I’ve loved forests all my life, and have been in many fine ones on five continents. My vote for most magical is the forests of Bale Mountains National Park, in south-east Ethiopia. Why so special? Beautiful, vibrant, atmospheric, with life of all kinds, and very rare: many unique species, and there are few other habitats […]
Archive | African Wisdom
RSS feed for this sectionSouthern Morocco: a great place to learn about the roots of happiness
For many years, I’ve found that trips to so-called less developed countries give me priceless reminders of how to live more happily back home in 2018 Britain. This was certainly true of the group trip I co-led to Morocco in November 2018. I called this trip the Roots of Joy because I believe that human […]
When three worlds converge: tribal life in Ethiopia
One image sums up my time in the Omo Valley: the remote area in south-west Ethiopia where tribal cultures still flourish. I’m attending a wedding in a village several miles down a dusty path, barely usable by vehicles. The woman in front of me has the braided, red-dyed hair typical for women of the Hammar […]
A hand-made easel, a mango tree, and a goat: resilience training in rural Ethiopia
A hand-made easel, a mango tree, and a goat: resilience training in rural Ethiopia: I feel so honoured and touched that this flipchart easel has been hand-made locally for me: square section steel, painted grey, with a big panel of wood bolted to its front. Its two coat hooks just about fit with the brass […]
Face-offs with cows, and flying chickens. Lessons in community from Ethiopian roads
Face-offs with cows, and flying chickens. Lessons in community from Ethiopian roads. It happens so often, you suspect the animals must enjoy it: why else do they spread the full width of the tarmac, instead of using the broad gravel verges? The cows are the worst: they glower balefully as if they might charge, and […]
Too Old for This Kind of Thing?
Too Old for This Kind of Thing? – Learning from Africa: Courage and gratitude help. One reason I keep coming back to Africa is to reconnect with basic qualities which are still normal in much of society here, and much harder to find in Europe: real contact, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart in meeting people, a more […]