Archive for January, 2010
Victorious fighters of al-Shabaab
Less than 24 hours after the UN Security Council approved continued funding of the Somali peace-keeping force, that force may have been routed from the capital by al-Qaeda. After a night of intense fighting in Mogadishu, the blogosphere is replete with claims that al-Shabaab (al-Qaeda in Somalia) is near to taking over. Reuters was unable [...]
State of the World
Tonight it’s possible that more viewers outside the United States will watch President Obama’s State of the Union than from his own country. Brian Williams’ and Katie Couric’s audience shrivels when compared to that of Owen Bennett-Jones, who today ends his BBC World Service specials on America just before airing the State of the Union [...]
The Monkey & The Butterfly
Posted by jimheck in Community Based Tourism, History, Wildlife Management on January 26, 2010
The 2009 “Year of the Gorilla” ended very beautifully and very sad. The butterflies will just have to wait. It was a sad coincidence from the start that the YOG planned so long in advance occurred as the world tailspinned into economic collapse. The whole point of these sponsored years is to focus attention and [...]
Ivory Sink Hole
Tanzania conservation authorities have plunged into quicksand and the sink hole could take all of East Africa with it. This weekend Tanzania confirmed that it was aggressively trying to convince the 175 members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to approve the sale of elephant ivory. All the surrounding countries except [...]
Best game in October
Niki Roberts buckaroos@lionspath.com asks: Q. We are getting mixed messages about where to see the most animals in October. A. At any time of the year, in any weather condition, there are more animals seen on an East African safari than on any other safari anywhere else in Africa, including all of southern Africa. As [...]
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 [...]
Right to Kenya
Two mysterious American lawyers are in The Netherlands trying to stop the international trial of Kenyans accused of genocide in the December, 2007 election. This is an affront to justice and Kenyan society, and there are links to these men with the rightist neo-cons of the former administration. Which makes it even more of an [...]
Back on (a wet) Track!
Posted by jimheck in Big Game, Great Migration, Serengeti, Weather on January 19, 2010
As we enter the great migration season in Tanzania everyone ready to go (including me) wants to know the state of the veld. Well – dare I suggest it? – it looks… wonderful. I wanted to say “normal” but normal doesn’t exist, anymore, in these confused eras of global warming. But frankly that’s what 2010 [...]
Sinister Tail Clippers
Poaching increases during tough economic times but is usually limited to elephants and rhino. Looks like giraffe are now being taken, too. Wildlife officials at Arusha National Park (which is locally fondly called “giraffic park”) reported this weekend that a growing number of giraffe are being seen without tails! Years ago when I first worked [...]
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 failed [...]
The Monkey & The Fish
I’ve always been skeptical about almost any type of individual charity for Africa, but billionaire do-gooders are an absolute pain in the ass. A very close friend asked me to comment on the New Yorker’s December article by Philip Gourevitch, “The Monkey and The Fish.” It’s about Prodigy billionaire Greg Carr who according to the [...]
Is Terrorism Nation-Building?
One of Kenya’s prominent newspapers said today that Muslim suicide bombers could be a positive force in Africa. I’ve printed much of the Daily Nation’s article below. It’s important for westerners who perceive themselves the targets if not actual victims of suicide bombing to learn of these contra opinions. The Nation is one of Kenya’s [...]
Great White Thinker Eats
Posted by jimheck in Uncategorized on January 13, 2010
There have been 236 great white shark attacks on humans recorded since 1876. Oh, sorry, that’s now 237. That statement above was a part of a lengthy June, 2008, article in the Smithsonian entitled “Forget Jaws, Now it’s . . . Brains!” which also claimed that Great White approaches to humans were mostly out of [...]
Weather or Not?
Posted by jimheck in Uncategorized on January 12, 2010
The current deluge in Kenya is a real human tragedy, and I sympathize with many Kenyans who are furious that their official meteorological department said the rains were going to end, not continue. I wrote a blog about it on December 11, explaining that data available from satellites which I then published as maps, suggested [...]