Born into the Samburu tribe of northern Kenya, Tom Lalampaa could have ended up following the traditional pastoral lifestyle of his people – had his brother made a different choice. When Tom was a child, his father called his sons to him and said, “I’d like one of you to go to school and the […]
In areas without easily accessible public transportation, people must walk to commute, run errands or get to school. But in many cases, foot travel just isn’t efficient enough. For many people, a bicycle is the answer. Community bike programs have already been running in major cities all over the world, including Paris, London, Montreal, Mexico […]
Thirty years ago, when more people were traveling with cameras than ever before, Susan Sontag, in On Photography, observed that tourists had become so photo-hungry that travel was just “a strategy for accumulating photographs.” Like their counterparts a century earlier, who invaded Native Americans’ sacred spaces and had them alter ceremonies to be more photogenic, […]
With no formal waste management system, the trash in Kenya’s crowded Kibera slum piles up in the dirt rows between shacks, in open pits and on people’s doorsteps: plastic bags, raw sewage, egg shells, the scraps of people’s lives. As slum residents, aid workers and tourists on “poverty tours”—a controversial idea in itself—know all too […]
The New York Times recently reported the collapse of Madonna’s $15 million project to build a school for poor girls in Malawi, where she has adopted two children. Mismanagement and cost overruns by Madonna’s charitable organization led to the project’s failure, but its merits were questioned earlier, when her philanthropy consultant suggested the money would […]
An appeals court in Botswana has ruled that indigenous Bushmen can drill wells for water on their traditional land in the Kalahari Game Reserve. After a legal battle of more than a decade, it seems that the Bushmen can finally return to live on their ancestral lands – that is, if the government accepts the […]
The government of Tanzania has approved a major commercial highway across Serengeti National Park in the direct path of the park’s world-famous wildlife migration routes. Conservationists and members of the travel industry strongly oppose the construction, arguing that such a highway would be devastating to the Serengeti’s fragile ecosystem and would therefore negatively impact Tanzania’s […]
Microsoft Corporation and the United Nations have partnered to create an online infrustructure they say will improve tourism in Africa. The idea is that increased promotion, centralized information, and connectivity will lead to a more efficient tourism sector and increased visitation, ultimately contributing to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In addition […]
Even the most road-worn travelers scratch their heads when asked to locate Malawi on a map. But as of late, Malawi is entering the spotlight on the coat-tails, or rather the Kabalah strings, of an American pop icon – Madonna. Though Madonna has yet to set foot in the country, she is already causing Malawians […]
