The other day, I was in a combi with six young McKinsey employees all currently based in Jo’burg. They were in Swaziland on a weekend trip, and we were all on our way to the Great River Usutu for some white water rafting.
One was South African, another was Zimbabwean, a third was Danish Canadian, a fourth was Kenyan, a fifth was American and the sixth was from Holland. (I was pleased to add one Australian to the multicultural mix.)
Brian was the Kenyan. Among his (no doubt numerous) claims to fame is that he was a childhood advertising star in Kenya, most famous for singing a jingle about sunflower seed oil.
Chatting along the way, I mentioned that my current stay in Swaziland is my first time in Africa.
Brian: “You still haven’t been to Africa – Swaziland isn’t in Africa.”
Me: “Really now? So where is Africa?”
Brian: “Southern Africa isn’t the real Africa. It’s practically first world. You’ve got sealed roads here.”
(At this stage we turned off the [sealed] highway and onto a thirty minutes stretch of bumpy dirt road.)
Brian: “And North Africa is its own place – it’s really just an extension of the Middle East."
Me (hanging on to the seat in front of me while we bump around): “I see - so only central Africa is the real Africa?”
Brian: “Parts of central Africa. Not all of it. Kenya, Malawi, Burundi, Ghana – that’s the real Africa. Actually Ghana’s only so-so. And Malawi and Burundi, hmm….”
Me: “So what you are really saying is, Africa consists entirely of Kenya.”
Brian: “Exactly. So you still haven’t been to Africa!”
Guess I’d better start planning my trip to Kenya.
He’s right though. We’re in Africa so everyone just shrugs when the electricity cuts out. But we’re in Mbabane, so people are surprised if it’s not back on within 20 minutes.
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