In all honesty...the reason I choose not to fly through Nairobi, and fly Ethiopian Airlines through Addis Ababa is because of the violence. Look at the following news report from CNN. Embassay hijacked in Nairobi.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa....ap/index.html

I certainly hope that you also avoided most cities in the United States as well.

Tigerpride,

You just land into Nairobi and then connect to wherever you go.

Besides, it can happen anywhere in the world........

First of all...I am not trying to argue on a travel forum. Secondly, I meant to add this to the Ethiopian Airline thread, and to my reasoning for not having to make the transit from Nairobi to Arusha. On the road routes, there are many reports of violence. I am just trying to heed the warnings of violence. Thridly, I think it would be hard to deny the fact that Nairobi has a history of violence, to which I do not want to expose myself too. This is by no means a statement that I think the majority of folks are great people or that I am blind to the violence of cities across America. I am just not up for adventure of that sort...please do not be offended by a news report that I did not write or create.

Thanks.

Here is story regarding the individuals that lost their lives. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07031/758094-82.stm

It was a carjacking, not as you imply, the hijacking of an embassy (which I read as a takeover of an embassy). I'm sure there were dozens of carjackings in LA and NY yesterday.

TigerPride,

I think the problem has more to do with people not wanting to read such news prior to their fairly pricey trip, myself included. I had quite the reminder last night when looking at the Government of Canada and USA websites for detailed reports on the countries of East Africa I will be visiting. Not what you want to read but keeps you prepared and knowledgable of what to do in times of crisis. Also a reminder to remian aware at all times - but that's anywhere you travel really.

Juliet

I visited Nairobi once and transited at the airport another time. While I suppose it may be a bit more dangerous than some other cities in the world, it didn't strike me as particularly violent.

It was fine. I met a number of very nice people, some of whom I still keep in contact with.

And frankly the airport is like any other airport. You're not going to get carjacked walking through the terminal. But if you are worried, by all means, stay away. Nairobi will just have to get along without you.

I suppose there are pros and cons to reading negative reports about an area where one intends to visit. I had planned to go on Safari in Sept. of this year. My niece who is from Kenya but lives in the US warned me not to go on advice from her father who still lives in Kenya. His advice was based on the fact that this is an election year and tourists are not kindly treated at those times.
If I were to be harmed, I'd prefer it to be in the country of my residence.

I survived the referendum vote in November 2005. I had both chungwa and ndizi flags made up and was ready to wave the appropriate one depending on where we were passing through. Just kidding I didn't have any flags. I thought about it, but things were generally pretty quiet and peaceful at the time of the vote.

Is it also an election year in Tanzania? I searched online, but didn't find any info. We are planning a safari in Tanzania for Oct. '07.

Tanzania is 2010.

Here's a link. If I can avoid just before an election, I do.

http://www.electionguide.org/index.php

There's the link.

I'm having some trouble getting the bookings I want in Namibia so can I just say here that there could POSSIBLY be a snap election there too.... around April.

Just in case...... ;-) ;-)

Snap election! Good one. It could happen.

Oh great, didn't even think about an election and we're planning Kenya/Rwanda for early Nov. and the elections are in Dec.

I was just wondering if tourists coming to America consider the possible upsets that an election can cause. Depending on who your news provider is, you might get a skewed view of North America's electoral process.

Juliet

Juliet,

Which news station do you get your daily news from? What do you think of the quality of news from them?

Juliet,
Not following, can you elaborate?