Africa

South Africa: Power Failures Affect Table Mountain Cable Car; Armed Attacks Near Kruger Park

Date: January 24th, 2008 |

Load-shedding by the national electricity company caused the cable car running up Cape Town’s Table Mountain to stall just short of its docking station, stranding some 900 tourists on the peak for three hours. The cable system’s backup power supply failed but everyone was safely evacuated in an hour with no injuries, only inconveniences. The [read more]

Kenya: Post-Election Crisis Continues

Date: January 10th, 2008 |

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The post-election violence that raged for several days diminished and a reconciliation appeared to be developing between the incumbent president and opposition leader, both of whom feel they are the duly elected president of Kenya. Everything unraveled again, however, Jan. 8 when incumbent President Mwai Kibaki unilaterally named several cabinet ministers to the government. Riots [read more]

Kenya: Post-Election Violence Plagues Country

Date: January 2nd, 2008 |

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Several days of violence following disputed national elections occurred in Nairobi, the Rift Valley and the coastal resort of Mombasa, prompting the U.S State Department to discourage all but essential travel to Kenya, and the British Foreign Office to warn against travel to several specific areas, including downtown Nairobi. Some 300 people have been killed, [read more]

Kenya: Election Violence and Crime in Mombasa

Date: December 6th, 2007 |

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More than 14 million of Kenya’s 35 million citizens are registered to vote in the Dec. 27 election for a new president, parliament and local councils. As in past elections, this campaign has been plagued by violence. Since July, 35 people have been killed in election-related incidents, 13 in the last couple of weeks, and [read more]

Libya: Passport Rules Changed without Notice, Foreigners Refused Entry

Date: November 15th, 2007 |

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Without warning, Libya changed passport rules for foreign tourists Nov. 11, denying entry to foreigners not carrying an Arabic translation of their passports regardless of whether they had appropriate visas. Planeloads of European tourists were turned back after landing and 18 French citizens were stranded overnight before being allowed to leave Nov. 12. None [read more]

France, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal: Dakar Rally Canceled

Date: January 10th, 2008 |

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The Christmas Eve murders of four French tourists in Mauritania has prompted organizers of the Dakar Rally to cancel this year’s race. The rally was scheduled to start in Lisbon Jan. 5 and finish in Dakar, Senegal Jan. 20. Race officials faced pressure from the French government to call off the rally because nine of [read more]

Libya: Tourists Must Carry $1,000

Date: January 10th, 2008 |

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A policy that took effect Nov. 11 requires tourists to Libya to have their passports translated into Arabic before arrival, and another policy put in place Jan. 7 requires that all tourists carry at least $1,000 or its equivalent in convertible currency or be denied entry. Anyone coming on official business, to study, to visit [read more]

Uganda: Wildlife Official Says Rwenzori Region Safe from Ebola

Date: December 13th, 2007 |

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Some 116 people have caught the deadly Ebola virus in western Uganda’s Bundibugyo district, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 30 have died. Wildlife officials in the popular Rwenzori region were quick to assure visitors that national parks and tourist areas are outside the danger zones, and tourist facilities in the parks are clean [read more]

Democratic Republic of Congo: New Nature Reserve Created to Protect Great Apes

Date: November 20th, 2007 |

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In conjunction with U.S. agencies and conservation groups, Congo has established a new rain forest reserve of almost 12,000 square miles for the bonobo, an ape sometimes called a pygmy chimpanzee that is more closely related to humans than to gorillas. The apes live only in the heart of the Congo Basin, Africa’s largest rain [read more]

Kenya: Kidnap Threat on Kiwayu Island; Possible Election Violence

Date: October 3rd, 2007 |

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The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi warned that Islamic extremists from Somalia may be planning to kidnap Westerners, especially U.S. citizens, on beaches in the Kiwayu Island tourist area and other beach sites on the northeast coast near Somalia. Kiwayu is in the Lamu archipelago, an area popular with Western travelers. The Embassy urged Americans to [read more]