Africa’s Fishing Grounds Are Under Threat

by admin on March 1, 2012

Africa is a continent with large populations living in deep poverty so the use of natural resources to feed the local people is vitally important. In an ideal world all nations would be self sustaining but even more so in Africa. Many of the African nations have a huge level of natural resources they can use to their advantage such as oil, minerals, coffee, tea etc to export. But producing enough food in arid climates or even in equatorial forest is very tough.

Two-thirds of African countries have some kind of coastline and some use it for not only tourism but also the fishing industry. However the productivity of African waters is dropping and fishing stocks are shrinking rapidly. Sadly his is a familiar story for fisherman here in the UK.  Kenyan fishermen are now catching a tenth of the numbers of fish that they were catching twenty or thirty years ago which is having a huge impact on the fishing industry. It is not only Kenya though but across the coastal waters around Africa with several species becoming extinct in over-fished areas. Even in the teeming waters off South Africa the fishing industry is reporting significant drops in catch over the past few decades.

The problem is pretty much the same as in European waters with overfishing and pollution to blame. However the problem in African waters is that there seems to be no co-operation to try and control fishing levels and allow stocks to replenish. Which is understandable when the countries are facing such poverty and famine from drought inland. The African Union has tried to fight overfishing with joint navy patrols and co-operation between fisheries but have failed so far. Even governments are not all keen on the idea of quotas. They are not exactly popular with our fishermen either!

Much needed marine research is being hindered by lack of funding and the continent has only one large oceanography department, at the University of Cape Town, and even that is crucially underfunded. Education is at the core of a responsible fishing industry and trying to stamp out illegal fishing methods such as ground trawling, dynamiting and light-lure fishing is proving difficult.

However, generally local fishing fleets remain small scale and less of a problem than industrial size fishing operations. Frequently the problem is down to foreigners fishing on an industrial scale in African waters. The ever increasing demand for food production across the world means that many other nations have been moving into African waters in order to fish on a large scale. The EU and China have both bought fishing rights in African waters as have the Russians. The fishing rights are easy money for unscrupulous governments and these make it almost impossible to reduce quotas or if they do they impact on the local fishermen rather than the international fishing companies.

Perhaps the answer is to create more protected national marine parks. This could work as it would allow fish stocks to recover in these areas and they could also prove to be huge tourism draws. In Kenya the coral reefs are so over fished that it now rare indeed to spot a shark so heavily have they been fished for the Chinese markets.

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Africa loves Twitter

by admin on February 23, 2012

A couple of blog posts ago we mentioned how mobile phone and internet technology was benefiting African nations and that Twitter is enjoying big growth across Africa.  It turns out that South Africans use Twitter the most, but Kenya is second in usage on the continent.  This week a story about twitter and missing sheep came to our attention from the Houston Chronicle of all things!

A small village called Lanet Umoja, near Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya was hailed as successfully using twitter to help the community’s security. The local administrative chief received a call in the middle of the night from a local whose house was being burgled. The chief sent out a message on Twitter and within minutes residents in this tiny rural village gathered outside the home, and the thieves fled.

The tweet from Francis Kariuki was only his latest attempt to improve village life by using the micro-blogging site Twitter.  The Chief often sends out tweets about missing children and farm animals:  “There is a brown and white sheep which has gone missing with a nylon rope around its neck and it belongs to Mwangi’s father,” he tweeted recently in the Swahili language. The sheep was soon recovered.

Kariuki’s official Twitter page shows 300 followers, but village Chief estimates that thousands of the 28,000 residents in his area receive the messages he sends out directly and indirectly. Most of his local constituents are poor subsistence farmers, and cannot afford to buy smart phones, but they can access tweets through a third-party mobile phone technology.  Others forward the tweets via text messages. Kariuki has also able to bring down the crime rate in Lanet Umoja from near-daily reports of break-ins to no such crimes in recent weeks. Kariuki said he intends to use Twitter to promote peace as Kenya prepares to hold another presidential election in the next year, it’s first since the terrible 2007-08 post-election troubles.

Kariuki said that when he was first appointed the administrative chief of Lanet Umoja he asked himself how he could tackle the region’s problems. First was solving the region’s poor communication infrastructure. He said he is currently setting guidelines to help him sift through the information he gets so that he does not send out incorrect tweets. “Information is power, but information can also be destructive. What we are trying to minimize is destructive information,” Kariuki said.

The research by Kenya-based technology firm Portland Communications and Tweetminster found that over the last three months of 2011, Kenyans produced nearly 2.5 million tweets. More than 80 percent of those polled in that research said they mainly used Twitter for communicating with friends, 68 percent said they use it to monitor news. It is proving to be a most useful tool, even in the most unlikely of places.

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Explore the Game Reserves of Botswana via your computer

by admin on February 16, 2012

Do you like to check out places before you visit them? Me too. I often check out my destination on Google Street View. I find that being able to check out my holiday destination beforehand really fires up the enthusiasm for the trip – it adds so much more than just reading the guidebook first.

Well the good news is that Botswana is going to be photographed for Google Street View. It will be the second country in Africa to feature after South Africa which was launched just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Within coming weeks, Google cars will drive around the country and images collected will be processed and carefully stitched together, a process that can take several months, after which they will be made available in Street View on Google Maps.

Initially, it will primarily focus on the major urban areas of Gaborone and Francistown as well as the country’s top destinations and wildlife reserves – Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and the Nxai salt pans. This is a really exciting development and will allow people planning safaris to Botswana to have a good look at the scenery and be able to soak up a tiny bit of the atmosphere of this stunningly beautiful African country. The landscape in Botswana is unique  with such diverse attractions ranging from the Okavango Delta to the arid salt pans.  The Minister for Wildlife and Tourism, Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, said that Street View would enable international visitors to virtually explore the country and provide them with a chance to carry out tourism research in advance before visiting.

There are many other uses for Streetview in Africa. It will also be great for helping school children learn all about Africa, a place that many will never have the chance to visit in real life. Most children at primary school here in the UK study Africa as part of their syllabus and this is a great tool for aiding their education. It may even fire up an enthusiasm and interest that inspires them to visit Africa for real, one day in the future.

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British Runners Training in Kenya as preparation for London 2012

by admin on February 9, 2012

Mo Farah, one of the stars of Team GB, has been living and training in Kenya since early December. He even gave up his Christmas at home with his family to dedicate himself to his training in Kenya. Mo has been based  at the Lornah Kiplagat’s High Altitude Training Centre in Iten, a tiny town of tin and wooden shacks perched on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. The locals call it the “University of Champions” as they have a track record of world beating athletes from this remote location. Kenya boasted 81 of the 100 fastest marathon runners in 2011, including all of the top 20. They won 17 medals in endurance events at the World Championships in South Korea in August 2011.

It’s a pretty simple, basic place but as it has produced many of the world’s top distance runners and Team GB is making the most of it. Farah is funded by the London Marathon and UK Athletics which has enabled him to stay here for so long in his build up to the London 2012 Olympics. The high altitude and thinner oxygen levels are a major bonus for training and will give Farah a huge advantage when racing back down at sea level in the UK. He is already the 5,000m world champion also winning in South Korea and the silver medallist at 10,000m. He is aiming to be the Olympic Champion at both this year in London and he says the Kenyan camp has inspired him mentally as well as physically.

Ian Stewart, who has overseen a series of successes in British distance running in his role as head of endurance at UK Athletics, was one of the first British distance runners to experiment with altitude training. So was Dave Bedford, the former 10,000m world record holder, now joint race director of the Virgin London Marathon. Both men are in Iten, at the high altitude training camp and pushing Team GB hard in preparation for the upcoming Olympics. These guys are tough. They chose the Iten camp after researching all the other high altitude running centres and chose it due to its fantastic combination of basic accommodation and remoteness. There are no luxuries and no distractions. It’s just day after day of early starts, long runs, gym sessions, basic physio and more running. It’s almost military in style but although it sounds harsh, Farah knows that the end results will be worth it. Good Luck to Mo and the rest of Team GB!

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The London to Cape Town World Cup Rally 2012

by admin on February 2, 2012

We brought you the news at the end of last year of the London to Cape Town World Cup Rally featuring many vintage cars and ordinary saloon cars racing down to Cape Town in one of the world’s most exciting and epic endurance races. The racers set off on the 1st of January 2012 from the Houses of Parliament in London. The London to Cape Town World Cup Rally endeavours to capture the spirit of the long distance World Cup Rallies of the 1970s. The event is not designed as a tour but as a “press on” driver’s challenge with Time Trials and a time-schedule to be maintained every day. The ambition is to revive the kind of rallying last seen on the 1977 London to Sydney marathon. As the January 1st start date approached and several years of planning came to an end the Prime Minister found time to send a letter with his best wishes to the crews and all involved with the London to Cape Town World Cup Rally.

There were veteran teams, all female teams, professionals and amateurs racing down to Cape Town. There are no back-up teams to help them with breakdowns, if you break down your race is over. There was, however a huge amount of support and goodwill that went with them that saw many a competitor through some of the tougher moments. Many have reported how unbelievable gruelling the race was but what a great representation of British sporting spirit it also was. Some of the quotes from the race’s website sum it up nicely;

“I got a new Jeep with a big V8 and put on Baja desert racing suspension and drove it half way round the world down the full length of Africa …I’ve just been well and truly beaten by two birds in an old Maestro” – Marc Buchanan, Jeep Wrangler

“Everyone wants to go back to Ethiopia …nobody will ever forget the sight and sounds of the thousands who stood by the roadside in those villages to cheer us on our way.” – Eric Claeys, Toyota 73

The first over the finishing line into Cape Town on January 29th were Steve Blunt and Bob Duck driving their Subaru Impreza. They have driven through 14 countries, touched three Continents, and covered 14,000 kilometres in 26 driving-days. They have travelled through the desert sand dunes, through the towering mountains, tricky rocky terrain, sticky mud and jungle like scenery – all a truly epic achievement. But not only is the Rally a great sporting achievement, it also is a great charitable achievement.

The London to Cape Town World Cup Rally hopes to benefit three major causes to help improve the lives of locals living along the route. The two official charities are Water Aid who are involved in several African countries providing clean water and sanitation in remote villages and as a Non-Government Organisation currently working in drought-relief in East Africa, and African Revival, a UK educational charity providing equipment and teachers for village schools in several countries along the route of the London to Cape Town World Cup Rally. The Rally is not just trying to raise money for good causes – in addition it hopes to provide some practical help. Each competing car will be carrying a supply of children’s reading books to equip a village primary school near Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia – the school recently benefited from the building of a new school library, but has no reading books to help children learn to read. Over 200 books will be delivered by the rally when it stops in Livingstone. Another fantastic achievement!


 

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Africa – A Growth Economy in a world of recession?

by admin on January 26, 2012

Are you suprised? Me too.

I was fascinated to read a recent article in the Economist about Africa as a booming economic hub. Most people, including myself, are aware that despite pockets of wealth in places like Nairobi or Cape Town the vast majority of the African continent is unbelievably poor. But despite this terrible poverty actually there is a huge energy and growth happening in many African economies at the very moment when the rest of the world is slowing down.

“Over the past decade six of the world’s ten fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-on effect of the northern hemisphere’s slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6% this year and nearly 6% in 2012, about the same as Asia.” The Economist revealed.

This fact is hugely surprising and at the same time hugely heartening. Much of this growth came from population increases and the resulting increase in manpower and labour. Fertility rates have not fallen in Africa as in the rest of the world and half the increase in world population over the next 40 years will stem from Africa. Another reason for the growth are the incredible natural resources that can be found in Africa, mainly  minerals as copper and gold from mining and of course, oil. These natural resources mean that some African nations should really be as wealthy as most western nations but due to corruption and war many countries have been held back in their economic development.

However we should not forget despite all this optimism that life for many Africans is still terribly hard, many surviving on an income of less than two dollars a day. Average lifespans in some countries is under 50 and the usual problems of famine due to drought continue. Climate change is making this even worse and food production has actually been falling in many places.

However there are more reasons for optimism. There is a burgeoning middle class across Africa and the countries that are currently booming; China, Brazil and India for example, are investing heavily in Africa. This unexpected economic growth also comes from the developing manufacturing and service economies that are just beginning to start up in many Africa countries.

Africa’s appetite for technology is boosting growth. It has more than 600m mobile-phone users which is much more than either America or Europe. Distances involved in travelling are huge and the state of infrastructure in many places is very poor so the mobile phone and internet have been a godsend for communications and business. Currently around a tenth of Africa’s land mass is covered by mobile-internet services, something quite remarkable. We at Real Africa benefit tremendously from this technology as it helps us to maintain our strong bonds with our local teams based in far flung offices in Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia or Uganda. We can chat to our tour managers on Skype face to face despite being thousands of miles apart.

Productivity has increased to 3% a year which is more than most western nations including the United States. Many of the long running civil wars are over, health and education are improving albeit slowly and many nations are seeing there first extended period of political stability since the end of colonialism.

We in the west can help secure this boom by opening up more trading links and helping develop these fragile new economies.  Fairer trading conditions are vital as is  supporting education and training.  Most importantly there should be more transparency and fairness so that western nations do not get rich quick on the back of African’s hard work and natural resources as has happened in the Congo and other African nations with oil and mineral deposits.

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Spotlight on Malawi – Seasonal Spectaculars

by admin on January 19, 2012

Malawi’s offerings of seasonal natural highlights are extensive and a variety of interesting occurrences take place throughout the year. Each season offers a shift in dynamics and an abundance of wildlife activity occurs across areas of pristine wilderness. Our list below highlights just a few of many interesting wildlife and botanical occurrences which take place throughout the year in Malawi.

Orchids bloom in Nyika National Park - During these months over 200 orchids bloom across the grasslands in Nyika National Park. In February particularly, many terrestrial orchids come into bloom across the valleys and they can be seen in patches across the plateau.  January – March .

Lillian’s Lovebirds gather in flocks of hundreds in Liwonde National Park – Lillian’s Lovebirds congregate in large flocks of hundreds from June to August in Liwonde National Park. This is a phenomenon mainly due to the fact that the Candelabra Euphorbia are flowering, which provides a feast for the birds. June – August.

The regrouping of eland herds in Nyika National Park – The majestic eland is the world’s largest antelope. Smaller herds can be seen across the plateau throughout the year. During the months of October and November however, the eland herds start regrouping for the breeding season. The larger herds vary in size from 100 to 320 animals in one group. October – November

Elephants gather in herds of hundreds in Liwonde National Park – The elephant population in Liwonde National Park, group together in the drier periods around a fixed water source (the Shire River) for water and for the more nutritious vegetation along the river’s edge. Sightings of larger elephant herds during these months are plentiful and often reach into the hundreds. June – July

Crocodile courtship season (Liwonde National Park). The courtship process begins with males bellowing, bubble-blowing and fighting, thus establishing dominance. Males also swim with their head up for display purposes. The female usually mates with the most dominant male in the vicinity: the older the male, the bigger and thus the most dominant. May – July

Lakefly clouds can be seen across Lake Malawi (Chintheche)- Swarms of adult lake flies (looking like dense clouds of smoke or occasionally spiraling columns that look like waterspouts) are a very common sight over the northern part of the lakeshore.  The fly larvae live on the lake bottom where they feed. When they form pupae they float to the surface and hatch all at once causing the giant swarms. These swarms attract fish and many species of birds that feed on the flies. Winds often blow them to the shore and women from local communities catch them in baskets and squash them together to create a local delicacy (a burger like lakefly patty which is then deep fried). July – January

Green Season birding - Birding all year round is incredible in both Liwonde National Park and Nyika National Park with nearly 400 species occurring in both Liwonde and Nyika. The beginning of the rains (the green season) usually coincides with the arrival of many migrant birds who come back from the less hospitable climates north of the equator. The ideal time for spotting Nyika’s migrant birds is between February and March. October – April

Crocodile hatchlings are born – Three months later (around December), high-pitched chirping sounds alert the mother that the incubation period is over. She then breaks open the sand-covered chamber and assists the hatchlings out of their shells by rolling the eggs between her tongue and palate. The mother crocodile then delicately transports the hatchlings in her mouth to the water’s edge, and continues guarding them for 2 more weeks. At birth, the hatchlings are usually around 30cm long, and feed on small insects and other aquatic invertebrates until they are big enough to start eating fish. December.

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Photography on safari

by admin on January 11, 2012

Whether you are a keen photographer with all the latest gear or a beginner longing to try out the family camera then a safari might be just the thing for you. Safaris in general are fantastic holidays to capture on film – with the epic scenery and the fantastic wildlife being the main focus. You don’t need lots of fancy gear but if you have a proper digital SLR already and you are keen to take some really smashing shots then we would recommend a zoom lens for wildlife close ups and a wide-angle lens for capturing the vast African savannah.  Mind you sometimes the wildlife comes a lot closer than you might expect! With cheetahs  sitting on car roofs and lions lying in the middle of the road you might just get the kind of close up photo that professionals only dream of!

You can book specific photographic safaris with a tutor and guide as some of our camps and lodges do offer special courses (Karen Blixen Camp in Kenya). But anyone who goes on a safari is going to get their camera out to capture some of the fantastic memories that you are creating. Our safari guides are all fantastic at helping you take great photographs and will often point out some good angles and viewpoints for you, and will usually try and get as close as possible. They also know all the best views of the stunning local scenery and will stop with plenty of time for photos to be taken at leisure.

Another advantage of the safari as a great photographic opportunity is the time of day. You will usually go on game drives at dawn and at dusk as this is when the animal activity is at its peak. These are also the best times of day for some truly atmospheric shots. The light you get at dawn and dusk will transform you photos into works of art. With long shadows and that wonderful pinky-orange glow you get – everything will look even more striking. The light is one of Africa’s greatest assets – a clear, clean light that works wonders on photos.

Other great photographic opportunities on safari include things like hot-air balloon trips.   You can travel across the African savannah at a wonderfully slow pace, usually at dawn, and the game viewing is done from above. Other unique photo opportunities arise around the annual migration with millions of wildebeest on the move at one time. Not to mention the fantastically photogenic predators that follow them such as the lion, leopard, cheetah and crocodile. The best places for watching the annual migration are the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya.   Perhaps you will come across a majestic herd of elephants or one of the rare black rhino. Maybe you will be lucky enough to see a lion cub or an elusive leopard. No matter what, when out and about on safari do not forget to take your camera!

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Tanzania’s Elephant Population in Crisis

by admin on January 5, 2012

Here at Real Africa we keep an eye out for stories about poaching and the dangers to local wildlife across Africa. It is an issue that deeply concerns us and has led to us supporting the work at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya who are active conservationists battling on a daily basis against poaching.

The latest news is from Tanzania, where reports indicate that elephant numbers have fallen by as much as 42% over the past 3 years. This is a hugely significant number – almost half the Tanzanian elephant population!  The elephant census was carried out at the Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park both important and protected game reserves in Tanzania. The census revealed elephant numbers had plunged from 74,900 in 2006 down to just 43,552 in 2009.   The census was carried out by the east African country’s wildlife authority who are deeply concerned about the dwindling population and the escalation of poaching.

The rapid fall prompted Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete to order an investigation, announced his office last Tuesday. Conservationists estimate Tanzania has a total elephant population of between 110,000 and 140,000, making it one of the largest sanctuaries in Africa. However in recent years, both Tanzania and neighbouring Kenya have suffered a massive rise in poaching as criminal gangs have killed elephants and rhinos for their tusks and horns which they then sell throughout Asia. The last Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2007 agreed to a nine-year moratorium on any further trade in ivory, after some 105 tons of elephant ivory had been sold from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to China and Japan. TRAFFIC, a conservation group that tracks trends in wildlife trading, said in a statement last week that 2011 had sadly been a record year for ivory seizure.

Elephants are also under pressure in many parts of Africa from other issues affecting them such as loss of their natural habitat to humans, pollution from developing industry and climate change leading to severe droughts. Recent estimates say that the population has fallen to somewhere around 500,000 from millions just decades ago.

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Tribes of Africa – the Bushmen of the Kalahari

by admin on December 22, 2011

The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose homeland covers much of Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Angola, are often also known as Bushmen or the San people. They are traditionally nomadic hunters and gatherers who moved over vast areas of land throughout Southern Africa. The Bushmen are split into northern and southern bushmen due to their differences in language. The most significant populations are divided between Botswana (55,000), Namibia (27,000) and South Africa (10,000) with most being based around the Kalahari Desert.

The Bushmen have been studied many, many times by anthropologist fascinated by their roots and their traditions. They are one of 14 known groups known as “ancestral population clusters” ie tribes from which all modern mankind have descended from.

They have a fairly egalitarian society with women being accorded much respect and authority. Kinship and family is very important with large family groups living together. Leisure time is important as they spend a lot of time recreationally in family and kin groups. Most important of all is the hunt for food and for water as they live in an arid and barren desert region. Drought is a real threat to them and their way of life and one of the reasons various governments have tried to force them into farming. The Bushmen of Botswana have been involved in long running legal battles to be allowed to return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve one of their most important and protected homelands.

The Bushmen of the Kalahari or San people first came to worldwide prominence when Laurens Van Der Post  filmed a documentary series on the Bushmen for the BBC in the 1950s. It was a huge hit and triggered a worldwide fascination with this ancient and forgotten tribe of Africa. His views of them were very European but led the way to a deeper understanding and respect of their way of life from later anthropologists and academics.

The further investigations of Bushman culture and traditions have demonstrated a common link with other ancient races such as the Native Americans and South American rainforest tribes in their experiences with trances and “soul quests”. Many anthropologists are very excited by the fact that these seem to be common experiences amongst early man despite never having been in contact with each other.

It is vital that these people and their traditional way of life are supported, respected and preserved. They are far too important to just let them fade away.

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