MSG: Mega Super Good

Check out Derrick Avenue, Cyrildene (Joburg) for some fine Chinese cuisine free of discrimination. Hot & Sour soup is a lie though, its neither. Happy New Year.

I love this town but it’s just not the same

Mokhotlong is a mountainous microcosm of subsistence farmers and shepherds in Eastern Lesotho. The Basotho are humble people who live according to tradition – they are known to believe that a blanket and a pocketknife are all one needs to survive. Today, the Sani Pass, which is the region's main point of entry from South Africa, is under the threat of becoming tarred. With tarred roads comes greater tourism, and with greater tourism comes the compromise of their long practiced customs... but Mokhotlong is one of the poorest regions in the country. Which is better? Development or non-development?

Malawi is a Place

I stepped off a bus in Liwonde and was immediately engulfed by a mob of young bike-taxi boys. Overwhelmed by their intensity, I squirmed through their arms to catch my breath away from the diesel fumes. They all watched me, sitting there acting cool, as if I didn't care whether I arrived to the national park before dark or not. I scanned their faces, trying to identify the most benevolent. "You!", I signaled to one of them in an instantaneous uproar of disappointment, "I need a bike for myself and for my 20 kg pack", I said with elegant hand gestures. And with that we were off, hurtling down the dusty road towards Mvuu Camp.

Moments later...

Dave: How do you say "hello" in Chichewa?

Bike-Taxi Boy: "Azungu"

Dave: Thank you boy

A few more moments later...

Dave: Azungu! (waving frantically at villagers)

Villagers: (collective) Hahah (many keeling over)

What nice people I thought to myself.

Next day at camp, as I greet a park ranger...

Dave: Azungu!

Park Ranger: huh?

Dave: A-ZUN-GU!

Park Ranger: Hahah (also keeling over)... that means "white person"

Dave: Damn

panyaza_where my heart is

I’m not going to pretend like I know what shisa nyama means. I know that it's literal translation from Zulu is burn the meat, but that’s not what it means to the patrons that inhabit the shisa nyama in Panyaza, Soweto, on lazy weekend afternoons. Its a ritual feast, stripped bare to three core elements: Flesh, Fire, and Beer. But on my last trip to Panyaza, I realized its more than that. Its refuge from the world. Oh you’re a vegetarian? Eat this beer.