Kenya Riots: updates from the ground?
Jan 3rd, 2008, 05:13 PM
#22
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Hi Nyamera
Thanks a lot! The reason for visiting the Junction is window-shopping at collection of upscale shops/boutiques there. Do you have any recommendation for us? By the way, what time do they usually open in the morning?
Thanks a lot! The reason for visiting the Junction is window-shopping at collection of upscale shops/boutiques there. Do you have any recommendation for us? By the way, what time do they usually open in the morning?
Jan 3rd, 2008, 05:28 PM
#23
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Our friend returned from Kenya yesterday - she flies for Kenya Airways. She's a little highly strung at times, but here are some things she had to say that sounded like fact:
The Nairobi-Bangkok flight was delayed because so few of the pilots wanted to leave their families right now - many were trying to avoid doing long-haul flights.
The Thorn Tree was deserted. Nairobi was like a 'ghost town'.
There are some food shortages in Nairobi and people are looting supermarkets at night (I don't know if the food shortages are yet so bad as to put the two together, as she did, based on what locals told her). The shortages have happened so quickly because the crisis happened right after Christmas, when most businesses were closed or on "go slow" anyway.
The Intercontinental still had food but she avoided it because of rumours that it was old and potentially unhygenic (she had some food she had brought from Thailand) - note RUMOURS.
She saw a little looting, but not much. The streets were very quiet.
None of her Kenyan colleagues seemed to have left their homes in the 2-3 days prior to the flight.
She was pretty concerned and really quite scared on the drive from the hotel to the airport (imagination, mostly?), is not currently planning to resign or refuse to fly, but may reconsider if things worsen. She is confused that Kenyans are doing this and that confusion is making her fearful because she thinks maybe she understands nothing at all about the situation and has no basis on which to judge how secure or not she is.
She was so very, very happy to be home facing Thailand's political crisis and disputed election!
I noticed the UK govt. have advised against any but essential travel for now...
Personally, I'd still go.
The Nairobi-Bangkok flight was delayed because so few of the pilots wanted to leave their families right now - many were trying to avoid doing long-haul flights.
The Thorn Tree was deserted. Nairobi was like a 'ghost town'.
There are some food shortages in Nairobi and people are looting supermarkets at night (I don't know if the food shortages are yet so bad as to put the two together, as she did, based on what locals told her). The shortages have happened so quickly because the crisis happened right after Christmas, when most businesses were closed or on "go slow" anyway.
The Intercontinental still had food but she avoided it because of rumours that it was old and potentially unhygenic (she had some food she had brought from Thailand) - note RUMOURS.
She saw a little looting, but not much. The streets were very quiet.
None of her Kenyan colleagues seemed to have left their homes in the 2-3 days prior to the flight.
She was pretty concerned and really quite scared on the drive from the hotel to the airport (imagination, mostly?), is not currently planning to resign or refuse to fly, but may reconsider if things worsen. She is confused that Kenyans are doing this and that confusion is making her fearful because she thinks maybe she understands nothing at all about the situation and has no basis on which to judge how secure or not she is.
She was so very, very happy to be home facing Thailand's political crisis and disputed election!
I noticed the UK govt. have advised against any but essential travel for now...
Personally, I'd still go.
Jan 3rd, 2008, 06:10 PM
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Fuel shortages have been reported. One thing to monitor is whether or not the supply of Avgas and Jet fuel is sufficient: if not, those relying on charters or scheduled domestic flights (esp out Wilson) are at risk for flight disruptions.
Jan 3rd, 2008, 07:23 PM
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"...I agree that the media often exaggerate the worst.
I, too, used to work as a reporter, and the battle is ongoing to balance a good story with an attention-grabbing headline..."
Having been to Rwanda in the aftermath of that horror, and knowing about Dafur I am shocked that someone could say the above.
We must NEVER again turn a blind eye to events that point to ethnic cleansing or similar.
People are being hacked to death in Kenya and burned alive in churches. Sound familiar?
Try to watch images on TV stations from countries outside the US and you will see this is not an "exaggeration".
I, too, used to work as a reporter, and the battle is ongoing to balance a good story with an attention-grabbing headline..."
Having been to Rwanda in the aftermath of that horror, and knowing about Dafur I am shocked that someone could say the above.
We must NEVER again turn a blind eye to events that point to ethnic cleansing or similar.
People are being hacked to death in Kenya and burned alive in churches. Sound familiar?
Try to watch images on TV stations from countries outside the US and you will see this is not an "exaggeration".
Jan 3rd, 2008, 09:16 PM
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I agree with Eben. I was a news reporter/supervisor for 40 years, so am more aware than most people of both the shortcomings and the value of the news media. Outright dismissal of what you've been hearing, reading and seeing on the news media is foolish. It wasn't just UN bureaucrats who ignored the signs from Rwanda-- it was also those who ignored the news reports.
Do many of us remember blaming the news media for the refusal of many Americans to travel in the 12 months after 9/11? I don't. What you saw on TV was horrific, but I have relatives living and working in the UK who went ahead with a holiday flight from London to Bahrein the day after. You must make your own judgments, based on your own research-- which includes media reports, your own government's warnings, and TA's advice-- but don't cry-baby about the media or any other single source of information.
John
Do many of us remember blaming the news media for the refusal of many Americans to travel in the 12 months after 9/11? I don't. What you saw on TV was horrific, but I have relatives living and working in the UK who went ahead with a holiday flight from London to Bahrein the day after. You must make your own judgments, based on your own research-- which includes media reports, your own government's warnings, and TA's advice-- but don't cry-baby about the media or any other single source of information.
John
Jan 4th, 2008, 01:22 AM
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<b>A balanced perspective from Kenya:</b>
Latest Kenya News from Campi Ya Kanzi
Dear friends, we normally send our newsletter just before Christmas. We were too busy to do it and we were keen to do it in these days, and we certainly will.
Meanwhile it is quite important for us to address what is really happening in Kenya.
Many of you have contacted us with concerns: you have no reasons to worry.
Here is our side of the story and how we perceive events.
As always the media need to portray events in an apocalyptic manner.
There is no civil war in Kenya and there is not a tribal confrontation.
<b>How did it all start?</b>
The two main candidates, Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki, in the polls were at 2% distance from each other.
We all knew it was going to be a very close election.
The Electoral Commission of Kenya was releasing the results very slowly, as they wanted to make sure there were no mistakes in the counting.
For the first 36 hours Raila Odinga, the challenger to the President Kibaki, was quite ahead.
His supporters were already in the streets celebrating.
When all results from Central Province, highly populated and massively supporting Kibaki, were accounted for, Kibaki went ahead and was declared the winner.
The losers felt victory was stolen from them.
Final counting and the declaration of the winner could have been handled much better by the Electoral Commission.
Were the elections rigged?
Yes, but not just from Kibaki side, also from Odinga side.
In certain constituencies votes counted were higher than voters, for both candidates.
What the media is not telling you is that Raila Odinga (a Jaluo by tribe) and Mwai Kibaki (a Kikuyu by tribe) five years ago were peacefully celebrating together their victory over Uhuru Kenyatta (a Kikuyu and the son of the first President of Kenya). Odinga and Kibaki were in the same Government for more than 2 years, only 2 years ago Odinga decided to create his own political alliance, with key members of the Government.
This is to explain you that there is no tribal issue in Kenya, but simply an issue about who wants to be power.
Safaricom is a very successful cell phone operator, about to be sold from the Government to the private sector. Value of the stocks is 1.5 billion $ (yes, you have read it properly). Just one of the reasons why being in power today is attractive.
Where we live votes split in half, for Kibaki and Odinga. The Maasai, as the rest of the Kenyans, were split 50/50, yet there is no confrontation among them and there is a total absence of animosity.
As in all electoral campaigns both candidates have been making huge promises.
Kibaki had on his side a 7% economic growth in 2007 and promised better growth, Odinga has been blinding jobless people with silly promises.
The ones who are reacting on the streets are precisely those desperate jobless people Odinga was appealing to.
They have nothing to loose and they are more interested in looting than in anything else.
They are looting small businesses, normally run by Kikuyu. Stating that this is a tribal confrontation is wrong.
Irresponsible journalists trying to sell their pieces by comparing the current Kenya situation to Rwanda are -in our minds - guilty of "journalistic terrorism". The consequences of their sensationalistic reporting can be devastating.
Yes, few jobless desperates are instigating violence, while 99% of the population is fed up with the clashes and this nonsense.
Kenyan TV stations are broadcasting interviews to hundreds of Kenyans, from different tribes, with different social status: all speak with one voice, this violence has nothing to do with us and it must be finished now.
CNN and Sky News are not interested in showing them to you. Much better showing the looting and the violence.
Kenya has a record of four decades peaceful independence that one tight election will not destroy. All Kenyans are very responsible and are all waiting for their leaders to show the necessary sense of responsibility.
14 millions Kenyans went to vote in an extremely peaceful and democratic way. 13 million 990 thousand of them are very concerns and are only interested in having their Country peacefully lead.
Odinga has lost the Presidency, but he has Parliament majority. We all expect him and Kibaki, the reconfirmed President, to find an agreement, as the Government will need a majority in the Parliament in order to govern.
We believe the agreement will be found and relatively soon.
This Country deserves better leaders, but so does many other Countries (including Italy and the USA, if you let me say so!).
Tourists are totally not effected by the confrontations which have happened in urban areas.
Our logistics have -so far - not been effected.
Of course the main concern is the impact on tourism, thanks to the bloody journalists exaggerating everything.
An example to let you understand better.
Naples is one of the most attractive Italian city, for its people, its art, its Mediterranean hospitality.
Yes there are people shooting each other on a daily base, the organized crime has a tight grip on all the city. Yet you are not told to not travel to Naples and you are not shown the violence that happens there.
Why? As it is not longer news worthy.
Much better to portray Kenya as a place where a Rwanda type genocide is about to take place.
This has nothing to do with the truth.
<b>Are we worried for the current situation?</b>
Of course we are, but not the for our own safety or the safety of travellers to Kenya, which are not at stake.
We are very concerned that the current unrest and the way it is portrayed will have terrible consequences for the people we employ, for the wildlife and wilderness we are commit to preserve.
At the moment there is, in our opinion, no reason to reconsider any travelling to Kenya in the months to come.
We feel that common sense will soon prevail and this nonsense will soon be forgotten in just few weeks.
We will keep you informed.
Kind regards to all,
Luca, on behalf of everybody at Campi ya Kanzi and at Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust
www.maasaitrust.org
You can see Luca's Safaritalk interview here:
www.safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=257
Latest Kenya News from Campi Ya Kanzi
Dear friends, we normally send our newsletter just before Christmas. We were too busy to do it and we were keen to do it in these days, and we certainly will.
Meanwhile it is quite important for us to address what is really happening in Kenya.
Many of you have contacted us with concerns: you have no reasons to worry.
Here is our side of the story and how we perceive events.
As always the media need to portray events in an apocalyptic manner.
There is no civil war in Kenya and there is not a tribal confrontation.
<b>How did it all start?</b>
The two main candidates, Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki, in the polls were at 2% distance from each other.
We all knew it was going to be a very close election.
The Electoral Commission of Kenya was releasing the results very slowly, as they wanted to make sure there were no mistakes in the counting.
For the first 36 hours Raila Odinga, the challenger to the President Kibaki, was quite ahead.
His supporters were already in the streets celebrating.
When all results from Central Province, highly populated and massively supporting Kibaki, were accounted for, Kibaki went ahead and was declared the winner.
The losers felt victory was stolen from them.
Final counting and the declaration of the winner could have been handled much better by the Electoral Commission.
Were the elections rigged?
Yes, but not just from Kibaki side, also from Odinga side.
In certain constituencies votes counted were higher than voters, for both candidates.
What the media is not telling you is that Raila Odinga (a Jaluo by tribe) and Mwai Kibaki (a Kikuyu by tribe) five years ago were peacefully celebrating together their victory over Uhuru Kenyatta (a Kikuyu and the son of the first President of Kenya). Odinga and Kibaki were in the same Government for more than 2 years, only 2 years ago Odinga decided to create his own political alliance, with key members of the Government.
This is to explain you that there is no tribal issue in Kenya, but simply an issue about who wants to be power.
Safaricom is a very successful cell phone operator, about to be sold from the Government to the private sector. Value of the stocks is 1.5 billion $ (yes, you have read it properly). Just one of the reasons why being in power today is attractive.
Where we live votes split in half, for Kibaki and Odinga. The Maasai, as the rest of the Kenyans, were split 50/50, yet there is no confrontation among them and there is a total absence of animosity.
As in all electoral campaigns both candidates have been making huge promises.
Kibaki had on his side a 7% economic growth in 2007 and promised better growth, Odinga has been blinding jobless people with silly promises.
The ones who are reacting on the streets are precisely those desperate jobless people Odinga was appealing to.
They have nothing to loose and they are more interested in looting than in anything else.
They are looting small businesses, normally run by Kikuyu. Stating that this is a tribal confrontation is wrong.
Irresponsible journalists trying to sell their pieces by comparing the current Kenya situation to Rwanda are -in our minds - guilty of "journalistic terrorism". The consequences of their sensationalistic reporting can be devastating.
Yes, few jobless desperates are instigating violence, while 99% of the population is fed up with the clashes and this nonsense.
Kenyan TV stations are broadcasting interviews to hundreds of Kenyans, from different tribes, with different social status: all speak with one voice, this violence has nothing to do with us and it must be finished now.
CNN and Sky News are not interested in showing them to you. Much better showing the looting and the violence.
Kenya has a record of four decades peaceful independence that one tight election will not destroy. All Kenyans are very responsible and are all waiting for their leaders to show the necessary sense of responsibility.
14 millions Kenyans went to vote in an extremely peaceful and democratic way. 13 million 990 thousand of them are very concerns and are only interested in having their Country peacefully lead.
Odinga has lost the Presidency, but he has Parliament majority. We all expect him and Kibaki, the reconfirmed President, to find an agreement, as the Government will need a majority in the Parliament in order to govern.
We believe the agreement will be found and relatively soon.
This Country deserves better leaders, but so does many other Countries (including Italy and the USA, if you let me say so!).
Tourists are totally not effected by the confrontations which have happened in urban areas.
Our logistics have -so far - not been effected.
Of course the main concern is the impact on tourism, thanks to the bloody journalists exaggerating everything.
An example to let you understand better.
Naples is one of the most attractive Italian city, for its people, its art, its Mediterranean hospitality.
Yes there are people shooting each other on a daily base, the organized crime has a tight grip on all the city. Yet you are not told to not travel to Naples and you are not shown the violence that happens there.
Why? As it is not longer news worthy.
Much better to portray Kenya as a place where a Rwanda type genocide is about to take place.
This has nothing to do with the truth.
<b>Are we worried for the current situation?</b>
Of course we are, but not the for our own safety or the safety of travellers to Kenya, which are not at stake.
We are very concerned that the current unrest and the way it is portrayed will have terrible consequences for the people we employ, for the wildlife and wilderness we are commit to preserve.
At the moment there is, in our opinion, no reason to reconsider any travelling to Kenya in the months to come.
We feel that common sense will soon prevail and this nonsense will soon be forgotten in just few weeks.
We will keep you informed.
Kind regards to all,
Luca, on behalf of everybody at Campi ya Kanzi and at Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust
www.maasaitrust.org
You can see Luca's Safaritalk interview here:
www.safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=257
Jan 4th, 2008, 04:02 AM
#29
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Balanced perspective? Kambi is missing the point completely.
Is 300 dead (and counting) and in horrific ways a lie and merely the actions of "those desperate jobless people"?
Perhaps Kambi needs a lesson in recent history. In Rwanda were the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, racial groups, or one people?
The point is: stop the killing, regardless of the reasons behind it! Protests cannot be avoided but the killings can.
No-one is saying stop tourism. In fact the world should engage in Kenya like never before to put an end to this before it escalates.
Until proven unwarranted, the media has a responsibility to report any senseless mass killings as the start of something very serious - we should learn from the past and prevent cleansing/elimination of any kind (tribal, ethnic, political, economical or otherwise).
My heart goes out to all the people of Kenya. They deserve better and they deserve the attention of the world who depend on the reports and the images from "those irresponsible journalists".
Is 300 dead (and counting) and in horrific ways a lie and merely the actions of "those desperate jobless people"?
Perhaps Kambi needs a lesson in recent history. In Rwanda were the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, racial groups, or one people?
The point is: stop the killing, regardless of the reasons behind it! Protests cannot be avoided but the killings can.
No-one is saying stop tourism. In fact the world should engage in Kenya like never before to put an end to this before it escalates.
Until proven unwarranted, the media has a responsibility to report any senseless mass killings as the start of something very serious - we should learn from the past and prevent cleansing/elimination of any kind (tribal, ethnic, political, economical or otherwise).
My heart goes out to all the people of Kenya. They deserve better and they deserve the attention of the world who depend on the reports and the images from "those irresponsible journalists".
Jan 4th, 2008, 05:11 AM
#30
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Daily report (Jan 4) from our safari operator in Nairobi. Only those who think Kenya is becoming Rwanda will be disappointed I guess:
<b><i>Another reassuring message to say that Nairobi was absolutely
peaceful today, as was the rest of the country - quite amazing !
Yet again, all of our guests passed in and out without seeing or
being aware of any problems - so long may that last.
Yesterday, there was a call for a million people to demonstrate in
the centre of Nairobi, but it turned out that less than one thousand
even attempted it, and they were easily retained inside the slums by
the security forces - eventually it was called off late yesterday and
to be repeated today, Friday 4th.
And today Friday 4th nobody really bothered to turn out - many people
are hopefully that this is a sign that high level negotiations are
underway, and that Kenyans in very large numbers do not have the wish
to continue with this level of chaos and violence, and are very eager to resume normality. </i></b>
<b><i>Another reassuring message to say that Nairobi was absolutely
peaceful today, as was the rest of the country - quite amazing !
Yet again, all of our guests passed in and out without seeing or
being aware of any problems - so long may that last.
Yesterday, there was a call for a million people to demonstrate in
the centre of Nairobi, but it turned out that less than one thousand
even attempted it, and they were easily retained inside the slums by
the security forces - eventually it was called off late yesterday and
to be repeated today, Friday 4th.
And today Friday 4th nobody really bothered to turn out - many people
are hopefully that this is a sign that high level negotiations are
underway, and that Kenyans in very large numbers do not have the wish
to continue with this level of chaos and violence, and are very eager to resume normality. </i></b>
Jan 4th, 2008, 05:28 AM
#32
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Whoa, people! I think this thread is about whether or not the tourism industry is still OK, and if we should continue our trips.
The question is NOT whether we all fundamentally disagree with disenfranchisement of societal sectors and the catastrophic results. Of course we do.
Yes, people are committing horrible acts - in certain parts of the city.
Yes, it's shocking and mind-boggling.
No, none of us wants to be in the middle of it.
But will the killings in Eldoret and the slums of Nairobi affect Photogal's (or my) safari? Probably not.
That doesn't mean she or anyone else continuing with a trip has no care or concern with what's going on.
If the advice is to continue, to do our little bit by trying to bring money to the country, then it's the details of THAT which people need to hear.
And I'll defend my comment about the media: if your competition's headlines are screaming bloodshed and you're trying to peddle business as usual, you WILL be asked to explain why you "missed it".
I think the original question of this thread was more along the lines of: is all of Kenya on fire and should we all cancel our trips?
The question did NOT appear to me to be: should the international community heed the potential warning signs of this uprising?
They are, indeed, two very different questions.
And perspective? It can only be obtained by each person using their own judgement based on their personality, their experience, and the manner in which they process information.
The question is NOT whether we all fundamentally disagree with disenfranchisement of societal sectors and the catastrophic results. Of course we do.
Yes, people are committing horrible acts - in certain parts of the city.
Yes, it's shocking and mind-boggling.
No, none of us wants to be in the middle of it.
But will the killings in Eldoret and the slums of Nairobi affect Photogal's (or my) safari? Probably not.
That doesn't mean she or anyone else continuing with a trip has no care or concern with what's going on.
If the advice is to continue, to do our little bit by trying to bring money to the country, then it's the details of THAT which people need to hear.
And I'll defend my comment about the media: if your competition's headlines are screaming bloodshed and you're trying to peddle business as usual, you WILL be asked to explain why you "missed it".
I think the original question of this thread was more along the lines of: is all of Kenya on fire and should we all cancel our trips?
The question did NOT appear to me to be: should the international community heed the potential warning signs of this uprising?
They are, indeed, two very different questions.
And perspective? It can only be obtained by each person using their own judgement based on their personality, their experience, and the manner in which they process information.
Jan 4th, 2008, 05:45 AM
#33
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<b>Why would anyone be disappointed with the good news?</b>
Doesn't sell newspapers? Doesn't attract viewers to the nightly news?
John is probably familiar with the newsroom adage "If it bleeds it leads".
Anyone who doesn't think the media sensationalizes the news should have been watching CNN last night, the night of the Iowa caucuses ... perhaps a historic moment as Barack Obama won and Hillary came in third. Earthshaking, right? But it shared the headlines with Brittney Spears, apparently intoxicated, being wheeled out of her home on a stretcher and giving up her kids to K-Fed. Such riveting drama! Such trivial nonsense!
Kenya is not Rwanda. And if it stays calm two more days the press vultures will circle elsewhere and do what they do.
Bill
Doesn't sell newspapers? Doesn't attract viewers to the nightly news?
John is probably familiar with the newsroom adage "If it bleeds it leads".
Anyone who doesn't think the media sensationalizes the news should have been watching CNN last night, the night of the Iowa caucuses ... perhaps a historic moment as Barack Obama won and Hillary came in third. Earthshaking, right? But it shared the headlines with Brittney Spears, apparently intoxicated, being wheeled out of her home on a stretcher and giving up her kids to K-Fed. Such riveting drama! Such trivial nonsense!
Kenya is not Rwanda. And if it stays calm two more days the press vultures will circle elsewhere and do what they do.
Bill
Jan 4th, 2008, 05:46 AM
#34
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No, Kenya is not burning and no we should not cancel our safaris.
Yes, the local Leaders must work harder to find resolutions, yes the media must continue to report and yes the world must continue to show interest.
We all want the same end-result. That much is clear.
Outta here...
Yes, the local Leaders must work harder to find resolutions, yes the media must continue to report and yes the world must continue to show interest.
We all want the same end-result. That much is clear.
Outta here...
Jan 4th, 2008, 07:58 AM
#35
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The New York Times has some conflicting news reports from different areas.
"The trouble even spilled into the garden of the Serena Hotel, one of the fanciest in town. Guests in safari vests watched the turmoil from the balconies of their $400-a-night rooms. Police officers in padded suits charged a scrum of demonstrators and fired tear gas. As soon as the acrid smoke wafted up, the tourists ducked inside."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/wo...html?ref=world
On the other hand, outside of Nairobi, things seem calmer. Here's a report from Obama's ancestral village.
"The postelection mayhem consuming Nairobi and other parts of Kenya has not struck Nyangoma-Kogelo, the western village of tin shacks where some residents also kept an eye on the results of another vote, the Iowa caucuses."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us...html?ref=world
I certainly hope there is a resolution soon. I think I would avoid Nairobi for now, but my trip isn't scheduled until August.
"The trouble even spilled into the garden of the Serena Hotel, one of the fanciest in town. Guests in safari vests watched the turmoil from the balconies of their $400-a-night rooms. Police officers in padded suits charged a scrum of demonstrators and fired tear gas. As soon as the acrid smoke wafted up, the tourists ducked inside."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/wo...html?ref=world
On the other hand, outside of Nairobi, things seem calmer. Here's a report from Obama's ancestral village.
"The postelection mayhem consuming Nairobi and other parts of Kenya has not struck Nyangoma-Kogelo, the western village of tin shacks where some residents also kept an eye on the results of another vote, the Iowa caucuses."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us...html?ref=world
I certainly hope there is a resolution soon. I think I would avoid Nairobi for now, but my trip isn't scheduled until August.
Jan 4th, 2008, 08:13 AM
#36
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To answer photogal's question -
I'm still planning on going to Kenya November 4th. I will plan to spend NO time in Nairobi. And my original plan to go to west Kenya will change as my daughter's friends report that it remains tense there.
The media reports are consistent with each other, with reports I'm getting from westerners in Kenya so I believe them to be true. Thankfully things are calmer yesterday and today.
I understand your question completely about whether I could feel good about my trip with such upheaval. But the upheaval will be there regardless of my actions. I don't feel good about it from here either and since my daughter is living there, it's extra difficult.
This is probably the most important time for people to engage with Kenya. I'm guessing they need to know that the world is paying attention and their economy needs tourism.
I'm ordering Obama 08 stickers and t-shirts for gifts, filling a duffle bag with the many, many things DD has requested I bring, and looking forward to the trip. I just hope she's still in Kenya come February!
I'm still planning on going to Kenya November 4th. I will plan to spend NO time in Nairobi. And my original plan to go to west Kenya will change as my daughter's friends report that it remains tense there.
The media reports are consistent with each other, with reports I'm getting from westerners in Kenya so I believe them to be true. Thankfully things are calmer yesterday and today.
I understand your question completely about whether I could feel good about my trip with such upheaval. But the upheaval will be there regardless of my actions. I don't feel good about it from here either and since my daughter is living there, it's extra difficult.
This is probably the most important time for people to engage with Kenya. I'm guessing they need to know that the world is paying attention and their economy needs tourism.
I'm ordering Obama 08 stickers and t-shirts for gifts, filling a duffle bag with the many, many things DD has requested I bring, and looking forward to the trip. I just hope she's still in Kenya come February!
Jan 4th, 2008, 08:54 AM
#37
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There's no one who doesn't want good news. However, if/when there is, we'll be lucky to find it in print on page 66, if at all. And the on-air media will simply go back to other "bad" news or Britney.
Thankfully, we've had some on-the-ground reports, from whom I feel are those not in it for anything, but to tell it as it is - the good (mostly), the bad, the ugly (so sad and unfortunate).
Thankfully, we've had some on-the-ground reports, from whom I feel are those not in it for anything, but to tell it as it is - the good (mostly), the bad, the ugly (so sad and unfortunate).
Jan 4th, 2008, 08:55 AM
#38
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Thank you for your empathy and shared stories.
As many of you asked, the gate agent did nothing. As DH said, "she was oblivious."
DH is a gentleman, of course he did nothing. Our revenge was had at the gate. His status allowed us to board in the first group and we were comfortably asleep when Rude Man was not yet on the plane.
We will follow up with United, as suggested. It is a great comfort to me to read that we are not alone in this.
Also, when he did complete his transaction, the others in the line wished him Happy New Year - the closest thing to a sign of solidarity, I suppose.
Thank you all again for replying and sharing stories- I hope people continue to respond!
As many of you asked, the gate agent did nothing. As DH said, "she was oblivious."
DH is a gentleman, of course he did nothing. Our revenge was had at the gate. His status allowed us to board in the first group and we were comfortably asleep when Rude Man was not yet on the plane.
We will follow up with United, as suggested. It is a great comfort to me to read that we are not alone in this.
Also, when he did complete his transaction, the others in the line wished him Happy New Year - the closest thing to a sign of solidarity, I suppose.
Thank you all again for replying and sharing stories- I hope people continue to respond!
Jan 4th, 2008, 10:09 AM
#40
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I've been trying to filter the reports from various points of view. I am wondering -- not saying -- just asking-- if the more optimistic ones are from those with some interest in tourism??????Any thoughts?
Today's Fantasy: Wouldn't it be interesting if Obama were to go to Nairobi now?
Jess
Today's Fantasy: Wouldn't it be interesting if Obama were to go to Nairobi now?
Jess
