Destination: Africa
Harar: Islamic Holy City Turns to Tourism
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.24.07 | 12:36 PM ET
The ancient city of Harar in Ethiopia may suffer chronic water shortages and a lack of modern amenities, but regional politicians are hoping to transform this hilltop city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, into a popular getaway for tourists, writes Anita Powell of the AP. With its walled maze of ancient mosques and alleyways, Harar has enough mystique to stir the imagination of adventurous travelers. The fourth-holiest city in Islam, it’s a center of the faith in the Horn of Africa. The French poet Arthur Rimbaud lived there in the late 1800s, and his home is now an art gallery. Harar is also known as the birthplace of coffee; its scent lingers in the Ethiopian highlands. And it’s also got “an old man who hand-feeds some 50 hyenas every night, treating them like obedient kittens,” Powell writes.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Gift of the Nile
by Christopher Vourlias | 09.24.07 | 11:30 AM ET
For 5,000 years, the slow, timeless rhythms of Egypt's great river have enthralled everyone from Mark Antony to Aunt Phyllis. Chris Vourlias takes a felucca trip to see if he, too, can feel the magic.
Rebranding Libya: We’re Eco-Friendly!
by Julia Ross | 09.12.07 | 4:25 PM ET
Talk about rebranding. In a surprise move earlier this week, Libya rolled out a plan to transform a swath of its Mediterranean coast into the “world’s largest sustainable region.” British architect Norman Foster has been brought in to design three “green” luxury hotels near the ancient ruins of Cyrene, while additional initiatives in the Green Mountain region will focus on archaeological conservation, eco-tourism and production of organic food and drink.
‘The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa’
by Frank Bures | 09.12.07 | 11:00 AM ET
In his new book, Josh Swiller writes that he wanted to find "a place beyond deafness." Reviewer Frank Bures believes he found it -- and much more -- amid the conflict and half-dug wells of a small corner of Zambia.
The Wild Story Behind YouTube’s ‘Battle at Kruger’
by Jim Benning | 08.10.07 | 10:16 AM ET
The eight-minute amateur video of an extraordinary showdown between buffalo and lions at South Africa's Kruger National Park has become a YouTube phenomenon.
U.S. State Department’s New Cultural Ambassadors: Ozomatli
by Jim Benning | 08.02.07 | 2:05 PM ET
Heading…
The Lost World of Nigeria
by Frank Bures | 07.30.07 | 11:41 AM ET
Photo by Frank Bures. The Eredo once formed a boundary between the real and spirit worlds, and could easily contain Manhattan. Frank Bures goes in search of one of the planet's forgotten architectural wonders.
Dikembe Mutombo on Travel: ‘It Can…be a Lesson That Will Change Your Life’
by Michael Yessis | 07.27.07 | 1:03 PM ET
Former NBA basketball star Dikembe Mutombo has turned to humanitarian endeavors in his retirement, particularly to projects in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo. He donated $15 million to build a hospital in Kinshasa, and Conde Nast Traveler’s Dorinda Elliot recently interviewed him about “the celebrity do-gooder thing” and how travel has influenced his life. “I went to South Africa in 1992 and learned about apartheid. Nelson Mandela had just been released, and we met with him in a secret place and visited the prison where he had lived,” Mutombo says. “There were people who didn’t want him to come to power, and his supporters were moving him every night to different safe places. From that trip, I learned a lot about struggle and freedom. We take so much for granted. People think of travel for work or play, but it can also be a lesson that will change your life.”
Iweala: Stop Trying To ‘Save’ Africa
by Michael Yessis | 07.16.07 | 1:00 PM ET
Vanity Fair’s Africa issue prompted World Hum contributing editor Frank Bures’s examination of the West’s efforts to “save” the continent. Beasts of No Nation author Uzodinma Iweala’s inspiration for a piece on the subject in the Washington Post this weekend was an encounter with a “perky blond college student” who yelled at him, “Don’t you want to help us save Africa?”
Where in the World Are You, Chris Vourlias?
by Jim Benning | 07.12.07 | 3:37 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Chris Vourlias, a contributor to TravelGator.com. His response landed in our inbox this morning.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
The Pleasure of an All-American Hamburger—In Egypt
by Julia Ross | 07.09.07 | 8:55 AM ET
I just spent my first Fourth of July outside the U.S., and I found myself craving something hot off the backyard grill, slathered with all the fixins. Oh, to have access to a place like Lucille’s, which, according to Time’s Cairo Bureau Chief, serves the best all-American burger this side of, well, anywhere. In a Postcard from Cairo, Scott MacLeod pays homage to his favorite greasy spoon, located in the city’s Maadi district and run by an up-by-her-bootstraps American woman—Lucille—who he likens to Erin Brockovich. Lucille’s draws its share of U.S. expats hungry for a taste of home (she even serves a little Tex-Mex), but its no-alcohol and halal meat-only policies have been a big hit with locals; 70 percent of the diner’s customers are Egyptian.
‘Travels with Herodotus’: Kapuscinski and the Weight of History
by Frank Bures | 07.03.07 | 3:11 PM ET
Frank Bures considers Ryszard Kapuscinski's newly translated book -- and the Polish writer's controversial legacy
UN: Half the World to Live in Cities by 2008
by Michael Yessis | 06.28.07 | 12:02 PM ET
The world’s urban population is surging, according to a United Nations Population Fund report released yesterday. By next year, an estimated 3.3 billion people will live in cities. By 2030, the number will rise to 5 billion. George Martin, the report’s author, calls the growth “unstoppable.” According to a New York Times story, the report predicts that the surge in population will likely occur less in mega-cities like Lagos, Nigeria than in “places like Gabarone, Botswana, whose population is projected to rise to 500,000 in 2020 from 18,000 in 1971.” Overall, Asia and Africa will see most of the growth. The “accumulated urban growth of these two regions during the whole span of history will be duplicated in a single generation,” according to the report.
Suffering and Smiling: Vanity Fair Does Africa
by Frank Bures | 06.27.07 | 11:31 AM ET
Africa is hot. Why? So we can save it? Frank Bures deconstructs the magazine's latest issue and what it says about Western views of the continent.
Weighing the Thrills and Ethics of ‘Shark Safaris’
by Terry Ward | 06.20.07 | 2:14 PM ET
I’m not one to go bungee jumping in New Zealand or canyoning in Costa Rica, yet presenting myself as great white bait in an underwater cage in South Africa has always held a certain appeal. I’ll admit it—I’m obsessed with sharks. And the chance to see the greatest predator of them all in a purportedly safe environment appeals to me in a totally primal way. I have, however, pondered the ethical questions that go along with cage diving. So I was interested to read about Joshua Hammer’s experience in Kleinbaai (two hours from Cape Town) in a detailed piece in the New York Times.