Pheromones are the lineal ancestors of hormones as EO Wilson says. These chemical signals have several outstanding advantages. Small amounts can produce a signal that lasts for hours. They are energetically cheap to manufacture and can be broadcast quite readily. At one extreme they can cover barely a few millimetres. At the other extreme they…
Tag: Lagos
Afro-Cubans in Lagos: Hilario Campos & Feliberto Muniz
In Leonardo Padura’s Havana Fever (part of Havana Quartet) the protagonist, Mario Conde has now retired from the Police Force and works as an antique dealer, specialising in books, whilst still investigating crime. Padura's Cuban noir is next to Pedro Juan Gutiérrez’s Dirty Havana Trilogy as introduction to Castro’s Havana. In relation to…
Continue reading ➞ Afro-Cubans in Lagos: Hilario Campos & Feliberto Muniz
Lagos: Eko Ile
Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) travelled in West Africa from 1893-95. Her description of the mangrove swamps along the Nigerian coast is definitely the best that I have encountered There is an uniformity in the habits of West African rivers, from the Volta to the Coanza, which is, when you get…
Lagos
We are in the Algarve. Today, our last day here we caught the free bus from Rocha Brava to Carvoeiro. It stopped at the beach, the Praia. We had lunch: chicken baguette for me, salad for Jan. Then we took the coastal path back. From Carvoeiro you can look back at Lagos. Today Lagos…
Pestilence
Sophocles’ Oedipus The King starts with lamentation. The priest cries A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth, A blight is on the cattle in the fields, a blight is on our women that no children are born to them; a God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence, is on our…
Brazilians in Lagos
Candido Esan da Rocha was the richest man in Lagos when I was a boy. I lie! When my mother was a girl. He was reputed to own a horse drawn carriage that took him across "Gada" (sic) bridge. It was always unclear whether "Gada" was a corruption of "Carter" or "Girder". Candido lived at…
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