[plinkplonk]

">I was under the impression Africa had no native written languages

Are you kidding me? Ethiopia alone has multiple scripts."

Ah well, when I was living in the United States people used to ask me if we all used elephants for transport in India. I used to answer "Sure, we had this big stable of elephants and I went to school on one, as did all the kids in the neighbourhood. Actually I went to the airport for my trip here on the house elephant .. "

(Fwiw, my great grandfather did own an elephant in the early 1900s but it used to haul lumber and take part in temple processions, not so much provide transport from point A to B ... )