Safari Notes

Not all stories are bad. Some are good. Some very good and encouraging. One such very encouraging story is that of Bwindi; Bwindi National Park, Uganda. Bwindi's recovery as a major tourist attraction, is a reflection of the recovery of Uganda's tourism industry. During the Idi Amin years and the unsettled years after that, many thought that Uganda would never recover as an attractive tourist destination. Many too, thought, that most of the attraction - wildlife in particular - would no longer be much of an attraction for tourists. Of much concern, were the state of the gorilla population in Western Uganda; close to the Congo-Rwanda border. But the gorillas, mountain gorillas, some how survived all those unsettled years; and have now become Uganda's star tourist attraction. Their population has rebounded. The Uganda Tourist Board says: ' the endangered mountain gorilla, the bulkiest of living primates, and among the most peaceable. Staring into the pensive brown eyes of...

“African nationalism is meaningless, dangerous, anachronistic, if it is not, at the same time, pan-Africanism” "Violence is unnecessary and costly. Peace is the only way." More on Nyerere: infed , ANC.org.za , sardc.net , Wikipedia , Google Books , Google Scholar Photo: Mwalimu

"Most people call it a paradise. It's a name that conjures up many images in the mind. Many emotions in the heart. It's a name that, unfortunately, we don't often hear applied to many of the places we have left on this planet.Why? Because paradises these days are often rarer than the endangered animals that are found within their borders." That's the Gamba Complex which lies on the coast of Gabon, a country in western central Africa, just below Cameroon. "The Gamba complex is a critical refuge for Africa's embattled rainforest wildlife." TV for the Environment But now, the Gamba complex is under threat; several animal species are under threat which includes: the western lowland gorillas, forest elephants, leatherback, green, hawksbill and olive ridley turtles; and a variety of other animals. Illegal poaching remains a major and critical problem; but that aside - new roads are being planned to run through the reserve, the continuing prospecting ...

"To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there." "Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family." "We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race." "From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict and promoting democracy." Photo: from Google Images

U.N. report - early 2005: The government of Sudan and militias have acted together in committing widespread atrocities in Darfur that should be prosecuted by an international war crimes tribunal, but the violent acts do not amount to genocide, a U.N. commission has said. The African Union's response: " The African Union has announced that it will extend the mandate of its peacekeeping forces in Darfur through the end of the year, ensuring that international troops will remain in the war-torn Sudanese province for now ." Omar Hassan El' Bashir, at the last UN General Assembly: "It is very clear there is a plan to redraw the region especially after the invasion of Iraq,” Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan's president, said on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly session."The main purpose [of this plan] is the security of Israel. Any state in the region should be weakened, dismembered in order to protect the Israelis, to guarantee the Israeli security." Th...

I can now easily make comments! I have tried; it works neatly! Thanks to the Beta Blogger Team! They just came in with this: Ahoy sailors. The infamous pirate Edward Teach once wrote in his ship’s log (or “p’slog” in 18th century slang): Such a day found one with a great deal of liquor on board, so kept the company hot, damned hot; then all things went well again [ cite ] Yar. Now, had Teach written this on a blog, his crew may have wanted to comment on it (“Pass me th’ bottle,” “when can we go back to Port Royal?,” “why’s the rum gone?,” &c.). Until today, they may have had a great deal of trouble, above and beyond the significant scarcity of reliable Internet access in 1718 colonial America. A pair of issues have plagued Blogger and the Blogger beta: Blogger users unable to comment on beta blogs , and beta users unable to comment on Blogger blogs . For the benefit of time traveling pirates with hypothetical weblogs everywhere, these issues have been well and truly keelhauled. Ge...

About two weeks ago, I switched to the new Blogger in Beta ! All my blogs are now on the Beta; including this one. The Beta has many more features than the original Blogger, but many issues with it, still need to be addressed and sorted out; which I understand is being done . I find the Beta, much better and easier to use than the old version - except: making 'comments' on other 'Blogger' sites has not been possible for me - unless I do so anonymously; some Bloggers do not allow that on their sites. And when one switches completely to the Beta 'Layout', one is deprived of the editing of HTML; though I have switched this site too, I am not using the complete Beta 'layout' here, but I am trying out the Beta on: Kisiwa . If any of my friends, find that I am not any more making 'comments' on their blogs, it would be due to my using the Beta; hopefully - soon, I can again, easily be able to make comments on other 'Bloggers' sites! Note: once o...

"Some people try deliberately to exploit the colonial hangover for their own purpose, to serve an external force. To us, Communism is as bad as imperialism." "When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the Land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible." "The basis of any independent government is a national language, and we can no longer continue aping our former colonizers ... those who feel they cannot do without English can as well pack up and go." More on Kenyatta: Wikipedia , Encarta , Africawithin , Answers , Google Books , Google Scholar Photo by: Nate Dunn

It is in Kenya and yet it isn't a part of it; it is within Nairobi and yet it is without . Is it autonomous? Is it an island in Nairobi? No. It is Kibera ! Forsaken, neglected and forgotten Kibera. Forsaken, neglected and forgotten by those in power; by the government, the local Nairobi city authority and those who decide. Kibera - is the 2.5 square kilometers home, to half a million to seven hundred thousand Nairobians; more than a quarter of Nairobi's population. No one knows for sure how many people live in Kibera; population density is estimated at 3,000 people per hectare -- 750,000 people in one square mile -- or no more than 37 square feet per person. It is one of the most crowded places on earth. 'Six hundred acres of mud and filth, with a brown stream dribbling through the middle.' This is 'Africa's largest slum'. Kibera has no proper infrastructure; no proper piped running water or electricity supply; and no drainage or sewage system. Now. This -...