How to dress for Africa
by James
Thomas
So this is
your first trip to Africa. Congratulations for having
the resources to travel and for the opportunity to visit
Africa. This will likely be one of your most memorable
trips. When you get ready to pack, you will have lots of
questions. As an Africa frequent flier, I can give you
some tips. My career in public health has taken me to
countries in all corners of the continent, beginning
with two years living in the Congo jungle. In Kenya and
South Africa I helped my church form long-term
relationships with two African churches. And I founded
Africa Rising, an organization that works with African
social entrepreneurs. I travel to Africa at least once a
year, sometimes more.
When I
travel anywhere, be it Paris or Nairobi, I try to avoid
looking like a tourist. Obvious tourists are a target
for pick pockets, scammers and merchants who charge what
they think a person will pay. More generally, tourists
are often seen by locals as a necessary evil. They
contribute to the economy, but they also make locals
feel like animals in a zoo, on the wrong side of the
camera lens.
Encountering tourists that fit the stereotypes commonly
result in locals wearing one of two faces: one that says
“How may I help you,” like a shop owner making a sale;
the other, less common one says “welcome to our country,
now go home.” They are both veneers that maintain an
emotional distance, intended to prevent unguarded and
open conversations. But to me, unguarded conversations
are the best way to get to know a person and their
culture. I try to minimize my tourist appearance (it can
seldom be completely hidden) because I want to know the
people I am with and the country I am in.
Stereotypes
For most
travelers – especially first timers – Africa is the last
exotic place on earth, the one continent unspoiled by
modernity that presents an opportunity for genuine
adventure. Mention Africa and most Americans picture
lions prowling the savannah and slender warriors hunting
with spears and living in mud huts. For those who hold
these mental images, a visit to Africa is a chance to
re-enact the safaris of the early European explorers,
but now with cameras instead of rifles.
For others,
Africa invokes images of starving children and a visit
is an opportunity to show compassion or to see firsthand
how bad poverty can be. We can be forgiven for harboring
such stereotypes: the popular media feed us a steady
diet of them. This includes many Christian relief and
child support organizations, because images of needy
children with imploring eyes are good for fund raising.
There is an
element of truth to these stereotypes. There is more
poverty in Africa than in other continents. And some
African tribes play up to the stereotypes as a source of
income from image-hungry tourists. There is also an
element of truth to the stereotypes Africans have of
Americans. Their sources are also the popular media:
exported American television and movies. According to
these sources, American streets are riddled with crime;
Americans live in mansions and drive the latest sleek
cars, and are as likely to hop into bed with someone as
ask their name.
Few of us
Americans fit that stereotype, and we don’t want to be
viewed that way. Our lives are more complex, our
challenges are greater, and our relationships are more
meaningful. In the same way, Africans don’t want to be
seen as the African stereotype. If you manage to go
beyond stereotypes to encounters that welcome new
information, surprises and genuine conversations, you
will be rewarded
with
personal insights and growth and, in some cases, with
lasting friendships. How you dress and behave affect the
odds of this happening.
Bwana Bob
and Clueless Claire
The most
stereotypical way to dress is what I call the “Bwana
Bob” attire. (Bwana is Swahili for Lord. It was a title
used by Africans for the ruling Europeans during the
colonial era.) This is the many-pocketed vest and
large-brimmed hat. There are male and female versions.
Men often wear them along with a vented synthetic fiber
backpacker shirt and many-pocketed trousers (I’d call
them pants, but that would leave the British readers
rolling with laughter). These clothes are the uniform
for the African explorer fantasy. They are commonly seen
on people in the lobbies of the tourist hotels and on
animal safaris. For true photographers – the kind that
make their living on it – a multitude of pockets makes
their craft more feasible. Even so, the outfit is like
wearing a neon sign that blinks “tourist.” So, some
professional photographers will forgo the convenience in
favor of not standing out so much.
A
stereotypical fashion mistake of young women visiting
Africa for the first time is to wear too little.
“Clueless Claire” is what we’ll call this stereotype,
and I have met her often. She wears a top with spaghetti
straps, or a neckline that reveals cleavage. These are
clothes that most wouldn’t give a second thought or look
in the US. But typically, African cultures are more
conservative and to dress revealingly is to be
culturally insensitive.
The most
counter-intuitive clothing faux pas is shorts. They were
made for heat and humidity, so they should be perfect
for the tropics. However, in many African countries
shorts are worn only by school children and are thus
associated with youth and immaturity. Men in shorts are
seen by many Africans as silly. Women in shorts,
however, are often seen as sultry. Culturally speaking,
women’s bare legs in some African cultures are more
taboo than bare breasts. Women who don’t want to be
viewed as “loose,” should avoid shorts and short skirts.
Women experienced with travel to Africa will often wear
slacks, jeans, or a mid-to-full-length skirt; and a top
that covers the shoulders.
A third
stereotype is simpler. I’ll call it “Mission Team
Mackenzie.” It is the group of youth all wearing the
same t-shirt, usually printed with the name of a church
and a purposeful tag line like “Serving all nations.” I
understand the usefulness of such a uniform for the
adults shepherding these groups. They make it easier to
spot the kids and keep them together. By the same token,
however, the shirts make the kids easier to label as
outsiders and tourists. Moreover, a purposeful tag line
can make the people visited feel like a project rather
than a person. This has a dehumanizing effect that is
likely to be the opposite of what the group intends.
There are a
few other things that mark a person as a tourist but
aren’t part of a uniform. They are the visor cap – the
kind without a top - the fanny pack, and daypacks. Yes,
even the common-as-water pack used for books, day hikes
and as an airplane carry-on. The fanny pack and daypack
have the added disadvantage of being thief magnates. A
razor blade provides easy access to the contents when
the wearer is preoccupied or distracted.
Bwana Bob,
Clueless Claire and Mission Team Mackenzie have each
arrived at some practical solutions. Synthetic shirts
can be washed and dried overnight in a hotel room,
shorts are cool in heat, and uniform t-shirts are easy
to spot in a crowded airport. Their disadvantages are
mostly relational. They make it easier to put people in
boxes and harder to move beyond stereotypes into genuine
encounters.
How I dress
for Africa
When I pack
for an African trip, I take clothes with solid dark
colors. Solid because plaids, prints, and large stripes,
with some exceptions, mark one as an American – in
Europe as well as in Africa. Dark because bright colors
stand out in a crowd – just by definition – and because
dark colors hide dirt better. I often do wear a
synthetic shirt while en route because it can endure
long flights in cramped places without wrinkling. Then
once I arrive, it washes easily in the bathroom sink.
During my stay, however, I wear the kinds of shirts I
normally wear in the US: long sleeve cotton. I wear long
sleeves for protection against the sun, the cold (some
African latitudes and altitudes are quite cold), and
mosquitoes.
I also wear
cargo pants when en route because the extra pocket on
the thigh is a convenient place to keep a passport. But
once in country I wear denim or non-cargo-type pants, as
I would at home in the US. And except when in my hotel
room or a host’s home, I wear shoes that thoroughly
cover my feet. Even in cities, one can encounter sharp
objects, dirt, mud or worse. I wear shoes that are
comfortable for walking, but not running shoes: again,
they are part of the American stereotype.
I carry
dark glasses, but I usually wear them only when I’m not
talking to someone. Eye contact is essential for
conversations which, as I’ve explained, are one of my
principal objectives. To shield the sun I rely mostly on
a baseball cap. But now here I am in a quandary. Most
dark-skinned Africans simply don’t wear hats. But my
fair skin begs for something between me and the sun.
Although some hats make one stand out more (think Bwana
Bob), I’m not sure any hat will make me stand out less.
While away
from my hotel room I carry things like a cell phone,
wallet, camera, water, notebook, and sometimes a rain
shell. I put them in a small side sling pack that I
bought in a backpacking store. Because it hangs to my
side, I can easily swing it around in front to pull
something out or keep it where I can watch it. Cameras,
like the one I carry in the bag, are virtually a piece
of clothing these days. They are ubiquitous among
Africans as well as Americans. They are part of many
cell phones, which nearly every African from secondary
school up has. What can make a camera a liability is
large size and what it is pointed at. Nothing maintains
or accentuates a distance between two strangers like a
camera. To be photographed by a stranger is to feel like
an oddity. I have posted guidelines on when and when not
to use a camera at
[When to use a Camera].
Enjoy
If you can
avoid being easily categorized or dismissed as a
tourist, you stand more of a chance of having rewarding
conversations with local people and unpackaged cultural
experiences. Although it is unfair to refer to Africans
as a single group – after all it is a continent, not a
country – no matter where you travel in Africa, you will
likely find people who are open, generous, and with a
terrific sense of humor. They too will welcome the
opportunity to sidestep stereotypes and treat you to the
best of their country and culture. My bet is that you
will want to return time and again to bask in the beauty
and hospitality.
James Thomas is the founder and president of Africa
Rising (www.africarising.org).
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