For the past several days, I’ve been glued to the news — watching the strife happening in Kenya. It saddens me greatly that there is so much violence going on it what, otherwise, it is a wonderful and usually peaceful country.

If the re-instated president did what he is accused of doing — shame on him! That is no way to keep power.

I hope, very much, that this schism between Kikuyu and Lao will be mended and that Kenya will return to being the great place I’ve always remembered it to be.

In its battle to remain afloat, Air Tanzania Corporation Limited (ATCL), has announced plans to recapture its lost routes and introduce new African and transcontinental destinations.

So far, it has been Tanzanian government subsidy that has kept the airline alive. According to Apolinari Tairo of eTN, ATCL’s chairman Mustapha Nyanganyi said the cash-strapped 30-year-old airline bounced back to its original 197 ticket stock numbered to comply with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Starting Jul 17, 2007, the airline will be issuing e-tickets and ATCL’s other targets will be leasing and later on buying its own aircraft through bank loans.

ATCL was created in 1977 when the East African Airways (EAA), once owned jointly by the three Eastern African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, was broken up. The airline has been financialll troubled since 2004, when it posted a loss of over $7.3 million. Compared to Kenya Airways, ATCL has been crippled with no more than three old Boeing 737s in its fleet.

After much thought and careful consideration, I’ve decided not to continue with this blog at this time. I want to focus my energies on The Genre Traveler and other projects. That doesn’t mean I won’t be back. It just means it will probably be a few years before I’m back.

Regards,

- Carma

The Uganda Wildlife Authority released figures earlier this month showing a continued positive trend of elephant numbers in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The latest game survey puts their population around the 3,000 mark, an increase of more than 500 from the last count in 2004.

Here’s something interesting. Georgetown’s Lannan Literary Programs will be hosting an event next week that brings together two of my interests: Kenya and Science Fiction. “Writers, Masses, Multitudes: Liberation Movements and the Neoliberal World Order” is a literary symposium and festival featuring celebrated Kenyan novelist, playwright, and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o and American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson and will be held Feb. 13 and 14 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The event gathers scholars, artists, and activists from around the world for readings, film screenings, and a roundtable discussion. For additional information, visi explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=22606.