Save Samia

March 18, 2021March 19, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 1 Comment

So he’s dead. The Tanzanian government lied to its citizens for ten days. Many were arrested for “spreading rumors” that Magufuli was sick. Last night, the Vice President who the constitution designates as the next president said Magufuli “had been hospitalized at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute since March 6.”

Reports I still believe that he was medivaced first to Nairobi, then to India, are irrelevant, now. What is relevant is that the critical authorities of the government of Tanzania believed they could claim a sick man was well, and all we want to know now is what will happen, next.

MIA Control

March 15, 2021March 15, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

We may be witnessing one of the most successful attempts at social control by mass brainwashing in human history. Tanzania’s President John Magufuli may, in fact, be pulling a ‘Donald Trump’ recovering from covid, but his government is using this to brain control its citizens.

The 61-year old may, in fact, be getting better in an undisclosed hospital in India. But the myth that he has never been sick and has not left the country is being embraced and disseminated by millions of Tanzanians. This is more than a “Trump.” It’s social control the likes of which the world has rarely seen.

Death Reveals

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

President Magufuli of Tanzania who has made it a crime to even speak about coronavirus is on a ventilator in one of Nairobi Hospital’s ten presidential suites after attempts to transfer him quickly to India were aborted.

Like Trump, like Johnson, like Bolsonaro, the Head-of-State covid-denier is near death. Trump and Johnson were saved by medicine unavailable in East Africa. Bolsonaro had a mild case.

Covid Limits

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

“Pneumonia is our code word.” Reports from Tanzania this weekend suggest the country is spiraling into a terrible covid situation, a “second spike” not yet seen in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Because speaking about covid is against the law, doctors, activists and the patients themselves are referring to the situation as a “pneumonia epidemic.”

Covid Sage

February 18, 2021February 18, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 1 Comment

Truth is growing! Even in the covid-denial island known as Tanzania a courageous voice has sounded: “The chief medical officer and the rest of officialdom [in Tanzania] have been hiding Covid-19 related deaths, [but] now the funerals are exposing us.”

Jenerali Ulimwengu has been a thorn in the side of established Tanzanian governments for years. He survives the brutality and imprisonment of most other local critics because he hunkers down when he needs to, constantly extols as his guiding star the father and founder of the Tanzanian country Julius Nyerere, and … because he’s very popular on YouTube.

Death & Denial

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

We are in the pandemic nadir: Yesterday the CDC listed 118 of the 197 countries in the world as virulent, out-of-control hotspots, and a handful including South Africa received the dreaded U.S. travel bans.

But of all the countries of the world there is only one that has an aggressive policy prohibiting any vaccination whatever: Tanzania.

Vaccinated!

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 by Arusha ♥ 2 Comments

This blog is for old people who want to travel to Africa or similar places. Since old people are often spunkier and certainly smarter than young people, young’uns wouldn’t be wasting any time reading it, too. Just get your macchiato or Glenfiddich, whichever relaxes you best, find a rocking chair or bean bag then take a deep breath. Some brain scratching required.

Start Date

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

So finally we have evidence of exactly when it is likely to be safe enough to return to East Africa: June 1.

This isn’t said exactly right. This is the date that the most reliable, experienced safari companies in Kenya and Tanzania believe tourists will really return. I agree, though I think it will be much more slowly than they do.

Ussil Udnut

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Ussil Udnut is not the opposition candidate trying today to unseat one of Africa’s most autocratic Heads of State. His real name dare not be spelled correctly, because the government he hopes to run blocks all social media that carries his actual name.

Worse, some message writers are then harassed by police even as WHO estimates 40% of the population is sick with Covid. This is Tanzania Today.

Covid Game Drives

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The President’s incompletely known virus situation this weekend drove the media to explain “viral load.” This provides travelers excellent information for predicting when they might be unshackled.

Viral load is the “amount of virus in the blood.” As a critique of the President’s irresponsible behavior, and as an indicator for travelers, we need to understand it.

Covid Cornea

September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Less developed societies register less sickness from Covid-19 than developed societies. The science is mounting particularly from Africa and leading to considerations that achieving “herd immunity” is the best path forward for less developed countries.

The more and better you look, the more you find. South Africa and Morocco, for example which are pretty developed countries, report virus impacts more similar to Europe than Kenya or Cameroon. On the other hand, there are intriguing anti-body studies in sub-Saharan Africa which suggest something more might be at work protecting Africa.

Covid Construct

August 19, 2020August 21, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The enthusiasm bubble is bursting. Tomorrow most of East Africa will be open for business. But… no one’s coming.

My African colleagues shouldn’t be too disheartened. It was always too hopeful to believe that the only thing keeping people back was government restriction. Two things need to be clearly understood: the current reality of the pandemic and how profoundly it will change future travel.

Getting Ready

July 21, 2020July 21, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It will probably be three to four years before the effects of the virus stop impacting travelers to distant lands. Efficacy of the vaccines, mayhem in airline schedules, widely differing and radical airport rules for transfers and most importantly, the hugely damaged vendor communities are all just now being recognized as the travelers’ principle hurdles.

There’s little good evidence yet on the last three hurdles for a good prediction into 2021, although I venture some speculation below. On the vaccine issue, however, some things are coming into focus.

august Surprise

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Is your cable bill paid up? Are you ready to confront the week of August 23 as the most surprising yet of America’s last four years? Then all you need is this little blog, a little prep on the story of how John Magufuli became the president of Tanzania, crushing the certain hopes and futures of millions.

Corona Crests

June 11, 2020June 12, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This blog is about travel prospects to sub-Saharan Africa, but in preparing it my jaw dropped.

South Africa has a sixth the population of the United States but has tested a million of its people. Comparatively that’s two to three times better than the U.S.

The U.S. handling of the pandemic is a chaotic mess. South Africa and other countries know this, and it’s why the prospects for Americans traveling to Africa is getting worse and worse.