The Shifting, Sonic Geography of Cartagena, Colombia

It had been three years since I’d visited Cartagena, and I was shocked by all the changes. They must have been bubbling under the surface the last time I came,…..

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Less than a minute read

September 11, 2012

File Under No Comment: ‘Send Me To Africa’

With a click of the button… (a contest sponsored by sponsors). It’s an empty landscape. With pyramids.

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8 mins read

May 24, 2012

Pinkwashing South Africa

This week BBC News reported on the rise in Cape Town’s status as a premiere international gay tourist destination. The article itself went on to report at length from gay…..

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3 mins read

March 10, 2011

Apparently revolutions are not good for tourism

That used to be mainstream opinion in white South Africa and is what Tina Brown and her editors think about. What drove Newsweek’s editors to commission and publish a feature–in…..

1 min read

February 2, 2011

T.I.A. @ The Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell, a symbol of the American Revolution, is housed in a complex on Market Street in Philadelphia, reminding us of liberties gained and liberties denied. It’s one of…..

Less than a minute read

February 2, 2010

"Rhythm like you've never seen before"

I stand corrected, but no one mixes nationalism, tourism and sport in a feelgood cocktail quite like the South African advertising industry. Like in this TV commercial for South Africa’s…..

1 min read

November 11, 2009

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM 2010?

Just as the football at the 2010 World Cup will be great, someone will make lots of money. It is not going to be local businesses for sure. This excellent…..

Less than a minute read

September 29, 2009

FILM: A PANTHER IN AFRICA

The full film, about a Black Panther who fled Kansas City in the American Midwest in 1970 for a new life in Tanzania (by director Aaron Matthews), is now online.

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1 min read

September 29, 2009

Slum tourism

In Kibera, the large informal settlement in Nairobi, the residents are paraded like animals on safari for foreign tourists: The Dutch tourists came well prepared for the walking safari: strong…..