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Archive by category "Africa" (Page 2)

Village of Witches

Traditional religion and accusations of witchcraft in West Africa. Centuries after the introduction of Islam and Christianity to Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional religions may have been relegated to the margins in much of the continent but they still have a powerful hold over the culture of many Africans. Traditional religions, or at least elements of them, are often practiced alongside peoples’ professed faith, despite the best efforts of Imams and priests to paint the acts as haram or heretical. However, the…

Next time someone tells you Africans are lazy, send them to Ouagadougou

Its 40C, what do you fancy doing? Sitting in the shade, drinking some ice-cold beer, going for a swim? Work wouldn’t be at the top of your list would it? If you had to work, you’d probably envision some kind of air conditioned environment and a source of ice cubes for your cold drinks. You bone idle slob! What about lugging a pile of granite on your head up a steep slope or swinging a bloody great sledge-hammer all day,…

More shop art from Burkina Faso

The wonders of African shop art. I may be in a small group of weirdo aficionados of African shop art but I can’t get enough of it so here are a few more examples from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for my fellow weirdos. This was certainly enough to convince me I had to buy a beer in this bar The art form always has to catch up with new technology, though it has to be said that solar panels provide little…

Bored shitless in Morocco

How can you be bored with Morocco? I hear you say. It’s got ancient medinas pulsing with a myriad of sights, sounds and smells; mountain peaks and precipitous canyons; sweeping desert dunes and sun drenched surf; ancient history and modern nightlife; you can even get a beer if you really want one. Many people would quite justifiably demand far less of an ideal holiday destination, but I am not really an ideal holiday destination kind of guy, as regular readers…

Annoying travel personalities. No.1 The Presumptuous Opportunist

The first in a hopefully short series about the annoying bastards I encounter travelling This first character, the Presumptuous Opportunist is most prevalent on the African continent and will always be the kind of friendly, chatty guy that normally is a pleasure to encounter in the street, as they can offer an insight into people’s lives. Their true nature will only become apparent when it’s time to pay the bill, when it’s evident that they never had any intention of…

In the shadow of Thomas Sankara

Why Burkina Faso’s revolutionary president still matters Under the full moon glow in the warm Ouagadougou night, to the thud of ominous beats, the Congolese rapper strode onto the stage, declaring, “I may be from Congo Brazzaville but tonight, on the anniversary of the death of Thomas Sankara we are all Burkinabe”. For the first time in the night the previously subdued crowd roared in appreciation, from then on he could do no wrong. But why, twenty-nine years after he…

The shop art of Jongo, Burkina Faso

More hand painted African shop art Given that my post on the hand painted shop art of Somaliland seemed relatively popular with some of you, it seemed sensible to give you something to compare it to and put it into perspective. Of course, the term relatively popular here is no actual indication of actual popularity, which could more accurately be described as woefully unpopular, which puts you, dear readers, in the travel blog reading category of weird deviants, which is…

Back to basics in Burkina Faso

Another taste of slum life in Burkina Faso It’s all very well luxuriating in 5 star hotels but you aint gonna learn much about a country or its people sipping fine wines and chomping on Lobster flown in from some distant sea. Sometimes you’ve just got to get down and dirty. So, I was only too happy to go back to the muddy shacks of Jongo, on the outskirts of Ouagadougou, the shabby capital of Burkina Faso, to see my…

Drinking at the doctors in the Ivory Coast

Booze or medicine It’s a common dilemma for the poor, hard-drinking man: spend your limited funds on medicine or get drunk to disguise the symptoms? However, in West Africa they have found a unique solution – make booze into medicine. In the Ivory Coast it all starts with the basic ingredient of palm wine or Banji as its known. Sap from certain varieties of palm is tapped off every day from the living trees to be delivered to the thirsty, although…

Toilet of the month

A celebration of Ethiopia’s most notable cultural heritage. Once in a while, a piece of toilet architecture stands out head and shoulders above the competition, sometimes enough to make a whole month of dragging yourself around UNESCO World Heritage Sites and unique geological creations somehow worthwhile. This glorious example tucked away in the back-end of Abozo in southern Ethiopia will surely soon be turning this quiet little village into a major tourist hub, as the masses flock to get a…

Category: Africa

Village of Witches

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Next time someone tells you Africans are lazy, send them to Ouagadougou

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More shop art from Burkina Faso

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Bored shitless in Morocco

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Annoying travel personalities. No.1 The Presumptuous Opportunist

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In the shadow of Thomas Sankara

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The shop art of Jongo, Burkina Faso

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Back to basics in Burkina Faso

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Drinking at the doctors in the Ivory Coast

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Toilet of the month

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