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The other Africa

STEPHANIE NOLEN

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:11 PM EDT 04/04/08

The Africa we see on the news can sometimes seem like a frightening place for a time out. But as Globe correspondent Stephanie Nolen reports, there are plenty of safe places to go on the continent – whether you want to spend a night on the tiles in Mali or chill out on a beach in Zanzibar. And yes, even Kenya is on her list ...Read the full article

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  1. Daniel Sturgis from Rabat, Morocco writes: Safari is originally derived from the Arabic word for journey, although its modern English connotation is more familiar with the type of Safari done in East Africa. 25% of Swahili is derived from Arabic, the remainder is from Bantu languages. Swahili is a mixed language which formed along the coast between Arab traders and East Africans.
  2. p m from Canada writes: Very deceptive article and dangerous to those who don't research

    I have just returned from west africa and have looked at some of the places this article talks about.

    1. Kenya is cheap, value is good, but they are stealing from tourists who venture out alone.

    2. Prices in Tanzania and South Africa are 4-5 times that of Kenya and you don't get a much better safari and you had better use your airmiles cause the airfares are horrible.

    3. Mali is dangerous. Travel to Timbuktu is fraught with the risk of kidnap and robbery. The more civilized, a relative comment, parts are interesting.

    BAd article, not truthful.
  3. Helen Glenn from Accra, Ghana writes: What about Ghana?

    Easily the safest country in West Africa, with rich local cultures that exist in a fully modern way, good air connections, good roads and lots of attractions including dozens of trading forts and their shameful slave dungeons (UNESCO world heritage sites), Africa's only tropical forest canopy walk (Kakum national park), a day cruise on Lake Volta, walking safari in Mole National Park (no giraffe or zebra but lots of elephants), great craft shopping and hundreds of kilometres of beaches without big chain hotels.
  4. Mary McMillan from Toronto, Canada writes: Thank you offering reassurances to those who are fearful of travelling to Africa. I can only speak for my experience in Kenya in February of this year, but our group felt totally safe as we travelled from game park to game park as well as in Nairobi. All Kenyans that we encountered in our travels were helpful and welcoming. It is a beautiful country and its people are suffering needlessly as a result of exaggerated reporting.
  5. National Action Committee on the Status of Elvis in Canada from Ottawa, Canada writes: Ulp! I had to rub my eyes. The Canadian media with a good news story about Africa? What's next? A good news story about Latin America?
  6. brenda noble from kitchener, Canada writes: Went to South Africa - Kruger (Singita)Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and of course Botswana. All were gorgeous - especially my favourite the elephants of Botswana. All countries were of a different climate and all the people were lovely and accommodating. While there were still lovely wild places and animals, there were also lovely cities and places to stay - wanted to go to Kenya but at the time there were troubles so we did not go. Cape Town was lovely and so was Pretoria. Hope they can find some way to not kill off all the elephants.
  7. Dan P from Calgary, Canada writes: Safety-wise, I suspect the truth is somewhere between the over-glossed version presented by the author and the paranoia written by p m. Most large cities in Africa, and elsewhere in the world, in fact, take some common sense to navigate safely. Going out alone after dark in unfamiliar neighborhoods in places like Nairobi and Johannesburg is a bad idea, but the same is true of Washington DC and Paris. That being said, the word 'gentle' doesn't come to mind when thinking of Tanzania - its tourist culture is as aggressive as Kenya's used to be, and the touts and swindlers are rampant, at least in the cities. I was there 8 years ago, and things may have changed, but South Africa was not "4-5 times" as expensive as Kenya; it was more expensive, but not more than twice the price, and still excellent value for Canadian tourists. In terms of airfares, it's much cheaper to go to London or elsewhere in Europe to reach most African cities than to book from North America. One of the most irritating habits in the media and popular culture is to speak of the African continent as if it were one singular destination. We would never do that elsewhere - "Oh, you're going to Asia. Now would that be Uzbekistan? Malaysia? Korea?" Africa is similarly diverse and its individual countries should be treated as such.
  8. mike southwell from Ladysmith, Canada writes: This past January, my wife and I just finished a 5 week trip in Southern Africa (SA, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe). We rented a 4WD and camped in the tent that folded off the back. There is no doubt that Zimbabwe held some questionable moments but the rest was stunning.

    My main piece of advice in doing such a tremendous trip would be to take more time. If you had 5 trips you wanted to do over the next several years and Africa is one of them. Scrap the other 4 and get on a plane to the Dark Continent. You will experience a trip of a lifetime.

    I’d do this trip again in a heartbeat...carrying bags, water boy, driving or whatever!
  9. J W from Montreal, Canada writes: I would recommend Morocco...I'm surpirised the article didn't mention it! I felt extremely safe while I was there for 2 months. The landscape is incredible, the people are very friendly, and there are lots of opportunities to ride camels into the desert or go see some Babrary apes in the wilderness.
  10. Shawn B from Vancouver, Canada writes: I feel the article did gloss over some of the major issues and worries that many travelers have about traveling in the handful of countries she has mentioned. As a reporter living in the region, she likely has grown accustom things that many might find out-of-the-ordinary. Traveling to many countries in Asia for instance, for instance, one might find car vrs. pedestrian game different than what the average Canadian is used to. The same is true in areas of South Africa, Kenya and the like. Only in these cases one doesn't stop their car after dark for fear of having their throats slit in a car jacking.

    By no means should one not travel to Africa, but let's not ignore the situation. Do your research, know the risks and remember, it's not Kansas.

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