![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSX_ddVx_VnQg4yZSrbMPO_MVrfwLNoM6n8Da6wAlwf8xo6053eO19fkZyDrqg6y19-F7N1CqI8KytizFtWIjNh9KSFDmhhucA56uk80aioOhM5nvBX-n5AcbwOZSOFZtIDPNGt2iEc80/s400/africalionshead.jpg)
In some sense, the city filled a similar role for me on my first visit. I came to Cape Town in 2004 on a research project, the result of a lifelong fascination with Africa, and a college career in Anthropology. After spending a month completing my project in the city, I caught a bus for Namibia and began a two-month trek around the southern half of the continent. I returned in 2006 to study for a year at UCT, taking every chance I could to see a little more of Africa. In the process, I enjoyed the wide diversity offered by the continent; I camped out among an ocean of Sand in the Namib desert, sipped strong coffee in a trendy Cairo coffee-shop, and courted my boyfriend in a Swazi safari lodge. And along the way I gained a fractional sense of the people and places that make up the continent.
And now I have returned with my South African fiancé to Africa to live, perhaps permanently. Yet I almost forgot about Africa completely. Upon returning, I was so focused on developing a life in the city that I forgot how Cape Town had been for me at one time simply a gateway to the incredible countries and landscapes further inland. Over the next few entries on Primitive Culture, I’d like to present several sketches of my life in Africa. They’re not meant to prove any mastery or deep understanding of, the continent, or to make any definitive statements about its peoples. They’re only written fragments of the places that I’ve encountered. And mainly, they’re a means for me to once again rethink my home, and to develop an understanding of my position at the far Southern tip of an incredible and fascinating continent.
3 comments:
I can't wait for more! I will be the first in line to hear your views and perspectives on Africa.
I am still dreaming of Africa, so right now, I will live vicariously through you!
That photo moves me, it is so beautiful.
gosh, that is just gorgeous. i can't wait to hear all about your experience in africa-- what a fascinating continent.
also, you've been tagged on my blog if you'd like to play along. :)
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