Travels with David: Asia, Africa and The Balkans

Malawi: Incredible miracles and supernatural breakthroughs

According to the census, two out of three Malawians claim to be Christian. One in five is Catholic, with others scattered among the mainstream Protestant groups; Muslims make up about one quarter of the population. Christianity is mixed with traditional beliefs drawn from animism and witchcraft, and often has a revivalist fringe. In storefront churches, roadside shacks with rough painted crosses, the music is loud and the sermons fiery—religion at its rawest, and perhaps most inspiring. Welcome to the “Faith in God Church—Home of the Incredible Miracle” and the “Winners Church—The Home of the Supernatural Breakthrough.”

Malawi: South Africa's only ally

It is a paradox of history that South Africa’s apartheid regime, sanctioned and shunned by the international community, had a friend in Malawi. Its long-time authoritarian president, Hastings Banda, was politically conservative, suspicious and fearful of the socialist regimes of other countries in the region. Malawi was the only country in Africa to maintain diplomatic ties with South Africa during the apartheid era. South Africans occupied senior management positions in leading companies and helped train the security forces. When Banda decided to move the capital north from Zomba to Lilongwe, grants and loans from the apartheid regime helped finance construction.
 

Who drew the borders?

As a history student, it was challenging enough to keep up with the shifting borders of European countries. When I opened the atlas and turned to other continents, the borders of some countries seemed to make no sense at all. Why were some strangely shaped, with portions of their territory protruding into other countries? Why were there straight line borders, particularly in the Middle East and Africa?

Crossing borders

A shakedown by cops at Almaty airport in Kazakhstan provides a glimpse of life in a post-Soviet society undergoing wrenching social and economic transition. And as travel writer Thomas Swick notes, travel only becomes interesting (and therefore worth writing about) when things go wrong.

Passport from adolescence

It was a proud day in 1965 when, at the age of 15, I was issued my first British passport. Looking back, the stern instruction in elaborate cursive not to mess with the Queen’s loyal subject seems like the pompous posturing of a country that had surrendered its empire but was not yet ready to accept its new, reduced role in the world. I’ve held a US passport since 1991. With two passports, I have one more than most people but I am still a long way away from matching the collection of my passport hero, Jason Bourne, the CIA-trained rogue assassin played by Matt Damon in the action thriller movies based on the novels of Robert Ludlum. He has six.
 

Nairobi Airport: No time for the lion park

After a 12-hour delay on a return flight from Madagascar, I engage in a polite but frustrating battle with the Kenya Airways customer service staff at Nairobi International Airport.