h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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I had a Proustian moment recently (I've not read Proust, nor ever will).
I got whiff of a scent that took me back to trips to Zimbabwe and South
Africa, home of my maternal family; it was unique, and it was lovely.

I would love to recreate it if I could but no selection of incense/oil
has nailed it. The best a friend who had spent a lot of time there could
suggest was heat and dust. Maybe that's all it is. Would you be able to
pinpoint it?

get you smelly oils that closest resemble it

get a large rock and bake it in the oven untill hot

drip your smelly oils onto said hot rock

I've never been to Africa Christopher, but I can go with the concept of hot dust. When I arrive back here (tiny volcanic island a few kilometres from the Saharan coastline) from cool damp England, that tang that greets me tells me I am home. It is pure heat and dust and just so dry...

Thanks both. So I should just put a rock in the oven and hope it
doesn't explode? Maybe some sand will do it.

I was going to suggest a visit to the giraffe house at Colchester Zoo.

Or, you could buy some of that lion poo from the garden centre - it keeps cats off your garden.

I bought a collar at a charity of Granada that sells products from Africa. It´s made with seeds and the smell is soooo peculiar, I love it. I would say it smells like land after the rain, but with a sweet touch, can´t describe it, but it surely smells of Africa.
Mine broke, the thread was too weak, but I´m going to Granada next Christmas and want to go to that shop to buy some presents, I can get one for you, if you want, no problem, It´d be a pleasure for me (ask Ed my email and contact me)

Africa is such a huge continent that I think you would have to be more specific. I doubt that Cairo smells like Rabat or Cape Town or Lagos or Mombasa and those are just coastal cities.

I would imagine Morrocco would smell of spices, South Africa of vuvuzela's, and Nigeria of oil.

I used to work with a girl from Zimbabwe and she smelt of soap. I think it was Dove.

Hope this helps.

I love the smell of vuvuzela in the morning...

whatever floats your boat!

It doesn't blow my trumpet.

Thanks for the offer Maria, I'll have a dig around and get back to you.

I don't remember any particular smell, but the feeling of hot air brings back memories of Cairo to me, as it used to assail my senses every morning as I walked out of the air-conditioned hotel.

<>

My only visit to Turkey gave me a similar sensation.Hot dust and a faint scent of dried animal dung seemed to be the most recognisable elements but I couldn't pick out the rest.But like you it was extremely vivid.

To recreate the olfactory sensations of Cairo from my visit, I would suggest sitting in the back seat of a 1979 Ausin Allegro with an incontinant tramp, who is eating a turnip, and drinking liquidised rat.

My visit inside the Red Pyramid reminded me of the third cubical from the left at Newport Pagnell services toilets.

Other parts of the country are very pleasant.

The third cubical from the left at Newport Pagnell services toilets reminds me of the second cubical on the right at Gordano services! Small world, isn't it!!

I think that perhaps cumin might be a clue. As a child some friends had brought back spices from Ethiopia, and one part must have been cumin. In Swedish (my native lingo...) there is kummin and spiskummin. They are different. Perhaps Cumin and Caraway are the two I think of. One can be found in bread and cheese (true!) the other one is what I'm thinking of.
Also, coriander seed (not cilantro) could be wirth a sniff.

Just back.

It smells of dry hay. Slightly smoky, with faint undernotes of goat, and a top note of cinnamon.