Travels in Africa

For four years Fred and Donanne Hunter lived in Nairobi from where he covered sub-Saharan Africa for The Christian Science Monitor. One weekend they visited an anthropologist friend working on a rural district north of Nairobi. One of the pleasures of that trip was to talk about the district hearing local lore and meeting our […]

For four years Fred and Donanne Hunter lived in Nairobi. From there he covered sub-Saharan Africa for The Christian Science Monitor. One weekend they visited an anthropologist friend working north of Nairobi. Here’s Part 2 of their report: The second morning of our visit as we drank coffee, Anastasio appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly he […]

For four years Fred and Donanne Hunter lived in Nairobi. From there he covered sub-Saharan Africa for The Christian Science Monitor. One weekend they visited an anthropologist friend working on a rural district north of Nairobi. Here’s their report: When we were living in Nairobi, Donanne and I got together occasionally with David, an anthropologist […]

Perhaps it’s appropriate on our travels in Africa to pause for a moment to meet some of the people. Here’s an African I keep thinking about: Sometimes a man catches sight of a woman, maybe only fleetingly, just a shared glance, not even a word exchanged. And the woman makes a captive of him. Months, […]

The deep Sahara looks like this. Or this. Or this. This is what they call the “rien de rien,” the nothing of nothingness. Do you really want to go to Timbuktu? It’s out here in the deep Sahara. Do you really want to discover its secrets? Unlock its mysteries? If you do, you won’t be […]

Donanne and I flew north from Kenya to do some reporting in Ethiopia about its ancient cities: Lalibela, Gondar, Axum. When we flew over Haile Selassie’s kingdom, the gorges below us dwarfed that of the Grand Canyon. An explorer of Ethiopia – James Bruce, I believe – wrote that he had been told the country […]

Fred Hunter traveled eagerly to Ghana to cover what might be one of the last great tribal rituals in Africa, the enstoolment of the Asantehene, the king of the Ashanti. Donanne went with him. In Accra he received warnings against going to Kumasi where the ceremony would take place. Strange things might happen. Their flight […]

Fred Hunter had to get to Kumasi to cover what might be the last great ritual of traditional Africa, the enstoolment of the Asantehene. But, as they say, West Africa Wins Again. Which means don’t count on anything happening until it happens. West Africa did not disappoint. Enstoolment preparations made, there were other stories to […]

In June, 1970, Fred and Donanne Hunter headed to Ghana to cover what might be the last great exhibition of tribal ritual in Africa: the enstoolment of the Ashantehene. Enstoolment! One of the great tribal celebrations of traditional Africa, perhaps the last of its kind. The king of the Ashanti people, known as the Asantehene, […]

Fred and Donanne Hunter flew north from South Africa in order to cover the enstoolment of the Asantahene on Ghana. A passport problem landed them in Paris. Finally grit succeeded in getting them back to West Africa. Enstoolment here we come! We flew into Ghana from Paris. Despite itself, Accra was a place you had […]