25 May, 2010 Linha do Tua railroad Trâs-os-Montes (Beyond the Mountains), used to be one of the poorest regions of Portugal. Emigration over the past decades has been massive. But, Trâs-os-Montes is blessed with quite a number of narrow gauge (100 cm) railways which, unfortunately, are being...
January 2008 Oscar & Felicity For years the air charter company Scan Air provided flights for the aid organisation that I worked for. This was in the early nineties. Mozambique had been plagued by civil war for decades. Transport by road was often difficult – if not...
Lisbon, February 2006 Time out in Bissau Guinea-Bissau - situated on the West-African coast south of Senegal and not even half the size of Scotland - becomes an addiction. That is clear soon after my visit to the country in January 2005. Within a year, I, branco...
Mulheres da Guiné – Women of Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, not even half the size of Scotland, on the west coast of Africa. Independent from Portugal since 1974 and ever since, torn apart by internal political disputes that brought the country close to bankruptcy. Abounding in water with...
Ali Farka Touré Now that our hero Ali Farka Touré has passed on from mortality to immortality, I cherish even more my memories of his brilliant concert on 22 July 2005 in Lisbon. In the open air in Monsanto Park, high above Lisbon with broad views...
October 2006 Steam in Africa Ever since my earliest childhood days I have been fond of everything that rolls, flies and floats. One of the most impressive forms of transport still remains the steam-engine. Even in The Netherlands I remember them seeing operate and, as a young boy with...
The ghetto of Venice Wandering through Venice, I find myself suddenly in front of a narrow gate that marks the entrance of an unsightly alley. At the gate, a small sign that reads “Getto di Venezia”. It marks one of the few entrances to the Jewish...
Whassysa Some 250,000 Africans from the former colonies are living in Portugal these days. Many came to the country during the years after the 1974 revolution, which hastened the independence of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and São Tome e Príncipe. Married to a Portuguese or taking advantage...
