Restaurant Review: Shakka Zulu

I haven't done one of these in a while!

For my birthday, my lovely husband decided to treat me to the delights of Shakka Zulu, located in the heart of Camden. Quite fitting to its geographical location, the interiors of the restaurant transport you into another world - a sort of mythical African palace. The walls are ornately decorated with carvings of figurerines stretching across both floors. No detail has gone amiss. Even the furniture screams African King or Queen.

For me the food is lovely, but not worth the price. I have visited it twice and on both occasions had a fish dish. The first was a coconut infused dish served with some piri piri chips and on the second was a half lobster (as they they had run out of the lamb dish that I originally wanted). Both dishes were delightful; light and full of flavour. The lobster was even better than the one we had whilst honeymooning in Mauritius. It was so good in fact that I wished they had given me some pincers so I could have extracted all that juicy meat.

A starter costs around £10.00 and main meals are on average around £25.00. Definitely not for your everyday meal.

I would definitely recommend it however, even if it is just to see the surroundings. They also have a bar on the top floor where they serve light nibbles and after 9pm it turns into a club. If you are lucky, you might get treated to a pup-petted safari show.

Look out for special offers at Groupon.  

Pause for Thought - 1st Feb 2011

Feb 1st 2011 - They year is rolling by!

I have some thought provoking news for you to consider - really makes you think:

Mass Rape in the Congo Made Headlines in August 2010 from Aids-free World (Click Here to read)

What distinguished that atrocity from the vicious, relentless rape of Congolesse women throughout the conflict?

Answer: Media attention. That's all.

It is a bit of a long article but it is definitely worth the read.

Uproar at Gay Activist's Funeral by Brisbane Times (Click Here to read)

Peaceful Beauty

I'm trying to make an effort to read up more on my work area. I spend a lot of time in the office writing (re-writing) other peoples words and not a lot is invested into increasing my knowledge. And I have only one person to blame for that.

So this morning I decided to read one of the daily emails (which I usually delete instantly) from The Economist (i'm also a weekly subsriber - but this lands straight in the hands of W). I ventured to my favorite topic - Africa, looked up my home nation - Sierra Leone - and was really excited that in some vague way the article was infact linked to trade, which is what I work in, but also had some fashion (ish) aspects to it.

My excitement quickly dissappeared as I read through the article:

ON NOVEMBER 13th Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, had the fortune to host the 2010 Miss ECOWAS Peace Pageant. The contest, which pits young women from the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against one another, is no mere beauty pageant, say its organisers. They are looking for a "peace ambassador" with intellectual substance. The competition still includes a swimwear round though.

The event got off to a rocky start. The website still bears the proud headline “Welcome to Sierra Leone: The Loin Mountains”. The pageant took place in the compound immediately behind Freetown’s main ministerial pile which boasts an erratic elevator and apocalyptic lavatories. When the 28 competitors arrived their changing area was still under construction. Young men were stripping the insulation from electric cables with their teeth and taping the wiring together to light naked bulbs. Despite prior clearance Baobab was ejected three times from the backstage area by the increasingly frantic Ghanaian organisers.

The pageant itself ran far into the night. The competitors waved their national flags, read meandering messages of peace, and strutted on stage in their swimwear. At one point Miss Niger nominated Muammar Qaddafi as her favourite African leader.

The eventual winner, announced in the small hours after a performance by reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, was Ghana’s Shirley Nwangere. Alongside a new car and $5000 in cash, she wins the heady prospect of “a year of ambassadorial work spreading peace across the sub-region.”

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/11/west_african_beauty_pageant

Why do our nations never learn? When are we going to host an event that we can be proud of? If we know we can't deliver in time, why take it on? Why are we hosting events that we play no part in organising? Does anyone see the link between the winner and the organisers? - Need I say more?

News Bulletin - 10th May 2010

Are we really going to have to deal with a Conservative coalition? After the disappointing results on Friday the country is still as unsure about it's future as it has been for the last 2 months or so. Silly of me to think that elections would be the end of it eh?



As Clegg and Cameron ponder over how they are going to make their differences come together I pray that they will come up with policies that is good for THEIR people. Hopefully we should have some progress by the end of the day, although this apparent instability does not seem to be effecting the economy too much. So why do we need a government again?



Elsewhere in the world:


South African president Zuma has been put into the same category as Sarah Palin with reports saying that he has no real grasp on policies. A consequence of trying to please all - there's a lesson to be learnt there.

There's growing evidence of Kenya's presence on the world tourism market : Another place to visit I think!


The Harrod's conglomerate has been sold by the Al-Fayed family to further increase Qatar's stake in world affairs :

Women in Need

I've just watched a documentary on BBC iplayer "The most dangerous place for women". It is heart rendering to hear the stories of these vulnerable and stigmatised women. Women are being raped on a daily basis just because. Rape in the case of wars has turned into a mass destruction weapon.


The documentary follows the story of Jude a Congolese British, as she goes back to her homeland to visit her parents after 20 years of separation but also to grasp an understanding of her background. For me it brought back memories of my own homeland and made me consider just where I could have been had it not been for the sacrifice of my own parents to bring me to this land of opportunity. It also brought to the forefront the plight of Africa in general but more specifically highlighted just how powerless African women specifically rural African women are. I would have said "have become" but I believe that the poor treatment of women is entrenched in the culture and tradition of most African lifestyle.

Something needs to change. I don't know how, but we need to take a stand to ensure that we do not go around ignorant of the challenges that face our fellow sisters on a daily basis.
It's quite easy to forget. In my last blog post I was writing about the luxury of Spas and Hotels, hmmm…. It is very easy to forget.