Say What? The Clicking Languages of South Africa
I had heard of African names with clicks before, like ǂXóõ, ǂHõã and !Kung, but I thought they were limited to just a few words. Now, after some research, I’ve realized that clicks are used quite extensively in many South African languages. If you’re having trouble understanding the click and its use, think of it […]
Slum-Like African Resort Gives Rich Tourists a Taste of Hard Life
A Shanty is a small hut made out of old corrugated iron sheets or other waterproof material. It is a place of dwelling for the poor, often lacking in basic amenities like electricity or running water. To be living in one, you’d have to be going through an extremely rough patch in life. Except of […]
Seeing Double in Nigeria’s Land of Twins
It may seem like you’re seeing double, but what you’re really looking at is twins, and lots of them! Welcome to Igbo-Obra, a farming community in the southwestern part of Nigeria, which proudly calls itself “the Nation’s Home of Twins”. The name is very appropriate because, as community leader Olayide Akinyemi states “there is hardly a family here […]
Share Breakfast with the Long Necks at Giraffe Manor
How do you talk to a Giraffe face-to-face? By peeking out of the top-floor window of a very high house, of course. That’s exactly what the owners of Giraffe Manor, in Kenya, do. And you could too, if you went to spend a few nights in one of the 6 rooms of the old manor […]
The Incredible Story of Tippi Degre, a Real Life Mowgli
Mowgli has always been one of the most-loved characters from children’s literature. I loved the Jungle Book cartoon movie when I was a kid and I must say it is a favorite even today. So when I heard about this real-life Mowgli character, I was fascinated. Folklore and fairy-tales always mention that wild animals do […]
The Sacred Antogo Fishing Ritual, or How to Catch All the Fish in a Lake in 15 Minutes
Just beneath the village of Bamba, in the Northern part of Dogon country in Mali, lies a small, yet sacred lake, where fishing is permitted only once a year – during the unique ritual called Antogo. In the past, Bamba is said to have been covered in lush green forests. The lake, which is considered […]
Pink Lip Tattoos – The Latest in Nigerian Men’s Fashion
One of the most bizarre beauty procedure I’ve recently come across is tattooing the lips pink, which is apparently very popular in the African county of Nigeria. The main reason for this practice seems to be that women find men with pink lips more attractive. The other day, someone emailed me a link to a […]
The Fattening Farms of Mauritania – Force-Feeding Young Girls in the name of Beauty
While the whole world is obsessed over getting thin, it seems there are far-flung places in the world today where fat is still considered a thing of beauty. Not in a good way, though. In the West African nation of Mauritania, it is so important for girls to be fat that they are sent away […]
Nigerian Artisan Covers Car in Woven Raffia Palm Cane to Advertise His Business
Ojo Obaniyi, a talented artisan from the Nigerian city of Ibadan has come up with an ingenious way of advertising his raffia palm cane weaving services – he covered the inside and outside of his Volkswagen pickup in the natural material. There are a lot of raffia palm cane weavers in Nigeria, but one of them […]
Black Gums Are Considered a Sign of Beauty in West Africa
I’ve read about people getting tattoos on the weirdest places of their bodies, but this one just beats them all. Never before have I heard of people getting their gums tattooed. Not in any particular design, but just a uniform black color. This is actually a popular practice among women in West African countries like […]
Dung Spitting Competition Will Leave a Bad Taste in Your Mouth
Kudu Dung Spitting is an African sport popular enough to have its own official competition, in which contestants have to put a kudu dung pellet in their mouth and spit it as far as possible. Some people use dung to make coffee taste better, but in some parts of Africa it’s used to fuel a […]
The Daily Talk – Liberia’s Blackboard Newspaper
The Daily Talk is a unique news medium published on a blackboard in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city. As most Liberians lack the money and means to access conventional mass media, this chalk-written daily “newspaper” is the most widely read report in Monrovia. In the Western world, many are already talking about the death of written […]
Man Single Handedly Carves Orthodox Churches in the Side of Mountain
It’s the stuff that ancient legends are made of, but I guess you could call the story of Aba Defar a modern-day miracle. How else would you explain an old man carving four churches on a mountain side of the Ethiopian highlands, all on his own? Aba Defar is a man driven by his faith […]
Akodessewa Fetish Market – Africa’s Voodoo Supermarket
Togo’s Akodessewa Fetish Market is recognized as the largest fetish market in the world, a place where Voodoo practitioner can find anything they need for their rituals. The practice of voodoo began in West Africa, before being taken to America by slaves, and in countries like Togo, Ghana, or Nigeria the religion is very much […]
Gregory Da Silva – The African Mad Hatter
Gregory Da Silva, better known as Egg Man, is an African comedian artist and storyteller famous for wearing an outrageous had adorned with 1,000 eggs. Born in Benin, West Africa, Da Silva studied computer science but decided to follow his artistic calling and went on to found a theater group called Voice of Spirit. They […]