Bakary Cafe

(Picture: Luke James; detail from cover of Sport - issue 240, January 20 2012)

Elephants are everywhere…

This month saw the opening of Algeria’s first underground metro. It took 28 years to build.

The line goes from Algiers’s Central Post Office to the suburb of Kouba.

When, I wonder, will I be able to add Algiers’s line 1 to my list of metros I’ve travelled on?

A new island is slowly appearing, off the coast of El Hierro in the Canary Islands, as a result of the latest activity from a submarine volcano.

Since the earthquake swarm in July, El Hierro has experienced more than 10,000 tremors.

(Picture: EPA)

“Lava is cooled by sea water as it hits the surface and then solidifies to create the land mass” (Metro.co.uk).

What do you need to set up a new country?

A name. A capital city. An anthem. A flag. A new currency. Stamps.

South Sudan now has all that (since 9 July) and more… as the UN voted unanimously to accept it as its 193rd member.

Welcome South Sudan!

Well… it’s not often that we get new countries now, is it? So… put 9 July 2011 in your diary as this is when South Sudan will come into existence (see the following BBC article for more info).

How exciting.

Leaving London Friday lunchtime… arriving Casablanca Sunday night!

The journey went something like this:

- Tube (from work to St Pancras)
- Eurostar to Paris (delayed due to weather conditions)
- Taxi (a race across Paris from Gare du Nord to Austerlitz)
- Overnight train to Madrid (delayed departure; missed our coach connection as a result)
- Train to Atocha station
- Train to Algeciras… had to get off at Araquenta due to engineering work
- Replacement bus service to Algeciras
- Taxi to our hotel
- Taxi to the port
- Ferry to Tangiers
- Petit taxi to the railway station
- Train to Sidi Kacem (engine broke down and had to wait for a long long while for replacement engine to turn up)
- Train from Sidi Kacem to Casablanca (delayed!)
- 5 mins walk to the hotel…

A long long journey…

The highlights undoubtedly were getting off the ferry in Tangiers and getting to meet and talk to so many people… not something you get to do normally when you just have to board a plane!

Would I do it again, hell yes! But I’d take my time and would make sure to build in cushions for delays.

The flight home certainly wasn’t as exciting.

The irony of going to see 11 and 12 at the Barbican Theatre on Friday night did not escape me.  Only the day before, a military coup in Niger (West Africa) saw the President deposed and the government dissolved.

11 and 12 is about a conflict which sees a country in West Africa divided by a conflict over whether aspecific prayer has to be recited 11 times or 12 times. This simple enough question leads to violence and deaths. Families are torn. The country, under French occupaton, is divided. This makes the role of the French easier.

The set is simple and functional. The plot is easy to follow. What makes this play work is the sheer power of the acting. The same actors make us reflect on the futility of conflict and how we see violence and tolerance. Yes, violence and intolerance are never far from the surface but if we took the time to talk and understand each other, imagine what we could achieve?

And how relevant is this in this current world of ours?

Well… there go my travel plans out of the window!

Deadly grenade attacks in Kigali are allegedly linked to next week’s visit from French President Sarkozy or the forthcoming August elections. As it is always best to avoid election times in Africa, I’m moving on to plan b… which is a great shame, as I’d started working on my itinerary and booked the time off work!

“The treacherous, unexplored areas of the world are not in continents or the seas; they are in the minds and hearts of men“. ALLEN E CLAXTON

The worst continent in the world to fly from is Africa. In 2003, it generated only 3% of all the flights, but accounted for 28% of all the air crashes. (source: BBC QI Fact of the Day)

Hmmm… The recent events in DR Congo are depressing and I can’t help but think that another huge humanitarian crisis may well be on its way. As usual, the international community is taking too long to act and I fear the worse. Hey… but after finding out today that Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country, what hope is there!

Rwanda getting involved is not good news for a country which was slowly getting back on its feet and where the tourist industry was looking more than promising. As you know, Rwanda made it to my list of top five countries to visit next… At the moment, the Foreign Office is advising against all travel to the rural border areas with DR Congo, but no doubt people will be thinking twice about travelling to Rwanda at all until the situation improves. What a shame! Rwanda was recently tipped as one of the hottest destination for 2009.