Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

In Africa

Text Tabitha Lasley

A round-up of travel news from Brussels Airlines’ long-haul network

Hotel with a view DIAMOND BEACH VILLAGE, KENYA

Where is it? Beachfront, Manda Island, Lamu, Kenya (, www.diamondbeachvillage.com)

What’s the view? The village sits on the beachfront at Manda, part of the Lamu archipelago, and enjoys undisturbed views of the Indian Ocean out towards Lamu Island and Shela Village opposite.

What to expect There are no cars on Manda island. People get around by boat or donkey. In keeping with this back-to-basics aesthetic, the resort is built solely with local materials and building methods – roofs are made of thatched coconut palm while walls and floors are made of locally woven star palm. There’s a treehouse that reaches up into the branches of a baobab tree which sleeps up to six and an open-air restaurant that makes full use of the sea’s rich resources, serving lobster, king prawns, red snapper and mangrove crab.

What you need to know Stripped down-simplicity doesn’t mean you have to wave goodbye to all your creature comforts – every beach hut (called a banda) has its own en-suite bathroom and, while the water here is recycled, all that means is that the water from the showers and sinks is used again on the garden.

Why go there? Well, there’s the matchless beauty of the Mombasa coastline for starters. And if you’re an outdoors type, there’s also plenty of snorkelling, sailing, windsurfing, walking and fishing to be done.

What does it cost? Single beach huts from €38 per night, breakfast included.

One to watch… Kakande

Famoro Dioubate with his balofon
and his band Kakande Not many unsigned artists can claim they’ve had a Grammy-winning singer approach them on the street, hand them $100 (€68) and tell them they’re going to be a star. But then, not many struggling musicians are heir to an 800-year-old cultural legacy, so perhaps the young Famoro Dioubate took Mory Kanté’s predictions in his stride. Born into a family of Guinean griots, Dioubate was a child prodigy, taking up the balafon (wooden xylophone) under the tutelage of his grandfather and going on first to play with a national orchestra and later to form the 10-strong outfit Kakande. Their new album Dununya finds things taking a slightly surreal turn as the band revisit ancient allegories. But somehow, by incorporating (relatively) new instruments like the cello, they manage to keep things modern. Dununya (Jumbie Records) is out now.

In the news

Indian adventure funds African trip

When Iain Crockart returned from touring the Himalayas on a Royal Enfield motorbike, he went one better than regaling his friends with his holiday snaps. He decided to document the eight-week trip in an 80-page book of beautifully shot photographs. The book isn’t for sale, though – it’s only available in return for a donation towards the trip he’s taking next month, a 2,000km motorbike ride through Africa to raise money for three children’s charities. To pick up a copy, go to www.iaincrockart.com/africa

Long-haul pictures

Inspiring images from Brussels Airlines’ African destinations

In a rural school in Uganda, a pupil helps his classmates learn the alphabet

Nothing goes to waste: a Burundian recycles a cement sack as a carrier bag

An endangered Diana Monkey nonchalantly munches on a piece of fruit in Tai National Park, Ivory Coast

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