The Daily Sun

Living in Africa can be really depressing at times. You only have to listen to the stories coming from Zimbabwe - or closer to home in Cato Ridge - and it makes you want to reach for your passport and get the hell out before you come face to face with a panga wielding loony. Add in load shedding, the AIDS crisis and the ever present poverty and crime problems and it's no wonder most people have an exit plan in place. On the other hand, most people will also remind you that Africa is a place of contrasts and for every voice of pessimism there is an equal voice of optimism. I have therefore decided to embrace the 'spirit of Africa'. My plan? READ THE DAILY SUN! It's the African equivalent of the News of the World and it is completely hysterical. Yesterday it headlined with "When a Pig is a Lion" warning readers not to be duped by conmen selling fake lion's blood. It also included a report about a mlungu (white person) living in a shack and a girl who woke up married. The evidence for this wedding was one very small ring that had been squeezed onto one exceptionally fat finger. To be honest, it looked like her finger was about to fall off and one can only surmise that she sold her story to pay for the impending medical bills.