Aaron recently wrote a post here on Gadling about a production of Obama: The Musical in Kenya. The song and dance-filled bio-play shows how ridiculously popular Barack is in his father's home country. Well, some Kenyans are upping the ante further by naming their children, and their beer, after the prez-elect. "Senator" Beer, a locally made brew, was inspired by Obama's previous political rank. No word yet on how sales stack up against perennial favorite, Tusker.

Mothers in Obama's ancestral homeland of Kisumu have been naming their newborns Barack Obama, or some variation thereof. Have a girl? No problem. Several female babies in the province bear the name of Michelle Obama. Sharing your name with the future president of the US doesn't come without its share of pressures. One mother told a Reuters reporter that she expects great thing out of her pint-sized Barack Obama. "I would like that by the time he is in his 40s he becomes the president of this country."

I know there is a lot of excitement now, but wouldn't it be wise to wait to see how Obama performs in office before naming your child after him? I mean, what if your parents had named you after Richard Nixon?

And it appears that a few Americans are getting in on the fad as well.





[Via Reuters]

Well, that was quick. Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th president of these here United States, New York-based safari provider 2Afrika is touting their 11-day "Presidential Heritage Safari." They'll show you the sites of Kenya, the home nation of Barack Obama's father, and generally capitalize on his popularity. Hey, it's the American way.

According to 2Afrika, the trip will take you to "Nairobi, Mt. Kenya Forest, Lake Nakuru National Park, and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve for a fully inclusive Game Safari before heading northwest to the city of Kisumu...a mere stone's throw away from the birthplace of Barack Hussein Obama, Sr." You have to admire their creativity. The whole package will cost you $2,999 per person, so you may want to wait for President Obama to fix the economy first.

In other news, the "John McCain Bingo Vacation and Early-Bird Special Package" is now on sale. Dress socks with sandals will be provided.

Think front-running presidential candidate Barack Obama is popular in the United States? In Kenya, home of Obama's father, Obama is absolutely beloved, so much so that a theatre company in Nairobi is currently presenting the hagiographic show "Obama: The Musical."

The musical, which debuted yesterday and will run through November 5, tells the story of Obama's young life and his eventual political career. The actors involved in the production are virtually all rabid supporters of Obama, even the actors who play the show's villains, John McCain and George W. Bush.

The actor playing McCain says he would have preferred to play Obama: "Obama is more fun to portray than McCain," he says. "I hope he will win."

The show's director, George Orido, says he has already received invitations to perform the show in South Africa and the UK.

[via Chris Blattman]

This month, Big in Japan is on vacation in Africa, and will be bringing you travel news and happenings from around this often misunderstood continent.

Nairobi, the less than gentle capital of Kenya, serves as the jumping off point for East Africa's most storied game parks. Indeed, 'Nai-robbery' is home to extraordinary extremes in wealth and poverty, which sadly fuels a staggering amount of street crime.

Despite its infamous reputation however, Nairobi is a wonderfully dynamic and culturally rich city. The outskirts of the Kenyan capital also present numerous opportunities to interact with Africa's charismatic wildlife.

As with major cities the world over, it pays to exercise caution while in Nairobi, though you needn't be paralyzed with fear while passing time here. Indeed, all it takes is a little common sense and an awareness of your surroundings to minimize your chances of becoming a victim.

And, assuming you can get over a somewhat healthy preoccupation with your personal security, you can actually really enjoy yourself in Nairobi.

Straight out of Fashion Week! The only difference is that this couple looks so much better than Posh Spice in all her cheesy zebra-print outfits.

AngeAngerson took this photo in a game park in Nairobi, Kenya in 2006.

Seriously, how cute is the baby zebra??

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can't post it here.***

Sidney Pollack died of cancer yesterday. When I heard the news, along with feeling sad about his death, I flashed to a certain restaurant in Hurley, New York that's one of my favorite "when I go back home for a visit " eateries,although it's changed hands since Pollack used it as one of the settings for Tootsie.

The Hurley Mountain Inn where Dustin Hoffman bellied up to the bar with Charles Durning has been serving up family fare for years. My mom always headed here with friends for the spaghetti and meatballs. The last time I was there, my son was happy playing video games without the money to actually have them do anything.

Hurley is near Kingston in the Hudson Valley and the restaurant is worth the drive. Nothing fancy, but you'll feel like you're in a place that means something to the people who eat there. Along with Hurley, if you do a Sidney Pollack film tour of the world, you'll see a lot. Consider these alone and you'll be busy:

1. Sketches of Frank Gehry--Pollack followed Frank Gehry around with a camera and captured the architectural genius found in the Vitra Museum in Germany, Maggie's Centre, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
2. Out of Africa--The Africa scenes were filmed in the Ngong Hills in Kenya. The Denmark scenes were in Surrey, England.
3. The Electric Horseman--For the gorgeous scenery seen in the film, head to Zion National Park and other places in Utah. For the rest, head to Las Vegas.
4. The Way We Were--Bask in a bit of opulence at Ballston Spa, New York and in front of The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Kenya, with its pristine white beaches and game parks teeming with wild animals, has been kind of a ghost town this winter. The post-election violence that killed more than 1,200 people and displaced 250,000 has left a huge dent on the billion-dollar tourist industry there.

Many countries advised their citizens to stay away from Kenya after the riots triggered by the December 27 election. According to Reuters, 99,602 holiday makers visited Kenya in January 2007. In January 2008, the number dropped to 55,906. The Kenya Tourist Board said the impact from the political unrest had been worse than after bombings in 1998 and 2002 that were blamed on al-Qaeda.

The dollar has hit a new low against the euro, America is on the verge of recession and global food prices are on an upward spiral. In fact, global food prices have risen by 40% in the last nine months. Add to that the fact that food reserves are at their lowest in 30 years and the global economic situation looks grim. But beyond percentages and figures what does this really mean?

To showcase the real effects of the global rise in food costs the BBC has put together an interesting piece featuring six families from around the world, their shopping lists and exactly how their shopping habits have changed because of the rise in prices.

The six families are from Guatemala, India, Kenya, China, Egypt and the UK. In Guatemala the Rodas family has gone from eating meat five times a week to two. In Egypt the Abdulwahab family speculates a household used to be able to eat for one Egyptian pound; today it costs more than five.

The article also itemizes each family's shopping list, which provides for some eye-opening figures. The Classik family from the UK spends 10% of its monthly income on food, while in Egypt, the Abdulwahab family spends about 80%. Makes you think twice about complaining about how expensive everything is going to be on your next trip to Europe; travel is still a luxury.

Read the whole BBC article here.

Kenya has long been one of the safest and most politically stable nations in Africa, a distinction that, given the media's typical coverage of Africa, is not unlike being declared the smartest individual to be arrested on Cops. Kenya usually places just behind South Africa in the amount of tourists that visit each year, thanks to its relative stability, its Indian Ocean beaches, and its wildlife safaris. All that peace and stability was disturbed, however, by the disputed presidential election that took place on December 27, 2007.

In a nutshell, the incumbent Mwai Kidaki was declared the winner of the election and he was sworn in on December 30. But the supporters of his opponent Raila Odinga, in addition to a number of outside observers, said the election was marked by corruption and possibly rigged. Immediately after the results were announced, rioting broke out among various ethnic groups, with Kibaki's influential Kikuyus clashing with Odinga's Luos. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing violence.

A spokesman for the Kenyan government recently declared, "We are not in a civil war," which is the second-to-last thing you ever want to hear from your government spokesmen.

What does all this mean for Kenya's positive reputation among tourists? The news is not pretty. "The Kenya Tourist Board had projected a total of 314,995 tourists would visit the coast in the first quarter. It has now revised that figure down, by more than half, to 134,450."

The chairwoman for a group of Kenyan tour operators had this to say about one coastal town: "Mombasa is down on its knees and we are now digging our grave, if something does not change immediately."

At this time, the US and British governments are strongly advising tourists to forego all but essential travel to Kenya.

The New York Times has more coverage of how tourists are affected by the recent violence, and check out Jerry Guo's recent post on Kenya here.

One of my college classmates, Alexandra, is spending her winter vacation in Kenya right now. That's a pretty unlucky place to be at this moment, as tensions and violence has flared up after their post-Christmas presidential election. But my classmate happens to be a writer, so I guess you could say it's the perfect place to be.

What has been surprising about Kenya's turmoil is that it happened in Kenya. No one would bat an eye if this had happened in Somalia or Sudan. But until now, Kenya had a stellar reputation as a stalwart pillar of African stability. They have a booming tourism industry and a steady flow of Western investment.

But will the tourists and investors return once the dust settles in Kenya? For some answers and insight, check out Alexandra's dispatches in Newsweek and Slate.