Archive for December, 2010
Top Ten 2010 Stories
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Corruption, Culture, Early Man, Ecology, Economy, Foreign Aid, Great Migration, History, Planning Travel, Poaching, Politics, Poverty, Serengeti, Sudan, Terrorism, Tourism Trends, Uganda, Uncategorized, War on December 31, 2010
East Africa is booming, so many of the stories of 2010 were terrifically good news. But there were the tragedies as well like the Kampala bombings. Below I try to put the year in perspective with my top ten stories for East Africa for 2010. 1. Populace democracy grows. 2. Terrorism grows, as does the [...]
At last Politics Bites!
For the first time in 40 years, an outbreak of yellow fever has been reported in East Africa, far from any tourist area. Until now tourists’ yellow fever inoculations were political! That’s right. One of the great irritants of traveling to East Africa in the last 40 years has been the necessity of getting a [...]
Weird & Scary Wildlife Officials!
Posted by jimheck in Big Game, Wildlife Management on December 28, 2010
Mutant creatures and animal enigmas will soon be “driving packs of tourists” into Tanzania, according to wildlife officials there. Hmm. Slow news day? This most recent claim of wild and wooly animal freaks was made by Paschal Shelutete, TANAPA communications officer. It’s wrong. First of all, the hairy gazelle he’s speaking about was photographed by [...]
Rhinos Doomed by Rich Men
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, Economy, Poaching on December 27, 2010
Rhino poaching is exceeding even my own direst predictions this year, and I’m trying to understand why. The Serengeti is one of the world’s largest, protected wildernesses, nearly 5000 sq. miles when combined with the adjacent Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are now only 4 wild rhinos left in this area, after one was found dead [...]
Holidays at Home Are Best!
Posted by jimheck in Uncategorized on December 22, 2010
Many, many people travel during the holidays. But for me, being home is the best place to be! Our winter, snowy celebration with a large family begins today. I’ll be back blogging first thing next week! Meanwhile, and especially for my friends in Africa, I thought you’d like to see a few scenes of the [...]
Nairobi Bus Station Bombing
How sad that I must discuss the bomb blast in Nairobi yesterday during the holiday season, and yet I fear this will be the norm in the years to come. Over many years terrorists have established that disruption during the Christian holiday is a signature they prefer. As terrorist incidents go, this was not devastating [...]
Swinging Kenyan Rebels Predicted
Not sure if it was the British or Kenyan rebels who were listening to rock ‘n roll or whether a Royal Air Force officer later to become the UK’s most famous weatherman was the scribe, but a near half-century old document just discovered sheds fascinating new light on Kenya’s independence struggle. The “Jack Scott List” [...]
Give her a Lite!
Women have risen with modern African society faster than a Robbie Gould 50-yarder! Every time I blink my eye something radical changes in Africa. The rises in the power of women may be among the most astounding. Feminism as a movement was American and French, but in the last generation America has been left in [...]
TripDestructor not TripAdvisor!
Posted by jimheck in Planning Travel, Tourism Trends on December 16, 2010
What do I have in common with Arthur Frommer and Google? We don’t think you should use TripAdvisor! You shouldn’t believe everything you read. Verification and consistent fact-checking is the mantra of good investigative analysis and journalism. Experts take time to become experts. Monday Morning Quarterbacks are good for nothing but Budweiser. You shouldn’t believe [...]
The Culprits Named!
A very tense calm reigns over Kenya, today, following The Hague’s naming of the six most responsible for the violence in 2008. The vast, vast majority of Kenyans today, rich and poor, want this chapter turned over. I don’t predict any wide scale violence, but the streets of Nairobi, today, are extremely tense. Phones, email [...]
Good News in Fight against Malaria
A breakthrough discovery announced last week by a University of Illinois professor leads the pack in the race to eradicate malaria. University of Illinois at Chicago researcher Dr. John Quigley announced a possibly new way to foil malaria at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting last week by giving the mosquito supreme indigestion. (Boy, [...]
Does Clooney Help or Hurt?
The Obama Administration has been balancing American interests in The Sudan deftly and with amazing success. “Winds of War”, George Clooney and Ann Curry might have jeopardized these efforts. “Winds of War”’s principal success is the message that genocide is likely following next month’s referendum for the south to secede from the north. But the [...]
Wiki Tells It Like It is!
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Economy, Politics, Uncategorized on December 10, 2010
The several thousand WikiLeaks about East Africa so far tell us very little that we didn’t already know or deeply suspect. I actually find it rather refreshing. Basically, East Africans are publicly affronted by the frankness with which Wiki frames the obvious failings of East African leaders and their positive actions as American motivated. And [...]
AFRICA, Show us The Way!
Posted by jimheck in Culture, Early Man, Prehistoric, Uncategorized on December 9, 2010
In this age of belt tightening and budget angst the impoverished State of Kentucky is going to give $37½ million dollars to a wacko anti-science group to build a creationism theme park. Sub-Saharan Africa is the cradle of mankind. The earliest known hominid, our direct evolutionary ancestor, is at least 6 million years old. Olduvai [...]
Marx vs BoA in East Africa
One of the most conservative banks in the world has just stated that the fundamentals of liberal East African economies are better than the U.S.’ capitalist one. I’m certainly oversimplifying Standard Charter Banks “Outlook for 2011” and I don’t pretend to suggest I’ve combed carefully its 128 pages. But there are certain conclusions this world [...]