Lalibela: Ethiopia’s Jerusalem
The Lasta mountains conceal the monastic city of Lalibela, whose temples were cut out of volcanic rock, to emulate the Holy Lands on African soil.
A dark-skinned hermit wearing a white tunic, with Bible in...
The highway to hell
The Danakil depression, in the Horn of Africa, is one of the hottest places in the world. It has only 60,000 inhabitants, and even fewer who dare to visit it.
The thermometer shows 51ºC at...
The Urban Jungle of Madagascar
If Madagascar is like an alien island because of its avenues of baobab trees and lemur population, then the capital, Antananarivo, is the gateway to another dimension.
Madagascar split off from the world a long...
Christchurch: the improvised city
Five years ago an earthquake devastated New Zealand's second largest city. But there's something it didn't destroy: the fighting character of its residents.
In Christchurch the cathedral is made of cardboard. Services and concerts are...
Where the Ganges reaches Africa
Mark Twain wrote that Mauritius was used as a model for heaven. The archipelago in the Indian Ocean is also a holy centre of Hinduism, connected to the Ganges by the gods.
First, God created...
The Tangier left behind by the Protectorate
Tangier, northern Morocco, still has spots to remind you that, during the years of the Protectorate, this was a city of splendour, and a refuge for foreigners.
The Cecil Hotel, where La Barraca, the theatre...
A continent in search of (an artistic) capital
African art is claiming its place in the world and consolidating itself in Cape Town, capital of creative expression.
“There was a collection looking for a home and a building looking for contents”. That is...
The desert that ate Kolmanskop
It had its heyday during the first half of the 20th century, thanks to the diamonds that used to be found there. Nowadays, Kolmanskop, in Namibia, is a ghost town awash with sand.
During the...
Having dinner on a rock
It used to be a simple fisherman’s shelter opposite Michanwi Pingwe beach, on the coast of Zanzibar. Nobody could ever imagine that in 2012 it would be turned into a curious restaurant that could...
A dip on the edge of the abyss
The Victoria Falls are a true spectacle in themselves, but the most intrepid travellers don’t have to settle for photographs from afar: they can dive into the “Devil’s Pool”.
The falls are located on the...
