Tropes on Starving Kids from an 80s Kitchen - Things We Were Told Ishay Govender-Ypma reflects on an 80s youth of big hair, Band Aid and misguided rhetoric. Tropes on Starving Kids. This essay was written for Mail & Guardian. author with neighbourhood kids in the 80s It was the time of Halley’s [...]
Cherae Robinson Since launching Rare Customs in 2014, which facilitated foreign investment in African SMEs in the fields of agriculture, tourism and market entry, founder Cherae Robinson (nominated a “woman to watch” by the U.N. in 2014) has continued on her upward trajectory. In December 2015 she launched her start-up mobile app Tastemakers [...]
Mexico City – colourful, chaotic, and a crash-course in street-food, as Ishay Govender-Ypma learns, tasting her way through markets and curb-side stalls. Fine dining your north star? Check! But you’ll soon be drawn back to the abuela-style dishes found in the simple diners and homes around town. My Mexico City Food Guide For Taste Magazine, [...]
Taste of the Swahili Coast - Swahili Food The Swahili Coast runs from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, a unique cultural melting pot that reflects in the cuisine. For Fine Dining Lovers, July 2016. In the village of Alfeneseni, outside Zanzibar, an east African island popular with holidaymakers for its pristine white shores and [...]
Meet the founder of Open Streets, Cape Town - Marcela Guerrero Casas Ishay: Why did you pick Bree Street to incorporate in the Open Street initiative? Marcella: When we first chose it in 2015 we thought it’d be an interesting street to test for some of the following reasons: It is a major street but [...]
Beyond the glittery resorts in Zanzibar, Tanzania, we meet a family in a village who allow us a glimpse into Zanzibari food culture. For Business Day WANTED magazine, April 2016
The Baltic regions are on the rise. We explore the splendour of nearby Poland, still shedding the cloak of communism and forging a new identity. Poland - More Than Pierogi & Vodka for Food and Home Entertaining Magazine, March 2016. Fall of the Iron Curtain Classic Pierogi If it’s pierogi – the eponymous Polish [...]
Raramuri mother and child Traversing the spectacular canyons on Mexico’s Copper Canyon on the last passenger ride, Ishay Govender-Ypma meets the reclusive Rarámuri, while learning about the country’s diverse landscape. For Mail & Guardian 26 Feb 2016 The vestibule convulses over the loops at Témoris, shaking us this way and that, but we [...]
A tough city for artists, Ishay Govender-Ypma explores the heart of the Durban’s Art Scene and creative spirit. For AFK Travel Undercover City Durban Taxi Mural Durban’s potential tends to bubble beneath the surface, not quite as bold and direct as Johannesburg or Cape Town. Durban is a laid-back city on many counts, [...]
Réunion Island Food, where culinary and cultural exploration meet Culinary and cultural exploration are deeply fused, Ishay Govender-Ypma (@IshayGovender) discovers on a visit to the volcanic French island, Réunion. For The National UAE, 4 Feb 2016. Author (2nd left) with a family of local farmers - they titled this: "The Malabar returns home" - [...]
We had the opportunity to learn some cooking tips from a Zapotec woman, a Mexican indigenous group who settled in the area of Oxaca, Mexico. We were shown the true meaning of slow living, loving and eating. For Fine Dining Lovers, 20 Nov 2015. At Teotitlán de Valle, 25 kilometres outside the colonial town of [...]
Chennai market A return to the Motherland - Chennai, India. For TASTE Magazine. It dawns on me at the Georgetown market in Chennai, that the locals find me perplexing. Amid ox-drawn carts piled with fresh vegetables, the vendors sit cross-legged in front of their tidily arranged wares, offering me a smile and a [...]
Featured in the SAA Sawubona inflight magazine Across an enchanting landscape of mountains, plains, rivers and ancient ruins, Ishay Govender-Ypma feasted on the flavours of the Alentejo, the breadbasket and wine barrel of Portugal. Written for SAA Sawubona inflight magazine, 21 July 2015 Acorns and Pastries “At one time we only fed acorns [...]
Walking into the Record Books - Graham Hughes Adventurer and videographer Graham Hughes is the only person to have travelled to every known country without taking a single flight. Ishay Govender –Ypma caught up with him via Skype from his home in Panama What does it take to travel to every country in the world, [...]
Bharatanatyam in Chennai, Rhythm City The ancient art of classical Bharatanatyam dance has undergone a revival. Ishay Govender-Ypma returns to her ancestral roots in Chennai, India to explore further. For Singapore Airlines Priority Club magazine. Her dark eyes are lined thickly in kohl, intimating the drama of a doe trapped in tragic light. She is [...]
The Durban Curry - Kwa-Zulu Natal Spice Pot The cuisine of the Indian descendants, whose forbears arrived in Durban to work on the sugar cane fields under British rule in the late 1800s, has remained and grown to represent a significant culinary contribution to both the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the food of South [...]
A new Way for Blacks to Travel in Africa - Group Tours are In Parties with locals on a luxe rooftop in Accra, a fashion show in Nairobi and a rap concert in Marrakesh, learning a traditional recipe from your friend’s grandmother in Dakar. Ishay Govender-Ypma looks at a new breed of group tours, a [...]
Vila Madalena - Street Art and More Vila Madalena in São Paulo has been drawing visitors like bees to an abundant hive. It’s an old charming neighbourhood that’s embraced the transition into white-hot cool. Ishay Govender-Ypma reports on the buzz. For SAA Sawubona magazine. I’m staring squarely at Batman. He’s skinny with angular features, [...]
How Travel Bloggers Influence your Travel Decisions - The New Guard Lola Akinmade - image provided Travel bloggers have long replaced the travel agent and guidebook as the go-to source for travellers today. Ishay Govender-Ypma chatted to some key players* This was written for Mail & Guardian 28 March 2015 If you are a [...]
Returning to your childhood home - my journey Ishay Govender-Ypma reflects on her returning to your childhood home, the changes that make visiting difficult and the constant pull to return. For Visi Magazine. Each year I return to our family home that rests at the bottom of steep road. The suburb has faded somewhat into [...]
