Loulou Afrika

09/28/2026

Travel influencers can be great for inspiration. I’m just not sure they should always be your travel experts.

There’s a difference between documenting a destination and knowing a destination.

A few days, a week, even a couple of visits can give you a great experience — but it doesn’t necessarily give you expertise.

And what we see online isn’t always the same trip we would experience ourselves. The hotel may be hosted. The safari complimentary. The itinerary planned in advance. The beautiful restaurant chosen because it photographs well.

None of that makes the experience fake. But it does give it context.

Someone can show you an incredible side of a place without knowing what it’s like to navigate ordinary life there, stay long enough for things to go wrong, or understand the nuances that don’t fit into a reel.

And one person’s experience — including mine — is still just one person’s experience.

Take the inspiration. Save the beautiful places. Follow the people whose content you enjoy.

Just don’t confuse influence with expertise.

09/28/2026

Travel influencers can be great for inspiration. I’m just not sure they should always be your travel experts.

There’s a difference between documenting a destination and knowing a destination.

A few days, a week, even a couple of visits can give you a great experience — but it doesn’t necessarily give you expertise.

And what we see online isn’t always the same trip we would experience ourselves. The hotel may be hosted. The safari complimentary. The itinerary planned in advance. The beautiful restaurant chosen because it photographs well.

None of that makes the experience fake. But it does give it context.

Someone can show you an incredible side of a place without knowing what it’s like to navigate ordinary life there, stay long enough for things to go wrong, or understand the nuances that don’t fit into a reel.

And one person’s experience — including mine — is still just one person’s experience.

Take the inspiration. Save the beautiful places. Follow the people whose content you enjoy.

Just don’t confuse influence with expertise.

09/15/2026

What does Arusha taste like?

Ugali beside rich stew. Chapati pulled apart by hand. Pilau carrying layers of spice. Kachumbari cutting through the heaviness. Mandazi with chai. Corn roasting by the roadside.

None of these foods belongs only to Arusha. You’ll find them across Tanzania and East Africa, shaped differently by region, household and occasion. But these are some of the everyday flavours I associate with life in and around Arusha.

Food tells stories of land, trade, migration, family and memory. Sometimes the deepest culture lives in the meals people eat without ceremony.

The Arusha Edition. What would be on your plate?

09/14/2026

Reggae has always been more than music. It is a lifeline, a map, and an unbroken cultural chain stretching across the Atlantic.
When systemic oppression tried to strip our ancestors of their language and instruments, they coded the rhythm directly into their bodies. Centuries later, those same West African percussive traditions became the heavy basslines and “one-drop” beats that reconnected the diaspora to its roots.
From the streets of Kingston to the liberation movements in Zimbabwe and South Africa, reggae became the soundtrack for our survival. It didn’t just move our feet—it carried our grief, fueled our resistance, and brought us back home to Zion.
We honor the artists and ancestors who engineered this sound to help us survive and remember who we are. 🎧✊🏾
🎵 What reggae song connects you deepest to your roots or carries you through a hard season?

Drop it in the comments below. Let’s build a global diaspora playlist together.
👇✨

09/11/2026

Today is Enkutatash—Ethiopian New Year—and Ethiopia welcomes 2019. 🇪🇹

The Gregorian calendar is so dominant that most of us rarely think of it as one system among many. Its global reach grew through European expansion, administration, commerce and, eventually, international standardization.

But standardized does not mean universal.

The Ethiopian calendar follows its own ancient calculation of time: 13 months, a September New Year, and a rhythm connected to its history, faith and seasons.

Calendars don’t simply count days. They carry the worldview of the people who created them.

Melkam Addis Amet.

09/09/2026

09/07/2026

I’ve been thinking about this one for a while.

Because consumption isn’t always obvious.

It doesn’t stop being consumption because our intentions are good. Or because we feel connected. Or because we call somewhere “home.”

We can genuinely love a place and still expect it to provide us with an experience — beauty, belonging, culture, spirituality, healing, even identity.

And I don’t think the answer is to feel guilty about travelling, enjoying ourselves or being transformed by a place.

Maybe it’s simply to ask more of ourselves once we get there.

Are we curious beyond what’s being presented to us? Do the relationships continue when there’s nothing being offered? Do we participate? Do we contribute? Can we accept the place when it disappoints the version we imagined?

I’m still thinking about these questions myself.

What do you think?