Is Africa a continent or a body of water ?

I love this rant from a good friend, Craig, originally from Zimbabwe and now living in Vancouver :

Why are people so ignorant of African political geography? Why can people in the "educated" First World differentiate between England and France, but they can't differentiate between Egypt and South Africa? Why do people go on holiday "to Africa" (rather than, say, Kenya), but they go on holiday "to Italy" (rather than Europe)? If you told someone you were going on a trip "to Asia", do you think they might ask you to be a bit more specific? I think what's "dark" about Africa is not the continent itself, but the minds of people who don't pick up an atlas occasionally.

I'm moved to write this today because, on Sunday at a Starbucks in Vancouver I noticed that they had some beadwork for sale. So I picked it up and, according to the label, it was "Made in Africa". This is Starbucks' patronising attempt at "fair trade" (or whatever they call it), but they're too damn lazy to actually note the country of origin. Has anyone ever seen a label that says, "Made in North America"? Of course not! Most people -- anywhere in the world -- would scoff at that as being useless and lacking in specifics, and I'll bet the label doesn't meet labelling laws either.

And then today I read the following in an obituary:

"When confronted by World War II, Peter joined the RCAF and ferried airplanes [sic] around the world wherever they were needed for the war effort, ultimately earning the commission of Flying Officer. He survived two crash landings - in Africa and in Victoria Harbour."

I think that has to be the most extreme parallel I've ever seen drawn -- between the second-largest continent and a minor body of water -- but at least we know where Africa is, as opposed to the non-specific Victoria Harbour, of which there are several in the world on different continents.