Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
AIDS and African cultural traditions
For years now, those on the front lines of the fight against AIDS in Africa have focused on the most traditional means of transmitting the disease. Now, though, there is evidence that AIDS may also be spread through some cultural traditions, such as local healing methods, tribal body markings and even child care practices. The NY Times has a story on [...]
Travel writing and writers
If you enjoy travel writing, you might want to check out Rolf Potts’ collection of interviews with travel writers on his website. He’s been publishing an interview with a different writer every month for six years now. It’s an interesting site to wander through, reading interviews with your favorite travel writers and with others you may [...]
Changed by a journey to Africa
In the spring, I wrote about a contest sponsored by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in which he decided to take a student with him on an African reporting trip. Part of Kristof’s motivation was a belief that Americans don’t understand the rest of the world very well because they don’t travel enough or at [...]
Discovering Ethiopia
Although it isn’t on many lists of popular travel destinations, Ethiopia offers an intriguing culture and some of the most spectacular sights in Africa, in particular the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Joshua Hammer wrote an article for the New York Times about a recent visit to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, the per capita income is $120 a year; tuberculosis and [...]
Connecting to the world with camel’s milk
Great article in the Christian Science Monitor about how nomadic herders in Mauritania have a newly thriving business in selling camel’s milk to the world. It’s a story about how sometimes the best economic aid is simply an idea that helps a local population become more self sufficient, as well as how globalization has provided newfound links [...]
Using music as a window into Africa
The Boston Globe yesterday ran an article about a man named Solomon Murungu, who teaches Americans about Zimbabwean and African culture partly by utilizing the mbira, “a musical instrument of the Shona people in his home country.” His presentations have been so popular that he formed an organization called Zambuko Projects Unlimited to serve as an umbrella for his educational [...]
Travels in rural Ghana
Ever wanted to know what it’s like to travel in rural Africa? Joshua Berman and his wife are in the midst of a round-the-world journey and just spent two weeks visiting villages in northeastern Ghana. He writes about their experiences on his blog, the tranquilo traveler: We returned to Accra last night, stiff and loopy after [...]
Mothers and infants in Africa
There are no easy solutions when you’re an African mother who has to care for an infant while simultaneously working in the fields or walking to the market. Well, there is one, age-old tradition. Put the baby on your back. The Christian Science Monitor recently ran a story about the kanga, a piece of cloth that [...]
Partying in Ghana
Yes, it’s sad that the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup. Yes, a bad call at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game and contributed to the loss. But you have to admit, the win probably meant a lot more to Ghanaians than the loss meant to most Americans. If you want [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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My travel memoir - Two Laps Around the World: Tales and Insights from a Life Sabbatical - is about two round-the-world journeys with my wife.
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