Category Archives: Travelogues

Not so long ago, one of the world’s great slave bazaars flourished here.  Stone Town was East Africa’s main port for the slave market between Africa and Asia (including the Middle East).  It is estimated that in the mid-19th century … Continue reading →

I now asked myself if the pain of the journey would not far exceed the pleasure of travel. I had a couple of minutes to decide and I made a dash for the exit door, pulling my bag behind me, … Continue reading →

Nyerere and “socialism” gave Tanzania a modicum of stability, peace, dignity and international standing that were sadly lacking in the neighbouring countries.  Tribalism and tribal violence do not stalk Tanzania as they do the countries around it. 

Perhaps this was a barb at the state of lawlessness in the country and the region at large, where anyone with authority or a gun (or a machete) can interpret the law as he pleases. 

Entebbe airport, just over 30 km from Kampala, is quite small and unremarkable, except that it is associated with one of the most remarkable peacetime hostage rescue missions in history.  The old terminal building, only a hundred meters or so … Continue reading →

It is one of the great natural spectacles of the world, when over a million wildebeests and hundreds of zebras and Thomson’s gazelles join them.  It is a feast for the eyes for tourists and a real feast for the … Continue reading →

It was in western Kenya, in the village of Ndhiwa not far from Kisumu, where the uncrowned king of polygamy lived out his flamboyant life.

 My driver in Kisumu told me that when he took some journalists to a nearby town to investigate, they were greeted by a sight so gruesome as to be unbelievable.

While Ethiopia under Zenawi was characterised by impressive economic progress and high international prestige, although criticised for authoritarian rule and lack of freedom, Eritrea under Isaias Afewerki is an internationally isolated, economically depressed dictatorship.

Like the first European to write about them in the 1520’s, I have to say: “I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more.”