In 2002, five million of the 13 million residents of Malawi, a predominantly rural African country the size of Pennsylvania, were starving. Over the past 20 years, the World Bank and a number of rich countries that Malawi depends upon for aid (including the U.S.), pressured this tiny landlocked country to eliminate fertilizer and seed … Read more
As I leave Africa and wing my way toward Switzerland, I have been thinking about the three words I will assign to each of the African countries I have visited. I have decided not to do this for Zambia, for I only spent a couple hours in this country and then only in the Victoria … Read more
For the past five days I’ve been staying at the Sunset Bungalows on the northern tip of the island of Zanzibar, near the village of Nungwi. Initially, things did not go smoothly. On my first day I had lunch at the resort’s restaurant on the beach and tried to charge the meal to my room, … Read more
The original owners of the grand Arab houses in Stone Town competed with each other over the extravagance of their dwellings. This former glory is still evident in the brass-studded, carved, wooden doors of Zanzibar that adorn many of the homes along the narrow streets and alleyways that make up the Old City. There are … Read more
Although technically a part of Tanzania, Zanzibar has a much different feel than the mainland. Here the pace is slower and the smiles of Zanzibar come easy – just take a look at a few of the happy people I met on my strolls around town:
