Clinton's Africa trip: Bees, snow _ and dancing

By Matthew Lee

Associated Press

Published: Friday, Aug. 10 2012 12:20 p.m. MDT

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FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2012 file photo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton holds hands during a dance with other officials including African Union Chair-Designate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, during a gala dinner at Sefako M. Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, South Africa. On an epic safari through Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton braved Uganda's Ebola outbreak, dealt with a swarm of angry Malawian bees, endured a rare South African snowstorm and shimmied on a dance floor in South Africa, earning the nickname the Secretary of Shake. And as she wrapped up her nine-nation African tour on Friday in Benin,Clinton shattered her own already herculean travel record.

Jacquelyn Martin, File, Pool, Associated Press

Summary

On an epic diplomatic mission through Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton braved an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda, escaped a swarm of angry bees in Malawi and shimmied on a dance floor in South Africa, earning the nickname "Secretary of Shake."

COTONOU, Benin — On an epic diplomatic mission through Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton braved an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda, escaped a swarm of angry bees in Malawi and shimmied on a dance floor in South Africa, earning the nickname "Secretary of Shake."

Circumnavigating the continent from Senegal to Kenya and back around to Benin, she also engineered an oil deal between Sudan and South Sudan, read the riot act to bickering politicians in Kenya, visited South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela and pushed Nigeria's leaders to improve intelligence cooperation.

With her arrival on Friday in Benin, Clinton shattered her own travel record as secretary of state, logging 108 countries visited in office.

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