Safari Notes

I have always associated places I live in or have lived in, or even - just visited, with scents! Natural scents! Trees, flowers, the earth, rivers, the sea - all have their own unique scents. Whenever I see frangipani flowers, Nairobi would immediately come in to mind; the scent of frangipani, reminds me of no where else - but Nairobi! And my daughters! It seems, wherever one is in Nairobi, there would always be frangipani flowers close by; and their sweet scent would be in the air! While the sea and its unique 'scent' would always remind me of Mukalla! Mukalla, with its pure, deep blue sea! And the sea and its 'scent' would remind me of my sons! How about dates? Date palms and dates would always remind me of times I spent in the deep valleys and deserts of Hadhramout! And my first daughter! Who is also my first born! Date palms would always bring wonderful memories, of time spent with her, when still very young: playing, running and chasing each other! Times, that I w...

"Creation is all things and us. It is us in relationship with all things. All things, the ones we see and the ones we do not; the whirling galaxies and the wild suns, the black holes and the microorganisms, the trees and the stars, the fish and the whales - the molten lava and the towering snow-capped mountains, the children we give birth to and their children, and theirs, and theirs, and theirs." - Mathew Fox Every year thousands of precious animals are slaughtered in the name of so-called 'scientific research'. When it is only Man's greed that drives this! We have no justification what-so-ever in our continuous destruction of our fellow creatures, except greed and lack of fore-sight! The continuous, senseless and merciless killing of whales - those enormous, but very lovable creatures - is a part of this destruction! The International Whaling Commission convenes this week and pro-whaling nations intend to take control of the IWC! Add your voice by signing th...

With great relief, I read the news of Kenya going much further in its campaign against smoking; just a few days ago - Kenya banned smoking in most public places! In the long run, this will be of enormous benefit on Kenyans' health and Kenya's public health system. Come to think of it: being such a health hazard, why isn't smoking just banned completely? World wide? It got me in to thinking too: Yemen has still a very long way to go to reach Kenya's decision and laws against smoking! Across the border, in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni who has just been sworn in for a third five year term, has extended an olive branch to Kony and 'has offered another chance to the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army rebels to end the two decade old war.' With the LRA's Kony and other rebel leaders wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court - I don't see how that will work. Still, in Museveni initiating that just after his swearing in, may show his...

This photo and excerpt news is taken from Kenya's Sunday Nation newspaper: " The fisheries department has taken the fish with a Koranic message caught off the Mombasa coast on Friday for preservation at its Liwatoni cold house. At the same time, the National Museums of Kenya said it would document it for use in religious education. The Museums' education officer, Mr Hassan Mohamed Hassan, said yesterday that the tuna was caught at Vanga, near the Tanzania border, and sold to Mr Omar Mohammed Awadh, a retailer. He said that as Mr Awadh sorted fish at his Takaungu shop in Kuze old town, he noticed the writing, Wallahu khayru razikiyna (God is the greatest of all providers). Fisherman Abdul Wahid shows a Koranic message on a fish caught in Mombasa. Photo by Jack Owuor. Mr Hassan said Islamic scholars had gone through the message and "there is no doubt that the almighty God is communicating with his people." Meanwhile, at the Mombasa Old Town, the find has baffled...

"Kenya is one of the most inequitable countries in the world because we have not promoted economic policies and political policies that promote equity," : Kenyan Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai . Very sadly, this can be said of most African countries! If not all! But it is the DRC ; the Congo, formerly Zaire - that saddens me most! Congo is enormously gifted with every kind of natural resource that one can think of; and yet, it is economically limping from one stage to another. Every economist who knows or has studied the DRC, will reach just one conclusion: it can be one of the richest, if not the richest, country in the world! It can be at par with - the US and China in wealth! But, alas! It has not even reached the economic standard of many African states! Misrule, corruption, nepotism: these are the 'policies' preferred by most African rulers! Not equity and caring for the masses. Had equity been the road taken, Africa would not be begging and depending for...

Bonobos are in crisis. Humankind's closest relatives are teetering on the brink of extinction. Found only in the forests of the central Congo Basin, bonobos are being hunted for meat and profit. Bonobos are the rarest of all great ape species and no one knows how many survive. In fact, most people don't even know they exist! These amazing primates, who are so much like us, remain shrouded in mystery. Read on to find out more ... and learn how you can help save the Bonobo! Photo: by Jeankern

The fourteenth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development opened yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York. Much will be discussed and written about; little will be achieved or sustained. With the current way we are managing our planet, in a few years from now, there won't be much to sustain. What with extinctions and global warming ! It is shocking to read how we are using, should I say: mis-using our forests ; Africa's are doing no better !