates the main plaza surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings. The cathedral is said to have taken over 100 years to build and is one of the finest in all of Mexico. Patzcuaro is a charming town with a mixed colonial and indigenous feel of colonial buildings, mansions and courtyards built around the fine and elegant Plaza de Quiroga. Bishop Vasco de Quiroga promoted education and self sufficiency of the indigenous people to develop their natural skills as talented craftsmen.

In the colonial era the Portuguese colonizing the Brazilian interior discovered gold, gems and later diamonds, starting a Brazilian gold rush and attracting new settlers. In 1697, the Portuguese used enslaved Africans to build the Estrada Real, the "royal road" that would connect the ports on the Atlantic to the mineral-rich region of Minas Gerais. More than 400,000 Portuguese and half a million African slaves abandoned the sugar plantations and towns in the northeast coast to go to the gold region to mine and by 1725 half the population of Brazil was living in southeastern Brazil. In the 18th century officially 850 tons of gold were sent to Portugal but other gold remained in the colony to adorn churches. The gold cycle left its mark in several towns such as Mariana, Diamantina, Tiradentes, São João del Rei and mostly Ouro Preto, for centuries capital of Minas Gerais. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980, in the eighteenth century was the largest city in Brazil and one of the most populous in America. The relative isolation from Europe helped the people of Minas Gerais to develop their own style of art which became known as Barroco Mineiro, with richly decorated churches. The most important artist of this time was Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho. His sculptural and architectural work is one of the most refined artistic expressions outside Europe at that time, a rich colonial heritage and colonial art. In addition to art and architecture the towns of Minas Gerais were home to an important musical activity helped by printed copies of European music, many foreign musicians travelled here favoring the origin of a local school with considerable sophistication. During the 18th century, mining exploration was controlled by the Portuguese crown which imposed heavy taxes (one fifth of all gold). Several rebellions were attempted by the colonists but the most important was the Inconfidencia, started in 1789 by intellectuals and young officers and inspired by the French and American Enlightenment ideals. The conspiracy failed and the most famous of them, Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, was hanged becoming a national martyr of Brazil. In the economic history of Brazil, Minas Gerais plays a pivotal role in shifting the economic axis from the Brazilian northeast based on sugarcaneto the southeast of the country, which still remains the major economic center.

Diamonds are one of Namibia's significant natural resources and contribute approximately 10% of GDP. The diamond industry of today is different from that of 20 years ago. In recent years, the diamond industry and the Namibian Government have partnered to create local cutting and polishing industries. The history of Namibian diamonds began in 1908 when the black worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond while working on the railroad not far from the port town of Lüderitz. In a few days, many German miners settled in this area, and soon after, the German Government declared a large extent as a "Sperrgebiet," starting to exploit the diamond fields. With this enormous wealth, the residents of the mining town Kolmanskop built a German town, including a hospital with the first x-ray-station in the southern hemisphere. The town declined after World War I when the diamond field slowly exhausted, and from 1954 is a fascinating ghost town where the desert sand is slowly overrunning the houses. Not far is Lüderitz, a harbour town founded in 1883 on one of the least hospitable coasts of Africa, in Southwestern Namibia. Lüderitz began as a German trading post until 1909 when the discovery of diamonds nearby enjoyed a sudden surge of prosperity. Today the diamond fields are far from Lüderitz, which has lost its economic importance, and today is a remote town between the desert and sea known for its German colonial architecture, including Art Nouveau buildings. At the extreme South, near South Africa's border, Fish River Canyon is one of the biggest in the world, 160 km long and 27 wide, an impressive canyon created by the river. It still shows the incredible landscape of geology that preserves traces of Gondwana, the supercontinent that first emerged on our planet. Nowhere in Africa exists something like this.