21st
On a completely different note, for any of you who have been lucky enough to visit Greystoke in Mahale or Chada in Katavi National Park over the years (and if you haven’t then you absolutely have to make a plan to do this as soon as possible), you might be interested to know that Roland and Zoe Purcell (who built both these camps in the wild west of Tanzania) have now transferred their attention to a stunning part of the wild Donegal coastline.
On a walk about in 1966, Roland’s Dad found a tiny cottage clinging to the coastline. Today, Roland has upgraded the accommodation by putting in such luxuries as…erm, a kitchen and some doors on the house and if you’re lucky, you can stay there and experience one of the wildest places in Europe for your self. This place is wild, wild, wild and not for the faint hearted – have a look at their blog and drop Zoe an email if you’d like to hear more.
18th
Zimbabweans are well regarded as artists and the range and scope of their talent is reflected in colourful wax-resist batiks, soft wool rugs and sinuous stone sculptures, among others. In recent years, the market for such art has dwindled as tourism dried up but there are still an impressive number of craft markets, art exhibitions and casual traders selling their wares around town.
In one of the local shopping centres, a reformed street-boy is selling baobab trees beautifully crafted in wire, complete with small wooden painted birds. In another area of town, the more utilitarian artisans are crafting an impressive array of dog kennels, wendy houses and wicker furniture.
However, the artist to whom this blog is dedicated takes the biscuit. At a crossroads on my way home yesterday, I spotted a baboon, on its hind legs, apparently clutching a gourd. Intrigued, I pulled over and on closer inspection realised that it was indeed an inanimate and pretty impressive replica. The artist’s brother was trying to sell this masterpiece to passersby. When I asked him about it, he told me his brother was a very talented and original artist. He drew my attention to the leafy shrub at its feet and told me he called the piece “Baboon on Orchid”. It was on sale for the (possibly slightly ambitious) price of $450. I have to say that in all my travels, it is quite the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen for sale on the side of the road. But, ten out of ten for originality, I say. Damien Hurst may have met his match.
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