Jan 6th, 2012 at 8:30AM:
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 ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Somalia posts
World's worst places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012
Jan 6th, 2012 at 8:30AM:
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 ...Somali murals: funky advertising in the Horn of Africa
Oct 21st, 2011 at 2:00PM: One of the fun parts of travel is discovering the street art of a new place. Whether it's the elaborate graffiti of New York or Madrid, the political murals of Mexico, or the current craze of Yarn Bombing, there's always something cool happening on the street.
In the Horn of Africa, street art takes the form of murals. I believe this is a Somali development, because I've seen it much more in ...Eating in the Horn of Africa: camel, goat and. . .spaghetti?
Oct 13th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
When my wife and I went to the Horn of Africa last year for our Ethiopia road trip, we were eagerly looking forward to a culinary journey. We weren't disappointed. Ethiopian food is one of our favorites and of course they make it better there than anywhere else!
While it came as no surprise that the food and coffee were wonderful, the cuisine in the Horn of Africa turned out to be more varied ...Somaliland: the country without mail
Oct 9th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
Today is World Post Day, celebrated every October 9 to mark the anniversary of the foundation of the Universal Postal Union in 1874. More than 150 countries celebrate this day honoring something that's so vital to our lives but is generally taken for granted.
In Somaliland they aren't celebrating, because they don't have a postal system. No other country recognizes Somaliland as a nation and ...Queen Hatshepsut and the case of the poison skin cream
Aug 21st, 2011 at 11:00AM: German archaeologists studying a skin cream once owned by Queen Hatshepsut have found evidence that the female pharaoh may have accidentally poisoned herself.
The tiny bottle, which has an inscription saying it was owned by Hatshepsut, was still partially filled with a substance that the archaeologists subjected to chemical analysis. It included nutmeg and palm oils, commonly used to soothe ...Ancient port discovered in Egypt
Jul 30th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered a harbor on the Red Sea that was used for international trade.
The excavation at Mersa Gawasis has revealed traces of an ancient harbor. It's long been known that the Egyptians traded down the coast of Africa, but the location of their embarkation was unknown. A famous carving at Deir el-Bahari, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, shows an ...Sea Shepherd boat "Steve Irwin" heads to Somalian pirate waters
May 19th, 2011 at 1:00PM: In a not-too-surprising move last week the Sea Shepherd took its ship the "Steve Irwin" – proudly waving its skull-and-crossbones pirate flag – straight into the heart of real pirate country.
While the Shepherd's are regarded among conservation groups as being rebels and outsiders, willing to go to nearly any lengths to protect whales, dolphins, baby seals, tuna and more, happy to ...The spread of Somalian pirates
Apr 20th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Should we be concerned by suggestions that terrorists are taking clues from the Somali pirates and considering hijacking ships across the Indian Ocean for reasons other than ransom?
Absolutely.
There is increasing evidence of links in Somalia between the mafia-like organizations that run most of the pirating and the Somali-based terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which controls most of southern and ...How to pirate-proof a ship
Apr 19th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Razor wire, Gurkhas and sonic weapons are being routinely deployed on ships sailing in the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa in an attempt to pirate-proof ships of all kinds. While ships try to go through the Suez Canal, pirate attacks on pretty much anything sailing off East Africa are rising and extra measures are being taken to protect the ships and their passengers.
A 25-nation ...Dubai tour company offers pirate hunting cruises off horn of Africa
Apr 1st, 2011 at 10:30AM:
After years of murders, kidnappings, and heists, the lawless sea near the horn of Africa seems to be getting worse. A Dubai firm is capitalizing on these pirate infested waters with a strange new form of pirate tourism. The tour company, Dubai based Seahunters LLC, sells both 7 and 14 day cruises embarking from Salalah, Oman and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Unlike the quintessential cruise, the cruisers ...It's time to end Indian Ocean "Adventures"
Mar 24th, 2011 at 1:00PM: With news that seven Danish sailors, including three children aged 12 to 16, had been captured by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, February, 24, it's time to reevaluate the legacy of four Americans shot to death by pirates in those same waters off eastern Africa just two days before the Danes issued their distress call.
In the obituaries of the four Americans killed aboard their ...Somali pirates anchor Danish family yacht, threaten death
Mar 2nd, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Now it's a Danish family of five, including three children, that has been taken hostage by Somali pirates who vow to kill them should a rescue attempt be made. The pirated yacht, taken last week, was anchored off the shore of Somalia today.
The 43-foot sailboat was being piloted by Jan Quist Johansen along with his wife, their three children, ages 12 to 16 and two Danish crew members.
A ...Harar, Ethiopia: Two months in Africa's City of Saints
Feb 28th, 2011 at 9:00AM: What makes an adventure traveler return to a place he's been before? When so many other destinations beckon, why spend two months in a town you've already seen?
Because there's so much more to see. Harar, in eastern Ethiopia between the lush central highlands and the Somali desert, can take a lifetime to understand. For a thousand years it's been a crossroads of cultures, where caravans from ...Somali pirate ordeal ends with death of religious Americans
Feb 22nd, 2011 at 4:00PM: They were on year seven of a ten-year around-the-world voyage, passing out bibles from New Zealand to Alaska to Fiji and all points in-between. Their voyage came to a tragic end today as Somaili pirates shot and killed captives Jean and Scott Adam of Southern California and Phyllis Mackay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.
US forces had been trailing the captured m/v Quest when shots were heard on ...10 breeds of pirate - Somalis to Vikings to Japanese Pirate Ninjas
Feb 21st, 2011 at 11:00AM:
A yacht carrying a quartet of Americans was recently seized by Somali pirates, the latest in a string of hijackings that reaches back millenia. According to MSNBC, the seized yacht, the "S/V Quest," is owned by Jean and Scott Adam - a couple on a worldwide quest distributing bibles. While they no doubt expected to spread the word far and wide, they were certainly not expecting to be boarded by ...Somali pirates capture American couple and crew on round-the-world adventure voyage
Feb 19th, 2011 at 7:30AM: Putting an abrupt stop to the voyage of a lifetime, a US-flagged yacht with four American citizens on board was hijacked 240 miles off the coast of Oman by Somali pirates Friday.
The s/v Quest, a Davidson 58 Pilot House Sloop, was in year seven of a ten-year around-the-world voyage with American owners Jean and Scott Adam and two crew members.
"S/V Quest was attacked by pirates in the Indian ...2010 -- a record year for Somali pirates
Feb 8th, 2011 at 8:30AM: For all the "extremes" of the natural world in 2010 – record-setting rainfalls, droughts, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions – man managed to rack up some big numbers too.
Particularly those persistent Somali pirates who picked up the pace on the Indian Ocean, ramping up attacks on cargo boats, cruise ships and private yachts. According to an end of the year report by the Piracy ...It's time travel writers stopped stereotyping Africa
Jan 21st, 2011 at 9:30AM: Pop quiz: where was this photo taken?
OK, the title of this post kind of gives it away, but if I hadn't written Africa, would you have guessed? It was taken in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. This isn't the view of Africa you generally get from the news or travel publications--a modern city with high rises and new cars. A city that could be pretty much anywhere. That image doesn't sell. ...Piracy reached record levels in 2010
Jan 18th, 2011 at 9:30AM:
Pirate hijackings in the Red Sea and nearby waters reached their highest levels ever, the Associated Press reports.
Pirate hijackings worldwide claimed 1,181 hostages and 53 vessels, a rise of ten percent since 2009. Of these, 49 ships were taken by Somali gunmen in the Red Sea or nearby waters in the Indian Ocean. Somali piracy has been the biggest problem area despite an international fleet ...Somalia's Al-Shabab bans handshakes between men and women
Jan 8th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
As if you didn't have enough reasons to avoid visiting Somalia, Al-Shabab has given you another. BBC reports that the Islamist group has banned handshakes between men and women in the town of Jowhar. It's also illegal to walk with or chat with a member of the opposite sex you're not related to.
It's not clear what the punishment would be for committing these "crimes", but BBC's ...
