I love African cities. There, I’ve said it. I love African cities! For most travelers to Africa the experience is traditionally about the wildlife – the plains of the Serengeti, the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, the tribal richness of the Maasai. True, Africa has the largest migration of land mammals left on earth and has seen the most extensive and successful conservation efforts in history, but overlooked is the richness contemporary African cities have to offer. In fact, many American travelers never experience Africa through the eyes of Africans, especially urban ones.
As a travel consultant, business trips have given me access to explore these cities. To Americans perhaps the image of African cities is that they are teaming masses of poverty and crime. These things exist but the continent is going through what may be called the African Renaissance bringing political stability and economic progress. Many Africans are returning home from living and studying in Europe, China and the U.S. and are bringing with them a new vision of Africa. The arts, music, theatre, technology, fashion, and sports – these areas are all successfully evolving as most African countries experience substantial growth in their middle classes and economies.
In the humble river town of Mopti, Mali, one associate took me to his son’s basketball game followed by a high school dance. With the latest techno tunes from Paris and uniquely African sensibility, the boys danced on one side of the room, the girls on the other. The evening was followed by a family barbecue on the roof of his primitive mud apartment under the magnificent Saharan skies. In Accra, my flight to London cancelled, I spent two wonderful days listening to live music, watching a soccer match with fans whose antics rivaled American college students during March Madness, and spending a Sunday on the beach Ghanaian style. In Abidjan, the fashion and cultural center of French West Africa, I played computer games with techno geeks, and in Dakar, Senegal, I saw an amazing concert by Ismael Lo, whose hauntingly beautiful voice and lyrics are popular in Europe (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEnHzj3-_w)
Many travelers arrive in Nairobi and head directly out to the bush without spending time in this great city. Nairobi has good restaurants, including Haandi, one of the best Indian restaurants outside of India as well as superb pubs and great theatre. In Addis Ababa, I ate delicious Italian food and went to a fabulous jazz club run by an Ethiopian who had lived in Orange County, California for twenty years. Later, I did the last thing I expected in Ethiopia, salsa dancing at Bailamos, an energetic club that played Latin music. We danced late into the night as if we were in Santo Domingo. One of my favorite days was with the Egyptian Tae Kwon Do national champion seeing Cairo through his eyes. The highlight was visiting a neighborhood mosque fair with Ferris wheel rides and arcade games that was not much different than a church fair in the mid-west. I could not leave out booming Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which has its own Cirque du Soleil albeit African style, Circus Mama. (www.african-circus-tz.com)
More and more Johannesburg today is resembling a beachless Los Angeles, with rolling suburbs, high rises and a thriving television and film industry (District 9, a South African film, was a best film nominee at this year’s Academy Awards). It certainly represents the future of African cities as host of the world’s largest sports event, the first African FIFA World Cup, which is expected to attract a half million soccer fans to the city this June. Johannesburg has world class restaurants, avant-garde theatre, a vibrant nightclub and contemporary music scene, and its own Silicon “veldt” which is driving technology and telecommunication changes throughout Africa. South Africa has produced music greats, Hugh Masekela and Mariam Makeba, but undiscovered are great artists like the Ella Fitzgerald/Sarah Vaughn-like Zulu singer Sibongile Khumalo, World Beat artist Deepak Ram and a host of hip hop artists.
I’ll be back in Africa in June and again later in the year. I can’t wait to explore the café culture of Lomé, the souks of Fez, have a glass of “pinotage” with friends in Durban and enjoy the cultural urban delights of Douala or Maputo – all evolving as modern and vibrant metropolises. Taxi! Or should I say Matatu!
Thomas Stanley is a travel business consultant who has visited 140 countries including 24 of the 54 African countries. He is the former President of Travcoa and has worked for some of the great tour operators including Mountain Travel*Sobek, Trafalgar Tours and legendary Lindblad Travel. He has been involved in opening destinations such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Eastern Siberia and Libya to American travelers. Stanley is currently involved in promoting travel to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He has appeared on numerous Travel Channel episodes. His passions are food, wildlife, hiking, conservation, traditional culture, arts, music and all things related to travel. He resides in the wilds of the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.