Safari Notes

Tanzania hasn't had as much oil exploration as Kenya, but it has made discoveries of gas along its coast, at Songo Songo and Mnazi; and has produced and used some of it. Of late, there has been an increase in exploration activity in Southern Tanzania; mainly by Western oil companies. Tanzania's oil exploration has a long history, dating back to the early 1950s but without much success. It's only in the last few years that 'significant' gas discoveries have been made; just recently, more gas has been discovered by an Australian company near Songo Songo. ( Photo: Songo Songo ) But despite these gas discoveries and expected oil discoveries, Tanzania - with an estimated 38 million inhabitants - is still struggling with widespread poverty and remains the poorest of the three East Africa nations. Tanzania is rich in mineral and other natural resources, and has a comparatively very good political system and governance; but due to mismanagement and bad policies, Tanzanians ...

All the three East African countries are aggressively searching for oil; Kenya more so. Geological evidence gathered and analysed in Kenya and elsewhere reveals with certainty that the country has untapped oil and gas . Most of the oil exploration in Kenya is along the Coast and in the North. For almost three decades now, Kenya has been exploring for oil, with no luck so far; Western and Chinese companies are now involved in oil prospecting all along the Kenyan coast and in the North. ( Photo: Lake Turkana ) Geological evidence gathered reveals with certainty that the country has oil. Kenya spends an enormous amount of its earnings on oil imports; if oil deposits found will be of commercial value, and production starts, it will be the biggest boost that the Kenyan economy can have. With its comparatively good infrastructure and an abundant educated, youthful work force, Kenya's economy needs oil to drive its economy, to emerge from decades of poverty and to fully realize its mai...

Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, is often cited as the world's fastest growing city. Named after Kgosi Gaborone - a leader who arrived with his people in this area at the end of the 18th century, Gaborone is a bustling, modern city and the seat of power for one of Africa's most successful economies. Gabs, as it is affectionately known, lies off Botswana's safari circuit - it's in the more populous and better-watered southwest - and is usually seen as a stopover for self-drives on their way to the Okavango Delta or Chobe National Park . The city has many busy shopping malls, top hotels and interesting markets. Restaurants are numerous and varied, and night clubs often host live music by local artists. The National Museum is situated near the centre of town and houses important collections of traditional crafts and southern African fine art. goAfrica More on Gaborone: Discover Botswana , botswanatourism.co , Wikipedia , Places.co , World Travels , World66 , gaborone.in...

Africa's proven oil reserves are 7-9% of the World's total, and five countries: Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola - dominate the continent's oil production. How much oil Africa has, is not yet truly known; presently, thirty percent of the world's newly discovered oil reserves come from Africa's west coast. But in the serpentine creeks and boggy coast lie daunting obstacles to the promise of oil revenue -- pirates, corruption, violent youth militias, and environmental catastrophes . Corruption and environmental catastrophe, are not only a part of Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, but it seems - is a part of the oil producing industry in all the African oil producing countries. Even Libya with its huge oil reserves, millions of barrels produced daily and a small population, hasn't advanced the quality of its populace as much as say: the U.A.E, Oman, Brunei or Qatar. Oil is not always a boon; in Africa, it seems to have caused the opposite:...

Internet Explorer is still the most preferred and most used browser; but it now has very strong competition from Firefox and Safari . While the Norwegian Opera hasn't advanced much through the years, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari , have greatly developed and improved. Firefox now provides the most powerful and most user friendly browser on the Web. And Apple's Safari seems to be the fastest and gives the most vivid and 'most elegant' interface. If you haven't tried Firefox: give it's latest release a try. And why not try Safari; if you haven't.

This is shocking. Dreadful. Atrocious. And beyond belief or understanding. In Tanzania, the tens of thousands of Albinos are being hunted, and butchered by those who believe in witchcraft; believing that - the use of body parts of albinos in potions would 'help' them 'succeed' in business, politics etcetera. Watch this Al Jazeera video: Recent reports on the plight of albinos, have been shocking. Some excerpts: Some witch-doctors also say they can use albino body parts in a potion to make people rich. A teacher in the northern town of Arusha has been arrested for killing his own child, who was albino. As well as the four killings, the body of an albino has also been exhumed. It was found with its limbs cut off. The BBC Discrimination against albinos is a serious problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but recently in Tanzania it has taken a wicked twist: at least 19 albinos, including children, have been killed and mutilated in the past year, victims of what Tanzanian o...

He is smart. He is cool. He is poised. He envisions hope. He is a great communicator. But there are many Americans who still hate him. Some have even predicted that, should he win the presidency - he would be assassinated. Why do some hate him so much? And which do they find more loathsome: his black, African origins or his Muslim background? Most of those who hate Barack Obama do so because they are racist and they simply can't accept the idea of an African American president; even one as capable as Mr. Obama. Racism isn't an American problem only; it's worldwide. Racism is a disease, and once inflicted with it, it's hard to cure it. As for Obama's religion, many Americans have good reasons to be wary about any thing related to Muslims, due to Islams's poor image there. But what is very surprising is that there are still many Americans who believe that Obama is a practicing Muslim and that, he took the oath of office using Islam's holly book - the Koran!...

Few do live as long as you have; fewer have gone through what you have been through; and even much fewer have done for their country, for their people and for the whole of humanity what you have done. You have been an inspiration and an example to and for millions. You said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated f...

Zimbabwe was a once well-governed state that, thanks to President Robert Mugabe's ruthless greed for power and wealth, now teeters on the brink of failure . Robert Mugabe is undoubtedly a bully and an autocrat; at times - a brutal dictator. There is no doubt too, that he has caused immense suffering and misery for his people. He has ruled for too long; and, even with his hairs dyed and a wife half his age, he is too old. Once respected, admired and revered by many Africans, Mugabe is now making a fool of himself. Why couldn't he have learnt from his age mate Nelson Mandela and retired with dignity? At his age and after all that he did for Zimbabwe's liberation, he could have given up leading Zimbabwe long ago, and could actually have been even more powerful and more respected and admired. Very sadly and unfortunately, most African leaders never learnt from Mr. Mandela; in spite of all the reverence and adulation that Mandela now has, world wide, African leaders still have t...

Graça Machel is a renowned international advocate for women’s and children’s rights, and has been a social and political activist for decades. She is President of the Foundation for Community Development (FDC), a not-for-profit Mozambican organisation she founded in 1994. The FDC makes grants to civil society organisations to strengthen communities, facilitate social and economic justice, and assist in the reconstruction and development of post-war Mozambique. In 1994, the Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Graça Machel as an independent expert to carry out an assessment of the impact of armed conflict on children. Her groundbreaking report was presented in 1996 and established a new and innovative agenda for the comprehensive protection of children caught up in war, changing the policy and practice of governments, UN agencies, and international and national civil society. More from The Elders More on Graca: BBC , niza.nl , UNICEF , UN Foundation , people.brandeis , ...