Zimbabwe topped the African medal standings early this Sunday at the Beijing Olympics but with track and field in full swing, the Ethiopians cruised ahead by the end of the day. The East Africans dominate long distance running events. This was clearly illustrated today when the first seven athletes to cross the finish line in the 10,000m men's final were from Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea.

Zimbabwe racked up a record 1 gold and 3 silver medals. This is all thanks to their fantastic swimmer, Kirsty Coventry. Kirsty was responsible for all three of Zimbabwe's medals at the last Olympics in Athens, and she performed even better in Beijing. It'll be fun to see some coverage of her homecoming this time. I wonder how many more babies will be named after her!

Tunisia is the only other African nation to medal in the swimming, Oussama Mellouli brought home the first ever gold medal for his country in the 1500m swim. South Africa reached many finals with their excellent squad of 24 swimmers but unfortunately failed to medal.

Kenya has 2 silver medals, one was won by Catherine Ndereba in the women's marathon and the other was won by Eunice Jepkorir in the women's 3000m steeplechase. Micah Kogo snatched a bronze for Kenya in the men's 10,000m.

Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba powered home during the final lap of the women's 10,000m race to win a well deserved gold. Kenenisa Bekele also motored home to a gold medal on his final lap to become the undisputed king of the 10,000m distance. The silver was won by fellow Ethiopian Sileshi Sihine in the same race. Haile Gebrselassie unfortunately trailed to 6th place, it looks like he's passing on his baton to a new generation of Ethiopian stars.

Cameroon has a gold medal thanks to triple jumper Mbango Etone who set a new Olympic record. Mbango won Cameroon's first gold in Athens (2004) and spent the intervening years studying and becoming a mother.

Togo enters the medal tables for the first time in its history when Benjamin Boukpeti got a surprise bronze in white-water kayaking (of all events). Benjamin has only visited Togo once in his life when he was a very young child. His father is from Togo but he grew up in France with his French mother.

The North Africans are on the medal table thanks to judo. Algeria has pocketed two judo medals, a silver and a bronze. Egypt got a bronze in men's 60kg.

More information about Africa's Olympic squads and hopefuls...

_{Image of Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia celebrating her gold medal in the 10,000m - © Getty Images/Sty Forster}

Taking your family on safari in East Africa or a vacation in Morocco is an adventurous, educational and memorable way of spending time together. There are many safaris and vacations that tolerate children, but to get the most out of Africa as a family, you should select a vacation that is specifically geared to your needs. For example, minimizing travel time is important, especially with younger children. Staying at five different lodges while on safari in Tanzania means a lot of driving around in areas where you won't even be able to get out of your car for a bathroom stop. There are also safari lodges that don't even accept children under the age of 12.

I've put together a feature which highlights eight different family-friendly African destinations along with information about family volunteer holidays. Find out where to go on safari, where to visit troglodyte dwellings, the best way to tour Egypt, how to hunt with Bushmen, and much more from my article about family vacations in Africa.

_{Image of a boy enjoying a camel ride in the Moroccan Desert - © Getty Images/Sami Sarkis}