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Nicosia and Cyprus: « The Island of Missing Trees » by Elif Shafak : When planning my trip to Cyprus in December, I was hoping to escape the gray skies of late fall and enjoy some Mediterranean sunshine before winter sets in. I was Continue Reading →
Brussels: 33, Place Brugmann by Alice Austen : On the display shelf of my favorite bookstore, the title jumped out at me. 33, Place Brugmann. I could see the tram 18 (or 92) that took my cousin, my Continue Reading →
Theater: The Years (Les Années) » by Annie Ernaux at the Harold Pinter Theater in London : It’s difficult for a man to understand women. No, I don’t want to repeat the old clichés that portray them as mysterious or inaccessible. It’s simpler than that: it’s not Continue Reading →
Recife, Olinda and Pernambuco, Brazil: « The Seamstress » by Frances de Pontes Peebles : We had just arrived from the airport and had entered the address of our hotel in Olinda, the former capital of the state of Pernambuco, into Uber. We had crossed Continue Reading →

Category Archives: Africa

High Atlas, Morocco: “Souviens-toi des Abeilles » by Zineb Mekouar

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Damien

The night had been short and restless. The altitude, jet lag, and the cramped, noisy dormitory had all combined to limit my hours of sleep. After a quick breakfast at Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged High Atlas, Jebel Toubkal, Morocco, Souviens-toi des Abeilles, Taggart Apiary, Zineb Mekouar

Rwanda: “Jacaranda” by Gaël Faye

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Damien

I just missed Gaël Faye’s visit to “La Page d’Après”, the bookshop my sister-in-law Floriane opened in Louvain-la-Neuve just over a year ago. Interest was so great that they had Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Gaël Faye, Jacaranda, Kigali, Murambi Genocide Memorial, Rwanda

Mount Sinai: The Bible

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Damien

When I arrived at the summit of Mount Sinai last May, I felt as if I were honoring an appointment missed over thirty years ago. In 1992, we had planned Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Bible, Burning Bush, Egypt, Jabal Musa, Moses, Mount Sinai, Saint Catherine monastery, The Golden Calf, The Tables of the Law, The Ten Commanments

Zanzibar: “Paradise”, “By the Sea” and “Desertion” by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Damien

With this article, I conclude a journey that began in Zambia with Namwali Serpell and continued through Tanzania to Zanzibar, in the footsteps of Dr. Livingstone’s mortal remains, with Petina Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Abulrazak Gurnah, By the Sea, Desertion, Paradise, Sone Town, Tanzania, Zanzibar

From Zambia to Zanzibar: « Out of Darkness, Shining Light » by Petina Gappah

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Damien

My previous article covered Zambia, including the town of Livingstone not far from Victoria Falls. Today, I invite you to take a trip that will take us from Zambia to Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Out of Darkness Shining Light, Petina Gappah, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar

Zambia: The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Damien

My first visit to Zambia was to Victoria Falls. A steel bridge over the gorge allows admiring the splendid cataract of the Zambezi, called in local language “Mosi-oa-Tunya”, the smoke Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Livingstone, Lusaka, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift, Victoria Falls, Zambezi, Zambia

Cameroon: Mount Pleasant, When the Plums are Ripe and “Empreintes de Crabe” by Patrice Nganang

Posted on November 14, 2021 by Damien

I had just landed for the first time in Cameroon at Douala airport, a Friday evening. Before working the following week in Yaoundé, I had organized to go during the Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Buea, Cameroon, Empreintes de crabe, Mount Cameroon, Mount Pleasant, Patrice Nganang, When the Plums are Ripe, Yaounde

Somalia: Nuruddin Farah

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Damien

Somalia. For most, this country’s name conjures images of hunger, civil war, militiamen perched behind a machine gun on the back of a pick-up, terrorist attacks and piracy.  When 25 Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Nuruddin Farah, Somalia, Somaliland

Kenya: “Dust » by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and “The Constant Gardener” by John Le Carré.

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Damien

I have been several times to Kenya, but I can’t say I know the country well. I was often passing by Nairobi and its surroundings, but only for a few Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Dust, John Le Carré, Kenya, Lake Turkana, Nairobi, The Constant Gardener, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

Ethiopia: “The Shadow King” by Maaza Mengiste

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Damien

We have several photographs from Ethiopia in our living room. There are four enlargements of pictures my wife Céline took during our trip in 1995. Superb views of the Simien Continue Reading →

Posted in Africa | Tagged Ethiopia, Maaza Mengiste, Simien Mountains, The Shadow King

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