54 Ways to Say “I Love You”; In Africa

It’s the month of love! Forget roses. We’ve got 54 unique ways to show your love–one for each country within Africa. Start planning your African Valentine’s Day now! And if you want to learn how to say “I love you” in 54 African languages, start practicing with our language list!

Algeria: Read a love poem written in French, one of the languages of Algeria

Angola: Give a back massage with palm oil, sourced in Angola

Benin: Listen to a bedtime story sung by Angelique Kidjo from Benin, a Grammy-Award winner

Botswana: Buy a piece of jewelry—maybe a ring?—with diamonds mined in Botswana

Burkina Faso: Serve a gluten-free sorghum beer, brewed in Burkina Faso

Burundi: Bake heart shaped cookies with sugar exported from Burundi

Cameroon: Make a ceramic heart-shaped dish, with the clay found in the highlands in Cameroon

Cape Verde: Drink Portuguese-style wine, made in the vineyards of Cape Verde

Central African Republic: Make a rich, vanilla-flavored tapioca pudding for dessert, made from cassava imported from Central African Republic

Chad: Listen to a love ballad played on a kinde, a harp from Chad

Comoros: Delight in a triple-thick vanilla milkshake, flavored with natural vanilla imported from the Comoros

Congo-Brazzaville: Learn to paint at the Poto Poto School of Painters in Brazzaville, Congo

Congo-Kinshasa: Watch the film When We Were Kings, about Mohammad Ali’s famous match against George Foreman in Kinshasa, known at the time as the famed “Rumble in the Jungle”

Cote d’Ivoire: Buy a gold mask to hang on the wall, from extensive collections crafted in Cote d’Ivoire

Djibouti: Get a hand-woven wool rug from Djibouti to keep your feet warm

Egypt: Purchase tickets to the Cairo International Film Festival

Equatorial Guinea: Drink a cup of osang tea, grown organically in Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea: Read My Father’s Daughter by Hannah Pool, a heartwarming book about an Eritrean girl adopted by a British family

Ethiopia: Wake up to the smell of coffee, made with beans sourced from Ethiopia

Gabon: Obtain a stone sculpture of a woman’s face, items for which Gabon’s artisans are famous

Gambia: Take a bird watching trip for two around MacCarthy Island, an ornithologically rich part of The Gambia.

Ghana: Serve authentic Ghanaian dark chocolate, the birthplace of the cocoa bean

Guinea: Take a stroll down the streets of Conakry at sunset

 

Guinea-Bissau: Pound away on a dried calabash, or gourd, which is used to make music in Guinea-Bissau

Kenya: Try purple tea sourced from Kenya, a country considered by connoisseurs to be among the best tea producers in the world

Lesotho: Travel to the Oxbow, one of the only places in Africa to go skiing

Liberia: Sing the lyrics to Michael Jackson’s Liberian Girl: “You know that you came and you changed my world”

Libya: Enjoy bazeen, an unsweetened cake made with barley flour and usually served with tomatoes and eggs

Madagascar: Purchase a blue sapphire gem, extracted from the sapphire mines of Madagascar

Malawi: Find a nyau mask, still used by the Chewa people for initiations and important events

Mali: Plan a romantic dinner with a desert view in Timbuktu

Mauritania: Hand make soft bed linens from the ultra soft tie-dyed cotton fabric from free-trade cooperatives in Mauritania

Mauritius: Have your hotel arrange a white linen and china dinner for two on the beach at sunset

 

Morocco: Buy a token of love in one of Morocco’s many souks

Mozambique: Experiment with a marimba, a type of xylophone native to the country

Namibia: Express your inner child by sandboarding down the sand dunes

Niger: Wrap yourself and your lover with a traditional hand-woven wedding blanket in colorful patterns

Nigeria: Listen to the soulful rhythm of Zombie, one of Fela Kuti’s most acclaimed albums

Rwanda: Perform the Intore, the most famous, traditional Rwandan dance for your loved one in private

Sao Tome and Principe: Savor Corallo Chocolate, voted by some to be amongst the world’s best organic chocolate

Senegal: Give your valentine a sand painting, made from Senegalese volcanic sand, beach sand, and dune sand

Seychelles: Visit the white, sandy beaches on the island of Mahe, while indulging in the French-African creole culture

Sierra Leone: Drink Star Beer, produced by the national brewer, Sierra Leone Breweries

Somalia: Read Crossbones by Nuruddin Farrah, a novel about a family returning to Somalia

 

South Africa: Uncork a rich, red Merlot from the Cape winelands, and give your lover a bouquet of protea flowers, the national flower of South Africa

Sudan: Read the poem The Trees Have Passed, by formerly imprisoned poet Mahjoub Sharif

South Sudan: Take a rafting expedition along the White Nile river and get a glimpse of wildlife along the untraveled section of the Nile

Swaziland: Light your bedroom with the gentle and romantic glow from Swazi candles

Tanzania: Indulge in a konyagi, an indigenous, gin-like beverage

Togo: Hang a zota painting (which is made with scorched wood and smoke) made by Paul Ahyi, the designer of Togo’s flag

Tunisia: Visit a hammam, a traditional Tunisian public steam bath

Uganda: Take a romantic safari in one of Uganda’s many safari parks

Zambia: Wrap your gift in a tonga basket, which are woven by Tonga women, renowned for their weaving abilities

Zimbabwe: Propose to your loved one at Victoria Falls with a platinum engagement ring, with platinum exported from Zimbabwe