Ethiopia tops list of African nations improving quality of life

by Sean McLachlan on

Ethiopia suffers from a bad image thanks to the war and famine of the 1980s. As my series on travel in Ethiopia showed, however, this is a land of friendly people, beautiful nature, and fascinating historic sites. Infrastructure is slowly improving and the Ethiopians are making serious efforts to boost education, access to clean drinking water, and other improvements to the quality of life.

These efforts have been recognized in the UN’s 2010 Human Development Report. It ranked Ethiopia as number 11 in the world for improving human development since 1970, the highest ranking in Africa. The report was prepared by the United Nations Development Programme and measures progress in health, education, income, gender equality, and other areas. Researchers then formulate a “human development index” (HDI) for 135 countries.

Other high-ranking African nations include Botswana (14th), Benin (18th) and Burkina Faso (21st). All of these countries and some others have done especially well in the past ten years. Only looking at the past decade, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda all come out in the global top ten.

One of the biggest areas of improvement was in education. Literacy has almost tripled in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past 40 years to 65 percent. Also, life expectancy is up and infant mortality is down.

Sadly, not all the news is good. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were the only three countries in the world where quality of life actually went down.

Good news for Ethiopia is good news to travelers too. While the country is still an adventure travel destination, it’s not as rugged as many people think. I spent two months there and my wife spent three weeks, and in all that time we never got sick. Chalk one up for good sanitation and clean water! Also, Ethiopia scores well of gender equality, which meant that, unlike some countries we’ve been to, my wife didn’t get harassed by obnoxious guys. Good education meant we met lots of people who spoke English and wanted to improve it by chatting with us. Improved infrastructure meant there were more paved roads along our route than there were ten years ago.

When it comes to improvements in a country’s Human Development Index everybody benefits, even people who don’t live there!

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Tourist killed by lions while showering at Zimbabwe fishing camp

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Five lions attacked, and a tourist died. Washing himself at an outdoor shower, Pete Evershed had no idea what was coming. Enjoying a vacation in Zimbabwe, he took advantage of the fishing camp’s outdoor shower shortly before dark. It was his last. Evershed was found by other guests who heard his screams – he had sustained serious neck wounds and would later die from a loss of blood.

According to a few of the locals, the lions attacked because tour operators have been luring them closer with meat … all in the interest of giving guests a closer look at the beasts. The Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force takes a different view, though claiming that lions are stuck competing with humans for food. Apparently, eight villagers fell victim to attacks like this one so far this year, according to an MSNBC report. The rise of fishing camps along the Zambezi River was also cited as a driver.

[photo by Tambako the Jaguar via Flickr]

Controversy over Condé Nast Traveler’s World Savers Awards

by Sean McLachlan on

The popular magazine Condé Nast Traveler hosts the annual World Savers Awards to recognize the efforts of hotels, airlines, tour and cruise companies that give something back through their environmental or social programs. But one recipient of the 2010 award is attracting controversy over its actions.

Wilderness Safaris won this year’s award in the Health Initiatives category for its HIV/AIDS program, which includes the construction of clinics in South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi. Now Survival International, which supports the rights of indigenous peoples, says Wilderness Safaris falls short of its image as positive force in the community.

It points to its new luxury lodge, the Kalahari Plains Camp, set on the traditional lands of the Bushmen in Botswana. The lodge boasts a bar and swimming pool while the Bushmen have to walk for miles to get water. The local people used to have a well, but the government capped it when it kicked the Bushmen off the land in 2002. Survival International and the Bushmen went to court and won the right for the Bushmen to return to their lands, but the government still won’t allow them to reopen the well.

Wilderness Safaris says providing water isn’t their responsibility, but Survival International points out that they constructed a well near one of their resorts in Zimbabwe in order to attract more wildlife.

How much responsibility does a resort have to the local community? Tell us what you think in the comments section.

[Photo courtesy Ian Beatty]

Zimbabwe’s Harare airport holds air crash drill – forgets to tell anyone

by Scott Carmichael on

In a serious case of what were they thinking, the Zimbabwe Civil Aviation Authority held a massive air safety drill at Harare airport, but forgot to tell anyone else. When smoke was seen from miles away, reporters were told that a plane from London had been involved in an accident. The spokesperson even confirmed the accident to Reuters, who started reporting the news on their online services which obviously triggered quite a bit of panic.

At a press conference to discuss the “crash”, the airport operator admitted that it was actually just a drill, and that telling the media the accident was real was all part of their brilliant plan.

I’m really confused about this one – I can understand wanting your drill to appear as real as possible, but to tell the international press that a flight has indeed crashed may be taking things a little too far.

Still, I guess it is always a good thing for an airport to practice their safety procedures, and in the end, nobody died during this event.

[Photo credit: AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi]

Beauty queens help homeless kids in Zimbabwe

by Sean McLachlan on

What could warm the heart more than seeing beautiful women helping out needy kids?

Samantha Tshuma, recently crowned Miss Tourism Zimbabwe, has been busy donating blankets to street children in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. She was helped by her second princess Tafadzwa Mugazambi and Miss Tourism Harare Samantha Dika.

Tshuma is also organizing soccer and rugby teams for the kids. She says that Zimbabwe’s thousands of street children are looked down upon and that they deserve our help and respect.

Zimbabwe attracts many tourists because of its famous ancient cities and Victoria Falls, as well as lots of safari opportunities. The fact that Air Zimbabwe made it onto the list of the top ten safest African airlines probably doesn’t hurt either.

If you want to do a bit of giving back while you’re there, the charity Streets Ahead needs volunteers to teach homeless kids arts and crafts. You can read more about it on the Charity Travel blog.

Sadly I couldn’t find any public domain images of the lovely Miss Tshuma for this article, but Zimbo Jam, a Zimbabwean fashion site, has pictures of the beauty queen and her equally stunning princesses.