Category Archives: Africa
Moroccan people watching
I love sitting back and watching a city going by, its citizens minding their own businesses. It feels like being a silent observer, one of those grey men that Michael Ende wrote about in Momo, just without the cigar and the … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Morocco, Random memories
Tagged Africa, Cityscape, Marrakech, Morocco, People, Photography, Street photography
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Marrakech: impressions from an ochre city
“My name is Mustapha, I come from the Sahara, I am a Saharawi. Please, please come see the textiles woven by my women”. Mustapha might really be a Saharawi, it’s been a long time since the plight of his people has … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Morocco, Overlooked locations
Tagged Cranes, Marrakech, Mellah, Morocco, Sights, Smells, Urban wandering
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Irrelevant differences: visiting Mellah, the Jewish quarter of Marrakech
“Est-ce que ceci a été le quartier juif, donc?” Is this the old Jewish quarter, I ask, rather timorously, to my self-appointed guide. It’s Sunday, the day that will pass to history for the biggest gathering of people in a single … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Faith, Morocco, Overlooked locations, Politics
Tagged Africa, Islam, Jews, Juifs, Marrakech, Marranos, Mellah, Morocco, Muslims, Peace, Slat El Azama, Spain expulsion, Synagogue
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Travelling through a country’s music – Mali
It all started with two groups and neither of them were Malian. Ofo The Black Company was the first and I discovered them in the Botswana special of Top Gear: James May was overtaking, in a old and battered beige … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Music review, Reflections
Tagged Africa, African music, Ali Farka Touré, Amadou et Mariam, Blues, Boubacar Traore, Desert Blues, France, Mali, Music, Operation Serval, Rokia Traore, Samba Touré, Sidi Touré, Songhoy Blues, Tamikrest, Tinariwen, Toumast
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“The Bang Bang Club”, by G. Marinovich & J. Silva, Arrow
Travel literature, in my humble opinion, is quite a large category. At the end of the day most travel books are about someone – the writer, usually – arriving somewhere and doing something. And, if this approach is to be … Continue reading
“The Cruellest Journey”, by Kira Salak, Bantam
“In the beginning, my journeys feel at best ludicrous, at worst insane. This one is no exception. The idea is to paddle nearly 600 miles on the Niger River in a kayak, alone, from the Malian town of Old Ségou … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Books review, Overlooked locations
Tagged Books review, Kayak, Kira Salak, Mali, Niger River, The Cruellest Journey, Timbuktu
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