As part of the 2011 International Roots Festival in The Gambia, James Island, the site of a fort once used by British slave traders, was renamed Kunte Kinteh Island after the main character in Alex Haley’s novel “Roots.” Haley traced his ancestry back to The Gambia.
In January, after massive protest marches by the people of Tunisia, President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who had controlled the country since 1987, fled. An interim government was formed, and elections were promised to be held within six months.
Most people thought my wife and I were crazy for taking a nine- and a seven-year-old to sub-Saharan Africa. What could we be thinking? But off we went to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar for three weeks on what was to be our best family vacation ever.
Over southern Namibia’s Fish River Canyon, a new viewing platform opened on Oct. 21. Located in Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park, in the Karas region, the facility also has a picnic area, informative display panels and bathroom facilities.
In August, under pressure from international human rights groups and various foreign governments over human trafficking violations, the Senegalese government began enforcing a 2005 law against using children to beg on city streets.
I toured Mali and Burkina Faso, Feb. 10-27, 2010, with Craig Canadian Group Travel, Ltd. (Toronto, Ont., Canada; 800/387-8890), who also arranged a post-trip, seven-day hotel stay for me for in Paris through March 6.
My wife, Paula, and I stayed at the Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids (Alexandria Road, Pyramids, P.O. Box 1, Giza, Egypt; phone +202 3377 2555, fax 3377 5006, www.moevenpick-hotels.com) for five days in April ’10 (Aug. ’10, pg.
