National Geographic Traveller

APRIL 2023 101

JAMAICA The name of Omar Edwards’ bar and restaurant, Pretty Close, comes from from Bob Marley’s posthumous, mega-selling his assurances to guests who get Legend compilation album. Purists always lost en route and call for directions. dismissed that collection as tailored to white Once they find it, they can eat flame- audiences — being almost totally devoid of grilled fish and drink out of coconuts, his political material — with Redemption while sitting in a freshwater pool Song alone offering some idea of Jamaican with doctor fish cleaning their feet suffering: piracy, slavery, poverty. Urban renewal This is my first time on the island, exactly 60 years after it became an independent nation. Landing in the tropical autumn of 2022, at the tail end of hurricane season, I’m too late for the anniversary celebrations and too early for the full reawakening of the tourist trade after a protracted spell of pandemic isolation. Downtown Kingston seems half-deserted, though I’m told it’s been that way for decades, most of the city’s activity having long since moved uptown. Local nonprofit arts organisation Kingston Creative is trying to bring it back with new attractions and incentives centred on a row of fresh street art that it has commissioned along Water Lane. Bob Marley is painted on the walls, of course, alongside Jimmy Cliff, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and other pioneers from that fertile, febrile period of riots, raids and block parties just before and after independence, when towering speaker stacks and quaking sound systems transfigured African folk rhythms into the various subgenres of ska, dub, reggae, dancehall and rocksteady. Much of this musical backstory has been illustrated in vigorous colour up and down the lane. One full corner is wrapped in a pop art mural by Caribbean artist Shanique Stewart, rendering contemporary national icons into cartoons, from Olympic gold medallist sprinter Usain Bolt to signature lager Red Stripe. Shanique has titled that piece ‘Jamaica Is Not A Real Place’, quoting a viral phrase now in common use around the island whose meaning seems to vary. “In this context, I think it’s meant to sound positive,” says Janet Crick, tours consultant at Kingston Creative. “Like, how can such a small island have such a huge influence on the world? With our sports, our culture, and especially our music.” The expression can also have negative connotations, admits Janet. “It’s also something we might say in response to crime and outrageousness. Like saying, no, this can’t be real.” A monthly Sunday art walk has proven a successful primer for what Janet’s organisation has in mind for this area: strolling families, street food and live bands. This vision of urban renewal will take time 102 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

Omar Edwards outside Pretty Close, a riverside bar and restaurant he built on family land in the foothills of the Blue Mountains APRIL 2023 103

10 4 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

JAMAICA Clockwise from top: and money, and it isn’t a reality just yet, but an abiding horror of the water. Most fishermen A music session at the Janet says a functioning “scene” is becoming of Port Royal can swim just fine, Andrew Rastafari Indigenous easier to imagine down here. says, but there are plenty around the coastal Village; one of the perimeter who can’t, which only adds to the spring-water pools in Fort Charles, a former Royal Navy outpost precariousness of their livelihood. Benta Falls; picking ripe that once defended the colonial-commercial coffee cherries at the hub of Port Royal, is even quieter this morning. Community action Craighton Estate in the What used to be an island was fused to Jamaica Blue Mountains by an earthquake in 1692, which raised new The glittering, blue waters have also been land out of the sea while submerging what was deeply troubled by a number of issues, then considered the richest city in the world. including overfishing, habitat destruction, Today, Port Royal is a village perched over the coral bleaching and the past use of poisons and sunken ruin of its former self, where diving for dynamite. Near the mouth of the Black River, treasure is strictly prohibited. the tiny community of Galleon has taken action to establish a sanctuary protecting its reefs, “We like to believe the earthquake punished mangroves and seagrass beds. the British for their wickedness,” says local historian Andrew Gordon, recounting the Local marine warden Trysion Walters and exploits of British-licensed buccaneers off this biologist Luke-Ben Brown recently submitted coast, and the depraved ways they spent their a funding application to the World Bank to profits onshore. Andrew grew up around here, pay for infrastructure to enable them to playing and climbing on the rusted cannons bring eco-tourists out to assist with wildlife and quake-tilted barracks of Fort Charles. His monitoring and water testing in Hodges Bay. job now is to walk and talk visitors around the on-site museum, and he’s sometimes required “Depending on the season, they’ll see to dress as a 17th-century British officer, even ospreys, manatees, bottlenose dolphins and while explaining how thousands of slaves were sea turtles when they come to hatch,” says pressed into military service on this spot. Trysion. Knowing their own businesses depend on protecting these waters, Today, there’s nobody else up here with the fishermen of Galleon aren’t merely us on the fort walls. But tomorrow, Andrew compliant with present measures to ensure says, “We’ve got a tour group coming in, so we sustainability, says Luke-Ben, but proactive in have to do the tour in costume.” That must be patrolling the bounds of their local sanctuary. uncomfortable for him, I suggest. “Yeah,” he “They even extended the buffer zone by says. “We wear period-style shoes that weren’t themselves to restrict fishing.” shaped differently for right and left feet, so they get pretty painful.” I tell him that’s not Rounding the southwest corner of the island what I meant. “I know,” says Andrew, cool and in a small boat with an outboard motor, I meet dry as a diplomat. a fisherman who supplements his income with one of Jamaica’s more notable side hustles. Andrew is proud to be a certified lifeguard Around 20 years ago, Floyd Forbes built a little on an island where over half the population stilted platform about 500 metres offshore, can’t swim. “It’s just fear,” he shrugs, his in Parottee Bay. What was then “a personal theory being that ancestral memories of the hangout” has grown into a famous floating Middle Passage — and the millions of enslaved clubhouse he calls the Pelican Bar, seemingly Africans lost at sea — have given many today assembled from driftwood and palm fronds. APRIL 2023 105



JAMAICA “Number-one spot in the world for chill enjoying world-class Blue Mountain coffee at Above: Bars, restaurants vibes,” says Floyd as he cooks up rice and the Craighton Estate, and delicious overproof and recreational areas peas for his last customers of the day. My rum punch under the spectral loom of a very are being built around uptight aversion to words like ‘chill’ and old ficus tree beside the Hampden Estate waterfalls and rivers ‘vibes’ can’t contend with the setting sun, distillery, in Wakefield. running through the roosting seabirds and the water’s twilight Jamaican farming land turn to melted gold. It’s a Caribbean dream Both of those sites stand on former out here, still largely funded by the owner’s slave plantations, like many other visitor APRIL 2023 107 early-morning labours, catching and selling attractions. That particular Jamaican reality snapper, lobster and angelfish. won’t be denied, something that leaves many holidaymakers feeling conflicted. Cruise Floyd maintains his independence by liners drop anchor in the same bays that once resisting regular offers of outside investment. harboured slave ships, and to set foot almost “That’s like gambling with other people’s anywhere on this island is to tread on ground money,” he says. “I prefer the risk to just be on that has soaked up pain beyond imagining. me.” (He has accepted sponsorship from Red The inequities of post-colonial Jamaica can’t Stripe, though.) After all this time, planning be overlooked either. Stark wealth and class permission for the bar is still, technically, differentials separate all-inclusive beachfront pending, but in Floyd’s experience, his fellow resorts from inland agricultural villages where Jamaicans are reluctant to mess with a good the sugar cane trade has lately been all but thing. “We did go to court once, but the judge’s destroyed by global competition. decision boiled down to, ‘leave it as it is’,” he says. The coast guards stop by sometimes, but Small rural parishes such as Hanover have not to tell him off. “Those guys like to hang out been hardest hit, forcing landowners like Stacy here, too.” Wilson to make drastic changes. Inheriting his parents’ 25 acres of riverside cane fields, A colony reclaimed he found sugar farming a miserable business. Rather than keep toiling for diminishing Such encounters recall the axiom ‘Jamaica returns, he opened the private waterfalls on is not a real place’. It follows me around the his property to the public for a small entry island, most often delivered with a wink or fee, with rope swings and jump spots over an eye-roll. A local companion says it almost blue holes and hidden caves. The site is now on reflex when pointing out a motorcyclist called Benta River Falls and there’s a “party carrying a goat in a knapsack, the animal vibe” here every weekend, says Wilson. Most facing inward within kissing distance of the customers are local, as are the staff, serving rider. It also echoes in my mind while I’m jerk chicken and curried goat sourced from

JAMAICA 20 miles JAMAICA CARIBBEAN SEA Rastafari Indigenous Village Benta River Falls Pelican Bar JA MAICA Galleon Pretty Close KINGSTON CARIBBEAN SEA Slicing open coconuts to extract the GETTING THERE & AROUND juice at the Rastafari Indigenous Village British Airways and Virgin Atlantic operate direct flights to the Jamaican neighbouring farms. “I want to see this cracked fingers while smoking powerful ganja. capital, Kingston, and main holiday ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER community uplifted. I want schoolkids to He also brews what he describes as “rum-rot”, hub Montego Bay from Heathrow. dream of a job at Benta,” Wilson adds. an alcoholic herbal medicine that he claims virginatlantic.com britishairways.com has “made many babies”, including some of his Average flight time: 10h. There are more backcountry waterfalls at own. It must be his kingly prerogative to give Jamaican roads can be busy and Pretty Close, a riverside bar and restaurant only the most gnomic answers to questions bumpy, especially off the main cross- that Omar Edwards recently opened on land about his life and worldview. island highway between Kingston and passed down from his grandparents in the Montego Bay, but public transport Blue Mountain foothills. The name comes “I put everything in the fire,” he tells me. “I options are limited, so car rental is from his assurances to guests who get lost burn everything corrupt.” A more forthcoming your best bet for getting around. en route and call for directions. Once they spokesperson, who goes by the name First Or book with a reliable local operator find the place, they can eat flame-grilled Man, then takes me aside for a brief, mesmeric like Paradise Travels, which can arrange grunt (similar to snapper) and drink out sermon on the Rastafari movement as an guided transport by minibus to most of coconuts, while sitting in a freshwater Afrocentric counter to the lies of Europeans, locations around the island. pool with doctor fish cleaning their feet and and an oppressed population’s antidote to 7gr.717.myftpupload.com hummingbirds whirring over the flowers. “this madness we call colonisation”. “Me built this up with them two hands,” says WHEN TO GO Omar in light patois, gesturing across to the Jamaica, he says, is still climbing out of that The tropical latitude keeps thatched huts that make up his operation. “deep hole”, and followers of the Ethiopian temperatures hovering around 26C to “Natural as possible.” emperor turned Rasta demigod Haile Selassie 30C most of the year, but it’s safest to have spent the past century advocating for travel outside hurricane season (which At the opposite side of the island, I find peace, love and protection of the planet. First is generally June to October). Mid to the Rastafari Indigenous Village, located in Man speaks of “spiritual technology” and the late November is ideal, just before the a forested valley on land leased from a local self-erosion of capitalism by “bad leaders and peak season of December to April. engineer. It serves as a religious enclave, rich people who have never been educated”. He cultural centre and community hub, with counsels me to think of myself as a “replanted WHERE TO STAY cabin-like dwellings set around a kind of tribal seed”, to know that our existence is “much more Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel, Kingston. pavilion. Residents felt early engagements than just the physical” . From £175. terranovajamaica.com with day-trippers turned their lifestyle into Seaweed Villa, Treasure Beach. a ‘show’, so they’ve now built simple guest “Today is the oldest, most beautiful day Five-bedroom villa rental from £550. accommodations for more immersive, short- on Earth,” he says. “And for the first time in jakeshotel.com/villas/seaweed-villa term residences. A beautifully costumed our history, we have an opportunity to do it Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios. From £340. resident named Queen Bee demonstrates how right.” King Toto and others begin chanting jamaicainn.com visitors can participate in gardening, soap- and drumming behind us, the sound adding making and cooking ‘ital’ food (all-natural, rhythm to the rhetoric while the smoke in HOW TO DO IT vegetarian Rastafari cuisine) over an open fire. my eyes somehow clarifies the surrounding Explore runs 10-day tours to greenery. Entranced, convinced, converted, Jamaica that include excursions to We sit with a village elder Queen Bee calls I’m almost ready to testify that Jamaica is the a Blue Mountain coffee plantation, King Toto, who’s carving a bamboo drum with realest place I’ve ever been. Rastafari Indigenous Village and Pelican Bar, along with other options for waterfall hikes and swims. From £1,831 per person, excluding flights. explore.co.uk 10 8 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

MARC SCHROEDER JEANNINE UNSEN VÉRONIQUE KOLBER MARIE CAPESIUS BRUNO OLIVEIRA SAISON 2022 – 2023 Installation Santeri Tuori © Mike Zenari, 2021 BORIS LODER 6 EXHIBITIONS ALL YEAR LONG CLERVAUX, LUXEMBOURG W W W. C L E R V A U X I M A G E . L U The 2022-2023 photographic season in Clervaux (LU) celebrates the diversity of Luxembourg’s creative scene through the work of six contemporary photographers. Artistes: Marie CAPESIUS, Véronique KOLBER, Boris LODER, Bruno OLIVEIRA, Marc SCHROEDER, Jeannine UNSEN Six different visions invite us on a journey, each uniquely opening up a world that unfolds in photography and lingers in our imagination. A play of momentary dialogues strikes up between the images, their open air exhibition setting - as it changes with the seasons - and the viewer that contemplates them.

110 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE ANCESTORS On the beaches of remote Western Australia, where the sea is the same colour as the sky, the next generation of Aboriginal gameledes (custodians) have reclaimed their heritage and are using tourism to showcase their customs and knowledge to travellers in meaningful ways WORDS: EMMA THOMSON IMAGE: AWL IMAGES

AUSTRALIA Bundy’s ageing but upright “Of course, I’m still practising and learning From left: Bundy’s tour; IMAGES: NORI JEMIL; GETTY body moves swift as a pen my language and customs,” Bundy adds. It’s Cape Leveque on the across the smooth sand, a record-scratch moment. How can he still be Dampier Peninsula his feet marking his learning, I wonder? presence on the landscape Previous page: as an author does on a He and many others are having to relearn cliff landscape at page. The tide is out as we because from 1905 to 1970, Australian Cape Leveque wade into the mangroves fringing the shore, government agencies and church missions searching their tangled roots for a glimpse of forcibly removed as many as one in three a claw. He’s dressed in a salt-stained shirt and Aboriginal children from their families and shorts, but still forages for mud crabs the old communities as part of what they called way — with a wattle-tree spear. He bends low a ‘civilisation’ programme, severing them and listens. Then, quick as a heron, he jabs from their culture. “They moved us away from into the darkness and withdraws the branch our stories and the land and it left an empty with a snapping crustacean attached to the space,” says Bundy, drawing shapes in the tip. He rustles up a twiglet fire and flings on sand with his spear. the crab. “The land tells us our dreaming [lineage], tells us where we belong,” he says. Those impacted became known as the “I am a gamalede [custodian], so I look after Stolen Generation, but many of them, like our stories.” Bundy, are now reclaiming their heritage. We stand side by side in silence on Cape The Aboriginal Land Rights Act, which first Leveque — part of Western Australia’s took effect in the Northern Territory in 1976, Dampier Peninsula, a crab claw-shaped region has allowed First Nations Australians across pinching the Indian Ocean in the Kimberley the country to take back traditional ownership — looking out at this ancient land where the of their lands, and the Cape Leveque peninsula sea is the same colour as the sky and not a and its three main villages — Djarindjin single building protrudes above the treeline. (where Bundy hails from), Lombadina and This is a place where stories aren’t flat One Arm Point — have had their native title creations confined to ink on paper, but rather land rights restored. Western Australia was a time-travelling life force linking past also the first state to embrace widespread dual and present held by trees, rocks, animals use of English and Indigenous Australian and Aboriginal people who believe the world place names — for example Perth is also was created in the Dreamtime by snake, emu, known as Boorloo — and is now encouraging eagle and kangaroo spirits. more Aboriginal people to work in the tourism industry. The only road to remote Cape Leveque has finally been sealed, granting 112 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

APRIL 2023 113



AUSTRALIA IMAGES: GETTY; NORI JEMIL Clockwise from top left: year-round access. Bundy leads me towards beaches and perennially sunny skies, but until The baobab tree on a nearby plain of rocks. “Look,” he says, the 1930s it was a scruffy, boisterous den Town Beach, Broome; pointing to the ground. Pressed into the of industry, built on buttons. “Back then Hamersley Gorge; stone, beside our feet, is a trail of lithified everyone was chasing mother-of-pearl shells, cruising the dirt roads on footprints. “They are 7,000 years old,” he says, not pearls — those would be thrown back the Dampier Peninsula; showing that his ancestors crabbed and fished in the water. I’d collect them and use them cast of Broome dinosaur here, just as he still does. But it’s also a clear to catapult birds to eat. Now they sell for footprint message: Aboriginal people have a foot in both thousands of dollars,” says Neville, leading the present and the past — one governed by me past the tin-roofed Sun Pictures — the clocks, calendars and consumerism, the other world’s oldest outdoor cinema — and the 1890 by sunrise, seasons and stories. Roebuck Hotel, where locals perch on metal chairs out front, pint in hand. Community camps “Us blackfellas needed a permit to enter Many are guilty of romanticising, and even a pub, and you only got one if ‘civilised’ white mythologising, Aboriginal cultures, and folk vouched for you — and even then, you still opportunities to learn about them have often wouldn’t be served. But that’s yesterday — let’s felt contrived or, at worst, exploitative. But move forward.” a new venture is helping to change that, supported by the WA government. Camping We walk to the eastern outskirts of town, with Custodians is a collection of campsites where a pier of fresh planks juts out into on Aboriginal lands across the Pilbara and the mangroves. To the right of it sags the Kimberley that are owned and operated by splintered original. “This is Streeter’s Jetty the community. It injects money into the — our shells went everywhere from here. villages and also provides a chance for I remember one guy even sent a shell to residents to work locally (instead of being Switzerland with a message written on it: forced to migrate to towns) by showcasing ‘Wanted: house cleaner and possibly a wife.’” their customs and knowledge to travellers in meaningful ways through a series of day At first, the shells were harvested by tours, such as the one Bundy is offering, so as Aboriginal divers, but as demand grew, to create true dialogue and understanding. indentured workers from Japan, Malaysia, China and other Asian countries were boated Djarindjin is home to one of six Camping in to keep supplying 80 per cent of the world’s with Custodians campsites spread across the nacre. “The Malay camp was just to the right region. Here, just over 1,500 people reside of Streeter’s, here. I remember the first time in an area more than three times the size of they gave me some coriander to taste — it was London. It’s a paprika-hued landscape where so strong I thought someone had put a stink flies make honey, seasons number six (not beetle in my food.” four) and history is written not on pages, but on pearl shells. After the pearl industry collapsed in the 1950s, many of the divers stayed on and had families The gateway to the Dampier Peninsula with Aboriginal women. “We have all colours is Broome, and it’s here I meet Aboriginal in our blood,” grins Neville. It’s a reminder guide Neville Poelino for a tour of the town. that there is no single Aboriginal culture. “You don’t hear the black history of this place unless you walk with a blackfella,” he says, The road to Djarindjin flashing a boomerang smile from beneath his woven straw hat. “This was my stomping It was time to journey deeper into the Dampier ground,” he adds, an open arm sweeping and toward Djarindjin. Before leaving Broome, towards the district known as Chinatown. I rent a white Toyota Hilux camper nicknamed ‘Tim,’ but with monster tyres, two rooftop Today, this laid-back town of one-storey tents and a kangaroo bar large enough to take buildings is awash with coffee shops and on a rhino. jewellery stores and beloved for its uncrowded I nose 130 miles northwards on the newly sealed Cape Leveque Road. In fact, it’s the only APRIL 2023 115

AUSTRALIA road: a single trail that arrows through The community financed the campsite with Clockwise from a flat expanse of red baked earth studded money earned from a helipad they built as a right: Bud Sibosado with towering termite mounds, man-high refuelling stop for flying doctors. mudcrabbing; camper flaxen scrub grass and trees gnarled and vans at sunset at the wrinkled by heat. A mercurial shimmer hangs Sunset is dialling down the blazing sun Djarindjin campsite; on the horizon and soon my phone signal and the cicadas are starting to sing, so I pop bartender at Matso’s shrinks to SOS calls only. Road signs warn the roof tent and follow a trail of ants towards Brewery, Broome ‘No Looning’ — to remind drivers that if you the central fire pit. Three nights a week two crash, help is a long way off. Djarindjin elders, Trevor Sampi and Audrey Chadforth, gather here to tell guests stories. The only hint of human touch is swerving My fellow campers — a mix of Australians tyre tracks on the road, but in the hazy heat and Germans — draw closer as Trevor slides I can’t be sure if they’re not the slither a wooden boomerang through his hands marks of Alingun, the Dreamtime rainbow and starts to speak. “Today we only use serpent himself. boomerangs for song and dance, but they were for fighting and hunting too,” he begins, On my first approach, I accidentally the campfire flames flickering in the reflection drive right past Djarindjin, its roadhouse a of his glasses. momentary blip on the Roadrunner-esque highway. I swing around and pull up beside the “When I was younger, men would have two-pump station. Campsite manager Luke five or 10 of these and stand 50 metres Sariago, with a raft of raven hair, emerges from apart and dare each other to come closer. a shipping container-turned-office, waves They’d throw them so hard sparks would me through the gate and directs me to my fly off the floor!” numbered plot on the fenced swathe of red dirt. He rises from the rock he’s sitting on and Nearby stand a pair of pristine wash blocks, falls to one knee in the dirt, enacting the a kitchen and a laundry room. It’s simple and fight. “The last one I saw still haunts me: three in keeping with the pared-back landscape. guys against my uncle,” we lean forward. 116 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

IMAGES: EMMA THOMSON; TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA “He, he…” we crane closer, but some winged Like Bundy, he leads mud-crabbing tours and thing shrieks from the darkness and he trails the money allows him to earn a living in his off, leaving us aching with anticipation. hometown — but their histories are different. I venture a question to the faces of the “My great grandmother was Bardi, but my other guests glowing around the fire: “Why great grandfather was a Japanese orphan stay here?” After some hesitation, a couple who was picked up by the Catholic mission. from Perth snap the silence. “We wanted to Because he grew up in the ‘regime’, he stopped learn,” they explain. “Before we didn’t have us from attending ceremonies and speaking the infrastructure; there were no tours to teach the language at home,” he says, manoeuvring us.” After a pause, another voice: “I’m nearly his minibus down a narrow sandy track, 40, and we learned nothing of Aboriginal towards his favourite crabbing creek. culture in school, but my son has been learning since kindergarten and I want “I remember when I was a kid, maybe 12 to learn with him”. years old, an elder came and asked my dad if I was ready to come with them. Dad said, Afterwards, I’m guided back to my camper ‘next year,’ but it never happened. Now it’s too by the glow of gum trees up-lit by van lights, late for me to learn about Dreamtime because the shadows of bats shooting across the I wasn’t initiated. I feel frustrated I missed it sparkling arc of the Milky Way. because now I belong to both bloodlines and I belong to neither — it spurs you on to change Next to Djarindjin’s traditional community things for your children, before the knowledge of 300 is the hamlet of Lombadina, home gets lost.” We sit in comfortable silence until to only 40, but due to join Camping with we reach the creek, where soldier crabs roll Custodians next year. The next morning, marbles of sand and barnacles cling to the already scorching, I clamber into the 4X4 mangrove roots. of grey-eyed Bud Sibosado, whose family have been the main guardians of the village Men’s and women’s business since the 1980s. For Rosanna Angus, her wiry ebony hair He grew up here but left for school in scraped back into a thick plait, the effects Broome and worked for seven years in Perth. of enforced religion are different. The only “There was a lot of racism and ignorance in the female tour guide on the Dampier Peninsula, city, so four years ago I came home,” he says. APRIL 2023 117



AUSTRALIA IMAGE: TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA Above: Bruce Wiggan, she leads boat outings to Ewuny (Sunday our grandfathers and say ‘hey, I’m bringing Bardi Jawi artist in Island), where a United Church mission was these people to you, they’ve come from far and residence at Cygnet stationed until 1962, just before she was born, wide and bring good liyan [spirit], rest easy’. Bay Pearl Farm and where she lived until 1974, before moving But, you know, it took me two years to learn to One Arm Point on the mainland. how to offer a welcome in my own language.” “I was eight years old the first time I lived She spreads a blanket on the crystalline in a house,” she says quickly as we board the sand, pours out tea and hands us hunks of boat. “We ate turtles, dugong, stingray and damper bread smeared with jam. “Many fish — there’s still lots of stone traps around aspects of our culture are ‘men’s business’ coast.” She points to the shallows, where, she only. They have ownership of, or the right explains, rings of rocks trap fish as the tides to speak about, all the traditional stuff like rise and retreat. spears, boomerangs and stories. Those stories can’t be told by women. But history is free to We bounce out of Cygnet Bay into the discuss, so I chose that. Few women do the gaping gulf of King Sound, where whirlpools talking, and I want to empower other women, and waterfalls emerge mid-ocean — a so they too can earn a living from tourism.” local phenomenon. “Every day, 116 Sydney Harbour’s-worth of water pushes through the On the last day, I meet up with Rosanna’s Sound in six hours,” shouts Rosanna, above cousin, Bolo Angus, at the mouth of King the spray curling over the bow into our faces. Sound — the final yawn of the Fitzroy River before it mingles with the Indian Ocean. When we’re nearing Ewuny, a nesting A chorus of croaks and whistles is coming osprey eyes us from its castle of branches from inside the mangrove-fringed coastal flats and the shadow of a turtle coasts through the and the skin-singeing sun beats down on our azure shallows. We ground the boat ashore heads. Bolo is barefoot and wearing a baseball a deserted beach and Rosanna strides ahead cap, broad black sunglasses and a crisp, red of us, shouting in Jawi into the cove and polo shirt. “Let’s go to where my grandfather surrounding rust-red cliffs. Then she pauses walked,” he says, his sure-footed strides and listens. Nods. And turns back towards us. being shadowed by Nijjee, a golden purebred dingo he’d rescued from the mangroves as “When we bring someone new to our land, we do a welcome ceremony. We shout out to APRIL 2023 119

AUSTRALIA Dampier Peninsula imberley 5 miles Broome N WesternI A AustraliaN E D C I AK O N One Arm Point Cape Leveque Road Lombadina Djarindjln Cygnet Bay K i n g Sound The Cape Leveque GETTING THERE & AROUND Road before it was Qantas flies direct from Heathrow to Perth. Emirates, Qatar and British sealed in 2020 Airways all offer indirect flights, with stopovers in the UAE. a pup. Bolo still bears the bush name of his rid of sweat rashes.” Then he looks to the sky. Average flight time: 17h IMAGE: TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER grandfather: ‘Jumbadij.’ “Black cockatoos eat seeds that are toxic to qantas.com emirates.com people and always head for freshwater to wash qatar.com ba.com “I grew up the old way. I did with my them out, so you can follow them if you’re Qantas and Virgin Australia operate a grandparents what they did with theirs thirsty.” He’s clearly in his element. Perth to Broome flight four times daily. because my grandparents lived in the bush Average flight time: 2h 40min. to escape the Catholic mission,” he explains, “Tourism works well for us because our qantas.com virginaustralia.com feet squelching into the silty sand. natural role is to pass down knowledge. Sharing stories keeps them alive,” he says. WHEN TO GO “Four generations before me, they were I ask whether he’s always managed to have Prime time to visit the Dampier is the walking naked with their riji.” I tilt my head, a foot in both worlds — present and past. “In dry season (May–October), when questioningly. “It symbolises the rite of the city, I’ll walk past a white lady and she’ll the mercury is a manageable 27–28C. passage to manhood,” he says, indicating a grip her purse. Out here, when I run tours, During the wet season (November– teardrop-shaped shell he’s carrying engraved they offer me drinks. Tours reduce the divide,” April), the Cape Leveque Road may with ochre-stained symbols. “We don’t have he says, soberly. “I’m not angry. The past is experience closures, weather is muggy rock at Dampier; pearl is our canvas.” the past, but the younger generations are lost and temperatures hover 35C-plus. because they don’t know who they are now.” I follow him deeper into the mangroves. WHERE TO STAY “The bush is still our chemist and Camping with Custodians and initiatives Djarindjin Campground. Pitches from supermarket,” he says. He holds his ear to like it may go some way to help rectify this. £15. djarindjin.com.au the knot of a twisted tree, its bark flaking off Bolo explains how his teenage daughter, Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. Pitches from like old skin. He raps it gently and tiny flies Malati, helps him prepare for tours and listens £25. cygnetbaypearlfarm.com.au emerge, as if responding to a knock at their as he tells stories. She will be part of the next The Continental. From £100, room only front door. “They make honey,” he smiles. generation of gameledes and offers hope theconti.com.au “Flies?” I ask. He nods, before darting over to that her father’s fears may not come to pass. a bush and stripping a few pods from its arms. “Whenever I’m away and start to feel lost, MORE INFO “Wattle seeds — when they’re green you can I always come back to this place to ground westernaustralia.com foam them up,” he demonstrates by dipping me,” she tells me when she joins us, just before wa.gov.au his hands into the creek and vigorously I leave. “I’m lucky to have a traditional family,” djarindjin.com.au rubbing seed and water together until a white she adds. “Not everyone does.” sundayislandtours.com.au mousse spills from between his fingers. “It gets lombadina.com lullumbtours.com.au When entering Aboriginal communities, you must declare your arrival and you may need a permit. Most charge entry. Every community has different rules, so always check ahead with the local office. HOW TO DO IT Travelbag offers 13 nights’ room only from £3,189 per person, based on two sharing, including four nights at the Pan Pacific in Perth, one at Seashells in Broome and eight in a 4x4 Safari Landcruiser with rooftop tent, plus flights with Qantas and Virgin Australia, and car hire. travelbag.co.uk 120 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

ONE STEP CLOSER TO ANCIENT HISTORY A World Away From Ordinary The British Isles has so much rich history, it just depends which kind you wish to learn about. Some are drawn to castles, ruins and battlefields that decided the destiny of the nation. Others, to 18th-century distilleries where you can taste history as well as see it. Sail from Dover 13-day British Isles Cruise Departures: 22nd May and 3rd June 2023 Book now V7545 Call 0203 811 5277 | Visit hurtigruten.co.uk Scan the QR code Terms and conditions: Subject to availability and subject to change. See website for full T&Cs. to learn Images: © Dawid K Photography/Shutterstock/Ultra Sharp Films. more

| PAID CONTENT FOR VISIT JORDAN JORDAN Adrenaline-fuelled adventures From desert valleys to the Red Sea, Jordan is a playground for thrill- seekers. Here are five adventures to try in the Kingdom of Time. Words: Jonathan Campion W ith the cliff-carved city of Prefer a bird’s-eye view? There’s also Clockwise from above: A Petra, the ancient ruins the option to glide above the desert in the Bedouin campsite in Wadi of Amman and the mind- passenger seat of a microlight (two-seater Rum; abseiling in Wadi bending desertscapes of aeroplane) or take an exhilarating hot-air Al Kerak; scuba diving in Wadi Rum, there are many reasons to put balloon excursion. Balloons Over Rum (part the Red Sea; a sandstone Jordan on your travel wish list. Its these of the Royal Jordanian Gliding Club) has bridge in Wadi Rum intriguing and varied landscapes that a base at the northeastern edge of the natural make the country an ideal destination reserve, which takes in views of the colossal for adrenaline-seeking culture vultures. sand dunes, trains of camels and even the From desert adventures to deep-sea odd Bedouin campsite. diving, mountaineering and hot-air ballooning, there are plenty of activities 2 SNORKEL & SCUBA-DIVE THE on offer to get the pulse racing. CORAL REEFS OF THE RED SEA 1 TR AVE RS E THE OTHE RWORDLY Just 47 miles west of Wadi Rum is the Gulf DESERTS OF WADI RUM of Aqaba, a large inlet at the northern tip of the Red Sea. The world’s northernmost Wadi Rum is a vivid maze of monolithic coral reef, Aqaba is home to over 1,000 rockscapes, nicknamed Mars on species of tropical fish, as well as hawksbill Earth thanks to its blood-red, iron- turtles, shoals of barracuda and dolphins. oxide sand and granite mountains. The Japanese Garden, north of South Here, hikers can explore ancient canyons, Beach, is probably Aqaba’s most accessible some containing rock drawings over snorkelling spot with sheltered, shallow 12,000 years old, while more experienced waters. The Snorkelling for a Clean Sea mountaineers can scale the sandstone cliffs Experience initiative encourages travellers that reach up to 5,740ft. Other possible to pick up any plastic or metal waste they activities range from sandboarding to jeep find in the water and ends with a traditional drives, horse rides and camel safaris. meal cooked at the beach, served with tea.

| PAID CONTENT FOR VISIT JORDAN IMAGES: JORDAN TOURISM BOARD 3 ROCK CLIMB & ABSEIL THE WATERFALLS IN WADI AL KER AK In the wilderness of central Jordan, Kerak is an ancient Ottoman walled city best known for its 12th-century castle. A few miles outside the town, by the waterfalls of Wadi Al Kerak, there’s a variety of limestone cliffs, known as the Weida Slabs, which offer an ideal place for beginners to try rock climbing. The lower parts of the slabs are challenging but safe, and the Jordan Climbing Federation is on hand to book routes and give advice about equipment. If you make it to the top of the 656ft rock faces, there’s exceptional views over the Dead Sea. There’s also five waterfalls to abseil down as part of a hiking trail that takes in the mountains at the top of the valley. 4 GO ZIP-LINING & WILD SWIMMING IN WADI MUJIB North of Kerak is the Mujib Biosphere Reserve, which, at 1,365ft below sea level, is the lowest nature reserve in the world. In summer, thrill-seekers can get an adrenaline hit by sailing over the valley on a new 328ft zip-line, taking off from the visitor centre. Elsewhere in Mujib, a day on the Malaqi Trail, led by local guides, includes a chance to swim in the wild Hidan River and climb down a 65ft waterfall. In winter, there’s also the option to hike the Ibex Trail to catch a glimpse of the Nubian Ibex, a rare, wild goat that is one of the symbols of Jordan. 5 TRY CYCLING & MOUNTAIN BIKING OUTSIDE AMMAN Located about 43 miles north of the capital Amman, lies Ajloun — a verdant region of sprawling pine forests, where locals can take a break from the city and connect with nature. Hire a mountain bike to explore its plethora of cycling trails, such as the scenic mile-long Ajloun Forest Reserve Soap Trail. Experienced cyclists, meanwhile, should consider the 453-mile Jordan Bike Trail. Beginning in the northern town of Umm Qais, riders can take in a variety of the country’s best sites, passing through rolling fields, olive groves, ancient Dead Sea canyons and the otherworldly landscapes at Dana, Petra and Wadi Rum. PLAN YOUR TRIP For more information, go to visitjordan.com

HONEY HUNTERS The Gurung ethnic group has been collecting wild honey in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal for centuries, risking their lives to harvest the sticky combs from cliff nests using ancient techniques handed down through the generations. The honey hunters will leave their village with porters to carry their food, water and equipment, and head into the forest to face the largest honeybees in the world WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS: DIKPAL THAPA 124 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

APRIL 2023 125

Bhujung is one of the most remote settlements in the Lamhung district of central Nepal, hidden in a lush valley and surrounded on all sides by emerald mountains. There are around 800 houses here, packed densely together, belonging to the Gurung community, which still holds onto its traditional ways. Madan Singh Gurung, pictured left, is a senior honey hunter, having collected the delicacy, just as his ancestors did, for two decades. Here, he sits at the base of a harvest site, supervising the procedure while wearing a net over his face to protect him against the bees’ stings.

N E PA L APRIL 2023 127

N E PA L 128 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

The Gurung worship nature rather than a deity — Bhujung doesn’t have a temple — as they’re so dependent on the surrounding forests, rivers and mountains for their survival. Kali Gurung, shown left, is carrying a basket of logs she’ll use to build a fire to cook on. Before heading out in search of the hives, senior honey hunters will sit on the top of the hill and pay their respects to Mother Nature, requesting permission to collect honey from the hives. By doing this, they believe they’ll be protected from any danger they may have to face during the harvest.

N E PA L MADAN SINGH GURUNG SCOUTS AHEAD WHILE THE REST OF THE TEAM MOVES THE LADDER INTO PLACE FROM THE TOP OF THE CLIFF. AT THE BOTTOM, A FIRE SMOKES THE BEES OUT OF THEIR HIVES WITHOUT HARMING ANY IN THE PROCESS 130 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

APRIL 2023 131

Khir Bahadur Gurung carries the handmade ladder to the top of the cliff first. The ladder is tied to the trunk of the strongest tree and dropped down over the ledge as close as possible to the nests. All the members of the hunting party (typically five or six people) work as a team, with some staying on top of the hill to assist the hunter on the ladder, passing him cutting blades and honey-collection baskets. Once the hunter on the ladder has sliced a comb from the cliff, and caught it in the basket, the rest of the team will extract the honey and store it in jars. 132 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

N E PA L APRIL 2023 133

N E PA L Purna Bahadur Gurung, left, has been a honey hunter since the age of 17. He became the leader, or main guru, of his honey-hunting group after the death of its previous leader. While he no longer directly participates in the harvest, he still travels with the team every year to train the younger members. As their leader and the most experienced person in the group, Purna performs the puja, or worshipping ceremony, using the knowledge passed down to him by the former guru. These traditional practices are at risk from commercialisation and the waning interest of younger generations, who are increasingly drawn to the cities by easier, more lucrative work. Purna hopes he can pass on his knowledge and skills to the other members of the group, so the art of honey hunting can live on. 13 4 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

The Art of Slow Living Theros welcomes you to its blissful mystic world, inspired by Greek architecture and the spirit of slow living on the beautiful Greek island of Kos. To us, Theros, the season of summer, heat and harvest, is a state of mind, a concept of life. Discover our adults-only hideaway offering a fresh concept of hospitality. Stay, switch off, and reconnect with nature and your inner self. Summer begins here... Enter our world: www.therosallsuitehotel.com

CITY LIFE AC C R A Ghana’s beachside capital has become one of the most exciting places in Africa for artists and grassroot creative enterprises, with studios and galleries filling the gaps between raucous clubs and bustling markets WORDS: ELLEN HIMELFARB. PHOTOGR APHS: SL AWEK KOZDR AS The road past Makola Market is swarming with Nurturing curators have coaxed spirited IMAGE: ALAMY hawkers. Pavements are littered with leather work from the grassroots and boosted the goods. Women wrapped in hand-loomed reputation of Ghanaian art worldwide. fabrics step into the street, balancing giant “The scene is growing,” says Selasie. “The tubs of kpakpo shito peppers on their heads. number of people attending exhibitions is Hip-hop blasts from a distant speaker. A growing. Collectors are growing.” preacher delivers a sermon into a megaphone. The noise has reverberated far beyond this Beside me, in the driver’s seat, Selasie sliver of West Africa. Papered across the main Gomado is inching along to the petrol station. space at Artemartis are portraits by James An hour ago, he picked me up for a visit to Mishio of dreadlocked men serving devastating Artemartis, the artists’ collective he runs stares. James’s work is layered with fabric west of the city centre, but in that time we’ve — he creates the characters’ dapper outfits and progressed barely a mile. After damaging a tyre applies them to the canvases — and layered on a pothole, Selasie flagged down a guy on the with meaning. Even the viscous acrylic paint roadside to repair it. A policeman stopped us is designed to be symbolic of the stigma men at a barricade for a routine check of the boot. endure for their hair or skin. Already his work Then, as we crawled down a narrow residential has landed in the hands of London buyers. street, a cyclist in a long, white, embroidered boubou teetered into the bumper and toppled There’s an abundance of creativity within in dramatic fashion, prompting a brief detour to Accra. In a city burdened by the legacy of the hospital. He was fine; Selasie was frazzled. slavery, colonialism, dysfunction and poverty, art is a beautifully poignant way of learning More than four million people live in the about the struggle and the scars. Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, and life here serves up daily obstacles, which is what The work by Accra’s newest art darling, makes Selasie’s business such a feat. The blue- Araba Opoku, is a case in point. When we meet painted breezeblock cottage is part-workshop, at Artemartis, she tells me about the region’s part-gallery and part-crash-pad, providing ongoing water crisis, which at one point forced emerging artists with studio space, supplies, her family to live nocturnally, waking at management, hype and, crucially, time to midnight to collect water in buckets while the experiment with mediums and concepts. taps flowed. In a new abstract series, Araba Canvases thick with saturated colour and used diluted acrylics to convey the physical emotion hang from the walls in various stages and psychological toll of that time, “but also of completion, echoing the chaos outside. the joy and satisfaction in that struggle,” she says. “That [paradox] is a universal theme in In the five years since launching Artemartis, art around the city.” Selasie has watched his artists develop in tandem with a city-wide art boom. Galleries Araba’s series was commissioned by Gallery like his have multiplied and flourished. 1957, one of the world’s most important spaces dedicated to West African artists. 136 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

APRIL 2023 137

138 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

AC C R A Clockwise from top left: The entrance When we leave Artemartis, she takes me to one And yet, she tells me, there’s a general to The Shop, selling clothes, crafts and of its three gallery spaces in the city. belief “that art inside the country isn’t as souvenirs in the Osu neighbourhood; a fulfilling as what’s outside.” Having made view of the Atlantic Ocean and towards Along the way, I see more evidence that potentially perilous career choices, these Black Star Square from Osekan Beach art is part of the fabric of Accra: it’s in the artists are desperate to be seen. “But it’s hard Resort; paintings by Nigerian artist naive murals on school walls and the hand- to stand out when nobody takes the time to Deborah Segun at ADA Contemporary drawn billboards for shrimp seasoning. At the understand our work,” she says. “And people Art Gallery; 1980s-themed cocktails at Centre for National Culture, also known as who are interested don’t know where to see it. Skybar 25, overlooking Accra the Arts Centre, a grid of stalls spread across But that’s starting to change.” the seafront, artisans crouch over ziggurat Previous pages: Kwame Nkrumah beadwork. In Jamestown, the 400-year-old C HANGING THE NARR ATIVE Memorial Park quarter occupied at various times by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, a “Everything is art here,” says Godfried basketball court is painted like an Ellsworth Donkor, an old-guard artist whose collages Kelly colour field. of Ghanaian boxers with gold Renaissance halos command attention at Gallery 1957. I’ve Many of Ghana’s young artists found navigated the broken pavements to meet him their voices in the years leading up to the at his table outside ABC, a tiny pub carved Covid pandemic. Some used social media from the living room of a local seamstress. to amplify their work, defying traditional The graphic mural painted on the stucco attitudes against art as a legitimate profession. facade is photo-worthy, but Godfried is more A burgeoning upper-middle class emerged to inspired by the schoolchildren in pale-blue appreciate local talent. New galleries abroad uniforms skipping past and by the extended exhibiting Ghanaian works opened Western family emerging from a tiny, beat-up taxi like eyes to artists who’d been germinating for clowns from a Mini. He’s especially inspired years. Then, in 2019, there came a boost in by the sports stadium across Starlets 91 Road. the form of the Year of Return, a government initiative aimed at encouraging the African “The light is amazing for painting,” he says. diaspora to come to Ghana and helping to “At dusk, just before 4pm, it’s transformative.” increase interest in local art. It was here, in 2010, that Godfried watched Even before all that, in 2016, a Lebanese a rainbow materialise after a summer shower emigré called Marwan Zakhem started a before rushing home to paint Madonna in Red mini-revolution with the opening of Gallery & Rainbow. Ever since, ABC has become his 1957, named for Ghana’s year of independence de facto salon, where he still drinks bottles from Britain. In a city that had previously had of cheap Club lager, even as collectors are no major art museums, Gallery 1957 became snapping up his work. a beacon. Godfried was one of the first Ghanaian The gallery is located between the bustling contemporary artists recognised internationally Makola Market and the statuesque arches in — not as an ‘African artist’, but as an artist full Black Star Square, in a compound of pristine stop. Yet the scene is changing, he tells me. buildings and freshly mowed lawns that “The context of art in terms of a ‘gallery space’ starkly contrast with gardens elsewhere, is only recent,” he says. “Now, all of a sudden, tended by roaming goats. As Araba and art has become fashionable and cool because I float between rooms, I’m riveted by the of the exposure, because artists have the time graphic interpretations of ancient motifs; and space to make more ambitious works. by photographs depicting domestics as And the youngsters are into it.” Renaissance noblewomen, breasts sewn together from coconut husks; and by Araba’s The urban landscape has responded to rippling, watery visions. the desire to live creatively around the clock. Accra’s first member’s club, Front/Back, APRIL 2023 139

AC C R A Clockwise from top left: Elle Lokko boutique in Jamestown; tubes of paint Q&A with Carina at the studio used by British-Ghanaian Tenewaa Kanbi, artist Godfried Donkor; Anastasia, the co-founder of owner of Palm Moments, holding a bowl of AYA Editions traditional palm wine; jollof rice, chicken wings, tatale pizza, a local take on hummus HOW ARE WOMEN IN THE ARTS BEING and palm wine at Palm Moments SUPPORTED IN ACCRA? We’re seeing more spaces exhibits up-and-comers to an exclusive, Even as a tourist, I can understand the now where artists are deep-pocketed clientele indoors and to the premise. On my last morning in town, I walk nurtured, like the Nubuke wider public in a dedicated space outside. along dusty roads flanked by deep, open Foundation, which showcases And in a contemporary tower uptown, there’s gutters to the old township of Labadi. On the a lot of female artists. The Skybar 25, a bacchanalian rooftop terrace with stoops of ramshackle hair salons and phone online network Trybe Africa a pool and panoramic views distorted by the shops, mothers try to keep their babies cool hosts a showcase of female dense, humid air. beneath corrugated roofs. Men in football talent the first Thursday of shirts push wheelbarrows of coconuts. A every month at Kukun, a cafe Godfried can occasionally be found at Front/ roadside kiosk displays dummy legs and in Osu. Back, but is too tired to join when I’m swept buxom torsos, but no fashion for them to wear. up in a group headed to Sky Bar that evening. For much of the population, life is gruelling WHERE CAN VISITORS It’s just as well, as I can barely hear above the and never stops. Yet nowhere is without colour, FIND FEMALE ARTISTS thumping hip-hop. But there’s plenty to look at. music and casual camaraderie. IN ACCRA? The Ghanaian tradition of dressing for impact Female DJs often spin at is thriving here: among the revellers, there In Labadi, I stop for coconut rice and Palm Moments, which also are elegantly draped fabrics, box-fresh Gucci vegetable stew at Palm Moments, a breezy cafe does a big Thursday-night trainers and six-inch heels. Hair is big and bold, in a residential quarter populated by artist party called Fake Fridays. skin noticeably unsweaty. Everyone seems studios. Ten minutes down the road, behind an Also Terra Alta, run by the to know everyone else, and I’m introduced to embellished stone wall, is where local superstar artist Elisabeth Sutherland. Adora Mba, an African-art specialist who runs Amoako Boafo shows his provocative figurative The incredible Freedom the ADA Contemporary Art Gallery downstairs. art. Faces rendered in thick, finger-worked Skatepark just signed an oils stare out powerfully from chipped walls agreement with Spotify to Adora conceived the idea as a corrective dappled with light from the garden. The space create a practice studio for in an industry where the “gatekeepers,” as is so quiet I can hear a cyclist pass outside. female DJs. she describes them, “tend to be Caucasian Westerners — people who don’t know my home I hail a taxi and we listen, dissonantly, to WHERE ARE THE BEST discussing our narrative, our work. I wanted Kenny Rogers on country radio while fighting CRAFTSWOMEN FOUND? to be the person doing it authentically.” rush hour traffic en route to the thronging For a range of fashion and She sees her job as promoting and protecting alleyway where Serge Attukwei Clottey keeps souvenirs, check out the young artists. a studio. To make his epic, multicoloured wall- women-run crafts market hangings, the self-taught artist and sculptor held on the last Saturday of In only three years, she’s witnessed a shift in has cut hundreds of plastic squares out of every month at the W.E.B. what’s deemed ‘Black art’ from portraiture to petrol jerrycans, then assembled them like DuBois Centre (make sure more abstract, multifaceted work, and has seen patchwork quilts. Dangling from the ceiling, to bring cash). And you the global gaze settle on Ghana. Suddenly, ADA they create a sort of viewing maze. can’t skip Makola Market, Contemporary Art Gallery is a key stop on the where the traders are international art trail. “I’ve always had to travel It’s now almost 5pm and being this close to predominantly women. to New York, Paris, London to see gallerists,” the equator means there isn’t much daylight Adora says. “And for the first time, they’re left, so I hightail it to the beach. Ozzie’s Beach AYA Editions is a platform coming here — major institutions, gallerists Palace is a quiet terrace with tiki umbrellas, dedicated to educating I look up to… we’re now a place people want to rattan chairs and mellow jazz. I grab a cold West African female artists come to. It’s not considered strange.” beer for a pound in a bar area crammed with and selling their work. canvases and local crafts, then kick off my ayaeditions.com On my way out, I take the lift down and peer shoes and pad down to the tide. into the gallery, spotting minimalist paintings 14 0 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC . by Nigerian artist Deborah Segun, her graphic, The wind smacks me in the face and I voluptuous, female figures clutching one turn to see a lanky teen riding on horseback another in grief and support. I feel incredibly across the sand. He trots around me, giggles, buoyed by the use of exuberant candy colours then carries on over the rocks. As a parting as a symbol of joy and satisfaction in the midst moment, it’s artful, cinematic, meme-able, of struggle. memorable: a proper work of art.



INSIDER TIPS Accra’s Pan African Heritage Museum is set to open later this year on a plateau north of Makola Market. It will house a theatre, library and galleries featuring art, crafts and artefacts from the great civilisations in Africa going back centuries. You can combine a visit with a tour of the nearby National Museum of Ghana, a showcase of archaeological finds. pahmuseum.org ghanamuseums.org Don’t get your Jamestowns venues mixed up — more than one Accra business has borrowed the neighbourhood name. Jamestown Coffee Company in Osu is a bright, breezy lunch spot where the bartender makes a refreshing sangria (virgin or acoholic) with sobolo, the local hibiscus juice. Jamestown Café, on the other hand, is a social club near Ussher Fort that has live music and lively lunches on Sunday afternoons. instagram.com/jamestowncoffeegh facebook.com/jamestowncafe For inspiration for your visit, listen online to the independent station Oroko Radio, which broadcasts West African beats, gospel, soul and DJ sets from Fake Fridays at Palm Moments. oroko.live Fighting spirit Ghanaians are passionate about boxing, a practice that dates back centuries. The first Black world heavyweight champion was the African-American Jack Johnson, who traced his roots to Ghana

AC C R A 14 HOURS IN Accra 10AM 1 . 3 0 PM Clockwise from top left: The commercial heart of TOUR JAMESTOWN HARBOUR BROWSE OSU Jamestown; street art on During the coolest part of the day, start Explore the central Osu neighbourhood, full Brazil Road in Jamestown; with a morning visit to Jamestown harbour, of lively bars and cool boutiques. Drop into clothes at Elle Lokko, run birthplace of the slave trade, and watch fishing Asabea’s Kitchen, down a nondescript alley, by designer and curator boats unload mountains of sardines. Designer which a brightly painted patio and serves Stefania Manfreda and historian Allotey Bruce-Konuah (+233 243 delicious goat and tilapia stews with banku (a 703 387) leads private tours of Jamestown’s corn-based dough) and fufu (a cassava-based APRIL 2023 143 faded pastel streets. You’ll see the 17th-century dough), mashed cassava and plantain. dungeons where colonists kept prisoners Then, flip through racks of fashion by fledgling before they were shipped off to slavery, designers at Elle Lokko, in a stucco house plus the neighbourhood’s famous on Lokko Road. If you can’t find anything boxing clubs, painted with murals of there, swing by The Shop and order fresh historic champions. mango juice while you size up batik shirts, embroidered cushions and baubles. 12PM facebook.com/people/asabeasskitchen ellelokko.com theshopaccra.com ARTISAN SHOPPING Walk the coastal road to the Centre for 3PM National Culture, a grid of artisan ateliers selling Kente-cloth dresses, beaded ARTISTS’ STUDIOS jewellery, sculptures and woven baskets Tour the artists’ studios around Labadi. for a few pounds apiece. At the far end, Noldor Artist Residency, housed in a former drum-makers lay out goatskins, leaving pharmaceutical factory, has exhibition them to dry before stretching them over spaces across two floors and artists working wood bases. Groups of schoolboys gather in residence. Head over La Road to Artists on the beach beyond to play football in Alliance Gallery, a seaside villa owned the sand. by artist Ablade Glover, who exhibits his

AC C R A 2 Miles Skybar 25 ACCRA Labadi Artemartis Gallery 1957 Osu Makola Market Sandbox Beach Club Jamestown Accra Arts Centre AT L A N T I C GHANA OCEAN ACCRA An all-female student GETTING THERE & AROUND band playing soul classics British Airways flies direct from Heathrow to Accra five times a week. at +233 Jazz Bar & Grill ba.com Average flight time: 6.5h. work on the upper floors. Browse the work of frozen cocktail or passion fruit caipirinha and It’s easy and safe to walk around Accra, ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER more traditional artists here, and shop for enjoy the always-excellent playlist. The vibe is but distances can be long and days are authentic Kente fabrics, carved masks and electric. republicbargh.com hot. Uber and Bolt taxis are common, jewellery. noldorresidency.com but drivers prefer cash payments, so artistsalliancegallery.com 8PM toggle your app in the Help section. Taxis are easy to flag, too. Pay in the 5PM BUKA local cedi or in US dollars. Download an Many restaurants stop serving after 9pm, so offline map of the city so you can show BEACH BARS book into Buka at a civilised hour. Festooned the driver your live location if they ask. Get to the beach before the sun disappears. with ferns and dripping with wisteria, it Trips within Accra usually cost no more The Ghanaian Village Restaurant has an offers an extra bump of tropical atmosphere. than a couple of dollars. uninterrupted sea view, a stocked bar and a You’ll want to order the groundnut soup (a menu of gorgeous curries and stews. Or party beloved tomato and peanut stew served with WHEN TO GO with the flamboyant clientele at Sandbox or without slow-cooked guinea fowl) or the August is the coolest month in Accra, Beach Club, designed in earthy tiles, concrete grilled fish with fried sweet potatoes. Prices with average daytime temperatures and indigenous wood by lauded architect here are above average for Accra, but you can of 23C to 27C. It’s also the month of David Adjaye. Next door is the infinitely still get dinner for a fiver. bukarestaurant.com the Chale Wote Street Art Festival, calmer Ozzie’s Beach Palace. When it’s time when art and performance infiltrate to leave, call an Uber or walk up to La Road 10PM every neighbourhood. Avoid the dry to hail a taxi. Few rides cost more than £2, season, November to March, when but even Ubers will ask for cash payments. HIT THE CLUBS Saharan winds coat the city in grit. the-ghanaian-village-restaurant.business.site Head out on the town. The indoor-outdoor club instagram.com/sandboxbc +233 Jazz Bar & Grill (named for Accra’s area WHERE TO STAY instagram.com/ozziesbeachpalace code) has live jazz, funk and soul most nights. Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City The member’s club Front/Back is heaving with Accra has its own in-house gallery. 6 . 3 0 PM the arty glitterati most weekends. Follow the From £233, room only. kempinski.com Instagram account to find out about open- Elle Lokko has rooms available in APPETISERS AND PEOPLE-WATCHING door nights or ask your hotel concierge to put the same villa as the boutique. Grab a seat outside The Republic Bar & Grill in you on the guest list. If that fails, hail a taxi From £54, room only. Osu for some grade-A people-watching. Order for Skybar 25. 233-jazz-bar-grill.business.site ellelokko.com/our-rooms-apartments a fried yam appetiser, wash it down with a instagram.com/frontbackaccra skybar25.com MORE INFO Travellers from the UK require a visa to enter Ghana; apply through the Ghana High Commission ghanahighcommissionuk.com Bradt Ghana guide. RRP: £17.99 HOW TO DO IT Responsible Travel offers a 14-day cultural history trip through Ghana from £617 per person, including airport transfers, accommodation, transportation, all meals, excursions and a guide. Flights excluded. responsibletravel.com 14 4 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

Single room It’s not the Hilton, but you get the place to yourself. Come enjoy our sleeping facilities. Welcome to Trøndelag. Read more at exploretrondelag.com

CITY LIFE LEEDS Buoyed by a year-long festival of culture in 2023, Yorkshire’s economic powerhouse has become a hive of creativity with shops, food and events that give a nod to the city’s industrial past while looking to the future WORDS: DANIEL NEILSON. PHOTOGR APHS: KYM GRIMSHAW Despite the cold and the dark, the people of that celebrates the artwork of the hugely IMAGE: ALAMY Leeds are out in force. A giant octopus appears diverse communities of Leeds while re- to be escaping from the roof of the County examining the biases of the current collection. Arcade. Nearby, Leeds Civic Hall looks like it’s Along with the Henry Moore Institute next in the throes of an alien invasion, as electrical door, the gallery is a lynchpin of the nationally pulses flicker up the spires. important Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle. The tone here is set by the interior’s colourful In Playhouse Square, a huge slinky tumbles geometric stairwell mural by Lothar Götz, across shipping containers and disappears into installed in 2017 to give a contemporary edge the shadows. A wave of onlookers is trailing to a Victorian institution. a particularly dazzling drum troupe and the streets are thrumming with wandering Though sometimes overshadowed by families, whose children are whooping at the Manchester and Liverpool, Leeds is a city that displays for Light Night Leeds — an annual will challenge and wow those who make the celebration of illuminated art installations. effort to get to know it. In the run-up to Leeds 2023, the city’s self- proclaimed year of culture, this highly creative “There’s a vibration about it,” says local assault on the senses feels like a small preview musician Jonny Firth, singer and songwriter of the festivities that are to come. for the band Knuckle, which formed in Leeds in 2013, and founder of Wild West Yorkshire Politicians talk about Leeds as a powerhouse, Co clothing. “Back when I started, I felt like I the engine that drives the economy of the was in the New York punk scene or London in North — and it’s long been so. During the 17th the 1960s. Leeds is a hotbed of creativity and a and 18th centuries, it was a major trading younger generation is now creating their scene.” centre for wool and a significant mill town powering the Industrial Revolution. But Grit and graft have always been a part of the today, Leeds is also an important cultural city’s soul. You can see it on the mural-wrapped hub in the north of England. Northern Ballet streets of Leeds, where old warehouses and and Opera North are both based here, and mills have been ingeniously converted into Channel 4 has made Leeds its new national brewery taprooms and boutiques. And you headquarters. Yorkshire-born Poet Laureate can feel it in the grassroot gig venues and Simon Armitage is also planning to open a entrepreneurial restaurants that dish out some National Poetry Centre in the city, describing of the country’s best contemporary British food. Leeds as, “future-minded, community-aware and committed to cultural regeneration”. Meanwhile, the area south of the River Aire is being developed to double the size of central Heading to Leeds Art Gallery, I find Leeds over the next decade with new shops, Armitage’s words embodied in an exhibition apartments and a large park. As Leeds 2023 takes hold, the creative vibrations are palpable. 14 6 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

APRIL 2023 147

SEE & DO T H E T E T L E Y: Formerly the headquarters of the Leeds 2023 festival Tetley Brewery, this art deco, red-brick building will deliver 12 ROYA L A R MO U R I E S : Centrepiece of the has been repurposed as a contemporary art signature events rejuvenated Leeds Dock, this museum is gallery, bar and restaurant. Participation is a and countless almost overwhelming in its scale. It holds a central facet of the creative spaces. There’s an community-led, large part of the national collection of arms outdoor Makers Lab for families, and a range of creative experiences and armour, consisting of more than 4,500 workshops and courses. Round off an afternoon throughout the year. items including battle suits made for Henry here with a pint or a Sunday roast. thetetley.org The idea for the VIII and elephant chainmail. The exhibitions H A R E WO O D H O U S E : This 18th-century celebration came cleverly contextualise war and weaponry in country estate, seven miles north of Leeds, about after Leeds was culture, including as film props and in art, and holds a spectacular swag of fine art and one forced to pull out of holds child-friendly combat demonstrations. of the world’s best collections of Chippendale its European Capital It’s free to enter. royalarmouries.org furniture. Outside, there’s 100 acres of of Culture bid L E E D S D O C K A N D WAT E R TA X I : Running Capability Brown landscaped gardens and following Brexit off the River Aire, Leeds’ busiest dock area the Bird Garden, home to Humboldt penguins now houses offices, restaurants and the and Chilean flamingos. Inside, exhibitions Previous pages: Public art sculpture at excellent North Star Coffee Shop. Grab a coffee celebrate the ethnically diverse city and Leeds Dock made with beans roasted in the city and find squarely confront a past entwined with the a riverside perch. Afterwards, jump in the slave trade. harewood.org Clockwise from top left: In the grounds yellow water taxi that pootles between the K I R K S TA L L A B B E Y: Hop on a bus from the of Harewood House; Victoria Quarter dock and Granary Wharf. leedsdock.com city centre and take the half-hour ride out to shopping arcade; crafting at The Pink L E E D S A RT G A L L E RY: The city-centre art Kirkstall Abbey, a crumbling riverside relic Room inside the historic Corn Exchange; gallery opened in 1888 and was purpose-built founded by Cistercian monks more than 800 Leeds Water Taxi on the River Aire to house the collection of the Leeds Fine Art years ago. There’s a new audio guide linked to Society. Among the collection of 19th- and QR codes at key points around the site, delving 20th-century art, sculpture is an important into the monastery’s history. Visitors can take focus and the gallery forms part of the a stroll through the riverside grounds, then internationally significant Yorkshire Sculpture delve into the Abbey House Museum of social Triangle. Yorkshire-born sculptors Henry history across the road. Regular events include Moore and Barbara Hepworth feature alongside a popular makers’ market between March and Auguste Rodin and Antony Gormley. The November. yorkshire.com gallery’s Tiled Cafe is a beautiful, little known, spot. museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk 14 8 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

LEEDS BUY T H O R N TO N ’ S A RC A D E : Hiding off the main Briggate thoroughfare, a network of covered Victorian arcades make Leeds one of the most interesting shopping destinations in Britain. Thornton’s Arcade is one of the prettiest, with cornflower blue, wrought-iron ornamentation and a huge automaton clock. Selling everything from Japanese kimonos to vintage leather, some of the independent shops are no bigger than a few square metres; don’t miss Masato Jones design and Village bookshop. L E E D S C O R N E XC H A N G E : A home for independent boutiques in Leeds since the 1980s, the domed Leeds Corn Exchange was completed in 1863 and is one of the country’s most impressive Victorian buildings. Today, there are 30 small shops under its beautiful, twinkly roof, including print and record shops. leedscornexchange.co.uk V I C TO R I A Q UA RT E R : Marble flooring, ornate Burmantofts tiling, stained glass roofing and mahogany window frames make a stroll through the Victoria Quarter a spectacle before you even step into the designer boutiques. It houses the first Harvey Nichols store outside London, as well as Vivienne Westwood, Coach, Penhaligon’s and terrace dining from The Ivy, to name a few. victorialeeds.co.uk APRIL 2023 149

LEEDS E AT SLEEP Clockwise from right: Leeds Town Hall; drinkers at Whitelocks, Leeds’ £ H O U S E O F F U : Chef Ben Iley created £ T H E Q U E E N S H OT E L : This four-star oldest pub; plating up contemporary House of Fu after returning from nine years railway hotel is the grand dame of Leeds, Yorkshire food at Ox Club; glazed pork working in some of Tokyo’s best restaurants. wooing visitors straight out of the train station with scallops and squash at The Owl The stars of the show are the ramen and (via a dedicated concourse entrance) since gyozas, including inventive takes such as 1937. Following a £16m refurbishment, it’s truffled miso mushroom ramen and specials once again one of the most desired residences like currywurst gyoza. And the restaurant, in the city. There are 232 rooms, each with its murals, photo booth and karaoke sensitively restored with touches of the hotel’s rooms, is enormous fun. hellohouseoffu.com jazzy art deco roots. thequeensleeds.co.uk £ £ OX C LU B : Nearly everything served £ £ R A D I S S O N B L U H OT E L : This 147- in this buzzy restaurant has been licked by room hotel is opposite the Leeds Art Gallery flames or infused with the smoky aromas of and inhabits a luxuriously restored art deco burning wood, whether that’s hispi cabbage building that now forms part of The Light or a perfectly grilled bone-in sirloin. The entertainment complex on the Headrow. The mastery, however, is in the delicate touches rooms are designed to calm, with whites and throughout its inventive menu. oxclub.co.uk earthy tones, and the beds are exceptionally £ £ £ T H E OW L : This contemporary British comfortable. radissonhotels.com restaurant at Mustard Wharf is a joyful place £ £ £ DA KOTA : If it’s luxury you’re looking to eat. Canal-side terrace seating makes it for, swing straight through the doors of an ideal spot for an aperitif, but it’s the food Dakota. There’s an understated classiness created by Mark Owens that really sets The running through the rooms and art-filled Owl apart. Try meaty dishes such as Yorkshire communal spaces. An excellent grill is worth duck beignet with rhubarb and mustard or the visit alone, and the bar is one of the best in salt-aged hogget with beetroot and sorrel, to the city, serving a range of inventive cocktails see just how creative and exceptional food onto a balcony overlooking lively Greek Street can be. theowlleeds.co.uk in central Leeds. dakotahotels.co.uk 150 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .