Zimbabwe: Finally, an alternative to the air kiss

I've moaned in the past about social kissing and I think I've found the solution: the African handshake.

This is one thing I'm definitely bringing back from Zimbabwe. It starts out conventionally enough, then goes a little bit street. It usually ends by holding hands for slightly too long. If you're lucky it might incorporate one of those gangster style hugs, or maybe an Obama style fist bump.

Perhaps I romanticise too much, but the whole thing seems to bring the warmth of Africa to any greeting. A definite improvement on the double mwah of the air kiss.

Matthew Hampton