Rwanda – Africa’s rising star
It’s a story of Africa gone right. Rwanda may be tiny and landlocked in equatorial Africa, but it has a big story to tell of unity and progress. Then there are also the uniquely beautiful places, rare wildlife and magnanimous people that all make a visit there inspiring.
Read MoreEthiopia – lost in time
Everywhere on earth it’s now 2017, except in Ethiopia where it’s still 2010 and new year’s day is 11 September. At 2 630m, the air in Lalibela is gaspingly thin and you find yourself panting as you walk. But it’s the wild, craggy scenery that surrounds the town and the ancient rock-hewn churches that really take your breath away. They’re roughly 800 years old, weathered and worn, but still breathe with life – courtesy of the constant stream of pilgrims who visit every day.
Read MoreMadagascar – taboo and not to boo
Madagascar is many things – boring is not one of them. Their intricate taboo system is so difficult to fathom that foreigners are thankfully pardoned from it. The Red Island of Madagascar is one of my favourite places on the planet. It has plenty of rough edges, the friendliest people with landscapes and wildlife straight from a Sci-fi movie. Their intricate system of fady or taboos by which they live may not be visible, but they remain titillating to foreigners.
Read MoreMali – Dogon mystery
As I descend the rugged Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali, truth and reality seem hopelessly mismatched. The Dogon village I have arrived in clings precariously to the rockface of the arid escarpment, deep in the Sahel. Here the mud huts and stilted granaries with conical roofs have an ancient and ethereal air; yet the Dogon people hold cosmic knowledge only recently verified in the West.
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