Tag: History

  • The movement of people

    I watched a debate recently about colonialism and reparations, specifically Arab colonialism in Africa. Combined with my recent brushes with the colonial history of Namibia, it got me thinking about the movement of people. Did you know, for example, that the first inhabitants of Madagascar were probably Austronesians who sailed on canoes from South East…

  • The other side of the story

    Sometimes travel teaches you more about yourself than about the places you visit. A Belgian backpacker I met mentioned that he had never really studied Belgian colonial history at school but since coming to Africa, he’d discovered that everyone else seemed to be aware of Belgium’s role in the Congo and Rwanda. I’d been thinking…