Backpacking Through Africa 20 – Mzungu! Mzungu!

 The word mzungu (muzungu), meaning 'white person'—and beloved by screeching urchins all over East Africa— was coined in the days of the early European explorers.

It comes from the Kiswahili verb kuzunguka: 'to wander around aimlessly, like a mad person.' The Swahili word for a hangover, kuzungu-zungu ('my head's going round and round'), comes from the same root.

Travelers wandering around aimlessly and nursing hangovers? Not much has changed...

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)