3466 SIERRA LEONE - Man with clothes iron in Freetown

3466 Man with clothes iron in Freetown

Even if Sierra Leone is a resource-rich country, it remains among the world's poorest countries, with 2011 estimates indicating nearly 53% of Sierra Leoneans living below the poverty line, and a life expectancy of 52.2 years. I don't know when this photo was taken, but I think it's significant for the standard of living in this country. Such clothes irons (filled with hot coals, or heated in a fire or on a stove) are no longer used in Europe from 7-8 decades. 

3450 ETHIOPIA (Amhara) - Tomb of Adam - part of Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (UNESCO WHS)

Impressive in its simplicity, the Tomb of Adam is a huge square block of stone stands in a deep trench in front of the western face of Biete Golgotha Mikael (House of Golgotha Mikael). The block has been hollowed out, the ground floor serving as the western entrance to the first group of churches. The upper floor houses a hermit's cell. Again it is a cross that is the only decoration of this "tomb ". The large opening in the eastern wall provides light for the cell and has the shape of a harmonious croix pattee with flat-pitched finials.

1318, 2232, 2647, 3104, 3198 TANZANIA / KENYA - Maasai people

3104 Tanzania - Young maasai milking a cow

Posted on 26.10.2014, 22.01.2016, 03.07.2016, 01.07.2017, 16.11.2017
The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people, pastoralists, inhabiting southern Kenya (840,000) and northern Tanzania (800,000), i.e. the African Great Lakes region. They originated from the lower Nile valley and began migrating south around the 15th century. Their territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century, and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands. Followed a period of epidemics and drought (1883-1902), then the British evicted them from the fertile lands between Meru and Kilimanjaro, and most of the fertile highlands near Ngorongoro, to make room for ranches.

2647 Tanzania - Maasai men

As with the Bantu, and the Nilotes in Eastern Africa, the Maasai have adopted many customs and practices from the neighboring Cushitic groups, including the age set system of social organization, circumcision, and vocabulary terms. They are herdsmen, and had a fearsome reputation as warriors and cattle-rustlers. The raiders used spears and shields, but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 100m. In modern time they have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle.

1318 Kenya - Maasai morans

The Maasai are monotheistic, worshipping a single deity called Enkai or Engai, who has a dual nature: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Nanyokie (Red God) is vengeful. The end of life is virtually without ceremony, and the dead are left out for scavengers. A corpse rejected by hyenas is seen as having something wrong with it. The Maasai lifestyle centres around their cattle which constitute their primary source of food. They eat the meat, drink the milk and on occasion, drink the blood. The measure of a man's wealth is in terms of cattle and children.

2232  Tanzania - Maasai dancers

Maasai society is strongly patriarchal, with elder men deciding most major matters. A full body of oral law covers many aspects of behavior. The men are born and raised to be warriors, and the central unit of the society is the age-set. Every 15 years or so, a new generation of Morans or Il-murran (warriors), formed boys between 12 and 25, will be initiated. One rite of passage to the status of junior warrior is a painful circumcision (emorata) ceremony. The healing process will take 3-4 months, during which urination is painful and nearly impossible at times, and boys must remain in black clothes for a period of 4-8 months.

3198  Tanzania - Maasai woman

The junior warriors live together in a circle of huts built by their mothers (manyatta), until they have passed on to senior warrior status and are allowed to start families. This period generally last between 5-7 years, although 8-12 years is not uncommon. Effectively a military garrison, in the manyatta they learn the arts of survival, cattle raiding and warfare (Eng Kipaata), although nowadays this period is more symbolic than practical. In the past a moran could be expected to prove his manhood by killing a lion armed with nothing more than a spear (olamayio).

2954 ALGERIA - National Carpet Festival in Ghardaïa

Located in the Sahara Desert, Ghardaïa is part of a pentapolis, a hilltop city amongst four others, built almost a thousand years ago in the M'zab Valley (Wadi Mzab) by the Mozabites (At Mzab), a branch of a large Berber tribe, the Iznaten, which lived in large areas of middle southern Algeria. After the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, the Mozabites became Muslims of the Mu'tazili school. After the fall of the Rostemid state, the Rostemid royal family with some of their citizens chose the M'zab Valley as their refuge. Besides, the valley was inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.

2922 UGANDA - Matooke

 
Matooke, also known as ebitookye in south western Uganda, and ibitoke in Rwanda, is the fruit of a variety of starchy banana, commonly referred to as cooking/green bananas. The fruit is harvested green, carefully peeled and then cooked and often mashed or pounded into a meal. In Uganda and Rwanda, the fruit is steam-cooked, and the mashed meal is considered a national dish in both countries. Bananas/plantains were a common staple crop around the Lake Victoria area of Uganda, and in the West and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania.

2863 RWANDA - The intore, or dance of heroes

Rwanda has been a unified state since pre-colonial times, and the population is drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda (literally "those who come from Rwanda") this contrasts with most modern African states, whose borders were drawn by colonial powers and did not correspond to ethnic boundaries or pre-colonial kingdoms. Within the Banyarwanda people, there are three separate groups, the  Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, who share a single language and cultural heritage.

2828 SENEGAL - The happy people of Cap-Vert

Cap-Vert is a peninsula in Senegal, and the westernmost point of the continent of Africa and of the Old World mainland. Originally called Cabo Verde or "Green Cape" by Portuguese explorers, it is not to be confused with the Cape Verde islands. The indigenous inhabitants of the peninsula, the Lebou, lived as fishermen and farmers. Since about 1444, when the Portuguese first sighted the cape, it has been an entrepôt for African-European trade. The French later established the city of Dakar on the cape in 1857.

2624 BENIN - Peoples of Benin and their houses

About 42 African ethnic groups live in Benin. They settled in this teritory at different times and also migrated within the country. Even if they have some common features in the way of life, because sharing the same area, there are many differences, some of them essential. For instance, in southern Benin are common the rectangular huts with sloping roofs of palm or straw thatch, along the coastal lagoons houses are often built on stilts, and in northern Benin dwellings are round, with a conical roof of thatch.

0084, 2573 GHANA - Traditional Huts

Posted on 27.12.2011, 24.05.2016
Unlike the polite architecture, the vernacular architecture is based on local needs and construction materials, and reflects local traditions, responding primarily to the functional requirements. As a result, even though Ghana is a multiethnic country, the traditional huts from across the country share many common features. Since the climate of Ghana is tropical, therefore hot, the houses were mostly used for storage and sleeping, while the rest of the activities were mainly done outside.

2474 SENEGAL - Saly Portudal

Located on the Petite Côte of Senegal, south of Dakar, on a sandy beach lined with coconut palm trees, Saly Portudal is in nowadays the top tourist destination in all of West Africa. It was originally a Portuguese trading post known as Porto de Ale, which became Portudal, and later Sali Portudal. The resort was created in 1984 on a previously unoccupied tract of land near the former trading post. Saly's economy relies almost entirely on tourism.

2077, 2464 CAMEROON - Bamileke people

2077 A Bamileke dancer with
an elephant mask

Posted on28.11.2015, 16.04.2016
Dominant in Cameroon's West and Northwest Regions, the Bamileke are part of the Semi-Bantu (or Grassfields Bantu) ethnic group. Although are regrouped under several groups, each under the guidance of a chief or fon, they have the same ancestors and share the same history, culture, and languages (from the Bantoid branch of the Niger-Congo language family). They are very dynamic and have a great sense of entrepreneurship.

2464 A Bamileke hut.

The Bamileke, whose origins trace to Egypt, migrated to what is now northern Cameroon between the 11th and 14th centuries. In the 17th century they migrated further south and west to avoid being forced to convert to Islam, but also to resist enslavement. Today, a majority of peoples within this people cluster are Christians. Their settlements follow a well-organized and structured pattern. Houses of family members are often grouped together, often surrounded by small fields.

2429 SENEGAL - Pirogue men

 

Senegal, a country with 500km of coastline, has more than 21,000 handmade pirogues in their ports, from Saint Louis to Ziguinchor, principally engaged in the transport of people and goods between towns, but also used for tourism. Senegalese wooden pirogue, vividly painted, can be found both along the coast, as well as on the great rivers, especially in Siné-Saloum and Casamance. In some regions are even today the main means of transport.

2421 CONGO-KINSHASA - The Pende people

The Pende or Phende (ethnonym: Bapende or Baphende; singular Mupende or Muphende) are an ethnic group found in the south-western Democratic Republic of the Congo also in the Kasai Occidental province around the diamond mines of Tshikapa. The Pende language is one of the Bantu languages. The approximate 250,000 Pende are mainly farmers who produce millet, maize, plantain, and peanuts. They are governed by family chiefs (djigo) who are sometimes assisted by various nobles.

2418 SENEGAL - Bassari (Aliyan) people

2418 Youg Bassari girls, granaries of millet and Flamboyant tree

The Bassari (A-liyan, Boin, Tenda Boeni) people are agro-pastoral Senegambian Tenda-speaking people of larger Niger-Congo language family living in West African countries of Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. Most of them are concentrated on either side of the Senegal-Guinea border southwest of Kedougou. Currently Bassari population is estimated to be about 38,000, with 16,000 people living in Senegal, 15,500 in Guinea, 500 in Guinea Bissau and some small numbers scattered in the Gambia and Mauritania.

2415 MALAWI - A fisherman on Lake Malawi

Located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique) is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system. It is the ninth largest lake in the world, the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa, and home to more species of fish than any other lake. "The Lake of Stars" is the nickname coined by David Livingstone, due to lights from the lanterns of the fishermen in Malawi on their boats, that resemble, from a distance, stars in the sky.

2394 SOUTH AFRICA - Paarl - part of Early Farmsteads of the Cape Winelands (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

Located just outside Cape Town, in the Western Cape province, Paarl is the third oldest European settlement in South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands, which have gained acclaim the world over for the fabulous wines that it produces as well as the natural beauty of the area. The name Paarl means "pearl" and reflects the iconic rounded shape of three granite outcrops forming the top of Pearl Mountain, visible for miles.

2328 CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE - A Punu mask

The Punu, or Bapunu (Bapounou), are a Bantu group of Central Africa and one of the four major peoples of Gabon, inhabiting interior mountain and grassland areas in the southwest of the country, around the upper N'Gounié and Nyanga Rivers. Bapunu also live in the Divenie, Kibangou, and Mossendjo districts of the Republic of the Congo. They live in independent villages divided into clans and families, and social cohesion is ensured by a society known as moukouji, whose role is the subjugation of the harmful forest spirits.

2286 SOUTH AFRICA - The people and their traditions

South Africa is a nation of about 55 million (2016) people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. However by far the major part of the population (76.4% in 2011) classifies itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa,  Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele, all of which speak Bantu languages.

2265 SENEGAL - Serer and Fula women in Saloum

Located north of the Gambia and south of the Petite Côte, Sine-Saloum is a region in which were for hundreds of years the kingdoms of Saloum and Sine, the last pre-colonial kingdoms of Senegambia that have survived up to the 20th century. Only in 1969, after the death of their kings, the two kingdoms were incorporated into the new Republic of Senegal, independent since 1960. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked, so it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum.

2178 CHAD - Wodaabe man

The Wodaabe (or Bororo) are a small subgroup of the Fulani ethnic group, traditionally nomadic cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel, with migrations stretching from southern Niger, through northern Nigeria, northeastern Cameroon, southwestern Chad, and the western region of the Central African Republic. In number of 100,000, they are known for their beauty (both men and women), elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies.