A collection of interesting articles and blogs. News. Conservation. Humanitarian Relief. Overlanding.
Here you’ll find a list of mostly longform articles and pieces about Africa on widely varying topics. I find myself most interested in conservation and relief/aid/development articles, but there is also so much more. These are not in any particular order, perhaps someday I’ll sort them by category. I hope you find something interesting. People send me new articles all the time, if you have a suggested article please send it my way. Also check out my recommended podcasts.
Last Updated: June 12, 2021
Journalism
The Chaos Company. Security is complicated, and messy. Great article about de-mining and third party contractors, who and how this actually gets done. “Wherever governments can’t—or won’t—maintain order, from oil fields in Africa to airports in Britain and nuclear facilities in America, the London-based “global security” behemoth G4S has been filling the void. It is the world’s third-largest private-sector employer and commands a force three times the size of the British military. On-site in South Sudan with G4S ordnance-disposal teams, William Langewiesche learns just how dirty the job can get, and how perilous the company’s control.“
THE PANDEMIC HAS UNDONE SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL PARKS Without tourism, the funding that sustains some of the world’s most treasured wildlife has atrophied.By Adam Welz, The Atlantic.
The Kenyan Maasai Who Once Hunted Lions Are Now Their Saviors A decade ago, scientists worried the lion could go extinct in Kenya by 2020. But today the area’s lion population is thriving thanks to an extraordinary group. Andrew Dubbins, the Daily Beast
Who Wants to Shoot an Elephant? The trophy hunting business fascinates me, and though I personally can’t really comprehend the attraction, there is strong evidence that supports conservation through hunting is effective. Reading articles like this help me understand more about what is a huge contribution to the conservation puzzle. What kind of a person looks upon the world’s largest land animal—a beast that mourns its dead and lives to retirement age and can distinguish the voice of its enemies—and instead of saying “Wow!” says something like “Where’s my gun?” Wells Tower joins an exclusive hunting party and reports on one of the last elephant hunts in Botswana. Wells Tower, GQ
The Problem with GQ’s “Who Wants to Shoot an Elephant?” And a rebuttal to the GQ article, by Naa Ako-Adjei
Then there is this article, Why You Shouldn’t Be Outraged By Elephant Hunting, by Wes Siler*, Outside Magazine, *whom I find a loathsome writer, but also seems to write about some good topics in the most annoying way. And whom is also totally ridiculous in a different article that he justifies buying a new $80,000 land cruiser, before his modifications, for his wife as a daily driver, “for safety”. Up until recently he poopoos all roof top tents as being for instagram poser idiots, until he bought one for his Ford Ranger, now it’s a good idea. Clearly I’m the sucker here, since I’m writing about him.
Tony Weaver is a great South African journalist who writes about Africa, Conservation issues and Overlanding. His piece, Hunting and rural conservancies – not quite the end of the game is another take. He has written many articles on hunting.
Blogs
The Best Tale of Driving Across the Congo, by Frederik and Josephine This is a series of posts on a forum of driving across the DRC, absolutely one of the best adventure tales ever. AKA, proof that you don’t need a winch.
Slow Donkey. Many travelers are kind enough to take the time to write up “Trip Reports” on their travels, part advice, part travel log, part resource for future travelers. Few have contributed more to this space than Dr. Stan Weakley, who has traveled widely and thoughtfully through Africa from South Africa to Sudan and all parts between. He used to have a blog, Slow Donkey, but has since gone to published pdfs of his travels. You can find his epic trip to Sudan Here, and reports of his other trips (including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and much other good stuff) Here.