SQUINTI African Art

Cape Town

squinti — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:04:44 +0000

I’m starting to get homesick…Specifically, I miss Cape Town. The good natured people, the mountains, the ocean, the extraordinary mix of people, I miss it all. I found the picture below on the Facebook page of a friend. Enjoy it.

Wine Country

squinti — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 22:53:49 +0000

One of the most fun things we did during our trip to South Africa was visit Stellenbosch, the wine country just outside of Cape Town. We decided to visit Rust en Vrede, a 300 year old winery specializing in Shiraz, Cabernet, and Merlot. Nelson Mandela chose Rust en Vrede to be served at his Nobel Prize dinner so we were very excited to taste their wines for ourselves. Rust en Vrede literally translated from Dutch means “rest and peace.’

The drive to Stellenbosch is very picturesque, with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Once we arrived in Stellebosch, we drove past several vineyards before we arrived at Rust en Vrede. The vineyard also has a restaurant where wine tasting can be done along with a meal. We did not have reservations so we stuck to the wine tasting.

Upon arrival we were presented with a wine menu. A guide talked us through the different wines, explaining what was special about each and the flavors to expect. My companions were very impressed with the 1694 Estate wine so we left with several bottles. It was smooth and strong and very flavorful.

Borrowing grapes at Rust en Vrede vineyard

Rust en Vrede wine menu

Bottles and bottles of wine

Getting the wine tour

Cities in Africa

squinti — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:22:11 +0000

I hate to keep harping on about stereotypes about Africa but I found a Youtube video with pictures of cities in Africa and couldn’t wait to share it. An American friend of mine attended a conference in Mozambique a few years ago. She returned really upset because Maputo, the capital city, had skyscrapers. I guess she’d been expecting jungles and wild animals. I was taken aback because I hadn’t realized she thought I’d been living in the wild. Still, I can kinda laugh about it today. I guess since she’d never been taught anything else, she felt deceived. Anyhoo, the video with African cities is below.

TEDTalks Speech by Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie

squinti — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:11:25 +0000

Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie (author of “Half of a Yellow Sun”) gave a great TEDTalks speech about how stereotypes are born. Basically, she cautions that if we only hear a single story about a group of people, we come to think of them only in that context and can not imagine them as anything else. I loved her book, and after listening to her speech I realize how intelligent she is. She really makes me proud to be Nigerian. The Youtube video of the speech is below.

Pyramids in Africa

squinti — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:46:24 +0000

Egypt is usually the first country that comes to mind when the word “pyramid” is mentioned. Few people know that pyramids are also found in several other countries in Africa. Of course, many civilizations in other parts of the world also built pyramids including the Aztecs, Native Americans and the Mayans.

There are three pyramid sites in Sudan totaling approximately 220 pyramids. They are often referred to as the Nubian Pyramids or the Pyramids of Kush. They were built to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Meroe, Kerma and Napata, which were the capitals of the three Kushite kingdoms. The differ from the Egyptian pyramids in that they are constructed at a steeper angle as shown in the picture. They are believed to have been built as late as 300 AD.

The Nsude pyramids of Nigeria were constructed by the Igbo people in Ugwu Uto village. They were built of clay and mud as a temple to the god Ala/Uto. They are made of circular stacks with a stick placed at the top to represent the residence of the god. The location of the pyramids was sacred and they were often used as a meeting point when sensitive matters were to be discussed. The pyramids were erected on the highest hill in the area and were used for surveillance, the Nsude being great warriors and often hired to fight for other clans or tribes.

Pyramids at Meroe in Sudan

Nsude Pyramids in Nigeria

Interview with an artist

squinti — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 01:57:47 +0000

One of the artists we met in Cape Town was a talented young man named Thamba. His specialty is oil paintings on canvas. Here is a brief interview with him.

Question: Describe your painting technique.

Answer: My painting technique is oil on canvas. I use a palette knife instead of a brush to paint. I find it gives me more texture and character. I also find that it enhances the feeling of movement in my paintings.

Question: What inspires you to paint?

Answer: I started painting in high school. Art was subject I enjoyed ever since I can remember. I would draw pretty much everything I saw. Its the one classroom in which I always felt comfortable in.

Question: What are your likes and dislikes

Answer: if I say the first thing that pops up you’ll think I’m a bad boy Sports, I’m a bit of a sport junkie. I play everything from rugby, basketball, golf to soccer. I like engaging in political dialogue, got a feeling most people like this too. Love spending time with my family.

Question: tell me a little about your life growing up

Answer: I grew up in a town called Mutare in Zimbabwe. Its not very big and most of the action happened at the sports club. I guess a bit of me is still a small town boy.

Question: It’s so cool that you’re a twin!

Answer: Yes I’ve got a twin brother. His name is Vurain. He an economics lecturer in the UK.

Question: You are also a model

Answer: Yep I model for www.ymodels.co.za. Been at it for almost 4 years. Here’s my profile: http://www.ymodels.co.za/portfolio.asp?id=13492&p=10&pc=11&g=male&Type=c

Ithemba Labantu

squinti — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:40:04 +0000

One of our stops in Cape Town was at Ithemba Labantu (Hope for the people), a community center run by the Lutheran church. It follows the same concept as the Boys and Girls club but has services for adults too. It provides a place for school kids to hang out after school. People from the community can learn various skills there including machine shop skills (welding, panel beating, etc) and solar panel installation. It also boasts a computer lab with Windows 7 and MS Office 2010 loaded on all the computers. A gym, clinic and playground are also on the grounds.

We went to Ithemba Labantu to get the gorgeous ceramic zebra mugs in the picture. There is a pottery shop there where these mugs are hand-made and hand-painted. Usually the mugs are made to fill orders only. Fortunately for us, our guide Thamba is friends with the sculptor and was able to persuade him to sell some to us. Click here to buy the zebra mugs.

Kids at play after school

Mugs are hand-painted

Finished mugs

Game Drive

squinti — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:17:33 +0000

The best game reserves in South Africa are in the north east part of the country. We didn’t have enough time to visit Kruger national park which was highly recommended by everyone we spoke to. However, on our drive along the Garden Route, we came across a private reserve aptly called Garden Route Game Drive. Some of the animals are not native to the cape area and are imported from other parts of the country. This works out great for tourists like ourselves who have limited time but would still like to see animals in the wild.

The drive lasted about 2 hours. The animals are kept behind electric fences to prevent them from escaping, and also to protect them from poachers. Rhinos in particular are heavily poached. Several game lodges in the area have reportedly been broken into and the rhinos de-horned and left to die. Some lodges have taken to de-horning their own rhinos so they are no longer attractive to poachers. Sad that this has to happen. The rhino horn is said to have curative powers and can fetch hundreds of thousands of US dollars in Asia.

Aside from rhinos, we saw giraffes, springbok, eland, red hartebeest, wildebeest, zebras, elephants and ostriches. We also caught a glimpse of a lioness. Lions are apparently so aggressive that they will kill even if they are not hungry. Therefore, they are kept in an enclosure by themselves, and we could not get too close for safety reasons. It was interesting to discover that different herd animals graze together for greater safety from predators. We saw a baby giraffe which was described as “dreamy” since she would daydream and get left behind by her parents. When we spotted her, she was with a small herd of eland. We were told she periodically reunites with her parents.

We felt very lucky to have the opportunity to see all these animals. If we return, we will definitely set aside at least three days to visit one of the national parks.

Elephants

Rhino mother and two children

Dreamy giraffe

Garden Route Drive

squinti — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:32:36 +0000

Garden Route

We rented a car during our trip to South Africa, and on the advice of friends, took a couple days to drive east from Cape Town along the coast. By the way, cars drive on the left side in South Africa. It was unnerving at first but we did get used to it. What was harder was getting used to the steering on the right side and the bulk of the car on left. All we needed to rent the car were our passports. We did get stopped once at a checkpoint and they were satisfied with our international drivers licenses (available for $15 from AAA). The drive along the coast is called the Garden Route and has beautiful scenery with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.

We drove for 3 days from Cape Town to Tsitsikamma (just to the west of Port Elizabeth) and back, and we stopped at a couple of places along the way. Our first stop was Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. It features a marker where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It was very windy that day and the clouds rolling over the mountains made for a beautiful view. The crashing waves were equally lovely. The vegetation in the area resembled what you might see under the sea. All in all, it was a great experience and we left there feeling very fulfilled.

Arriving at Cape Agulhas

Unusual vegetation at Cape Agulhas

Me at marker between Indian & Atlantic oceans

Xhosa Face Painting

squinti — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:14:17 +0000

Xhosa face painting

We have just returned from an 8-day trip to South Africa. We spent most of our time in Cape Town. However, we also rented a car and drove east along the coast from Cape Town. I will be writing more posts about different parts of the trip. We stayed with an old friend (she’s more like family, really). She has a company that places volunteers and skilled professionals with Shack Dwellers Inc. She finds housing, helps with visa applications, and works with Shack Dwellers to find projects for interested parties. Her website is www.Pekutravels.com. If you’re interested in volunteering, do swing by her website.

Sunset at the beach

The day we got to Cape Town, we went down to the beach to watch the sun set. I have to say even though it was summer, it was chilly (high 50s, low 60s fahrenheit) and windy. But the sunset was beautiful. We actually talked so much we almost missed it. Afterwards we went to one of the nearby restaurants and had dinner. I tasted springbok for the first time and I didn’t hate it. Springbok is the official animal of South Africa and it is in the deer family.

We also had our faces painted. This is a tradition of the Xhosa tribe. I asked if this was only for special occasions and the lady doing the painting said it’s their equivalent of makeup so they paint their faces as often as they like. All in all we had a fabulous time and we left the beach very full and very tired.