Wanderlost #3
This week…Africa Blues!
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VOODOO MON AMOUR
The coastal city of Ouidah, Benin, recently hosted the 23rd Voodoo Festival, with the main celebrations occurring on 10 January. It is thought that almost 1 out of 2 Beninese practice voodoo, which is considered one of the official religions of the country.
EXPLORATIONS
For adventure-seekers, Africa has always represented a precarious balance of risk and reward. However, you don’t necessarily have to break your bank to have a fulfilling African experience. It doesn’t have to be too adventurous either: on the east coast of Zanzibar, just a few steps from the resorts, it is still possible to soak up the atmosphere and adjust to the slow pace of the traditional fishing villages. Awesome.
If you want adventure though, we’ll give you adventure. The British “pioneer” Peter Gostelow has cycled his way from Morocco to Cape Town, and to do so he had to spend 8 days on a barge going upstream the mighty river Congo, from Bumba to Kisangani. Not what we would call a pleasure cruise though: DR Congo is rather famous for its blood-thirsty presidents, children accused of sorcery, ebola outbreaks, violent rebel armies and, overall, a very, very poor human rights record.
TEBAATUSASULA
Just east of DR Congo, Uganda’s future is looking bright. The economy is on the rise, they hold “free” elections, and visitors are attracted by its marvellous landscapes. This is probably why the Uganda Vision 2040 campaign was launched. The goal is to complete the transition into a “modern and prosperous country” within the next 25 years. Good luck!
For now, Uganda Constitutional Court had to overrule a controversial bill imposing life sentence on certain homosexual acts.
And man, movies are awesome down there!
FOOTBALL
Football is kind of religion in Africa, as Messi battles with Jesus and Allah as the most worshipped divinity. Eto’o and Drogba are his local prophets. By the way, did you know that the legendary Ivorian striker once helped stopping a bloody civil war in his home country?
Yet, even football can be a mess in Africa, and bizzarre and, at times, very sad news can be heard every now and then. For example, Gabonese striker Aubameyang recently won the award as the African Player of the year: he scored quite a bunch of goals for Borussia Dortmund last season, so the prize looked to be well deserved. Ivory Coast captain and football legend Yaya Touré doesn’t exactly think it that way. At least this involved no killings (yet).
As a conclusion for this monographic issue on the Black Continent, a huge video from the (milky-white) South African duo, Die Astwood.
In the end, this is Africa as well!
We hope you enjoyed this third issue of our newsletter, see you next week!
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