Month: November 2009

Jogging on safari?

Jogging on safari?

by Arusha ♥ 1 Comment

From LeslieK463@

Q.    We are a very active couple and want to go on safari, but don’t like the idea of spending the whole time in a vehicle.  Can we jog around sufficiently?  Do most places have a pool?

A.    The short answer to your question is that you should do your safari in South Africa.  The reason for this is that in most of the safari destinations (including most of those in South Africa) the kind of activity you enjoy simply isn’t possible.  You will be most of your time in a car.  But if you go to South Africa, you’ll be able to intersperse a few days on safari with all sorts of other touring which will let you be very active.  Think of a safari in South Africa as similar to visiting Yosemite.  There are many great roads in Yosemite where you can’t get out of the car in order to see the elk and bears, but the next day you can hike in the mountains all day, or take a quick trip into San Francisco.  That exists in South Africa, but in virtually no other country with safaris.

Once on safari, no, you can’t leave the vehicle often.  And no, you can’t jog outside the perimeter of the lodge/camp, and there are plenty of reasons for this.  Read my blog on April 30, 2009: “Elephant Suit”.  But yes, many of the better places have pools.

WEARY of OBAMA

WEARY of OBAMA

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Africa is growing weary of “the change” promised by Obama yet to be realized. Here is one reason.

This is really more a story about America than Africa, but one of the reasons I think everyone should develop a passion of things foreign is to learn what the world thinks about us. These perspectives on the other side of the mirror usually reveal a lot about ourselves.

Obama’s election was greeted in Africa with as much euphoria as in the United States. There was a real hope that he would change America’s manhandling foreign policy, be more respectful of the smaller and weaker. Time is running out, and actions are now speaking louder than hopes.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representative overwhelmingly slapped the face of the rest of the world. It was nothing more than an insult, and ever the more stinging because it went so unnoticed in the U.S. But in Africa it was literally on the front page of nearly every major newspaper.

By a vote of 344-36, the House condemned the United Nation’s Goldstone Report and specifically asked Obama to vigorously oppose it.

To much of the rest of the world, and to Kenya in particular, this was an important report from a powerful UN body. The report was commissioned by the Security Council after the war last year between Israel and Hamas.

The commission was chaired by Judge Richard Goldstone of South Africa, one of the most respected jurists in Africa. Goldstone was instrumental in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and integral in the development of the UN Tribunal set up to investigate the war crimes in Rwanda.

The report condemned both Israel and Hamas for human rights violations during the war. It could not have been more neutral. It also seems to be completely true and factual.

The House vote came on the same day that Jose Antonio Ocampo, a UN Under-Secretary, announced in Nairobi flanked by Prime Minister Odinga and President Kibaki, that the World Court was going to take matters into its own hands and investigate Kenyans who were accused of crimes against humanity in the 2007 election violence.

According to Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch, ”The 344 [House] supporters have apparently not read the report. The 574-page document records violations of the laws of war by Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and concludes that all sides committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.”

This unnecessary and effectively pointless action by the House contributes to a feeling around the world – and especially in Africa – that Obama is too weak to change the behemoth of America.

The language of the resolution was offensive, terming the report as “irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy.”

The bill, introduced by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA), the ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, calls on President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the report.”

Ros-Lehtinen and Berman were in Jerusalem a day earlier attending a conference on reinforcing U.S.-Israeli ties.

Of the 36 votes against Wednesday’s resolution, only three came from Republicans.

Speaking with rationality, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), spoke out against the resolution. “This is a mistake. The stance of this Congress will erode U.S. credibility in the post-Obama world, and it will tarnish our commitment to the principle that all nations must be held to the same standards,” he said.

“We stand for the values of democracy, truth and justice. There is no reason for Congress, Israel or any other party to fear an honest judge,” he added. “Richard Goldstone is such a judge, and his report should be studied, not dismissed.”

Those who voted in favor of the resolution were:
Aderholt, Adler (NJ), Akin, Alexander, Altmire, Andrews, Arcuri, Austria, Baca, Bachus, Barrow, Bartlett, Barton (TX), Bean, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Biggert, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Bono Mack, Boozman, Boren, Boswell, Boyd, Brady (TX), Braley (IA), Bright, Broun (GA), Brown (SC), Brown, Corrine, Brown-Waite, Ginny, Buchanan, Burgess, Burton (IN), Butterfield, Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cantor, Cao, Capito, Cardoza, Carnahan, Carney, Carter, Cassidy, Castle, Castor (FL), Chaffetz, Chandler, Childers, Chu, Cleaver, Clyburn, Coble, Coffman (CO), Cohen, Cole, Conaway, Connolly (VA), Costa, Costello, Courtney, Crenshaw, Crowley, Cuellar, Culberson, Cummings, Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeGette, DeLauro, Dent, Diaz-Balart, L., Diaz-Balart, M., Dicks, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Dreier, Driehaus, Edwards (TX), Ehlers, Ellsworth, Emerson, Engel, Etheridge, Fallin, Fattah, Flake, Fleming, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foster, Foxx, Frank (MA), Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Fudge, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gerlach, Giffords, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Gonzalez, Goodlatte, Granger, Graves, Grayson, Green, Al, Green, Gene, Griffith, Guthrie, Hall (TX), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Harper, Hastings (FL), Hastings (WA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Herseth Sandlin, Higgins, Hill, Himes, Hinojosa, Hodes, Hoekstra, Holden, Hoyer, Hunter, Inglis, Inslee, Israel, Issa, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Jenkins, Johnson (IL), Johnson, Sam, Jordan (OH), Kagen, Kanjorski, Kennedy, Kildee, Kilroy, Kind, King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kirk, Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kissell, Klein (FL), Kline (MN), Kosmas, Kratovil, Lamborn, Lance, Langevin, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Latham, LaTourette, Latta, Lee (NY), Levin, Lewis (CA), Lewis (GA), Linder, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lowey, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Lungren, Daniel E., Mack, Maffei, Maloney, Manzullo, Marchant, Markey (CO), Markey (MA), Marshall, Massa, Matheson, Matsui, McCarthy (CA), McCarthy (NY), McCaul, McClintock, McCotter, McHenry, McIntyre, McKeon, McMahon, McMorris Rodgers, McNerney, Meek (FL), Melancon, Mica, Michaud, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Miller (NC), Miller, Gary, Minnick, Mitchell, Mollohan, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (KS), Murphy (CT), Murphy (NY), Murphy, Tim, Murtha, Myrick, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Neal (MA), Neugebauer, Nye, Oberstar, Olson, Ortiz, Paulsen, Pence, Perlmutter, Perriello, Peters, Peterson, Petri, Pitts, Platts, Poe (TX), Polis (CO), Pomeroy, Posey, Putnam, Quigley, Radanovich, Rangel, Rehberg, Reichert, Reyes, Richardson, Rodriguez, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Roskam, Ross, Rothman (NJ), Roybal-Allard, Royce, Ruppersberger, Rush, Ryan (OH), Ryan (WI), Salazar, Sanchez, Loretta, Sarbanes, Scalise, Schakowsky, Schauer, Schiff, Schmidt, Schock, Schrader, Schwartz, Scott (GA), Scott (VA), Sensenbrenner, Serrano, Sessions, Sestak, Shadegg, Shea-Porter, Sherman, Shimkus, Shuler, Shuster, Simpson, Skelton, Slaughter, Smith (NE), Smith (NJ), Smith (TX), Smith (WA), Space, Spratt, Stearns, Sullivan, Sutton, Tanner, Taylor, Teague, Terry, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Thompson (PA), Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tiberi, Titus, Tonko, Tsongas, Turner, Upton, Van Hollen, Visclosky, Walden, Walz, Wasserman Schultz, Watson, Waxman, Weiner, Westmoreland, Wexler, Whitfield, Wilson (OH), Wilson (SC), Wittman, Wolf, Yarmuth, Young (AK), Young (FL),

Those who voted against the resolution were:
Baird, Baldwin, Blumenauer, Boustany, Capps, Carson (IN), Clarke, Clay, Davis (KY), Dingell, Doggett, Edwards (MD), Ellison, Filner, Grijalva, Hinchey, Johnson, E. B., Kilpatrick (MI), Kucinich, Lee (CA), Lynch, McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, Miller, George, Moran (VA), Olver, Pastor (AZ), Paul, Price (NC), Rahall, Snyder, Stark, Waters, Watt, Woolsey,

Those abstaining:
Abercrombie, Ackerman, Bachmann, Barrett (SC), Boucher, Brady (PA), Capuano, Conyers, Davis (AL), Davis (TN), Deal (GA), Gordon (TN), Gutierrez, Hall (NY), Holt, Meeks (NY), Murphy, Patrick, Nunes, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Pingree (ME), Price (GA), Sánchez, Linda T., Sires, Souder, Stupak, Towns, Velazquez, Wamp,

MUGSHOT REVEALED!

MUGSHOT REVEALED!

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment


Kenya’s Attorney General is the first name publicly revealed from the secret U.S. list of the most responsible for Kenya’s violence and instability.

As I reported here last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jetted into Kenya with two other high powered diplomats to warn Kenya that they were dragging their feet on promised reforms, including a new constitution that would facilitate the next election in 2012 and before that, bring to justice those responsible for the deaths and displacements of the 2007 election.

With the imminent arrival of the United Nations Under-Secretary, José Antonio Ocampo, naming the culprits has moved from a parlor game to high politics. Ocampo is widely expected to tell Kenyans that the UN is unilaterally assuming the prosecution of those responsible for the 2007 violence, very much as it did for the Rwandan genocide.

Clinton delivered a series of letters designating 15 unnamed persons in Kenya whose visas would be revoked to the United States, because of their obstruction of reform or presumed culpability in the 2007 catastrophe.

I suggested that Amos Wako was one of them, Kenya’s Attorney General for the last 18 years. Today Wako held a news conference to confirm that he had been so named and that he intended to sue Clinton in American courts.

Wako is obviously running scared, as he should be.

Travel to the United States is not simply for diplomatic purposes. Most of these big shots hold significant property in the United States, send their children and grand children to U.S. universities, and park most of their illicitly gained money with American banks.

Denying a mobster entry into the Deli and forbidding him his pastrami sandwich is about as close as you can get to putting him in jail. None of these idiots wants to remain in Kenya once their antics are disclosed. None of them probably wants to come to the U.S., either, but it will take a couple trips to the U.S. to get their affairs in order.

Now, Wako is barred.

Hopefully, this is going to shake things up a bit in Kenya.

Toxic Golden Goose!

Toxic Golden Goose!

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Tanzania is Africa’s 3rd largest producer of gold and important producer of diamonds, but corruption is ruining the industry and the environment. PS: they’ve found uranium.

Yesterday an “inter-faith” nongovernment group near the rich gold, nickel and now uranium mines near Lake Victoria published a report claiming that the Mara River was now toxic with mine effluents.

The group which remains nameless for obvious reasons had taken the matter into its own hands after the government refused to act on a January directive by Parliament to “clean up the mines.”

This was no high school lab experiment. The study was funded and overseen by the Norwegian University of Health Sciences, which lent its name and credibility to the conclusion that the Mara River now carries high concentrations of toxic heavy metals at levels far above World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

The group laid the blame squarely on the Canadian owned North Mara Gold Mine. The Tanzanian government has demurred, so to speak, by admitting that the security at the mine is too lax to protect items like storage tanks and other hardware regularly stolen. The implicit argument is that these items are then poorly handled, allowing for ground water contamination.

(The area of toxicity is down river from the Serengeti National Park, so presumably not a threat to the national parks.)

According to members of the inter-faith committee, the study was conducted in seven villages after the unexplained deaths of 17 heifer cattle and six abortions between May and August.

Friday, notably only a few days before the release of this report, Toronto CEO of Barrick Gold Corporation, Aaron Regent, said that the Tanzania mines would be sold off.

He called the North Mara mine “troubled.”

I think it is troubled by more than toxic metals.

According to the London think-tank, Companies And Markets, Tanzania’s mines should be among the most productive on earth, but instead are falling far short of their economic value.

A 2008 report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre estimated that the combined loss to the country over the first seven years of the decade was more than $US400 million!

What?! Mine gold and diamonds and lose a half billion dollars?

The report claimed the loss was a result of low royalty rates, unpaid corporation taxes, and tax evasion by major gold mines.

Regent, on the other hand, insists the Canadian company has paid all taxes and royalties.

So where did one half billion dollars go?

When is the best time for Samburu?

When is the best time for Samburu?

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

From angie@

Q.    When is the best time to visit Samburu and the northern frontier areas, like Laikipia?

A.    These beautiful areas just west and further north of Mt. Kenya include two actually different ecological zones, and so the answer is just a bit different depending upon which zone you have in mind.

The southern and western portion, commonly referred to as Laikipia, is still at a fairly high altitude, ranging from around 6,000′ (Ol Pejeta) to 4,500′ (Ol Mukutan).  This zone is divided from the much larger which includes Samburu by a steep escarpment, and everything in this much larger zone is much lower, around 2,500′.

Both areas are semi-arid, very similar to much of America’s southwest.  Most of the year it is dry, and when the rains come (late March and again in November), the desert plants like a variety of cactus and heavy-wooded bushes bloom spectacularly and it transforms in a very short time from a sort of brownish, wind-swept area into a vertible Garden of Eden.

So for both zones if you’d like to see the area at its prettiest, and when many of the birds are at their peaks, then travel just after the rains begin, either in late March or mid- to late November.

Animal viewing is great in these areas year round, but it is better during the dry seasons.  This is particularly true of the southern zones, where several important rivers (like the Ewaso Nyiro through Samburu) concentrate huge amounts of game.  But if you are traveling to the southern zone (Samburu, Shaba, Buffalo Springs and the Mathews Mountains) too long into the dry season and even the animals start to disappear, because these rivers dry up.  So for the southern zone for game viewing I recommend December, January and the first half of February; or July and August.

The northern zone is less effected by the dry season because of its higher altitude.  And so for places like Lewa Downs, Sweetwaters, Borana, etc., there is a wider window for good game viewing: December – March, and July – October.

New Malaria Vaccine

New Malaria Vaccine

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A malaria vaccine for children will be available by 2015. It’s no magic bullet but a significant step in the continent’s attempt to prevent its second greatest killer.

At a conference today in Nairobi more than 1500 medical specialists were told by scientists from GlaxoSmithKline (GKS) that the clinical trials of their RSS,S children’s malaria vaccine were now sufficiently successful to begin plans for commercial production.

Clinical trials of an earlier version of the vaccine (whose common name is Mosquirix) never achieved an efficacy greater than a 35-49, troubling as much by its variation as under low rating.

But the revised vaccine has reached a consistent 53 efficacy coefficient, which most scientists consider adequate for use in public health initiatives.

(GSK is also the owner/manufacturer of several currently used adult malarial prophylactics, including Malarone. Malarone remains the most widely used malaria preventative by tourists, and according to GSK has a efficacy coefficient of more than 90.)

The vaccine works only with very young children. Those in the worldwide trial groups are between 6 and 12 weeks old. It is a revolutionary vaccine as it is the first ever to target a complex parasite rather than a bacterium or virus.

There are no studies yet published to indicate once protected infants mature whether the vaccine will continue to work. Some skeptical critics fear that the public health burden of malaria will simply shift upwards in the age populations of Africa.

Nevertheless scientist are generally agreed this is a major achievement.

“There is enormous excitement at reaching this milestone,” Dr Joe Cohen, one of Mosquirix’s inventors said in prepared remarks at the Nairobi conference. “Just a few years ago the idea of a malaria vaccine entering final phase three trials would have been unthinkable. It’s a tremendous breakthrough.”

One of every five childhood deaths in Africa is due to malaria. A young child dies of malaria in Africa every 30 seconds. The group of scientists gathering today in Nairobi estimated that more than $12 billion in public health costs will be saved once the vaccine is regularly used.

The vaccine was actually first manufactured more than 20 years ago but has taken 20 years of careful reconstitution to reach an acceptable efficacy coefficient.

According to the World Health Organization:

• There are four types of human malaria: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. More than 90 per cent of cases are caused by falciparum, the most destructive malaria parasite, found mainly in Africa.

• The common first symptoms — fever, headache, chills and vomiting — usually appear 10 to 15 days after a person is infected. If not treated promptly with effective medicines, malaria can cause severe illness and is often fatal

• The disease accounts for about 40 per cent of public health spending in sub-Saharan Africa.