This week’s Amateur Traveler podcast was on traveling to Zanzibar in Tanzania. You can get by in English in Tanzania but you will have a better experience if you pick up even a little (kidogo) Swahili. Swahili is a simple language since it was formed as a pidgin language to help natives who spoke Bantu [...]

It is a rare thing for a U.S. Ambassador to write an open letter to travelers urging them to consider visiting a country, but that is what the US ambassador to Kenya, Michael E.Ranneberger did this week. In light of the unrest Kenya and the resulting drop in tourism to the country Ranneberger’s remarks should [...]

Tourists with plans to go to Kenya can and should reconsider them with stories like this one from Reuter’s Africa coming out of Kenya:
Tourists arriving in Mombasa on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast were expecting to find the usual colourful fruit and vegetable markets lining the streets.
Instead, they found angry supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga [...]