Safari Notes

The Great Barrier Reef How long can one of the world's most striking, most remarkable, most wonderful and most unique natural wonders survive the destructive carelessness and neglect of Man? Australia's Great Barrier Reef is rapidly dwindling in size and may completely disappear. Several factors are conspiring to degrade the reef: tropical cyclones, attacks from the coral predator the crown-of-thorns starfish, and rising water temperatures. Incredibly, all these destructive forces are apparently, mainly, caused by human activity and impact. The cyclones and the rising water temperatures affecting the Great Barrier Reef and most other parts of the world, are related to man-caused global warming. More intensive farming along the coast and inland, adjacent to the Reef; and urban runoff, are feeding the predatory Crown of Thorns Starfish , which is the Reef's most aggressive destructive force. Very few living creatures can reproduce so many as this starfish: each femal...

"The history of Kampala, like that of many other cities in the world, derives from both folklore and historical fact. According to folklore, much of the area where present-day Kampala stands was dominated by wetlands and rolling hills. This made it an ideal habitat for the Impala and other members of the antelope family. They grazed on the slopes of the hills and came down to the wetlands for water. The palace of the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, located on one of the hills, overlooked this landscape rich in Impala. He turned it into his hunting grounds. Folklore merged with history when the British Empire builders arrived at the end of the 19th century. "Impala" was the English name for that particular antelope family. So the British referred to the area as the "hill of the Impala". The Baganda, eager to adopt foreign words into the local language, translated "hill of the Impala" into Luganda as "kasozi k'Impala" (pronounced "ka Impala...

Zack writes fine posts; his posts on Uganda are always very informative and have very useful facts. His last post on evolution got me in to thinking and contemplating life and being, much more than I usually do. Here is my comment for that post: "I never bought the 'Evolution' theory right from the beginning. Like you Zack, I used to wonder at why the other apes or Man were not 'evolving' any more and there was no recorded history of that happening at all. But, you see, some people like such far fetched, dubious ideas. Like 'Marxism' or 'Existentialism' some people just believed/believe in that even if/when they are simply not concrete and do not make sense. For many, believing in the senseless is so easy and makes sense to them. For many, believing in the sensible (the Creator), is not possible. For me, it has always been much easier in believing in God. I don't and can't see GOD. But living proof all around me, proves to ONLY that: A SUP...

East Africa has to unite. Africa has to unite. Qaddafi's dream for an immediate African unity, may be too difficult for Africa to achieve. But, East Africa can easily unite. The obstacles and challenges to achieving that - may seem enormous; but, by not uniting and acting united - Africa and Africans will face only more difficulty. Museveni, as always, a visionary - can see that : “Some leaders are talking of United States of Africa. Do not under-estimate this view. Eventually, small countries of West Africa have found out, from the experience of the last 50 years of independence that without unity they cannot manage. It is a good movement; it needs to be harnessed carefully.” “Fifty years after independence, all African countries except South Africa, are still third world countries regardless of whether they have had a violent history or not.” “African leaders, past and present are responsible primarily for the misfortunes of Africa.” He also remarked that after independence Afric...

The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park is, by volume, the largest tree in the world: an incredible 103 feet in circumference around its base and over 270 feet tall; it aslo holds the record of being the most massive living thing on Earth. It is over 2,000 years old and is named after Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman . The tree and other trees around it, have protection from the US government park system. More on General Sherman: nps.gov , Think Quest , werc.usgs , the Examiner , Hikes Peak , Virtual Travel ,  Trip Advisor , Via Magazine , Facts General Sherman Googled: Books , Video

SAIDA KAROLI was born on the 4th of April 1976 in the Northern part of Tanzania within a small region called Bukoba. As a singer, composer, dancer and drummer, and within a short period of time, Saida has become a much sought after female artist all over East and Central Africa. She has staged live shows in almost all parts of Tanzania, and has been on ~everal successful tours in Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar. Her artistic musical talent, which is filled with tradition, has captivated the diverse cultural audiences and her mellow singing voice continues to earn her a place the hearts of people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. As a child, Saida lived in the small village of Rwongwe in Bukoba. Her culture did not permit girls to sing or play drums but her mother, who was also a musical figure in the village, encouraged her and taught her the essentials of music. Due to lack of support from her drunken father, Saida only managed to attend school up to grade 5. At...

"Potentially a holiday paradise with picture-postcard beaches, the Comoros islands are trying to consolidate political stability amid tensions between semi-autonomous islands and the central government." TheBBC "The Comoros islands are wrapped in a fragrant blend of ylang-ylang oil, Arabic aesthetics, African warmth and French chic. Not only this, but they have a colourful history of sultans and soothsayers, plantation owners and eloping princesses." Lonely Planet "Comorian residents call their Country Masiwa, "the islands," or refer to the individual name of each island. Zisiwa za Komor is a translation of the French words for the country. "Comoro" comes from the Arabic qumr, "the moon" or qamar "whiteness". Although Comorians practice Sunni Islam of the Chafeite rite, their social organization is matrilineal and residency is matrilocal. Social life is characterized by a widespread system of exchange, which, in tur...

Legendary. The largest predatory fish on Earth. Listed as an endangered species. They are: the Great White Shark. A name that many fear. Mistakenly fear. To the contrary, it is these extraordinary sharks that have been mercilessly hunted and slaughtered. By us. Mankind. We hunt them excessively and without any regulation. We humans have killed a great number of white sharks to get their teeth and jaws for trading and their meat for pills . More on The White Shark: Department of Environment, Australia , IUCN , National Geographic , Enchanted Learning , Sharks World , WWF , Live Science , Ocean Link , AASharks.com Image: World Wildlife

"The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow." "When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future." "I feel more comfortable with gorillas than people. I can anticipate what a gorilla's going to do, and they're purely motivated." More on Fossey: Gorilla Fund , The Goriolla Org. , webster.edu , unmuseum , mnsu.org , Boigraphy Channel Diane Fossey Googled: News , Books , Scholar , Video Image: rwandagateway.org

This is World Water Week : Progress and Prospects on Water: Striving for Sustainability in a Changing World - that is what the experts, scientists and representatives from about 140 countries gathered in Stockholm now, would be mainly focusing on. And discussing. On the one hand, there are the developed countries who are using much more water, wastefully, than they should; and whose 'thirst' for fuel may exacerbate future water scarcity . And on the other - there are the poor developing countries, where over a billion people do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. Of the developing world, Africa is the most vulnerable and the most at risk. Africa: which is home to about 30% of the World's population, and is said to have only 9% of global freshwater resources. Africa has large disparities in water availability: the North and the South have less water than Central and Western Africa - with the DRC being the wettest and Mauritania, the driest. Countries close to ...

Sierra Leone. Gone are the days of one man dictatorships. Gone are the days when the World was used to seeing child soldiers who hacked limbs off civilians including those of children. Gone are the days of Foday Sankoh and Hinga Norman ; and the Kamajors . Gone are the days of the sinister shadow of Charles Taylor looming over it. Hopefully, those days are gone. Very hopefully. And, very hopefully - those days will never return to Sierra Leone. Ever again. Sierra Leone is now secure and peaceful. Thanks to Britain and the United Nations Peace Keeping force. But Sierra Leone has to rebuild and re-construct itself, so that it can be secure without outside help. And it has to make peace and security, sustainable and long lasting. Can Sierra Leone achieve that? As it is: the problems of poverty, tribal rivalry and official corruption that caused the war are far from over ; and most of the problems that existed before the war — poverty, bad governance, massive unemployment and disillusion...

Rwanda is a land of great diversity and beauty. Popularly known as ‘the land of a thousand hills’, Rwanda has six volcanoes, twenty-three lakes and numerous rivers, some forming the source of the great River Nile. The landscapes in this green country are truly breathtaking. Many a visitor to Rwanda has remarked that the physical beauty of the country is without equal on the African continent. Spectacular volcanoes and dense tropical forests dominate the north of the country, while gentle hills and valleys, calm lakes and turbulent rivers in both savannah and dense tropical vegetation dominate the rest of the country. Rwanda boasts a wide variety of wildlife. The Parc National des Volcans, in northern Rwanda is home to the world’s largest number of endangered mountain gorillas. Numbering in the hundreds, the gorillas live in a protected area, free from poachers. The gorillas can be viewed in their natural mountain habitats at a fairly close range . Official Website   Rwanda...

"God made me an Indian." "Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows." "I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place." "I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle." "If a man loses anything and goes back and looks carefully for it, he will find it." "If I agree to dispose of any part of our land to the white people I would feel guilty of taking food away from our children's mouths, and I do not wish to be that mean." "If we must die, we die defending our rights." "The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it." "What white man can say I never stole his land or a penny of his money? Yet they say that I am a thief." "Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I...

Born into a nomadic Somali family, 39-year-old supermodel Waris Dirie survived the traditional form of female genital mutilation that kills hundreds of women in Africa every year - including her own younger sister and two cousins. Now, as the UN’s newly appointed Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, she has decided to break her years and years of silence to speak out to help save the lives of millions of women, young and old, across Africa and many other far eastern countries. Dirie remembers the mutilation only as 'that horror.' As a little girl, she was blindfolded and held down by her mother, with only a cloth to bite on to relieve her pain, while her clitoris was cut out with a dirty razor. The same procedure, Dirie says, killed her sister - along with many other girls in Somalia who were cut in the wrong vein and bled to death or died of an infection. But Waris, who survived this tragic procedure, shows a strength, not only of the physical...

Hemp. Marijuana. Bhang. Ganja. Hashish. And many other manes. For Cannabis Sativa. Most people, hate it. Most countries, ban it. But, many too, long and crave for it. It has made many, very wealthy. And it has turned many more, into zombies. Countries, reel and are destabilized by it. Colombia, Mexico and even the USA, with all its might, has not been able to stop the use of cannabis. More On Cannabis: Cyberbotanica , pfaf.org , usda.gov , Purdue University , cannabissativa.com , Bio Web , acde , Wikipedia , Fast Facts Image: cannabis.com

Look in any city or corner of the world and you will find poverty. But the problems we face in the United States, Europe and Japan simply don't compare to those in Africa. Seventy percent of Sub-Saharan Africans live on less than $2 a day. 200 million go hungry every day. This year alone at least a million Africans, most of them young children, will die of malaria and two million will die of AIDS. Africa is struggling under a triple crisis that keeps its people poor and its nations weak - the burden of unpayable debt that soaks up money that should be spent building schools and hospitals; the epidemic of AIDS that is taking the lives of an entire generation; and the unfair trade policies that keep Africans from earning their own way out of poverty. Even in the midst of these crises, we have seen glimpses of a new Africa. Because of debt cancellation, this year 20 million children are going to school for the first time in their lives. In the last three years, programs like the Globa...