MAURITIUS – SMALL ISLAND, BIG WELCOME

When the plane landed in Mauritius, the passengers were told to remain seated as the health inspector needed to clear the plane first. Not even two minutes before the doors opened and the doctor had cleared the plane. Next, three checks that I hadn’t been to an Ebola infected country, and Welcome to Mauritius!

Driving from the airport to the capital Port Louis there was kizomba on the radio stations, and a hint of traffic. But the traffic was because of a road accident and cleared up just as quickly. The highways were easy to drive around.

Staying on the waterfront was amazing and the view from the balcony of the lights were stunning. Going shopping the next day I was talking to a shopkeeper around the waterfront who on hearing my occupation announced that there would be a salsa exhibition that day, right on the waterfront. He also said that the national dance of Mauritius was Sega.

Wandering around and back to the hotel, I was amazed that the event was indeed a salsa event right outside my window – The timing was amazing so I headed out to meet the salsa community of Mauritius which some of them I had met before in Berlin, Capetown & beyond. The world is small.

By the end of a sunny afternoon of salsa and bachata the community had become family and the week was nearly planned already. First a stop in the suburbs for a panini and then we stopped at a private party to kick on after the afternoon.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are at Atmospheres pub, a great place to have a cocktail and a dance, in the suburbs of Ebene. Great fun there teaching bachata and so thankful for everyone who came along, said hello and danced. I loved photographing the dancing and learning that was going on. Fridays were closer to the airport, at (insert place), Salsa Joe thank you for your invitation and the chance to see what you are growing and the encouragement in the community. Everyone we met (you know who you are!!) made a lasting impression on us and in one week only, I know we will meet each other around the world. Your hospitality and friendliness made a real impact to my visit and I will encourage others to visit your community as I know they will be welcomed with the same warmth.
I can’t recommend Mauritius as a tourist destination enough. Stunning beaches, beautiful people, amazing sunsets and great food. During the visit, I went to the rum factory in Chamarel, which was fantastic and discovered flavoured rum. So tasty. If you are going to Mauritius, you must go there. Also the lovely suburbs of Black River nearby the salt pans are worth a visit.

It was a great break in a great place – an important island in the sun, close to home. I had time to reflect, recharge and move forward with some decisions in my life. Mauritius – I will be back to see you all again soon. Leaving was just such a sad farewell.

RWANDA SALSA, KIZOMBA & BACHATA TOUR

It was a warm welcome back to the dance scene in Rwanda when I visited in late June. And the weather was also warm, escaping from a cool Nairobi. Kigali, the capital of Rwanda is the same distance by air as Nairobi to Mombasa but a completely different landscape. Kigali is a beautiful city with amazing people who love to dance. Known for so many things; gorillas, mountains, awesome scenic places, a nation rebuilding from genocide in our lifetime. A very special, moving place to visit in Rwanda is the Genocide Memorial Museum which is accessible to many with information presented in different languages.

During this trip I danced with a lot of people and arranged a number private lessons to help share some dance knowledge. I co-ordinated some additional salsa nights where we danced until very late and visited beautiful places.

I started my adventure in Pasadena which is owned by Virgile as it has been an important place for salsa in Rwanda, having been on board since it started. Thursday nights Pasadena were and is always the hosts for salsa On Thursdays, thanks to everyone at Pasadena for the support and it is excellent to see everyone connecting with their dancing.

This time, I travelled with others from Nairobi to share in the community. One of the newer places to dance is Club Next and we arranged a class there with Tandyss and Wangari. It’s a great venue, all painted white with ample room for dancing as well as fantastic lighting and a good platform for deejaying.

It was a slow warm up. I had forgotten that Rwanda has its own time schedule. When we did start, however, everyone was enthused to increase their kizomba, salsa and bachata skills. It was great to meet up with old friends, Cycy, Jimmy, Kassim, Rachel who are the pioneers of salsa in Rwanda and Ralf in particular who runs and organises some classes.
Club Next which is owned by Ever is coming up to be a great venue for dancing in Kigali. So we returned there the next night for another session.

I also took some time out to enjoy Rwanda. While many things are familiar from Kenya, some things are just typically Rwandan. My Kinyarwandan came back to me and cruising around on a motorbike at night it’s just a beautiful place to be. I love the places where you can eat late at night, after a long evening dancing, to be able to rest and eat great food is a perfect ending to the night.

I saw old friends and I made new ones. There was great participation in the classes and social dancing afterwards. Rwanda keep it up, keep on dancing and be part of this dance movement in Africa. So great to see things coming along, I will be back and teaching again soon. Hopefully a bigger event, so stay tuned.
The salsa scene is growing and we wish it to continue onwards and upwards with more more more great dancing. See you soon.

AFRICA SALSA CONGRESS ABIDJAN (CASA) - 23 AU 25 MAI 2014

Finally, here is my update from Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast for the festival there. The first thing was that the trip was long. Travelling from East Africa to West Africa is a trip of 6 hours. It becomes a trip of 13 hours when airline delays keep you sitting in the airport all day. On the plus side, I met up with Angus and Leigh who were heading to the same festival and we passed the time in the coffee house. We found a quiet place where we could rest our heads and play songs… We were tempted to dance at times but the music also made a good lullaby and passed the time we needed to kill. What another crazy delay from Kenyan airways.

When we finally got up in the air, it was straight to sleep. Then when I arrived in Ivory Coast it was a great welcome then directly to the dancing and the shows for the night. There were cultural shows and the costumes were out of this world. In Kenya we don’t have such costumes, it was an interesting and enlightening show. Then a local DJ kept us up and dancing until late.

The next day was workshops, workshops, workshops which I enjoyed teaching. Not only was I teaching but I was learning from the other international teachers as well (Knowledge is power). On this day there was a competition, shows in the evening and then I took to the decks for a while. After the competition & shows we danced late into the night. The lighting was amazing with the photographs I took and everyone had a great time. The venues were quite far from the accommodation, and all of the artists travelled around in a shuttle bus together from place to place, making noise, singing in the bus. I loved the energy of the Cubans and the food we ate late at night.

The next night there were some formalities and the fantastic concert by the Cuban band - Tentacion De Cuba, extraordinary bachata and salsa show. I have the CD of Tentacion De Cuba which I play in the car and it reminds me of the great live music they played – thanks guys!

The hospitality of the Tourism board of Ivory Coast and Komando was good. They arranged for the artists to see the beautiful sights on the coast at the beach, a great way to see the beautiful attractions of Ivory Coast. A cool way to end a great weekend of salsa, bachata, kizomba and more in West Africa. Group photos then farewell everyone, back to Nairobi until next time we meet, 2015 2nd Africain Salsa Congress it is… It’s time for Africa!!!

MAY DAY IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Recently returned from Istanbul, what a crazy city. This time, just a visit for a short holiday. Direct flights from Nairobi at the time of 0340 am, so tired waiting for the Turkish airlines plane to board. Loads of Kenyans, tourists, everyone, full plane to Istanbul but easy to sleep due to the timezones being the same.

Arrived by taxi to the outskirts of Taksim, on May 1, not knowing about the historical protests on this day, the streets were shut down, barricaded by police. The taxi driver’s early warning “Police. Problem” should have been an indicator that something was up, and we were sent out to the side of the road to find our own way with nothing but the hotel address. Comforting was the fact we were not the only tourists dragging our bags up and down the cobbled streets of Istanbul, unsettling was the distance to cover on foot. Luckily a kind Turkish man was able to act as a translator between the hotel and dropped us a kilometer up a steep hill. Surrounded by cats and garbage, one of the hotel staff came to the rescue and ushered us back to the hotel.

Dinner that night was a similar event, the main streets blocked and only small alleyways were open. We stumbled upon a tourist hotspot with a lady making bread in the window. Turkish food was no doubt a highlight of this trip. From doner to kebab to Turkish rice, there was not a bad piece of food devoured and Turkish coffee appeared the end of every meal.
Touring around Istanbul, discovering the Metro – quite like Berlin but a bit different. Took a cruise on the Bosphorous and saw many historical castles and mosques.

Salsa in this country was pioneered by the late Imu, a good friend of mine. Arriving in the Tiyatro café, loved the idea of a jukebox for people to pick their own music and chatted with Tolga, the resident DJ. I was humbled and honoured that many people who saw me dancing or danced with me commented that Imu was in the house. The extent of the hospitality of Turkish people was amazing. But mostly it was very emotional for me because of my memories of Imu. You know someone’s gotta share some dance knowledge too; managed to go share Kizomba knowledge at the studio where Imu was teaching which is now called DANSORIUM. I as well met Ozlem, Diego & Yassin who run ONE DANCE STUDIO. All this experiences was really touching, moving and lovely. Was very good to meet Funda, Isabel, Abdalla who took us to a very beautiful place that we were eating way back and then we went out salsa dancing together. Met Yallin a very famous salsa dancer, promoter and a serious addict.

I danced at the Point Hotel on Saturday amongst some great mambo dancers as well as a place with a balcony and a beautiful view. Dj Orhun was on fire that day and I also got a chance to see some great shows from different groups.
During this trip I discovered cocktails and the 360 degrees restaurant with wide ranging views of Istanbul, a beautiful city at night.

I felt overwhelmed at the Turkish festival that celebrates the coming of the spring. Random drumming, dancing, singing and jumping over fire. A spontaneous and joyful way to see in the spring, but so so many people all together at once in the tiny lane-ways, eating, drinking and celebrating.

Overall, a great trip with the overall goal achieved, spoil someone special, meet up with old friends and make some new ones, centred of course, all around dance. It’s a great city that you would love to visit every time you think about travelling.