Africa
(All Africa Entries)
Click n’ Clack
September 29, 2008 ·
I’ve been lucky recently with good guides. It is especially pleasant when you don’t want or need one, but they are being forced on you by regulations of the place you are visiting, like in Namibia’s Brandberg — home to some of the world’s most famous rock art dating as far back as two thousand years. Gwen, a local Damara girl and our assigned guide, was the only woman guide in Brandberg and, once I got her talking, told me all about how difficult it was to even apply for this job as a woman.... [Read more]
Fury Families
September 26, 2008 ·
Africa’s furry and feathered ones remind me how good (and annoying) it feels to have mom watch over your every step, ready to burst into action when needed and to wreck havoc if she suspects her baby is in any danger. When we cross the street, my mother still instinctively goes for my hand, even if I’m already holding my husband’s. Once, I made the mistake of climbing out to the fire escape of my grandma’s fifth-floor apartment to clean a window and was brought back in by force uncharacteristic... [Read more]
A Desert in Bloom
September 22, 2008 ·
“Desert in bloom” must sound perfectly surreal; well, it looks perfectly surreal as well. From afar, flat barren meadows look like someone has been painting in the mountains and spilled a whole bucket of paint onto the grass below. “Accidents” like this are seen everywhere: orange, yellow, red blotches of daisies by the pound catch the eye and make it hard to concentrate on driving. Finally I gave up and went swimming in these flower pools. Up close, Africa’s flora is strange and magnificent. Just... [Read more]