Sep 24Guyana: A wealth of vegan food and sugary rum in the only ex-British colony in South AmericaLike so many South American countries, Guyana has a history rich in suffering, slavery and European title fighting. Although it nomenclature is likely Indigenous (meaning many waters) — only 10 per cent of the population now is. Today’s borders were created when British colonialists took over from Dutch colonialists and…Guyana4 min readGuyana4 min read
Sep 17Guinea-Bissau: The Ultimate Tragedy, cashews and a catastrophic dinner partyAnd so, after several months of exploration, I finally arrive at the last of the African Guineas, the ex-Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau. This is a country that, despite being surrounded by Francophone Africa has kept its lusophone culture and love of Portuguese wine and treats. The wine I can understand…Guinea Bissau4 min readGuinea Bissau4 min read
Sep 10Guinea: A land of bissap, peanut stew and government mandated musicIt is unclear where the word “Guinea” comes from, but it is certainly popular nomenclature — it’s the name of an African region; three African countries; an Asian island and, not to be outdone, a town in Nicaragua. I have already Armchair visited the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea…World Music4 min readWorld Music4 min read
Sep 3Guatemala: A country and peoples with roots deep enough to survive intergenerational traumaDue to me appalling photographic ability, It may be hard to believe, but sometimes the meal is the armchair travel highlight! This week, for example, I made vegan Pepian de Pollo and learned much about Guatemala along the way thanks to a Guatemalan friend who explained the cultural importance of…Guatemala4 min readGuatemala4 min read
Jul 23Guam: A weak eating Tinaktak & CHamoru rice, watching Christmas films and mulling on colour-blindnessI could have easily skipped over Guam on these armchair travels using the excuse that it’s part of Micronesia and that the “democratic” United States shouldn’t consider anywhere a territory until there’s been a referendum and the people have the US vote. …Armchair Travel4 min readArmchair Travel4 min read
Jul 16Guadeloupe: The Island of beautiful waters where the EU and the Caribbean meetThree thousand years ago and four thousand miles from France the Arawak people landed on the islands that are now Guadeloupe and named them the Island of beautiful waters. Over the years since, they were taken by the Kalina-Carib peoples, the French and then the British… but the French so…Reading Challenge4 min readReading Challenge4 min read
Jun 21French Guiana: Nothing like France, nowhere near France, still part of FranceNot so long ago there was a British, a Dutch, a French, a Spanish, and a Portuguese Guiana, but colonies tend to collapse and so only French Guiana remains. It is the second largest region of France, the Outermost Region of the European Union and it hosts the EU’s largest…French Guiana4 min readFrench Guiana4 min read
Jun 2Falkland Islands, Islas Malvinas, Îles Malouines: The most British place on earth?And so I arrive at another non-country, one of the 17 regions the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization defines as a Non-Self-Governing Territory. These strangely much desired islands have been a Spanish Colony, a French Colony and a British Colony. Argentina, itself a creation of colonialisation now wants to…Falklands4 min readFalklands4 min read
May 26East Turkistan: A Uyghur experience in Birmingham that would be impossible in their homelandBefore my Armchair Travels I mostly associated the horrors of colonialism with the Western world — such as the terrible statistic that Britain’s thievery was so virulent that sixty-five countries now celebrate independence from us. It’s been depressing, therefore, to come to terms with the number of other colonising countries…Uyghur4 min readUyghur4 min read
May 19Grenada: Mulling the troubled history behind sugar-cane rum and nutmeg stewGiven that Love Island will always get more viewers than a programme about the history of social activism, it is easy to believe that the fight for social, racial and gender justice is new and only of interest to the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, but the truth, as always, is far…Armchair Travel4 min readArmchair Travel4 min read
