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Serena Hotels: Opulence amidst squalor and bloodshed

Dave Seminara — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Hotels and Accommodations, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Anyone for a game of badminton and a round of emerald-hunting in Pakistan's Swat Valley? Or perhaps you fancy a beach resort on the shores of Lake Kivu, just minutes from the Democratic Republic of Congo?

The March/April issue of Foreign Policy features an interesting story and photo gallery on the luxury Serena hotel chain, which they dub the "Ritz Carlton of Failed States." The chain, which originated in Africa in the 70s, operates luxury hotels in a variety of dodgy places, including Pakistan, Kabul, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Mozambique and others. The Serena hotels are operated by an economic development fund founded by the Aga Khan, a spiritual leader for Shia Ismaili Muslims.

FP reports the Kabul Serena (see photo above), which has been attacked three times has rooms that start at $356 per night. The chain has been criticized for partnering with the Assad regime in Syria on the development of hotels in Damascus and Aleppo, but Aga Khan told FP that the company's involvement in conflict zones brings "an investment seal of approval" that helps attract more foreign investment. The hotels also create jobs in countries with high unemployment.

But is there something unseemly about a luxury hotel which features "holistic health and wellness services," a pastry shop, swimming pool, a "mind, body and spirit spa," and other amenities in an impoverished, failed state like Afghanistan? FP's slideshow juxtaposes scenes of opulence at the Serena hotels with images of children sorting through trash, smoldering buildings, and tin roof shacks.

One can certainly quibble with the high prices and unnecessary luxuries of these hotels, but the notion that aid workers, journalists, government officials, and businessmen should stay in slum-like conditions while traveling to conflict states is far-fetched. The reality is that many of these people are stuck in very primitive, dangerous conditions, sometimes for weeks, months or even years, and only get to repair to places like the Serena hotels for well-deserved R & R's.

I certainly wouldn't begrudge a Medicins Sans Frontieres volunteer who spent the last six months treating sick children in the Congo a long weekend at the luxury Serena resort in Rwanda. That said, a case can be made that holing foreigners up in luxury hotels allows them to exist in a fairytale bubble, where they are insulated from what's going on in the country at large. What do you think?

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Serena Hotels: Opulence amidst squalor and bloodshed originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World's worst places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012

Justin Delaney — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Photos, Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania, South America, Liberia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Mexico, United States, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Airlines, Budget Travel, News, Travel Health, Middle East, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Travel Security

What comes to mind when you think of the world's worst place? While it is easy to complain about rural Wal-marts, La Guardia, Applebee's, and any government office with motor vehicle in its title, none of those places escalate the game from nuisance to immediate danger. All of them can be horrible, yes, but a threatened existence they do not pose.

The places on this list are the bad places. Some have run out of hope. Others have fought war for so long it is the new normal. Most are exceptionally dangerous and heartbreaking. And while none of them are fighting for write-ups by travel bloggers or inspiring travel with the NetJet set, some of these locations may someday be on the travel map. After all, it was not long ago that current hot-spots like Cambodia and Croatia would have made such a list.

Gallery: World's worst cities

Continue reading World's worst places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012

World's worst places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012 originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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African governments doing more to stop poaching of endangered species

Sean McLachlan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Africa, Asia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

This year in Africa, the fight between law enforcement and poachers of endangered species has flared into a war.

In the first two months of 2011, nine poachers were shot dead in South Africa. Despite this, poaching is up. In that nation alone, 333 rhinos were killed in 2010, and there have been 309 rhinos poached so far this year. It looks like the illegal hunters are set to break a grisly record.

Now South Africa is holding talks with Vietnam to reduce the demand for rhino horn, which some Asians use as an aphrodisiac and as a cure for cancer. Sometimes the horns are kept whole as curios or for religious rituals, as this 1930s photo of a Tibetan monk from the Bundesarchiv shows. The two governments are working on a plan to fight organized syndicates that trade in animal parts.

South Africa isn't the only country seeing trouble, and isn't the only country fighting back. In Zimbabwe, poachers have been poisoning water holes so they can kill animals silently and avoid detection by park guards. At least nine elephants, five lions, two buffaloes, and several vultures are known to have died.

Meanwhile, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are going to sign a treaty to cooperate across their borders to stop poaching of mountain gorillas and other species. The treaty also sets up joint research and education about the region's diverse flora and fauna.

African governments doing more to stop poaching of endangered species originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vice produces guide to Congo

Grant Martin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Africa, Video, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

It wouldn't surprise me if Suroosh Avi ends up dead at the end of this series. A host and founder of the well respected Vice TV, Mr Avi recently made his way to The Democratic Republic of Congo -- specifically, the conflict-ridden East Congo -- to document the mineral trade currently pummeling the country.

Rich in a whole host of minerals that the rest of the world needs, regions of East Congo have been violently contested, with political, big business and humanitarian efforts pulling in all directions. The result is a country still entrenched in the past, with many workers surviving on scraps and widespread poverty

Vice begins their outstanding series in the segment above. The remainder of the series can be found on their site.

Vice produces guide to Congo originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Explorers look to save elephants, end ivory trade

Kraig Becker — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Hiking, History, Learning, Africa, South Africa, Camping, News, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Two American explorers are heading to Africa today to begin an important expedition that could prove vital to the fight against the illegal ivory trade. Their five week long journey, dubbed the Elephant Ivory Project, may help to save herds of those creatures, which have come increasingly under attack from poachers in recent years.

Former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Trip Jennings and partner Andy Maser are on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they'll spend the next few weeks backpacking through the bush on the trail of elephants there. The duo hope to collect samples of elephant scat from five distinct herds which will then be used to build a "DNA map" of the various pachyderms of the region. Armed with the DNA data that they collect, they further hope to be able to trace the routes of the ivory trade and cut them off before irreparable damage is done to the DRC's elephant herds.

Despite laws to the contrary, the demand for ivory is on the rise, particularly in Asia and the U.S. Because there is a great deal of money to be made in dealing in ivory, poachers will take great risks to sneak into protected areas in order to kill elephants and harvest their tusks. This practice has put the large creatures in jeopardy in a number of places in Africa, and the poor countries there often lack the resources necessary to stop these illegal practices.

Continue reading Explorers look to save elephants, end ivory trade

Explorers look to save elephants, end ivory trade originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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American explorer to cross Africa on foot

Kraig Becker — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, Hiking, Learning, Blogs, Africa, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, News, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Anthropologist, explorer, and member of the Royal Geographical Society Julian Monroe Fisher is preparing for an epic expedition that will see him cross Africa completely on foot. The journey, which is set to begin this spring, will cover more than 4000 miles, crossing the continent east to west, in an effort to raise awareness of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), an organization dedicated to removing land mines and other small arms from countries that were formerly plagued with conflict.

Julian's adventure will get underway on April 26th of this year, when he sets out from the town of Pemba, located on the coast of Mozambique. From there, he'll begin traveling west, crossing through miles of difficult and varying African terrain, before eventually ending in Lobito, Angola, which falls along that country's Atlantic coast. Along the way, he'll pass through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Malawi as well.

No stranger to long distance travel, Monroe spent much of his time on the road between 1996 and 2003, crossing through more than 90 countries on five different continents. He has written two books about his travels and was an early adopter when it came to writing about his adventures on the web as well. Last year, he even opened an anthropological research station in the Bunkeye Cultural Village, located in the DRC, which this expedition will help raise funds for too.

This 4000 mile journey is sure to be an amazing adventure to follow, and Julian will be posting updates to his Facebook page along the way. But what he really hopes to do is draw attention to the amazing work that MAG is doing in countries across the planet in helping them to remove old land mines, un-exploded missiles, mortars, grenades, and other small arms that have been left behind following a major conflict. The organization operates throughout Africa and South East Asia, where it saves lives and limbs simply by doing away with old weapons that still litter the landscape.

For me personally, Africa remains my favorite destination, and traveling on foot is truly a unique way to see the continent and interact with its people. I'm sure that this will be quite the adventure when Julian and his team get underway in a few months time.

American explorer to cross Africa on foot originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kayak guide missing, presumed dead after crocodile attack

Kraig Becker — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Paddling, Gear, Blogs, Africa, News, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

South African river guide Hendrik Coetzee is missing, and presumed dead, after he was attacked by a crocodile while paddling a remote river in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday. The experienced guide, who has led expeditions all across Africa, was taking a team of kayakers down the Lukuga River at the time.

Coetzee, along with American paddlers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic, has been exploring the river as part of an expedition sponsored by First Ascent, a gear company that is owned by Eddie Bauer. They have been paddling rivers near Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, while spreading the word about the lack of clean water across the continent. The team had been making dispatches to the First Ascent blog along the way, and that is where news first broke about this tragic event.

While the exact details of the events are a bit hazy, it seems that the three men were paddling the Lukuga when a large crocodile sprang up from the water and pulled Coetzee from his kayak. His two companions witnessed the attack, but saw no sign of their guide afterwards. They immediately paddled to shore and called for help from the International Rescue Committee, who quickly dispatched a team to retreive them, and search for Coetzee. That search turned up no trace of the South African.

This story is a sobering reminder of just how dangerous some of the places we travel to can be. Reading it reminded me of a trip to Africa that I took a few years back, during which our guide warned us not to get to close to the river, which was crawling with hippos at the time. My companions and I nodded and acknowledged the large beasts, which are recognized as one of the most dangerous in Africa. Our guide simply smiled and told us it wasn't the hippos we had to watch out for, but the crocs which lay just below the surface, waiting for us to stray too close. Needless to say, we gave the shoreline a wide berth from then on.

[Photo credit: Sarah Mccans via WikiMedia]

Kayak guide missing, presumed dead after crocodile attack originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mountain gorillas making a comeback

Sean McLachlan — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Africa, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ecotourism, News, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

In the latest in a spate of good news about wildlife conservation in Africa, BBC Earth reports that mountain gorillas have increased their numbers on Virunga Massif, their core habitat stretching across Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From a population of only 250 thirty years ago, their population has almost doubled to 480 today. Another 302 live in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

The rise is attributed to increased cooperation between the three countries to protect the gorillas and stop poachers.

Safaris to see mountain gorillas have become increasingly popular with adventure travelers. Uganda has expanded its gorilla safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Rwanda is also offering safaris to see the gentle giants.

African nations are getting better at preserving their wildlife. Namibia and Zimbabwe are clamping down on poaching and last year we reported how Niger has pulled a unique subspecies of giraffe from extinction.

[Photo courtesy user KMRA via Wikimedia Commons]

Mountain gorillas making a comeback originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Travelers chronicle epic road trip through the Congo

Jeremy Kressmann — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Stories, Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Africa's Democratic Republic of the Congo has earned a legendary reputation among travelers. This war-torn African nation was once the stomping grounds of the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley (Dr. Livingstone, I presume?) not to mention the setting for well-known books including Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Tim Butcher's Blood River. This infamous history was apparently no threat to Belgian travelers Josephine and Frederik, who undertook a r oad trip across the Congo earlier this fall in a well-worn Toyota Land Cruiser.

Josephine and Frederik's tale actually doesn't begin in the Congo - it begins in Belgium. In 2006, the wanderlusting couple decided they wanted to drive around the world, bought a Land Cruiser, and began their trip in Brussels, traversing their way across much of Asia and Africa in the process.

Though the pair had driven thousands of miles before reaching the Congo, their epic trip from the Southeastern Congo town of Lubumbashi to the capital at Kinshasa was a feat for many reasons. Due to more than 50 years of on-and-off war, the country's infrastructure is in terrible shape. Roads, where they exist at all, are not much more than dirt tracks. Maps are inaccurate. And the Congo is notorious for its corrupt military and government, meaning the pair would be shelling out plenty of bribes and "taxes" along the way. Yet somehow, with a little bit of luck, plenty of supplies and a whole lot of bravado, the pair made it through the trip. The 14 page chronicle of their trip is an epic read...full of adventure and plenty of mishaps.

The reader questions and comments interspersed with Josephine and Frederik's chronicle are telling. How did you do it? What was it like? Is it irresponsible to travel through a recently war-torn country? Each of these questions has contradictory answers, none of which is resolved easily. With a trip this epic - it's up to the reader to form their own judgment. Grab yourself a comfortable seat and give this travelogue a read - you won't be disappointed.

[Flickr photo by whiteafrican]

[Via MetaFilter]

Travelers chronicle epic road trip through the Congo originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ethiopia tops list of African nations improving quality of life

Sean McLachlan — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Activism, Africa, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, News, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Ethiopia suffers from a bad image thanks to the war and famine of the 1980s. As my series on travel in Ethiopia showed, however, this is a land of friendly people, beautiful nature, and fascinating historic sites. Infrastructure is slowly improving and the Ethiopians are making serious efforts to boost education, access to clean drinking water, and other improvements to the quality of life.

These efforts have been recognized in the UN's 2010 Human Development Report. It ranked Ethiopia as number 11 in the world for improving human development since 1970, the highest ranking in Africa. The report was prepared by the United Nations Development Programme and measures progress in health, education, income, gender equality, and other areas. Researchers then formulate a "human development index" (HDI) for 135 countries.

Other high-ranking African nations include Botswana (14th), Benin (18th) and Burkina Faso (21st). All of these countries and some others have done especially well in the past ten years. Only looking at the past decade, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda all come out in the global top ten.

One of the biggest areas of improvement was in education. Literacy has almost tripled in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past 40 years to 65 percent. Also, life expectancy is up and infant mortality is down.

Sadly, not all the news is good. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were the only three countries in the world where quality of life actually went down.

Good news for Ethiopia is good news to travelers too. While the country is still an adventure travel destination, it's not as rugged as many people think. I spent two months there and my wife spent three weeks, and in all that time we never got sick. Chalk one up for good sanitation and clean water! Also, Ethiopia scores well of gender equality, which meant that, unlike some countries we've been to, my wife didn't get harassed by obnoxious guys. Good education meant we met lots of people who spoke English and wanted to improve it by chatting with us. Improved infrastructure meant there were more paved roads along our route than there were ten years ago.

When it comes to improvements in a country's Human Development Index everybody benefits, even people who don't live there!

Gallery: Roadtrip: Ethiopia

Ethiopia tops list of African nations improving quality of life originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plane crash caused by crocodile?

Sean McLachlan — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Africa, Airlines, Transportation, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

Any time I fly an African carrier my friends get worried. While some have good safety records like the ten safest airlines in Africa, others show an abysmal lack of basic care. Such was the case of the ill-fated Filair flight on August 25 that crashed into a house as it approached Bandundu city airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Twenty people were killed. Authorities claimed the airplane ran out of fuel, but the company said it was a technical problem.

The lone survivor of the crash tells a different tale, Juene Afrique reports. The unnamed survivor says a crocodile slipped out of a sports bag someone had brought as a carry on. The passengers panicked and rushed to the front of the plane, causing a weight imbalance that put the aircraft into a nosedive. The crocodile reportedly survived the crash only to be killed by a machete-wielding local when it emerged from the wreckage.

Whether this is true are not is hard to say. Juene Afrique is a respected news source, but eyewitness testimony can be unreliable, especially when it's anonymous. The plane was a Soviet-era Let-410 like the one shown here. It only seats 19 passengers so it's small enough that if everyone ran to one end it would have weight balance issues. Plus the pilot reportedly complained it was in bad condition. Congolese company Filair is one of many airlines banned from flying into the European Union thanks to its poor track record.

Yet if the crocodile tale is true it wouldn't be one of a kind. An eerily similar incident of a crocodile in a plane happened on an EgyptAir flight last year. Luckily nobody was hurt that time.

[Image courtesy Mottld via Wikimedia Commons. Note that this is not a Filair plane but a Russian carrier]

Plane crash caused by crocodile? originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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