Covid Columbus

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This place is so broken. Technically today is one of ten federal holidays for which non-essential federal workers get time off with pay. FDR declared “Columbus Day” in 1934 formalizing a New York City tradition first celebrated with a parade in 1792, three hundred years after Christopher Columbus reported landfall in the “New World.”

The holiday is no longer. Fourteen states renamed it “Indigenous Peoples Day” and several more simply don’t celebrate it. Most of the southern States (excluding Alabama) do still rigorously celebrate it, and President Trump just championed it:

Travelers Unite!

October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The most important electoral group in our current election is … travelers. I’m not crazy. I’m just old. (Beating around the bush is terrifying.) America has only two years after the election to craft its survival, and travelers could tip the scales.

I’m not talking about ditching Trump. A wave of anti-Republican voting to the very basement of down-ballot voting is necessary for America to survive. The wicked wizards who stole the Republican ideology have to be annihilated.

Travel Warning

October 7, 2020October 7, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Patience, travelers. Chafing at the bit leads to rash decisions. Rash decisions in travel lead to lost money and terrible experiences.

Waiting is not a traveler’s forte, but without it now you could doom your traveling future.

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.

COLLAPSE

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

“The clearest loser from the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was America.” – London Times. “American Democracy on a Shaky ground.” – Kenyan TV. “This dark, horrifying, unwatchable fever dream will surely be the first line of America’s obituary.” – London’s Guardian

Or as China’s news agency put it, “Americans watched a drama of hurting each other.”

Covid Conservation

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

Wild animals and wildernesses are seriously endangered by the pandemic … not from disease, but from humans.

Poaching is increasing worldwide… not as in the past for black-market animals, but for food. Equally important communities worldwide are reducing their support for wildlife conservation, because wildlife authorities are ignoring the increasing human/wildlife conflict.

Everything Dies

September 24, 2020September 24, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The mysterious death of 330 elephants in May and June in Botswana is the result of cyanobacteria, according to the Botswana government.

“That’d be nuts if it turned out there was an exclusive elephanticidal” caused by cyanobacteria, according to Chicago bacteriologist, Dr. Peter Sullivan who specializes in cyanobacteria. “My guess is it’s something behavioral amongst the animals.”

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.

Accidental Death

September 17, 2020September 24, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago our “so-called” Asst. Secty. of State for Africa, Tibor Nagy, effectively gave a nod to executing the hotel manager of the Mille Collines who in 1994 saved more than 1200 people from the Rwandan genocide.

He did this because the Rwandan government wanted him to, Trump wanted no trouble, or he he’d forgotten where Rwanda is. Grab bag.

Election Instructions

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Kathleen and I inserted ourselves when we were 24 years old into the most autocratic, terrifying society that I believe has ever existed: Idi Amin’s Uganda.

We traveled the country in 18 days. There was hardly a night without gunfire. Dead bodies might be found anywhere. We had to hide our vehicle in jungle before stopping it in order to eat our sandwiches or dying children with inflated bellies would surround us.

Nine ElevenS

September 11, 2020September 11, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

My daughter watched a plane fly into a twin tower on 9/11 from her apartment roof in New York. I heard the bombing of the Kenyan embassy and ten minutes later from the garden of my nearby hotel pieces of eyeglasses, jangling key chains and fabric fell out of the sky at my feet. Both of us later saw horrible pain and destruction.

“August seventh” was as big to Kenya as nine-eleven was to America. The relative number of people killed and maimed, the heroism of rescuers, the damage to politics, economy and society – it was all comparable. Even the perpetrators’ beliefs, religion and motivations for suicide were the same. What was different?

Remote Results

September 9, 2020September 9, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Some South African corporations report that working remotely is less productive than expected and that predictions that mobile working hastened by the pandemic is here to stay are grossly overstated.

Hard-Nosed Future

September 4, 2020September 4, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Would you book this company? If you were a travel agent like EWT would you send clients to a wholesaler who solicits you with the above message?

Before I answer note this is only one of dozens of such ads coming daily now mostly from what had been upmarket travel companies.

Covid Conclusion

September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

When Americans might travel to sub-Saharan Africa is covered in two reports available today, one from a consortium of American scientists and one from the South African government.

I remain personally convinced that our travel abroad will be dictated by when we are vaccinated and for most EWT-type travelers this will be in the first few months of 2021. The South Africans disagree on two fronts. First, they believe they can provide safe tourist services before a vaccine is available, and second, they do not project American travelers will be vaccinated before July, 2022, at the earliest.

Racist Regrets

August 31, 2020September 24, 2020 by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I hope that BLM is a manifestation of increasing liberties but the rage of Portland and Kenosha reminds me almost exactly of what I had to manage from my employees in East Africa.

Why do some think racism is diminishing in America?