麻豆社

Insight, wit and analysis from 麻豆社 correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world, introduced by Pascale Harter. Today, two dispatches from African cities where there's daily competition for survival and resources...

King of the savannah - but not the city

Recently, the killing of several lions near the Nairobi National Park made national news in Kenya - and attracted international outrage too. Pictures of dead lionesses, tongues dangling, made for distressing viewing on the internet. Natasha Breed lives very close to the park - which is itself not so far from Nairobi's city centre - and that's given her a special perspective on the ongoing struggle for food, lodgings and resources in the country. Increasingly, she says, humans and lions are bing driven into direct competition.

Where a bribe means 'beans for the kids'

The city of Kinshasa was once mostly famous for Muhammad Ali's 'Rumble in the Jungle', its bubbling nightlife and its lilting music. In recent years, its reputation has been overshadowed by war and atrocities on the eastern borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo - even though the capital city is more than 1500 kilometres away. 麻豆社 correspondent Thomas Hubert recently left Kinshasa, and shared some of his lasting impressions of a tough place to live and work.