I'm writing a story and would like to know how African peoples reacted when they saw white men for the first time. Were they welcoming at first? Would they have seen these men as coming from another world / compared them to supernatural or mythical beings (like it is often portrayed in small, isolated tribes)? I don't have a specific location in Africa so maybe the reaction varied from place to place?
Thanks
Well, Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" might be just what you're looking for (for a fictionalized native perspective on colonialism and the arrival of Europeans in igboland/Nigeria)
Remember, africa is HUGE and very very diverse, so there isn't a single reaction. Also your question implies the assumption of the arrival of Europeans in modernity - remember contact was already made in antiquity (i.e. - Carthage, Abyssinia) and Islamic and Roman influence was widespread. (Think Hannibal Barca and St. Augustine of Hippo and Ibn Battuta)
Abyssinia/Ethiopia and Eritrea had a long tradition of Christianity as well (dating back, according to legend, to the product of the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba).
Edit: more info.