KHULUMA January 2020

EXPLORE
Here. There. Everywhere.

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!

Every so often the stars align and a gorgeous location becomes accessible in
a whole new way. Camps Bay, so cherished among those seeking to party, soak up
the sun, stare at the horizon, and witness sunsets at their most dazzling, has a fleet
of blissful new rooms in which to base yourself. Added to the existing room inventory
at The Marly, some (like this one) face the sea, while others have full-on views of the
back of Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and the vast spread of residential Camps Bay.
While these quarters are elegant and chic and minimalist (with espresso machines,
Marshall Bluetooth connected speakers and not one inch of plastic), the real treat is
undoubtedly the brand-new rooftop pool – the view from up there is paralleled only by
the sense of having one of those life-defining moments as you survey your surrounds
and thank God you’re alive. Down below, there’s an incredibly good spa, a fleet of
restaurants, and easy access to the beach across the road. Talk about arriving with

your bum in the butter! themarly.co.za

52 65 98After Wakanda Words: Keith Bain, Picture: Charles Russell
Coconut Kelz does Jozi Telling African tales
74 86 109PLUS Beyond mud huts
Iron man, golden heart Photographing pups

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AFRICAN

BUCKET LIST

Visiting all those over-hyped, over-hashtagged
destinations is so last year. Start a new bucket list

with a focus on Africa, where part of the prize is
visiting places most people haven’t even heard of –
plus the chance to get caught up in the pageantry of
unfamiliar festivals or lose yourself in a ‘flamingle’

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UNDISCOVERED
WONDERS

São Tomé and Príncipe, also called
Africa’s Eden, is one of Africa’s least visited
countries. These two tropical islands float
in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Gabon.
Príncipe is heavily forested and is tiny
(a mere 142 square kilometres). The island
is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the
phonolite towers are a must-see. Take
a boat trip past the Bais das Agulhas to
experience this incredible sight – you will
be won over.

The Rufiju River flowing through the
Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania is
a sight to behold. It flows into the Indian
Ocean opposite Mafia Island. You can also
visit Stiegler’s Gorge, a canyon that’s
some 100 metres deep and over 100
metres wide. The gorge was named after
a Swiss explorer who was killed here by an
elephant in 1907, but don’t let that put you
off one of the walking safaris that you can
join in the park.

If you only add one notch to your bucket
list this year, make it Kubu Island, a unique
and untouched place of extreme beauty.
This dry, crescent-shaped granite rock
(kubu means ‘large rock’) located
in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pan is
a national monument and considered
a sacred site by the indigenous people of
the area. There are mining towns nearby,
but this place is glorious and unspoiled with
ancient baobab trees and, on three sides,
surrounded by absolute nothingness. It’s
incredibly atmospheric and you can camp
there – in fact, do stay overnight, because
when the moon reflects off the rocks and
the white surface of the surrounding pan,
it’s quite ghostly.

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 53

Disc world Straddling the DRC and Tanzania,
In Ethiopia’s Omo and stretching from Zambia to Burundi,
Valley, a woman Lake Tanganyika is a large, long
wears the traditional freshwater lake hemmed in by the
ornaments and lip mountains of Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
plate of the Mursi Mahale Mountains National Park,
adjacent the lake on the Tanzania side,
tribe can only be reached by boat and is
one of few parks in Africa that permits
54 JANUARY 2020 guided walks. Here you’ll find one of
the largest remaining populations of
wild chimpanzees in the world. Not
only that, but it is also the only place
where chimps and lions cohabitate.

Southern Ethiopia is sliced
through by the Great Rift Valley –
the resulting trail of lakes offers
up crocodile-, hippo- and bird-
watching – and immensely rewarding
landscapes. The real highlight is
meeting the ethnic people of the
Lower Omo Valley, an experience
that was close to impossible 20
years ago. It remains one of the most
remote destinations on the continent
although improved infrastructure and
road access means that visitors can
now come to see ways of living that
have changed little in hundreds of
years. It’s here that you’ll encounter
the Mursi pastoralists who stretch
their lower lips by wearing enormous
discs, the Karo who beautify their
bodies with paintings, and the
Ukuli Bula (‘Jumping of the Bulls’)
ceremony practiced by Hamer and
Banna boys. This coming-of-age rite
involves leaping – naked – across as
many as 30 bulls, lined up side-
by-side. The boys are whipped and
teased by the women if they fall, and
if they succeed, they have to repeat
the task four times.

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FULL-ON January, Ethiopians re-enact Christ’s of Wisdom’ and it’s a generous mash-up
FESTIVALS baptism in the Jordan River during the of old and new, bringing together a wide
country’s most vibrant festival. On the diversity of African music and culture in
Forget zombies, Vodun is a legitimate eve of the Epiphany, priests in ceremonial a paradisiacal setting with performances
religion borrowing heavily from Nigeria’s garb carry sacred replicas of the Ark in historical buildings. It’s happening from
Yoruba mythology. Its followers of the Covenant, and lead a vibrant 13 to 16 February and features Zanzibar’s
(including 60% of Benin’s population) parade culminating at the medieval taarab orchestras as well as African
believe the worlds of the living and the baths outside the city. At 2am, a liturgy film screenings, fashion shows, parties
dead are intertwined, so there’s much is performed and as the sun begins to and assorted traditional music concerts.
honouring of spirits. At Ouidah’s rise, the water is blessed and faithful There’s also a great festival market.
Voodoo Festival in Benin each January, congregants jump into the bath as an busaramusic.org
festivities open with a ceremonial goat- act of symbolic baptism. This year, the
slaughtering, and then lively celebration festival happens on 20 January. Don’t discount the altered states
follows, with everything from dancing to at Africa’s version of Burning Man.
gin-drinking to horse-racing on the beach. Now in its 17th year, Sauti za Busara AfrikaBurn in the Tankwa Karoo is
benin-tourisme.com is an annual celebration held in Stone a kind of zany vision of utopia, where art
Town, Zanzibar. The name means ‘Sounds and survival and a sense of community
At Timkat, in the city of Gondar each

Spirited away
In Benin, Vodun
believers gear up as
Egoun-goun spirits as
part of the Revenant

ceremony

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DESTINATION NEXT EXPLORE

supersede commerce and materialism. the great famine that occurred in pre- camels preferring to do their own thing
Each year (27 April to 3 May this year), colonial Ghana. The celebration begins with entirely, their jockeys helpless to steer
a patch of Karoo desert is occupied by the sowing of millet in May, with a 30-day them towards the finish line. Sometimes,
thousands of ‘Burners’ – they arrive with ban on drumming as the noise might hinder the ships of the desert go in completely the
their Bedouin tents, dress-up costumes, the crops. After the ban is lifted, a party wrong direction. It’s all great fun, though,
contraptions that swing gigantic balls of with drumming, traditional dances and and if you bring your mountain bike, you can
fire through the air, and everything they even a bicycle race ensues. tackle the course concurrently as there’s
need to endure. The result is a kind of now a bike race along with plenty more
massive, immersive, living art installation The Maralal International Camel excitement and electric energy.
fuelled by a desire to reimagine the world. If Derby in Kenya is a three-day funfest
only they’d learn to pick up all their rubbish held just outside the town of Maralal in The Lake of Stars Festival in Malawi
before leaving. afrikaburn.com August. Here you can watch professional is like Glastonbury, but without the mud,
and amateur jockeys race and celebrate queues or craziness. Here you get to
At the Homowo Festival in and partake in a camel ride or two. A great experience niche Malawian acts as well
Ghana, the Ga tribe celebrate harvest surprise is that usually at the start of the as contemporary African musicians
in a remembrance event. The festival amateur race, there is – rather than a quick performing on the rolling white sands of
commemorates and celebrates the end of getaway – a great deal of confusion, with the northern shore of Lake Malawi. Held

Lake of Stars
Although it began
appearing on Portuguese maps
soon after a trader mentioned
a ‘lake that looks like the sea’ in his
journal in 1616, it was Livingstone
who first referred to Lake Malawi as
the ‘Lake of Stars’ because of the
effect of fishermen’s lanterns
that dazzle its surface

after dark

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EXPLORE DESTINATION NEXT

annually in September, the festival is at dervishes, Balinese gamelan orchestras, In Niger each year in September,
Kachere Kastle, a lodge built in the style gypsy bands, and jam sessions mixing Wodaabe nomads gather at the Sahara’s
of a Moroccan castle – by day you can gospel choirs with Japanese Shinto edge for the Wodaabe Gerewol,
gaze across the crystal-clear waters, court musicians and Andean flautists, all essentially a ritualised male beauty
and at night witness the stars glittering of which you can see (and hear) at the pageant. Central to festivities is men
off the lake’s surface. It is carefully Fes Festival of World Sacred Music dressing up as women, donning leather
curated and expertly executed, and which is a highlight on the Moroccan skirts, elaborate headdresses, and
the atmosphere is unrivalled. Recently cultural calendar. Don’t miss Sufi Nights, face paint accentuating their natural
introduced is the Lake of Stars Discovery, a concert commencing at 11pm in the handsomeness. Then they put on
a boutique-scale festival for those who gardens of Dar Tazi, nor the parties, a colourful show to impress potential
like things more intimate. lakeofstars.org concerts and art exhibitions in the wives, chanting, singing and performing
cedar-scented gardens of the Dar Batha hypnotic shoulder-to-shoulder dances
Fes, a 1 200-year-old city of medieval Museum. This year it happens from 12 to that last for ages. It’s pure, unmitigated,
buildings and ancient labyrinthine lanes, 20 June. fesfestival.com splendid pageantry.
is a fitting backdrop to the whirling

58 JANUARY 2020 Hot steppers
Niger’s Wodaabe
Gerewol is easily
the continent’s most
wondrous beauty
pageant for men

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DESTINATION NEXT EXPLORE

Words: Mart-Marié du Toit, Pictures: johnrandallalves/istock.com, pawopa3336/istock.com, HomoCosmicos/istock.com, 1051523122/istock.com,Fabio Burrelli/istock.com,, #WHEREAMI?
Frederico Santa Martha/istock.com, Henk Bogaard/istock.com
You’ll be amazed at the amazing Insta-spots
that the millennials aren’t yet crowding
around. Nothing says Africa like a baobab
tree, right?

So how about more than 20 of them lining
the road? The Avenue of the Baobabs
stands next to the dirt road between
Morondova and Belon’i Tsiribihina in the
Menabe region of western Madagascar. It is
widely considered to be the most beautiful
road in Madagascar, and stretches for 260
very bumpy metres, although the urge to take
photographs should slow you down enough
to lessen the jolts.

Lake Retba in Senegal is one of the few
pink lakes in the world. Also called Lac Rose
by locals, it has an extremely high saline
count and gets its colour from safe bacteria
in the water, which produce a red pigment
to absorb sunlight. For ultimate Insta-
worthiness, visit in the dry season, between
November and June.

Adventurers unite! Angola’s Serra da
Leba pass has an elevation of 1 845 metres
above sea level. The most challenging
part of the climb is a 1.7-km section with
seven hairpin turns. It’s worth it for the view
from the top, but make sure you have an
experienced driver behind the wheel.

No matter how long you’re there for,
you’ll inevitably want to extend your stay in
Morocco’s Draa Valley. This green oasis in
the middle of the rocky landscape feels and
looks unreal and you won’t struggle to take
the perfect jealousy-inducing selfie.

Get your pink on at Lake Nakuru in
the Rift Valley’s eponymous national park
in Kenya. This soda lake is famous for its
flamingo population which can swell to as
many as two million birds in the dry season,
creating a pink haze across the surface of the
lake. Can you say ‘flamingle’?

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BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY EXPLORE

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Take her Comedy club? The best spot for comedy When I want to be perceived as
advice with in SA is the Melville Comedy Club. The intellectually superior, I go to…
a pinch first time I went there was 27 April Parliament.
of salt… 2019 when I hosted my first stand-up
show, The Coconut Show. I was so scared Least favourite place? It’s not
A quickie with Kelz beforehand and actually couldn’t believe a place but I don’t do charity work
Donovan Goliath knew who I was but also anymore. People are just so sad there,
Best thing about Joburg? I love how offered pep talks to calm my nerves. We it’s a bummer.
fancy Joburg is. Well, I’ve only been to performed to a full house, the audience
Sandton, but I assume the rest of it looks was so supportive and Donovan, Tats Favourite market? It used to be
like my mansion. Nkonzo, and Robby Collins even Fourways Farmers’ Market,
jumped on stage because of the gees but the last time I went there,
Where to stay? When my important of the night. Best. Night. Ever.
overseas friends come to stay, there’s I saw someone use her own
only one place I recommend, and Secret spot? My best weave as a weapon in a fight.
that’s my house. I have sooo much place in Joburg for That was the last time.
space and you can’t trust anywhere a confidential get-
else. I live on a public road that has together is in the secret Shopping? Sandton City.
added an illegal boom gate and my offices that Helen The pulse of the line of
neighbours constantly stop the sisis on organised for the party on Caucus. But also Hyde
the road to ask them what they are doing the corners of Slegs and Park Corner because it’s
there, even though they mostly work on Blankes streets. so expensive, it keeps out
that road. So it’s very safe. plebs. Just for context, bread
Quick getaway? is R2 400.
Culture fix? My favourite cultural place My favourite out-of-town
is the new Rivonia Treason trail. Great getaway is Orania. It’s Meditation? I go to the Helen
place to go hiking and keep fit. Gym beautiful in the springtime shrine in my room and pray to
culture is great. and it’s my favourite town her. She grants my wishes.
to get away from… it all.
A little anecdote: they tried Final word? Please can people stop
to lynch me once because thinking I’m from Cape Town. I’m
I’m only white on the inside. a Jozi princess through and through.
Shame! LOL! I admire the Cape’s racism but I’m still
very much 011.

JOBURG’S THREE ESSENTIAL MEMORY PALACES

1 Apartheid Museum. I’m 2 Constitution Hill. Look, 3 Market eatre. Some
not sentimental, but every I don’t like to leave Sandton, of my best friends are
white person needs to know. but there is nowhere better struggling actors. Some of
Because once upon a time this for a bout of serious re ection them are blacks who can quote
stu wasn’t in a museum. and contemplation. Shakespeare. Supporting them is
apartheidmuseum.org constitutionhill.org.za so progressive. markettheatre.co.za

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Finding Parliament. Okay, I know what you’re
food with thinking. But, no, this is not that place in
Kelz Cape Town where everyone’s constantly
at one another’s neck and some grizzled
Look, I’m a hungertarian which means I don’t eat. And I don’t have lady’s calling for order. The only orders
a favourite restaurant. If I get hungry, I just look at a photo of Taylor being placed here are for food and drinks.
Swift and that’s enough to put me back on track. My fave café is This is a perfectly respectable steakhouse-
actually my own kitchen. Sisi knows exactly how to make my favourite type place in good old respectable
pumpkin spiced white tears latte. And she leaves her home at 3am Parkmore, in the heart of Sandton. Civilised,
just to make it on time for me to wake up to. She’s the best! reserved, soothing, and the flame-grilled
Still, if you really must go out for a meal, Joburg has a few surprises steaks are as tender as the serving staff.
over and above the Spur, which I still love for their conservativism Or so I’m told, because I really don’t eat.
(I mean, isn’t the menu precisely the same as it was in the 1980s? Ever. They do what is called ‘live-fire’
I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t even born then, but I’ve heard rumours). cooking, which sounds barbaric and
primitive, but is exactly the same as what
that chap David Higgs does at Marble
where a lot of my rich friends hang out.
parliamentrestaurant.co.za

Thief. Okay, the name is a bit off-putting.
Sometimes it feels like we have enough
skebengas without giving them their own
restaurant. But this wine bar actually
has a pretty decent reputation. It’s cosy,
comfy, and although done out in a lot of
dark colours so you have to keep your eyes
peeled for people hiding in the corners, the
bistro grub is apparently very good. Still, I’d
hold onto my purse. thiefrestaurant.co.za

The Marabi Club. Okay, so let’s be honest,
as far as dark-skinned chefs go, no-one can
hold a candle to Vusi Ndlovu.

LAST ROUNDS

Guys, I’ve written a book. I’m not saying I’m a geek or whatever, but I don’t have time to be
staying up late dinking and getting down with my homies. Or with anyone for that matter.
Still, I think it’s worth mentioning that only one bar in the entire country made it onto the
latest list of the world’s top 100 bars. I don’t know who makes up these lists, but I am sure
by the time you’ve gotten tipsy in the rst couple of hundred bars, they all start to look the
same. Anyway, I’m happy for Sin+Tax in Rosebank which made the list. It’s behind
a little restaurant called Coalition and there’s this cute bartender (or, as we white folks say,
‘mixologist’) named Julian Short who has had experience in a wild array of foreign lands from
Sweden to Mexico, Scotland to Cuba. Apparently, the drinks are next level. sintaxbar.com

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BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY EXPLORE

proverbial day. Still, I’m told that Dish Vusi KELZ’S MAIN FLAMES
brings a lot of class to the game, so you can
happily bring all your Euro-carrying friends I think this is amingly
along, although there is jazz and pizza, too! obvious, but of course
themarabiclub.com Trevor Noah is my
number one main guy.
What a dish! (See what Epicure. Like me, the stunning Chef As someone in the satire
I did there? I mean he Coco is very tan on the outside but space who is trying her hardest to
prepares dishes for plays a solid European game on work on making the late-night type
a living, but he’s a dish the inside. I mean the guy grew of satirical-based show relevant
himself. LOL!) Now, up somewhere in central in SA, seeing him doing it on the
I don’t, as a rule, hang Africa and speaks international stage is an inspiration.
out much in what is French and has He’s also the rst African comedian
known as the inner city all that culture to ll up Madison Square Garden.
of Joburg, aka the Dark running through I think it’s easy to forget how young
and Frightening CBD, his veins. He’s he is with everything he has achieved.
but Maboneng is an been very clever And he has kept his same circle tight
oasis of cool, as my to bring recipes here van toeka af. Where’s my guitar?
white friends all from across the continent. I feel a ballad coming on… Oh,
like to say. They can So there’s guinea fowl wait, I don’t play guitar, shucks.
park safely and mill about carefree, prepared in a Congolese My favourite
exploring galleries and boutiques and style, and he does steaks artist right now
even spend the night in the 12 Decades rubbed with Egyptian is undoubtedly
Hotel. This restaurant and bar is in the dukkah. If I was into food Sho Madjozi. Not
basement of Hallmark House, also a very in any way, I’d probably work just because she made
zhoosh hotel designed by David Adjaye, my way through one of his north XiTsonga go from
the world-famous British-Ghanaian African tagines (Morocco is so a language that was the butt of
architect (sorry to drop names, but what close to Europe it almost doesn’t many a tribalist joke, to the coolest
can I say?). The menu is small and is language in South Africa. Also
inspired by old-school (and, might I add, qualify as African, but still), and for her career trajectory… I mean she’s
totally illegal) shebeens from back in the anyone curious about what Ethiopians a global superstar because of how
have been doing in their kitchens for true she has been to Africa and
thousands of years, Coco has the her message of African pride and
answers and they are apparently sound. And lastly, I love how
delicious. Oh, yes, and if you do have politically aware and engaged she
dark-skinned friends, you can treat them is. Another ode!
to a display of your awareness of local
dishes, too: just figure out how to pronounce And then, of course,
umphokoqo and amasi before trying to there’s Lesego
order for them. Otherwise, there are vetkoek Tlhabi. Okay, so she’s
fritters which you should be able to wrap actually my alter ego,
your tongue around. epicurerestaurant.co.za but shhh, don’t tell
anyone, okay! ey
Roving Bantu Kitchen. I had my say you’ve got to love
misgivings about recommending this dining yourself, and I’m
‘experience’. Just hearing the word Bantu running with that.
can freak out some white people, She’s steadily building her career
as a stand-up comedian and with
me inside of her, she’s poised for
something. Maybe even greatness.
I really must stop talking about
her, me, in the third person.

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EXPLORE BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY

LESEGO’S TRAVEL and I’m probably the food is marvellous. If you’re into food, Interview: Keith Bain, Pictures: Sven Kristian, Supplied
ADVISORY one of them. But that is. I’m not. saxon.co.za
once we calm down
I genuinely thought that being asked and once we get Impi Brewing Co. Please stop
if you have a lion in your backyard was over the thought of laughing. I have nothing against all the
an urban legend to illustrate (speci cally) leaving Sandton for Zulu inspiration. And you won’t believe
American ignorance. But when I was in supper, this turns out how much your friends from England
New York, a family from South Carolina to be a very woke and New York will love all the ‘exotic’
night out (and when paraphernalia. Fortunately, it’s not just
kept interrupting our conversation I say ‘woke’, I also the beads-and-spears decor that’s
to express surprise at my grasp of mean stay awake, authentic (LOL!) but they are making
English if I’m from Africa. It even got to because you never beers that really taste of Zululand and
them Googling ‘Johannesburg’ at my know what can the pizzas are made according to a recipe
insistence and then almost collapsing at happen in strange that Shaka himself gave to his people.
seeing pictures of high-rise buildings, neighbourhoods, am I right?). I’m told that Okay, I’m sorry, I’m rolling on the floor
mansions, and people wearing suits the menu is forever changing (which is not right now. But please try it out and let me
and ‘normal cotton clothing’. Bruh! as dodgy as it sounds), and even though know. impibrewingco.com
I lived away from South Africa – in the kitchen might serve you something
London – for three years, so I had called African beef stew, the flavours are Queen of Sheba. In Norwood, which
a long period of just missing things. said to be so gratifying and pleasing that is where I go to visit a lot of my Jewish
When you’re away, you really miss the you’ll be dreaming of your next visit. It’s friends, I’m told that this Ethiopian
warmth of South African people. And a bit like going on a culinary trip across restaurant is even better than flying
you’re forced to come to terms with the the continent, so it’s ideal if you want to halfway across the continent to eat on
fact that even our worst winter is better show just how in touch you are with the the streets of Addis Ababa. I can’t be sure,
than any northern hemisphere winter. whole ubuntu thing. rovingbantu.co.za because I’ve never been to either, but I
I also miss (and I can’t believe I’m do admire any place that’s named after
going to use this word) our gees. Qunu. Okay, so I’m not 100% sure how a powerful woman. And although my
South Africans love fun and are fun. I feel about the way Madiba’s home disinterest in eating generally would keep
at said, we still have some way to go. village was appropriated as a name for me away from the food, I’d probably take
Being a black person in South Africa this larney restaurant at a certain very full advantage of the Ethiopian coffee they
makes travelling to ‘unique’ and ‘remote’ fancy hotel in Sandhurst (the Saxon, okay serve here. ethiopianqueensheba.co.za
places a constant adventure. e question – which is great for a pedi or mani, FYI!).
always running through my head is: I’d suggest reserving a table here when
‘Will I have a super-cute small-town
experience or will I get denied service?’ your rich white friends
So I tend to roll the dice and choose the insist on
Instagrammiest place. I’ve been most paying.
pleasantly surprised by the corner of the And then
Eastern Cape that’s still very ‘ja, bru’. make sure
I’m talking about the Tsitsikamma, you don’t
St Francis Bay, Kenton-on-Sea…
ey’re beautiful and relatively eat for a few
untouched, so if you can days before the big
nd an Airbnb that actually night. You really will
accepts you (in many hotels, want to get your
everywhere, other guests money’s worth
will assume you’re service because apparently
sta ), you can have the

best time!

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IF YOU BUILD IT… EXPLORE

Some people think that
African architecture starts
with the pyramids of Giza
in Egypt and ends with The
Palace of the Lost City at

Sun City, with mud huts
and Montecasino filling in

the gaps. ‘Aikona!’ says
architect Craig Hayman

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 75

razil has Oscar Niemeyer, whose Even Australia, where men are men climate and geography and particular
seductive concrete curves drew and sheep are nervous, has its unrivalled moments in time than the impact of any
inspiration from the bodies of Brazilian architect-saint. It was Glenn Murcutt, specific creative figure. And, of course, if
women and the voluptuous landscape of who distilled the essence of no-nonsense we talk about those pyramids, then it was
Rio de Janeiro. Mexico has Luis Barragán, outback farmsteads into elegant pavilions either aliens or the work of generations
who turned concrete, water and colour in glass and steel that helped the world that got the seemingly impossible done.
into poetic structures that finely balance recognise Australia as something more The carved churches of Lalibela in
discipline and chaos, and that helped than a cultural vacuum. Ethiopia, meanwhile, were apparently
Mexicans to re-evaluate their pre-colonial built by angels in the night. No need to
architectural legacy. In Africa, it’s harder to pinpoint any name the architect there.
individual architect whose buildings
have come to define the architectural There are, of course, a considerable
character of any one country. Durban number of modern-era architects who
has its Art Deco hotels and office blocks have made their mark. Peter Rich’s
and Morocco has its medinas, but these Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre
stylistic groupings have more to do with (which won the World Building of the

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The square BACK TO THE FUTURE
in the blue city
of Chefchaouen in From the Ganvie lake village in Benin, where homes are raised high above water on stilts and are accessible
Morocco; and (below) only by boat, to Southern Africa’s Ndebele and Pedi people whose homes are decorated in bold geometric
the Great Mosque in patterns and colours, Africa’s vernacular building languages are splendidly diverse. is is due, in part,
Djenne, Mali to a history of regional isolation. Across the continent, people developed unique ways of building based
on available materials, local climate, landscape, and cultural beliefs. Within the pantheon of mud-hut
buildings alone, there’s staggering diversity. e Dogon people of Mali, for example, have for centuries
used adobe (mud or clay) to cra buildings imbued with great beauty, originality, practicality – and quirky
playfulness. Imagine crocodile gargoyles, so tactile curves, and elaborate and deeply meaningful murals,
spread across hundreds of handcra ed buildings folded artfully into dramatic canyons and cli sides, all of
which are de ly adapted to withstand and respond to searing heat and wind.

Move further south and you encounter Musgum mud huts in Cameroon. ese combine the genius of
the catenary arch (used centuries later by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona), striking red and black colouration,
and bold geometric relief patterns reminiscent of scari cation.

To the east in present-day Egypt and northern Sudan are the ancient Nubian vaults. is elegant
building form (similar to that used by architectural demigod Le Corbusier in his Parisian Jaoul houses)
goes back over 3 500 years in this area, and has recently been reintroduced, resulting in cooler, brighter,
better ventilated and more elegant buildings.

In fact, traditional African design is referenced in a range of highly acclaimed contemporary projects
these days. In architect Peter Rich’s Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre in northern South Africa, there
are echoes of the curved stone passages and deeply layered spaces of Great Zimbabwe. In Bosjes Chapel
in the Cape Winelands, designed by Steyn Studio, you can see the same balance of light and dark, framed
views and a relationship to water that’s seen in many Cape Dutch buildings, but poetically reimagined
with contemporary design and construction techniques. In the drop-dead gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent
museum in Marrakesh there are numerous parallels with the Great Mosque at Timbuktu, and with
traditional Moorish riads and public squares in Morocco.

‘Afrofuturism has been a buzzword,’ says architect Y Tsai of Cape Town’s Tsai Design Studio, ‘we even
have clients including “Afrocentric” in the brief.’ Tsai says architecture shouldn’t follow aesthetic or stylistic
trends because ‘six months down the line, these trends start to push away’. However, he believes that – as
a guiding philosophy – Afrocentrism has great potential. ‘If one designs responsibly, you draw on local
resources, you reference the old culture of the area. It’s actually about creating a kind of identity. It’s not
about creating structures that scream “African” but rather about producing something amazing and
modern using elements that are contextually relevant to Africa.’

Year Award in 2009) gets it right on all
levels. Conceptually brilliant, it’s a serious
borrowing from indigenous traditions
and practices that have been historically
undermined or considered primitive. And
it’s humbling to see how these have been
translated into a 21st-century context. He
didn’t simply go for the usual thatched-
roof rondavel typology, but marries
traditional building design philosophies
with serious hi-tech strategies. It’s
a building that is both very inspiring
and deeply humbling.

Other noteworthy buildings are those
by Issy Benjamin in Durban, such as

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 77



IF YOU BUILD IT… EXPLORE

Far-out
sleeps

Adventurous African
accommodations designed

for future-forward
travellers

Las Vegas on the beachfront. His buildings all pick up on a kind of Brazilian near- TULUDI, BOTSWANA
exoticism that emerges in tropical environments. Working in the 1960s, he was
creating buildings with flair while catering to the needs of ordinary users, designing In the Okavango Delta’s Khwai Private
primarily flats and hotels. Reserve, this gorgeous lodge was in
fact designed by Craig Hayman (who
The Mick Pearce-designed Eastgate Centre, a shopping and office complex in wrote this story). It’s super-swanky
Harare, is 35 years old but a beautiful example of sustainability and biomimicry, created
way before those concepts became catchphrases. It features a natural cooling system that’s and exceptionally intimate, with
based on termite mounds so demonstrates how architects can learn directly from nature. Portuguese just seven treehouse-style tented
architect Pancho Guedes spent enough time in Mozambique to create some of what is unquestionably rooms linked by meandering
the finest 20th-century architecture in Africa. A favourite is the beautiful, playful Sagrada Familia wooden boardwalks
(pictured above) built outside Maputo in the 1960s. It’s the most exquisite church with an set in a grove of
astonishing use of curvilinear and orthogonal geometry. In ways, it is the equivalent to leadwoods. Each comes
Frank Lloyd Wright’s best work in the USA. Built to a modest budget, it’s been very well with a private pool on
maintained – testament to the local community’s respect for the building. a massive veranda,
hanging basket chairs
In South Africa, there’s a lasting legacy of buildings attributed to English architect and sunken lounge. It
Herbert Baker, plus we have all those Cape Dutch buildings (and their modern includes plenty of novelty,
knock-offs) that are essentially a combination of European style and responses too, such as a treehouse
to the vagaries of local climate. There’s plenty of evidence of the horror show of library, elevated four metres
apartheid-era architecture that produced concrete monsters that seem hell-bent up. Plus, you have access to a
on scaring passersby – or anyone who enters for that matter. And while bad taste and
greed continue to underscore any number of high-rise building designs, there are a number reserve measuring half-a-million
of architects working today whose interest is in using design to solve social inequality issues, acres that’s shared with only two
pretty the landscape, or respond to the growing crisis around climate change, environmental decay other lodges. naturalselection.travel
and human congestion. For evidence, just look at the ideas put out by the likes of Mokena Makeka,
known for spearheading a plan to sink Cape Town’s train station underground in order to OMAANDA, NAMIBIA

is French-owned lodge in
a private game reserve adjacent

Windhoek comprises 10 luxury
‘huts’ that are cra ed to imitate
traditional design – they
have conical thatched
roofs and irregularly
plastered rounded walls
for a handmade feel. For
the rest, it’s superbly chic,
with lush bedding and
double-sided wood-burning
replaces, just with a huge
dollop of faux rusticity that

adds to the sense of place. ere’s
an in nity pool from which to watch
oryxes and baboons at the water
hole, a gorgeous open-air restaurant,
a spa, a host of possible excursions.
zannierhotels.com

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 79

EXPLORE IF YOU BUILD IT…

BISATE LODGE, RWANDA promote city densification by creating more residential space where railway lines
currently cover valuable real estate.
Opened in 2017, these beautifully There have truly been some wondrous creations on African soil: a must-see is
conceived forest villas are unlike the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, designed by Scandinavian firm Snøhetta;
anything you’ve ever seen, with it’s a worthy successor to Alexander the Great’s ancient library. Positioned
a unique architecture and at the edge of the sea, it features a large, curving granite wall engraved with
imaginative interiors. Situated 120 different kinds of pictographs and lettering and set against a magnificent
on a hill with views of the reflecting pool, it’s roof tilted out towards the Mediterranean like a sundial.
Bisoke, Karisimbi and The cascading interior is shrewdly lit from above and features perfect jet black
Mikeno volcanoes, the focus Zimbabwean granite panels. And, of course, there’s Cape Town’s Zeitz MOCAA,
is on treks to see one of the
10 habituated gorilla families whose transformation from grain silo to international museum was spearheaded by
in Volcanoes National Park. British sculpture-architect Thomas Heatherwick. Also in Cape Town, Y Tsai’s design for the
Guests are also able to visit the Zip Zap Circus School is another innovative take on institutional design that can be fresh and
‘Twin Lakes’ of Ruhondo and visually captivating. Plus, there are trailblazers such as PE-based Kenyan Kevin Kimwelle –
Burera and the lava tunnels of the who is working with unusual construction materials such as ecobricks made from plastics that
Musanze Caves, or take excursions would otherwise be thrown away – winning awards for buildings that are beautiful, low-cost and
to Iby’wacu cultural village and the
research centre established here by answering urgent social and ecological needs.
Dian Fossey. wilderness-safaris.com And there’s Mariam Kamara, an architect who, in her design for a housing project
in Niger’s capital city, came up with an interesting solution that responds to the
SHIPWRECK LODGE, region’s unique issues. Because high-rise towers and apartment buildings
NAMIBIA are not culturally appropriate for the area, the project took inspiration from
pre-colonial cities such as Timbuktu – organic layouts that maintain a sense of
The name says it all. On the seemingly privacy. Plus, the results are quite beautiful (pictured above).
haunted Skeleton Coast, these 10 villas Of course, in recent years, Africa has produced world-famous contemporary
on the beach dunes are designed to architects. David Adjaye was born in Tanzania, but has lived most of his life in
look like they were washed up on England and speaks with a British accent. Nevertheless, he has brought Africa
shore after miserable weather
and fierce seas bashed the
hell out of a ship. Except, the
wooden hull-like structures
actually contain super-
luxurious digs and your hosts
line up all kinds of ways of
exploring this remote end-of-
the-world place. Possibly one of
the most novel hotels you’ll
ever experience.
naturalselection.travel

NYAMATUSI CAMP,
ZIMBABWE

Situated in the far-eastern part of
Mana Pools, this lodge is spread out
along a long stretch of the Zambezi
River. From the unique tented suites
– each is a mix of corrugated iron and
canvas and see-through walls, with
a generous deck and plunge pool
– you have an enchanted view
of the water and, of course,
all the wildlife that treads
towards it. Staffers treat you
like gold, and will take you
on incredible game drives
or bush walks to see the
reserve’s world-famous wild
dogs, plus plenty of other beasts.
africanbushcamps.com

80 JANUARY 2020 kulula.com





IF YOU BUILD IT… EXPLORE

KRUGER SHALATI,
SOUTH AFRICA

You’ll have to wait until June before
you can check in, but Shalati,
currently under construction,
is set to be a mind-bender.
It’s a collection of 13
restored train carriages
permanently perched on
the Selati railway bridge
that spans the Sabie River,
not far from Skukuza
Rest Camp within Kruger
National Park. There’ll
be 24 luxury rooms in the
refurbished carriages, plus

another seven rooms on the land
adjacent the bridge. And, yes, there’s
even a pool deck planned – midway
along the bridge. krugershalati.com

Additional words: Keith Bain, Mart-Marie du Toit, Pictures: Supplied, Balate Dorin/istock.com, Elfenpfote/istock.com, to the world. Many of his buildings reference Africa, either obliquely or directly, as with his design of THE HIGHLANDS,
Elena-studio/istock.com, trevkitt/istock.com, Angel Daniel/istock.com, Taha Sayeh/istock.com, Adam Letch the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, which drew TANZANIA
inspiration from Yoruba sculpture.
If you’ve never thought of Africa
Similarly, Francis Kéré was born in a small village in Burkina Faso, but has gone on to as being future-forward, you
international fame including being awarded the prestigious Aga Kahn Award for Architecture, and haven’t seen the futuristic
a recent visiting professorship at Yale’s School of Architecture. Kéré, like Adjaye, has returned to dwellings at this astonishing
Africa with a global perspective, and has used his skills to uplift local communities. His buildings in and intimate luxury camp
West Africa are really worth a good look, especially his schools in Gando, the village where in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro
he was born. These buildings transcend the traditional/modern divide – a challenge jungle. Comprising tented
most architects fail to engage, let alone succeed at. They are firmly rooted in an pods that mimic traditional
understanding of local culture, but translated through contemporary practices to Masai forts, they come
offer a ‘new’ architecture rooted in its time and place. with all the luxuries you
could dream of (including
And, of course, Kéré continues to inspire the rest of the world with creations fireplaces and hide rugs on the
that take their cue from the motherland. Often, it’s the simplicity of his designs wooden floors), coupled with
that takes the breath away, or the manner in which nature’s influence can be
discerned. Take his commission for last year’s Coachella, for example. There, at potential views of lions, leopards,
a polo ranch in California where wannabe celebrities prance around an outdoor music elephants, black rhino and Cape
festival trying to maximise their Instagram likes, Kéré was asked to design a pavilion as a buffalo though the see-through
kind of functional artwork for partygoers to enjoy. His response was a structure called Sarbalé walls. asiliaafrica.com
Ke (‘House of Celebration’), an abstraction of 12 baobab trees (pictured above), the tallest tower rising
19 metres off the ground. By day, the towers provided deeply shaded spaces for revellers to rest and
gather. By night, they were illuminated, their colourful geometric patterns glowing against the night
sky. Designed to bring joy and tantalise the eye, the installation was something beyond beautiful; it
was ethereal. And this from a man who grew up in a Saharan village where not a single person could
read or write. This is what Africa can do.

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 83





His path was forged by
accident, melded from iron

will and titanium spirit

86 86 JANUARY 2020 kulula.com

WHERE THERE’S A WILL EXPLORE

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WHERE THERE’S A WILL EXPLORE

t the tender age of 24,
Alywn Uys’s life was
thrown off course when

A a car accident left his
legs paralysed. At first it
killed his spirit too, then
the brain worked its magic, his powers
slowly rekindled, and – ultimately – an
Ironman emerged.

‘I think most people would be afraid
to say they’re glad it happened,’ says
Uys, and yet he admits that having
to adapt to a new way of life has
compelled him to strive for a richer,
more rewarding exsistence.

Uys had graduated with a degree
in financial management from
Stellenbosch University, where he’d
played rugby with hopes of turning
professional. But that was scuppered
by a shoulder injury and in 2014
he was working in his family’s fruit
exporting business.

Then he crashed his car, and
regained consciousness to learn he
was paralysed. A bleak year followed,
with the inevitable depression,
hopelessness, and a swirling morass
of anger, bitterness, self-pity and
existential questions with no
real answers.

‘It was difficult because you’re
looking for answers all over and you
don’t find the answers that you’re
looking for. The reality is that it’s
happened and you can’t reverse it. But
you’re in denial and have this hope
inside you that you can turn back the
clock,’ he remembers.

Fast forward five years, and Uys is
showing his former, able-bodied self
a thing or two. Thanks to a newfound
determination, he completed a Half
Ironman (1.9km sea swim, 90.1km bike
ride, 21.1km run) in Durban last June,

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EXPLORE WHERE THERE’S A WILL

and has since been training full-steam for athlete – it’s completely ridiculous,’ he Shifting gears
at least three races in 2020. Among them says. ‘After the car accident, that whole
is a major international Half Ironman in dream came alive again when I realised Surviving and conquering the enormous trauma
East London. And in March, he’ll do his there are other sports I still can do.’ of paralysis has left Alwyn Uys feeling that
first full Ironman in Port Elizabeth – that’ll anything is possible.
make him the first paraplegic to do so in It certainly wasn’t easy, either mentally The experience has also made him braver. ‘It
South Africa. It won’t be easy, though – the or physically. The shift to create a new,
Ironman is among the world’s toughest active and successful life was, quite brings out all the things you were suppressing
one-day events, comprising a 3.86km literally, a painfully slow process. in the past to not do and not say and not live
swim, 180.25km bike ride and a because of the judgement of other people. When
42.2km run. ‘It wasn’t a black and white decision something like this happens, you realise that life
where one day you’re depressed and is so fragile that you don’t want to hold back on
‘It’s ironic that you not accepting this and the next anything. You think screw it, I’ve got to live.’
end your sports day you’re 100% again,’ The shift came when he took responsibility for
career because he says. what happened and made a decision to go forward.
of a silly old ‘It was a process That might be harder if a trauma wasn’t your fault
shoulder injury, of discovering that and has bred resentment, but the principle is the
and then you I can still do a lot of same, he says. ‘It’s obvious that not everybody
get paralysed things while I’m in
and create a a wheelchair. And who has an accident goes through the same
new career as then slowly regaining process – it took a hell of a lot of hard work and it
a professional my confidence still is hard work. Even if you are down or beaten
and independence. up about it or you have a sense of unforgiveness
about what happened, that isn’t going to change
your situation. The most important thing is to take

responsibility because nobody else is going to
change your life except you,’ he says.

Uys spent miserable months asking why the
accident had happened, especially to someone
so active and sporty. ‘In hindsight, I can see that

this happened to the right person,’ he says.
‘A lot of people don’t understand that, but
I realise that I’m the perfect person this could

have happened to.’
He’s turned the tragedy into a force for good
by inspiring other people through his talks
and actions. That began by documenting his
progress on social media, talking about the
accident and showing the ups and downs of his
progress. Sharing it was therapeutic for him,
and discovering that it was helping other people

was amazing, he says.
He also supports the Walking with Brandon
Foundation, a charity launched by gymnast
Brandon Beack who became a quadriplegic in an
accident, to help newly-injured people get the

help they need.
‘Touching people’s lives and changing people’s lives
is really rewarding. You feel a sense of purpose and
belonging and you know your life has meaning, and

that’s something we all search for,’ Uys says.
Now what irks him the most is able-bodied apathy.

‘I get annoyed with people who just talk about
doing things but don’t ever actually act when it
comes to goals and dreams and aspirations.’

90 JANUARY 2020 kulula.com





WHERE THERE’S A WILL EXPLORE

You can support
Alwyn Uys when he
competes in his second Half
Ironman competition in Buffalo City,
East London on 26 January. The Half
forms part of IRONMAN 70.3 South
Africa, which is part of the world’s
leading Ironman series and includes an
ocean swim and hilly cycling and running
components; it is a qualifying event
for the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World
Championship, happening in
Taupō, New Zealand later
this year. ironman.com

It gained momentum and then the race, everyone wants to do an Ironman His racing wheelchair for the Ironman
snowball just kept on growing. Before because it’s so crazy, so I liked the ‘run’ is another hi-tech piece of kit.
you know it, you’re back living a fairly challenge and it took off from there.’ ‘That’s the discipline where you need
normal life. Psychologically, that is the most custom-fit equipment that
a massive thing.’ His first cycle was a lowly creation, fits like a glove,’ he says. He built
assembled and adapted with a friend a crude model for the Durban Half
Uys got back into sports when he in his garage and terribly difficult to Ironman last year, but he’s now fund-
realised that physiotherapy wasn’t ride. Then he bought a professional raising or seeking sponsors for
a quick fix and he needed to look after paraplegic racing bike as a leap of faith a custom-built version.
his body. First, he started rowing, then to commit to a full-time sports career.
looked at what else he could compete It’s a real piece of work, custom- Swimming is the only sport where he
in. ‘I tried almost everything – shot put, made and imported from Carbonbike doesn’t need any mechanical help to be
javelin and discus – but that was quite in America, with a spec sheet that active, bestowing a wonderful sense of
boring because you just sit in one place includes carbon crank arms, 30-degree freedom. But it proved an unexpected
and do your thing.’ alum grips, a 34/50 compact chainring, challenge, because at first he found himself
an 11-speed fork-mounted gearshift, sinking. ‘The technique is a lot different
Cycling gave him the rush of speed a medium cage derailleur, a parking and it doesn’t come naturally at all. That’s
and adrenalin he was craving, and brake, safety flag, a mirror and when the competitiveness in me came out
rekindled bigger dreams. ‘Before seatbelts. It looks amazing and costs and I was thinking, “how can’t you swim?
my accident, the Ironman had been about R200 000. You have to get over this”,‘ he says.
intriguing because it’s the ultimate

kulula.com JANUARY 2020 93

EXPLORE WHERE THERE’S A WILL

Now his gruelling training regime around the world, and to become an In between, he’s retained his Words: Lesley Stones, Pictures: Supplied
takes three or four hours a day, with international speaker. old friends, made new ones on
cycling and swimming four times his life-changing journey, and has
a week, racing in the wheelchair A calmer sideline is a coffee roasting a busy social life ‘going away for
three times a week, plus gym work, business. ‘Training and being active weekends and doing adventurous
stretching and physiotherapy for go alongside with coffee because you outdoorsy things’.
strength and conditioning. can’t take any other stimulants, so
always before training I make myself What strikes you most, though, as
He’s also become a motivational coffee,’ he explains. A coffee roaster you watch this young man go after his
speaker and a brand ambassador for friend introduced him to the art and Uys dreams, is that he is happy, living – as
companies such as Biogen. His ambition created a blend for himself, which he’s they say – his best life. And striving
now is to compete in Ironman races now selling in a booming business. against the odds.

KULULA.COM ASSISTED are completely immobile should please provide and passengers with special needs need to check
PASSENGERS their own body straps. Should you require any in at least 90 minutes prior to departure.
assistance with eating or visiting the rest room,
kulula.com guests requiring special assistance you will need to travel with your own able-bodied If your flight departs within 48 hours, please
should make any requests as soon as possible assistant (aged 16 years or older). call 0861 KULULA (585852) for immediate
after booking a flight so that arrangements can assistance (7am–7pm daily).
be made accordingly. For safety reasons, wheelchair assistance
is only available from the kulula.com check-in Visually impaired travellers may fly with
Mobility devices such as wheelchairs and counters to the aircraft as well as from the their trusted guide dogs who are carried free
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the cabin, a wheelchair can be provided. 7pm through kulula.com’s Contact Centre on require a certificate for the guide dog to be shown
0861 KULULA (585852). The Contact Centre will at the check-in counter.
kulula.com offers a Passenger Aid Unit (PAU) confirm availability and make the booking. Please
service for all paraplegic and quadriplegic guests keep in mind that all special needs requests must Hearing impaired customers will be assisted
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once pre-arranged with our Contact Centre.

For further information, visit kulula.com

94 JANUARY 2020 kulula.com







I t has been said that we live the stories we tell Tale
ourselves and for the past few years, we’ve seen
a rise in the range of narratives emerging from
African creatives – people who tell our stories
in a variety of mediums and who are spinning tales
about a better tomorrow while being rooted in the
continent’s heritage, history and traditions. Some are
calling this an African take on sci-fi ‘Afrofuturism’,
which refers to a movement across the arts.

To be coined ‘Afrofuturist’, stories shouldn’t
simply centre on black protagonists, but should
celebrate black culture in all its glory, in the kind
of ways that ‘blerd’ (black nerd) favourite, Black
Panther, did. That movie had a profound effect on
popular culture by bringing conversations about black
heroes, black identity and even African fashion and
design to the fore.

This is no mean feat, as many black stories have
historically been erased, muted and ignored in
popular culture. Whether the film itself is directly
responsible or simply part of a wider narrative,
there’s certainly an upwelling of creative voices –
people from Africa who are telling their own stories
of hope and a future reimagined, whether in song,
poetry, photography or documentaries. They’re
saying, ‘This is us, and Africa is ours’.

At the forefront of the Afrofuturist movement is
Kenyan visual storyteller Osborne Macharia. He
says that ‘Afrofuturism is predicting a different kind
of future, a positive future.’ He dreams up a narrative
and chooses non-stereotypical models to create his
make-believe documentaries. His punchy Magadi
series, for example, portrays an imagined group
of women who used to circumcise female babies.
Now they rescue young girls from forced marriages
and train them as fashion designers. These African
grannies are hip, sassy and fabulously futuristic.

And while Macharia is making global waves
from his studio in East Africa, there are plenty of
storytellers close to home who are making their
voices heard…

98 JANUARY 2020 kulula.com