Safety Archive
War on Security
As we were traveling from the Entebbe (Uganda) airport late last night, the first topic we discussed was “security.” Security against a catastrophic 9-11 is better in Africa than at home.
My first clients, the Pomerantz family, (Roger and Cathy Colt and son, Daniel) remarked first that they had recently been to Egypt where it [...]
‘NO’ for Violence in Kenya
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Politics, Safety on July 26, 2010
There’s going to be trouble in Kenya on August 4 and for a few days afterwards, but not as serious as in 2007. Continue on safari, but be vigilant.
A week from Wednesday Kenyans go to the polls for the first time since the violent election of December, 2007. This time they aren’t electing [...]
Bombings in Kampala
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Politics, Safety on July 12, 2010
More than 60 people were killed yesterday in two separate bomb attacks in Kampala, a signature Al-Qaeda attack. Curiously, the terrorist organization has not claimed responsibility.
I’ve increasingly written about Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda in Somalia, and their increasing power and influence in East Africa. With last week’s peaceful elections in the southern third of Somali [...]
Kenya ‘Gets it’ too
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Politics, Safety on May 19, 2010
The Times Square Bomber says his radical Muslim cleric “gets it.” So does Kenya.
NPR reported this morning that Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomber, attributed his radicalization to Abdullah Al-Faisal, a convicted felon in the UK who Kenya recently deported to Jamaica.
I wrote earlier about the Al-Faisal controversy in Kenya and how Kenya stood [...]
How dirty is Dar?
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Politics, Safety on February 4, 2010
Africa was agog today with reports that Dar-es-Salaam was the 8th dirtiest city in the world. But are these reports accurate?
No! No! Let me come to the needed rescue of Dar: It is NOT the world’s 8th dirtiest city; it is, in fact, the world’s 12th dirtiest city!
Mercer Health & Sanitation’s Index rated [...]
Is Kenya Safe?
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Safety on February 3, 2010
Safer to be in than Tanzania or Uganda, according to the UN.
The U.N.’s announcement this week that Kenya is now safer for its employees than Tanzania or Uganda sheds new light on how travelers should view government travel warnings.
Not much has changed in the last year in world governments’ advice to their citizens heading on [...]
It’s peaceful in Kenyan prisons
Today was supposed to be explosive in Kenya as Muslim activitists took to the street. They can’t. They’re mostly behind bars.
Over the last three days Kenyan authorities have arrested up to 2,000 Muslims across the country, most of them jailed for being “illegal immigrants.”
The crackdown followed last Friday’s riots in Nairobi, provoked (according [...]
Nairobi Normal
Nairobi is back to normal after a confusing afternoon of city rioting that proved less serious than first reported throughout the world.
Because the march by about 50 young Muslim youths following Friday prayers at Nairobi’s main mosque was a surprise, news reporters were not on the scene. Virtually all of the reporting came after [...]
Nairobi Riots over Al-Faisal
As night fell on Nairobi, Friday, the streets were quiet and five people were confirmed dead.
Below is an edited report from the BBC, but let me first complain bitterly about the NPR report. I love NPR but they continually get Africa wrong. Alone among such giants as the BBC, Reuters and Aljazeera, NPR [...]
Elephant Attack
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Planning Travel, Safety on January 7, 2010
Yesterday an American woman and her infant were killed by an elephant as they walked out of the Castle Forest Lodge near Mt. Kenya.
The name of the woman has not yet been released, but Kenyan authorities said she was the 39-year old wife of a teacher at Nairobi’s International School. The age of the [...]
Garlic Mustard Terrorism
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Politics, Safety on December 29, 2009
The new regulations announced in the last few days in response to the attempted bombing of Northwest #253 are pitifully stupid and counter-productive.
I see the developed world’s response to terrorism identical to the developed science response to invasive species.
Whether it is kudzu, the Asian beetle, or the arch devil garlic mustard, absolutely astounding amounts of [...]
War Against the UnWilded
Posted by jimheck in Safari Lodges, Safety, War on December 4, 2009
Up to a third of East Africa’s tourism work force is now out of a job. Until now, it didn’t take guns to send them packing.
A number of high-end, professional robberies have been reported at camps in East Africa over the last month. As in downturns in the past, many disgruntled workers turn [...]
Terror in Somalia/Fear in Kenya
Fighting on the Kenyan border with Somalia does not mean Kenya’s stability is further threatened, but it does mean we better start paying more attention to Somalia.
The bold bombing in what had been a stable part of Mogadishu, today, and which killed several government ministers as well as a dozen graduating university students and several [...]
Mali Travel Warning
In a rare consensus between usually disparate advisories, most of the developed world issued warnings this week against traveling to Timbuktu and much of Mali.
The announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time for Mali tourism. January is the month of the growingly popular Festival in the Desert, Africa’s largest annual rock concert. [...]
TOURISTS KILLED
With sadness I must report that two tourists were killed on a Mombasa beach on October 15, but it’s extremely important to keep this in perspective.
The event has attracted enormous worldwide coverage, yet little is known. It’s very important to not jump to too many conclusions.
That isn’t because tourist deaths are not important for [...]