It's so true.
My earliest memories are of Nigeria. My father was stationed at a maternity hospital in Katsina, which was part of the (then) Kaduna State in Nigeria way back in the early 1980s. But then in the fall of 1983, we returned to the Emerald Isle.
But I have retained certain African influences from my time there;
I have always liked Cottage loaves. Nigerians eat their bread sweetened. Thus the bakeries made sweet bread. So the Sri Lankan and Indian communities got together and asked a bakery to please make unsweetened bread for us. But I do recall how my mother used to offer a few lumps of sugar along with the bread that she gave to the poor people who came begging for food.
Sugar cubes is another. I love sugar cubes. It's got something that a heaped teaspoon of grains just can't match.
Long bananas. Perhaps they didn't have the rich variety of bananas that we have in Sri Lanka...but all I recall are long bananas. And they remain my favourite.
Not that Boiled corn on the cob with butter is an alien concept to Sri Lanka, but I learnt to love it thanks to Africa.
But here are the most significant ones.
The people. I love African people. They have the most amazing voices, and the most gorgeous accent! I love the way they talk...and perhaps due to how late the British people left them, they speak flawless english.
They love Sri Lankans.....which works really well for me.
Their clothes. Their clothes are loud and bright, and boy can they pull off ANYthing! As a whole, we have lighter skin...but we often think that unless you're very fair, you simply can't pull off colours like red, yellow and orange.
But in Africa, they wear the brightest colours, not only in clothes, but also in make up and accessories. And they never look gaudy. They are magnificent.
While in Kenya, I tried out a beautiful pink outfit. The mirror did all but faint. I looked like an puffed up flamingo with black hair. So much for my fair skin huh?
Much of their jewellery is made of beads, big and small. Ok, now that I could carry off. But I still ended up buying safe, conservative colours and motifs.
The wildlife bears a special significance. The great African Elephant never fails to impress me. You see one in the wild, and you're truly in the presence of greatness. Having had a personal encounter with a wild hippopotamus in the wee hours of the morning in the Masai Mara, I then developed a fascination for these foul tempered behemoths. I could feel it's size and power right down to my very core, terrifying me so much that, for what felt like an eternity, I couldn't even move.
They have some outlandish game that come to your dinner plate as well. During my visit to Kenya, I sampled crocodile meat, camel meat and ostrich meat. There's a restaurant in Nairobi called The Carnivore which apparently served even more unusual meats (I seem to recall Lion meat, but can't find reference to back that up right now). Due to recent Government regulations however, they have had to reduce the variety on their wild game menu. This is a good thing, of course.
And then there's their music. Those drums, those voices, those chants! Let's leave aside the fact that most of the popular music we know today, jazz, rhythm & blues, gospel, rock & roll, they all have their roots in Africa. But what of the stuff that is still belted out of the continent?
You think you don't listen to African music? Check this out ->
Lebo M. comes from Soweto, in South Africa. He is a composer, songwriter and singer. He has composed most of the songs and music you hear in the Lion King, both on screen and on stage.
This song is composed, written and sung by an Irishman. However, the influence is entirely African. Listen carefully, you will notice that there are only drums and human vocals. Fantastic stuff.
And finally, the lady who put African music on the map. Miriam Makeba. Mama Africa. This is a clip from Paul Simon's Graceland tour, when he performed in Zimbabwe. He is, no doubt, the one with the higher number of chart toppers and record sales. But, he's the one who's lucky to be standing on the same stage with her. ->
Swahili is a gorgeous language. Spoken predominantly in Kenya and Tanzania, this is a song often played on our own airwaves. It is possibly the single most popular song to have come out of Africa, and reached every corner of the planet ->
I want to go back. I need to go back. Africa holds fascination like absolutely no other group of countries can. In spite of all it's manmade flaws, it remains the most well endowed continent in the world. It is rich in oil, gold, diamonds, copper, wildlife, history, culure, arts and crafts.
But Africa is expensive for the traveller. So, for now, I travel through my obsession with African music.
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