Tag: Africa | Page 4

Pictures, Travel

Clarens Is a Small Town With a View

I was in South Africa last week visiting Cassandra’s family. Because there’s only so much to do in Kimberley (yes, I’ve seen the Big Hole), we decided to take a road trip to see some new scenery. I had been looking at the map of South Africa and noticed that Lesotho, the small nation enclave surrounded entirely by South Africa, was fairly close. Cassandra’s dad suggested that we drive to Clarens to get a good view of the Maluti Mountains.

Panorama of the Maluti Mountains from Clarens, South Africa

Clarens was a pleasant surprise. It kinda reminded me of little towns I’d been to in Northern California (especially Calistoga) — quaint, quiet, clean, and safe. The town is situated around one or two main streets and a small square, with cute restaurants, pubs, antique shops, and bed and breakfasts dotted along the way.

Kenya, Rants

Black Supremacy

There’s a DJ crew in Kenya called Supremacy Sounds. Their mix tapes are quite popular in matatus (public transport mini buses) and clubs, and I’ve even mentioned them before here on this blog. In addition to their mix tape skills, one of the reasons I like them is because of their understanding of the importance of the Internet in the music industry—they actually give away most (all?) of their music for free on their website. Anyways, for the longest time they went by the name Black Supremacy Sounds, and it always made me wonder how well received it would be if I started a new group called White Supremacy Sounds.

Kenya, Rants

Avatar is Way Cool

I’m watching Avatar. I know, I’m probably the only one in the world who hasn’t seen it yet. It’s a pretty sweet movie, but it’s really hard to miss the socio-political commentary. Right off the bat, the main character is extremely daft — is that how the rest of the world sees Americans? You’d have to be pretty daft yourself to miss the allusions to American conquest of the “New World” (and, uh… the Middle East). The Americans are at it again in the movie, but this time we’re after “unobtainium,” which is selling for 20 million dollars per kilo!

The Navi people of Pandora obviously remind us of the Native Americans, but they also bear semblance to the Maasai people in East Africa. I think it’s the red colors they wear, I wonder if it played any role in the design of the Navi people. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Kenyan culture was used in a blockbuster movie!