Costa Rica is a small country in Central America. A 2009 study proclaimed it as both the happiest and greenest country in the world. In general it ranks pretty high in various human development indices. It is a former Spanish colony, but acquired its independence already in the 1800s. After a bloody civil war, in [...]

Greece is not hugely popular at the moment thanks to its severe money problems. It’s a shame, considering the rich history and culture of this Mediterranean country, being the Western birthplace of many arts, sciences, ideas and traditions, including the Olympic games. Apparently the Greek healthcare system remains one of the best in the world [...]

Cape Verde is an archipelago of ten volcanic islands located near the coast of West Africa. They were uninhabited until the Portuguese colonization in the 15th century and later served as an important hub in the slave trade because of their location. Now it houses about 500,000 people, mostly of creole origin. Cape Verde is [...]

Swaziland is a small, landlocked country almost entirely cocooned by South Africa. It was formerly a colony of the United Kingdom, now ruled by king Mswati III. The people are mostly Swazis who speak the Bantu language Swazi (also known as siSwati). Even compared to other African countries, the impact of AIDS in Swaziland has [...]

Neighboured by Spain, Portugal is the westernmost country in Europe. It has had a number of colonies in its history. Most people know that Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, but also in some African and Asian countries such as Angola and East Timor. Still, unlike most former colonial powers, Portugal remains rather homogenic religion and [...]

Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands which is considered a part of Africa, even though it is located 1,500 km (over 900 miles) east of the mainland. It is a former colony of the United Kingdom. With 84,000 inhabitants it has the smallest population of any African country. Another thing worth mentioning is that [...]

Again sorry for not posting, blah blah blah. Not only have I been very busy with the move, I have also lost my cooking mojo. The selection of fresh veg and fruit is just so amazing and cheap here in Amsterdam compared to Finland (e.g. fresh green beans are 1/10 of the price!) that I [...]

Sorry again for the delay between postings. It’s been crazy in this household – we got married last week (there are photos and videos in case you’re interested and I will probably write an article about holding a vegan wedding later) and we are moving to the Netherlands in two weeks. So, not much time [...]

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have some major life changes happening in the next weeks, so unfortunately posts will still be sparse until mid September or so, possibly even longer. Writing this blog has made me realize how little I remember of the geography lessons I had in school. Not only are [...]

Lesotho is a small landlocked country which is also an enclave – meaning it is located inside the borders of another country, in this case South Africa. It is hard to find information about its cuisine, but Wikia Recipes Wiki says this: “Lesotho cuisine resulted from a blend of many cultures such as European, Asian [...]