Culture

Seychelles had no indigenous population, so everything here was carried in. Its Creole culture is what the people brought and what survived.

Ethiopia keeps its own calendar, its own clock and its own alphabet, and it is the only African country never formally colonized.

Nigeria has eight UNESCO-inscribed traditions. One of them is a divination system that the African diaspora carried across the Atlantic and still uses.

Cape Verde has exactly one UNESCO-inscribed tradition, and it is a form of music about leaving. That turns out not to be a coincidence at all.

Three of Senegal's living traditions are inscribed by UNESCO, and one of them is a meal. Culture here is practiced, not displayed.

Tunisia is Arab, Amazigh and Mediterranean at once, and its craft traditions are inscribed heritage rather than souvenir production.

Morocco is Amazigh and Arab, and both languages are official. Knowing which greeting, which hand and which moment to photograph is most of what a visitor needs.

Ancestors are present, fady are local and binding, and a good speech is an art form. How Malagasy society works, and how to be a guest in it.

A Hindu majority, a Creole heart, four working languages and a great deal of quiet politeness. How Mauritius holds itself, and how to fit in.

Greetings that take time, a matrilineal inheritance system and a masked society older than the state. How to be a good guest in Malawi.

A national language that was a political choice, a dress code with a price attached, and a law about what you may photograph.

A republic containing kingdoms, a cloth made from bark, and several rules of dress and speech that carry criminal penalties.