There are huge restrictions on international travel at the moment. Many countries have closed their borders altogether, other countries are restricting visitors from some countries, others are requiring a mandatory quarantine, etc.
And then you have Tanzania…
In this post:
Tanzania opens with (basically) no restrictions
Tanzania’s President, John Magufuli, has announced plans to open to tourists effective immediately. There are no restrictions on where visitors can come from, and the only formality is that passengers will have to get their temperatures checked upon arrival in Tanzania. There will still be the typical requirements to wear masks and sometimes social distance while in the country, but that’s about it.
Previously the country imposed a two week quarantine period, but that is no longer in effect.
How many COVID-19 cases has Tanzania had?
Tanzania claims to have had only 21 deaths from COVID-19. The country claims to have had only a total of 509 confirmed cases, and also claims that there have only been 29 new cases since May 1, all of which were reported on one day.
Sounds amazing, eh? Well…
Why you shouldn’t go to Tanzania
For a bit of background, President Magufuli has also been quoted as saying that the economy is more important than the threat posed by coronavirus. And that’s probably the most reasonable thing he has said.
He has also claimed that his son recovered from COVID-19 using a lemon and ginger solution:
“My own son, after contracting the virus, closed himself in his room, took a lemon and ginger solution before getting well and is even able to do push-ups.”
And AIDS is also a thing, so we shouldn’t really care too much about COVID-19:
“We have had a number of viral diseases, including AIDS and measles. Our economy must come first. It must not sleep. If we allow our economy to sleep, we will not receive salaries. Life must go on.”
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg:
- He has been accused of covering up the true number of cases in the country
- He has had testing carried out on animals and fruit to demonstrate that there are false positives; rumor has it that some of these tests came back positive, and he thinks a “dirty game” is being played by the lab that analyzes the results
- He claims that international health officials are exaggerating the crisis because they’re on the “payroll of imperialists”
- He has encouraged people to go to church, because praying “can vanquish the satanic virus”
Also keep in mind that Tanzania has one of the worst records when it comes to LGBT rights under the current administration, so everyone is welcome, but not gays. In recent years the country has launched an anti-gay crackdown, including performing anal exams on men to determine if they’re gay (which makes so much sense… goodness).
Oh, Magufuli is also up for re-election this year.
Bottom line
There are some countries, like Iceland, that are trying to bring back tourism as responsibly as possible. And then you have Tanzania, which is opening with no restrictions, and which isn’t reporting COVID-19 cases. The president seems to think COVID-19 is a conspiracy theory against him.
So yeah, please don’t go to Tanzania right now. For the record, I’d love to visit Tanzania eventually, as I’ve met so many nice people from there and the country looks gorgeous, but I’ll wait for there to be a new administration, as I personally prefer to travel to countries without anal exams.
(Tip of the hat to Your Mileage May Vary)
@Stuart P. It’s clear that your not coz your soooo obsessed with a question that I simply asked. What’s wrong with you? God your so cranky. And no one asked you to read my so called “rubbish”.
@Phil... once again, you are clearly obsessed with sex when you comment to me " coz you ain't getting any action? Whats wrong with you ? Calm down, go take a cold shower. I will not read your rubbish any further on this blog.
@Canadian - Your naivete is showing.
Certainly, while Donald Trump has not covered himself in glory via his policies and conduct during this pandemic, he still has to operate within a mature institutional system that is able to serve as a relative safety net in case he gets it wrong. There still is a political opposition in the USA, a media who regularly calls him out on his actions, and relatively free and fair...
@Canadian - Your naivete is showing.
Certainly, while Donald Trump has not covered himself in glory via his policies and conduct during this pandemic, he still has to operate within a mature institutional system that is able to serve as a relative safety net in case he gets it wrong. There still is a political opposition in the USA, a media who regularly calls him out on his actions, and relatively free and fair elections with a chance to remove him from office. There is no question that the USA will survive this pandemic, albeit significantly changed and scarred from the experience.
Most African countries, whose democracy is at the same stage of development as the US was before the Civil War, do not have the same luxury. Right now, merely reporting independently on the COVID situation from Tanzania has effectively been criminalized. Rather than trying to give a positive spin to negative statistics, they have just decided to not bother with statistics at all. Getting things wrong is an existential threat to the entire nation, and consequently the entire region. Tanzania and its ports are a critical link to the land locked countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Zambia that border it.
That is why, even though they may appear to be superficially similar from a populist perspective, Magufuli is far more dangerous than Trump in terms of the harm he can cause with his actions.
@some guy - Various countries and leaders have taken vastly different actions to counter the pandemic, influenced by local priorities and guidance. That of course is their sovereign right to do so, and in most of those cases there is no doubt that despite the ineffectiveness of some policies, they were still intended to be well meaning.
Whether this is Ramaphosa's ongoing nationwide lockdown in South Africa, Bolsonaro's explicit prioritization of the economy over lives, or New Zealand's self-imposed isolation bubble, there has been some level of policy driving the action - the assessment of which will allow visitors to analyse and mitigate their risks should they choose to travel there.
We don't have that (or any) level of clarity for Tanzania right now (and no, swabbing goats and eating ginger isn't policy), which is why warnings like this to be aware of the situation there are warranted. Nobody is saying that TZ has done better or worse than other countries, but rather that the information coming out of TZ raises more questions than it answers and should be treated with cautious skepticism accordingly - especially as borders open to tourists.
@Stuart P is it wrong to ask a question? You think you own me? I can ask whatever I want okay. It has nothing to do with porn. You commenting coz you ain’t getting any action?
@Canadian
I'm not complaining about our president and trying to show there are way worse places to live than US. This is a travel blog why are people immediately turn to Trump. I get why Ben wrote about Tanzania and it's president. What all these people are not realizing is that there's a good chance he'll be elected for another four years.
Also, I love Canadians but isn't your Prime Minister who they call Trudope?
@Alex z
LOL I live in Canada (thankfully) - I think you should move to Tanzania and will do just fine under basically the same leadership. See how many people notice the similarities between Trump and Magufuli? It's like I am living next to Tanzania already.
@John
Some valid points which I take, some others I, reciprocally, find a bit weak. I might venture the opinion that you may be a little blinded by the lights on the headlines about Rwanda and Kenya.
Rwanda is famously hilly, and the population is predominantly rural (you probably know this). Can you really see a robot or 2 reaching or even having an impact on any meaningful percentage of the population?
Kenya has...
@John
Some valid points which I take, some others I, reciprocally, find a bit weak. I might venture the opinion that you may be a little blinded by the lights on the headlines about Rwanda and Kenya.
Rwanda is famously hilly, and the population is predominantly rural (you probably know this). Can you really see a robot or 2 reaching or even having an impact on any meaningful percentage of the population?
Kenya has 2 mobile testing stations and a population 50+ million. In a grossly oversimplified example, say 80% of the population is served by the existing infrastructure (a generous assumption) how much of an impact do you think 2 mobile testing stations will have even if they 'only' have to cover 10 million people?
You mentioned band aids on bullet wounds - 2 robots and 2 mobile testing stations might fit that bill too.
As for a selective lockdown with an exemption for agriculture - I'd say that a lockdown from which the 70% of the population that derive an income from agriculture is exempt is unlikely to have much impact.
There is a risk in overestimating the improvement in response that proactive sounding things like robots or mobile testing actually have.
On implementation, it's worth remembering that when they first enforced lockdowns, deaths from overzealous enforcement by police were the first officially recorded covid related deaths in both Kenya and Rwanda. In South Africa, the police lead official Covid deaths during lockdown by 8-7 for a while.
I'm not suggesting that Tanzania has done better than any of these places. I'm instead waging my little keyboard crusade (which will have absolutely no result, I'm aware) because, while it may sound bad, a lot of places have not done much better than Tanzania.
Why does that matter? As the average reader of this blog probably (understandably) doesn't devote a lot of mental bandwidth to Tanzania an article like this may have a disproportionate impact in forming their opinion of it. A fact likely exacerbated by a lack of other articles about Tanzania because, it's just not somewhere that people think about much. In that context, a slightly venemous article (which Ben is free to write on his blog) can be quite damaging.
So this is really just a feeble effort to provide a bit of counterweight to Ben's article in the interest of presenting a more complex argument under the wholly flawed assumption that anyone cares, or would undergo the mentally taxing process of reforming an ingrained heuristic about a relatively unknown African country.
Amos - You thinking CNN is progressive makes you lose all credibility. Do you also think Biden is progressive?
@Stuart P
Avert your eyes if you got a problem. My issue is not this blog or what's written on here from Lucky. I respect his opinion and love the blog. I'm annoyed by the douch baggery that is prevalent here. It's annoying that all these idiots deem it necessary by bringing Trump into every other conversation. I'm simply stating the grass is not always greener on the other side. We should leave politics out of the travel blogs
@Amos,@Phil.... Specially @Phil- your anal position comments are in this OMAAT blog so out of place and have nothing to do with aviation or travel. Stick to your porn sites and get out of this blog. As for @Amos , I am neither "progressive" , liberal or right wing. My politics and personal life are non of your business. I vote how I choose and for whomever I think is the best candidate regardless what party they adhere to.
@Points Adventurer~ the only real difference is that Trump is white, or orange on those days he went to sleep on the tanning bed.
You did it again - a section titled "Bottom Line" mentioning "anal exams". And I thought Americans couldn't do irony !!!
Never knew prayer is so powerful that it keeps COVID 19 at bay. Perhaps Magufuli also believes he can pray the gay away?
Good for you for reminding people that travel to Tanzania is extremely dangerous for LGBT indivuduals.
I get that some posters here may support the violent and vicious persecution of LGBT Tanzanian and others who take the horrendous view that state sanctioned abuse (even to the point of throwing the entire population of a minority in jail) of LGBT people as a culturally valid.
There are also people who will argue because Saudi...
Good for you for reminding people that travel to Tanzania is extremely dangerous for LGBT indivuduals.
I get that some posters here may support the violent and vicious persecution of LGBT Tanzanian and others who take the horrendous view that state sanctioned abuse (even to the point of throwing the entire population of a minority in jail) of LGBT people as a culturally valid.
There are also people who will argue because Saudi Arabia is also bad...that Tanzania or Uganda may be excused for their equally or almost equally abusive of their LGBT population.
Tanzania is a terrible place for tourism at this time. Thank you.
"but I’ll wait for there to be a new administration, as I personally prefer to travel to countries without anal exams."
So now we know who the top and bottom is in your marriage.
;)
@StuartP and his cohort of “progressives” exemplify the classic reason “progressives” lost the 2016 election and the reason why they will continue to lose, lose and lose — they are in their own echo chamber and label everyone disagreeing with them as “ignorant” and “racist” and whatever -ist word they make up next.
Everyone who voted for Trump—in their minds—are racists and nazis. Everyone who disagrees that Trump is a “brutal dictator” must be...
@StuartP and his cohort of “progressives” exemplify the classic reason “progressives” lost the 2016 election and the reason why they will continue to lose, lose and lose — they are in their own echo chamber and label everyone disagreeing with them as “ignorant” and “racist” and whatever -ist word they make up next.
Everyone who voted for Trump—in their minds—are racists and nazis. Everyone who disagrees that Trump is a “brutal dictator” must be silenced—not just ignored, silenced. They are incapable of seeing outside their glass bubble of CNNs and think they represent all Americans. They will have another rude awakening soon enough.
A true liberal tolerates welcomes all views even those they find disagreeable. The current breed that demand to shut/shout down everything they don’t agree with are not liberals. They are antifa Nazi wannabes and will be smacked down over and over again.
@Alex Z-- when I see your rantings , it makes me want to no longer pollute my eyes anymore reading the comments section , as I am afraid to see ignorant people such as yourself fouling this great blog that Lucky has created .
DW - I'm sick to death of hearing that pathetic excuse for justifying evil acts. Whether it's "part of their culture" or not is utterly irrelevant - it's either evil or its not, and this irrefutably is.
It's part of US culture to be derogatory to black people so I guess that's all fine and above criticism too...
@ Ben L.... If they take a GA/FL approach they’ll be doing just fine.
@ Ben -- Magufuli sounds like a classic closet case.
I had thought about traveling to the Serengeti, as soon as Tanzania reopened. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the herds, predators, and open plains with a lot fewer tourists and perhaps at a bargain price.
But I won't be doing that, now. Per this article from CNN, backing up Lucky's reporting https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/africa/tanzania-coronavirus-us-embassy/index.html:
"The US Embassy in Tanzania, claiming that many hospitals in the main city Dar es Salaam have been overwhelmed in...
I had thought about traveling to the Serengeti, as soon as Tanzania reopened. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the herds, predators, and open plains with a lot fewer tourists and perhaps at a bargain price.
But I won't be doing that, now. Per this article from CNN, backing up Lucky's reporting https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/africa/tanzania-coronavirus-us-embassy/index.html:
"The US Embassy in Tanzania, claiming that many hospitals in the main city Dar es Salaam have been overwhelmed in recent weeks, contends the risk of contracting Covid-19 there is 'extremely high.'
"Despite limited official reports, all evidence points to exponential growth of the epidemic in Dar and other locations in Tanzania."
This is a tragedy, that is needlessly killing people and causing intense suffering for political purposes. Though Magufuli's behavior is similar to Trump's (lemon and ginger in place of Hydroxychloroquine; pushing to get society open regardless of the danger and science; consistent lying; etc.) the result in Tanzania is worse than in the U.S., but maybe only because there are no counterbalancing influences, like a free press and congress.
@Some Guy,
The issue is not that Tanzania cannot lockdown like a western country, the idea is that Tanzania's leadership has opted not to address the problem at all even in the African context. Other than Burundi (and really not company you want to keep for almost anything), it's tough to find a country on the continent handling this a poorer fashion. In that context, I don't find your individual points persuasive at all, except...
@Some Guy,
The issue is not that Tanzania cannot lockdown like a western country, the idea is that Tanzania's leadership has opted not to address the problem at all even in the African context. Other than Burundi (and really not company you want to keep for almost anything), it's tough to find a country on the continent handling this a poorer fashion. In that context, I don't find your individual points persuasive at all, except for maybe number 4 at the margin. A number of posters here seem intent on excusing TZ's behavior or screaming "racist" to distract from what is truly a terrible response from a leader who started out with some hope but has descended into an authoritarian crank.
1. A total lockdown maybe impossible, but other countries in the region are trying to introduce measures, be they curfews, testing, restrictions on travel between regions, etc. to control the spread and track potential vectors. Rwanda just imported robots to assist and Kenya has set up two mobile testing labs (one at the Taita Hills border I believe, wonder why). TZ is opting to do none of this and rely on mysticism over science. Magafuli's advice to pack the pews/mosques is likely to exacerbate this issue over just saying nothing.
2. Rwanda locked down pretty heavily over the past few weeks as did Kenya in certain locations. Agriculture was an exempted activity for the reasons you mentioned. Again, Tanzania "has tried nothing and they are all out of ideas".
3. Tanzania's current behavior makes it less likely tourists will want to come. A number of other countries can compete with TZ in terms of Beach and/or Bush holidays (which is the vast majority of where tourism comes from in TZ), and most have handled this far better. I can't imagine choosing TZ now given the issues.
4. Sure those are some measures, but at this point it's like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. The TZ Government has been blase about enforcing these guidelines and regulations throughout the population. A couple of guidelines for tourists potentially coming in from Covid hotspots is not going to be prevent or ever stop the spread. It might, might cause fewer
@Fiona Okawele, I'm on the ground in East Africa right now, about a three hour drive from a land border with Tanzania. Where are you? You're not addressing any of the points, just asserting people are "parroting" things which is somewhat amusing given the crackdown on free press in Tanzania during Magafuli's tenure. Nothing about these critiques from Ben here are inaccurate, both of Tanzania's response to the crisis or it's appalling record on LGBT...
@Fiona Okawele, I'm on the ground in East Africa right now, about a three hour drive from a land border with Tanzania. Where are you? You're not addressing any of the points, just asserting people are "parroting" things which is somewhat amusing given the crackdown on free press in Tanzania during Magafuli's tenure. Nothing about these critiques from Ben here are inaccurate, both of Tanzania's response to the crisis or it's appalling record on LGBT issues.
Other countries in the region, including my country of residence, are identifying Tanzania as one of the prime sources of imported cases although magically numbers reported (haphazardly and with minimal updates) by the Magafuli regime are somehow going down. But in your world I guess, these facts are racist parroting from other African Governments?
Typical racist commentary here. People have clue what is happening on the ground, just parroting media narratives.
How can anal examinations work though if your a top?
To the LGBTQ "social justice warriors" on this site: remember that not everyone in the world, and certainly not every sovereign nation, sees things they way you do. Thus, if some countries do not approve of your status, of course feel free not to travel there. While in a perfect world, everyone should be free to live life as they choose, the world is far from perfect, so your choices should be made accordingly.
...To the LGBTQ "social justice warriors" on this site: remember that not everyone in the world, and certainly not every sovereign nation, sees things they way you do. Thus, if some countries do not approve of your status, of course feel free not to travel there. While in a perfect world, everyone should be free to live life as they choose, the world is far from perfect, so your choices should be made accordingly.
However, do not presume to demand that everyone must be agreeable to your attempts to "cancel" anyone, including those in the US, who are not "woke" to your concerns and are unwilling to capitulate to your demands that they abandon their long held religious beliefs or other reluctance to assist, engage, support, and participate in your lifestyle choices.
Generally, OMAAT strikes a fair balance between these two irreconcilable views (desire to travel/insistence that all support LGBTQ activity). Thus, while Lucky and team may write glowingly about the ME3 service levels, from time to time it is also reasonable that they alert the readership that certain countries may not be LGBTQ friendly.
Having said this, the headline of this article may have been better if it had omitted the "(Non-Gay)" phrase, as the important message regarding Tanzania's refusal to acknowledge any scientific or even common sense concerns over COVID19 gets lost in the polarizing backlash of the LGBTQ culture wars.
@Mitch Cumstein …………...... I do not see the posting as racist . Lucky is commenting on relevant countries lack of aviation capabilities , politics , dictators and other matters. If they happen to be African countries recently, it is just a coincidence . He comments on lots of countries...……………………..I enjoy the postings
So, when will you fly to the Sharia Maldives next time with Saudia, Emirates or Qatar?
If you're going to !rightfully! criticize homophobic countries to the point of actively telling people to avoid traveling there, then please don't be a HUGE hypocrite as that is kind of the impression you are giving.
All you morons that are complaining about out president should move to a place like Tanzania where you will enjoy all your freedoms and where it's so much better than in US with a much better president. You are all a bunch of sellouts if you dare compare the two countries
Respectfully, this article appears to draw a few lines in the sand where some ideologies suddenly matter, despite being overlooked in other settings. I'm not saying Tanzania is a panacea for human rights, but as others have pointed out, it's no worse than some other countries that you don't appear to take issue with (UAE for one). What I'm getting at is it seems like Tanzania is suddenly the context where you take offense.
...Respectfully, this article appears to draw a few lines in the sand where some ideologies suddenly matter, despite being overlooked in other settings. I'm not saying Tanzania is a panacea for human rights, but as others have pointed out, it's no worse than some other countries that you don't appear to take issue with (UAE for one). What I'm getting at is it seems like Tanzania is suddenly the context where you take offense.
As for the response to covid - again, not saying its a panacea, but the US leadership has also done a number of things that you single out on the 'tip of the iceberg' section.
Some other points to consider:
1. A lot of the population lives day to day with many people sharing one household, and in the urban areas, many small houses with lots of inhabitants are packed together. In this context, lockdown is less as you don't get the distancing required. It's also extremely debilitating to people's livelihoods, very quickly a lot of people will face a more certain death from poverty under lockdown than from Covid. (Look at food insecurity stats/size of informal economy etc.)
2. Agriculture covers something like 70% of GDP and for many people it is the sole source of income. If you enforce lockdown during a planting/harvesting period, and people don't get their crops in/out/marketed they will likely have no further income for the rest of the year. Again, making death from poverty seem more likely than covid.
3. After Agriculture, tourism contributes a lot to the economy. No tourism, loss of lots of jobs, many people will (you guessed it) face a more certain death from poverty than Covid.
4. What you may have missed is that the ministry of tourism put out a notice detailing how tourists will be handled to reduce the risks of transmission. This includes SOPs for temperature screening, masks and distancing for staff interacting with tourists, vehicle disinfecting etc. Design vs implementation, who knows? But it's not just a wanton reopening of the borders.
I understand why it's easy to jump on the bandwagon, especially against a leader who espouses views antithetical to who you are. It's your blog and you can write what you'd like. I will keep sticking up for Tanzania because it's an incredible place, and too many people will see an article like this and write it off entirely, which I don't think is fair.
@Jack De Theron, @Jeff, @Paolo All of you make good points but I believe lucky has responded to them in previous posts. He wrote an article in 2015 talking about how going to anti-lgbt countries both allows you to see the locals for who they are, probably not viciously anti-gay people just normal people living under governments that are anti-gay. Also this article is not written in the context of saying don't go to tanzania,...
@Jack De Theron, @Jeff, @Paolo All of you make good points but I believe lucky has responded to them in previous posts. He wrote an article in 2015 talking about how going to anti-lgbt countries both allows you to see the locals for who they are, probably not viciously anti-gay people just normal people living under governments that are anti-gay. Also this article is not written in the context of saying don't go to tanzania, he's just laying out the facts of what their situation is like under the current regime, which happens to include them being super bad about LGBT rights. If anything its just more evidence that the leader of Tanzania is an absolute nut, which seems to be the point of the article.
@Jack De Faron, @Jeff, @Paolo All of you make good points but I believe lucky has responded to them in previous posts. He wrote an article in 2015 talking about how going to anti-lgbt countries both allows you to see the locals for who they are, probably not viciously anti-gay people just normal people living under governments that are anti-gay. Also this article is not written in the context of saying don't go to tanzania,...
@Jack De Faron, @Jeff, @Paolo All of you make good points but I believe lucky has responded to them in previous posts. He wrote an article in 2015 talking about how going to anti-lgbt countries both allows you to see the locals for who they are, probably not viciously anti-gay people just normal people living under governments that are anti-gay. Also this article is not written in the context of saying don't go to tanzania, he's just laying out the facts of what their situation is like under the current regime, which happens to include them being super bad about LGBT rights. If anything its just more evidence that the leader of Tanzania is an absolute nut, which seems to be the point of the article.
How is this different from the US president again? ;)
Jack of Theron: Good points. On a related note, there's typically a negative trend towards African "news" here. Different cultures, standards, norms, etc... yet it all apparently makes for good entertainment. Even this dude in Ghana that nobody gives a flying f about. I expect we'll see some stories about Nigerian princes soon.
Many things Lucky said apply to Trump:
...-encourages people to go to church (not just that, but to liberate, protest with weapons)
-mocks those who wears masks. Is he the only person who doesn't wear masks in the Capitol?
-touts unproven therapies
-says the numbers are all made up. Actually now he is saying it actually is best the US has the most cases. I guess it has come full circle
Many things Lucky said apply to Trump:
-encourages people to go to church (not just that, but to liberate, protest with weapons)
-mocks those who wears masks. Is he the only person who doesn't wear masks in the Capitol?
-touts unproven therapies
-says the numbers are all made up. Actually now he is saying it actually is best the US has the most cases. I guess it has come full circle
Funny one should talk about Tanzania when the US is probably the most racist country there is. In other countries racism doesn't mean you die. In the US it most definitely does.
@Ben(Lucky) , Don't let some of the people who make idiotic comments here upset you. The world would not be what it is if we did not have a proportion of ignorant people in its population.
You are one of the top premier aviation/travel bloggers out there. Thousands upon thousands enjoy your blog. (and freedom of speech is so sacred)
@Alex Z don’t worry, they will be moving to Kanada together with their spiritual leader Cher as soon as Brutal Dictator Trump is re-elected in November.
Canadian and Dick
You guys should move to Tanzania to escape the brutal Dictator Trump! Such tools!
While I agree that travel to Tanzania is undesirable, the post does raise the issue of double standards: eg, you have no qualms about going to The Maldives, where Sharia law is in force; in fact you’re a repeat visitor. Sure, they may not enforce on-arrival anal examinations, but it’s well-known ( ...enshrined in law) that any LGBT activity is illegal, punishable by imprisonment and lashing.
Perhaps The Maldives is a bit more subtle...
While I agree that travel to Tanzania is undesirable, the post does raise the issue of double standards: eg, you have no qualms about going to The Maldives, where Sharia law is in force; in fact you’re a repeat visitor. Sure, they may not enforce on-arrival anal examinations, but it’s well-known ( ...enshrined in law) that any LGBT activity is illegal, punishable by imprisonment and lashing.
Perhaps The Maldives is a bit more subtle about disguising their lunacy in respect of these issues...in return for mega $$$, including pink.
It will be interesting to see what you have to say about Saudi Arabia if/when a visit there is planned.
So, basically, it's just like living under Trump, except you may have to wear a mask there.
You have been very critical, both from a political and aviation perspective, of many African countries lately (Ghana, Zimbabwe, and now Tanzania, to name a few). While I hope this is entirely coincidental, I suggest you examine the optics of these critiques, given that they are entirely focused on African people and cultures. I don't see you doing the same with Western nations. At a certain point, these racial undertones lead one to question the...
You have been very critical, both from a political and aviation perspective, of many African countries lately (Ghana, Zimbabwe, and now Tanzania, to name a few). While I hope this is entirely coincidental, I suggest you examine the optics of these critiques, given that they are entirely focused on African people and cultures. I don't see you doing the same with Western nations. At a certain point, these racial undertones lead one to question the motives of the author.
Would you feel differently if you could fly first class on one of the ME3 carriers? Or are they’re owners not anti-LGTB enough?
Easy to pick a fight with a country that doesn’t have a 5* airline, but to treat the UAE with kid gloves.
Your outrage could be better directed.
Many African nations have done an admirable job with their coronavirus response. Shame to hear that Tanzania is taking more of a Florida/Georgia approach.
I bet 60 years ago, people like "Ben Dover" would have responded to people criticizing racist, discriminatory treatment of blacks in Southern States as unwelcome "political commentary".
He sounds like mr. Trump
My mom was born in Dar-es-Salaam, and it's tough to realize that I can't go back to the places where my parents grew up, because of my sexuality. I just wish I could take my partner to see the beauty of the game parks, Zanzibar, the beaches of the Tanzanian coast — but I realize that probably won't be possible for the foreseeable future.
I take it for granted so often that I live in a...
My mom was born in Dar-es-Salaam, and it's tough to realize that I can't go back to the places where my parents grew up, because of my sexuality. I just wish I could take my partner to see the beauty of the game parks, Zanzibar, the beaches of the Tanzanian coast — but I realize that probably won't be possible for the foreseeable future.
I take it for granted so often that I live in a place where people are broadly accepting — so thank you, Ben, for bringing issues like this to people's attention.
I agree 100% that Tanzania's record on LGBT rights is atrocious, but I am appalled at how no one ever critiques Emirates and the UAE. Apparently the nice ride in a Emirates suite is too much to pass up even if it means supporting a government that does things like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates
No mention of this in a review of a delightful few days in Dubai.
https://onemileatatime.com/exploring-dubai/
Or in a glowing review of an...
I agree 100% that Tanzania's record on LGBT rights is atrocious, but I am appalled at how no one ever critiques Emirates and the UAE. Apparently the nice ride in a Emirates suite is too much to pass up even if it means supporting a government that does things like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates
No mention of this in a review of a delightful few days in Dubai.
https://onemileatatime.com/exploring-dubai/
Or in a glowing review of an airline that fills an oppressive government's state coffers.
hhttps://onemileatatime.com/review-emirates-first-class-a380-los-angeles-to-dubai/
Tanzania is a beautiful country with wonderful people. I'm glad I was able to make it to Serengeti few years ago before this disease ravage the world. My understanding is that countries had close their borders to Tanzania because... well, most likely they don't believe lemon/ ginger juice or prayers will kill Covid19.
@Sean M. I hear you. I live in Rwanda and the vast majority of our new cases are now imported by truck drivers coming from Tanzania, a country that somehow has declining numbers. I believe this week there have been 16 or so new cases of the maybe 20 that are all linked to truck drivers, mostly from TZ. After some negotiations Rwanda has started to let drivers in because we have no choice, but...
@Sean M. I hear you. I live in Rwanda and the vast majority of our new cases are now imported by truck drivers coming from Tanzania, a country that somehow has declining numbers. I believe this week there have been 16 or so new cases of the maybe 20 that are all linked to truck drivers, mostly from TZ. After some negotiations Rwanda has started to let drivers in because we have no choice, but hopefully the testing is up to bar. Kenya and Zambia both recently closed the border or have heavy restrictions on traffic entering from Tanzania.
The regime in Dodoma (and their lackey in Bujumbura) have become a serious, destabilizing, threat to the region. Both favor blind faith and prayer over science, and both have elections this year. With Burundi, you get what you expect, but TZ's turn into an authoritarian nightmare straight out of Mobutu's Congo has been really disheartening for a country that used to be the the closest thing to a functioning democracy in Eastern African. Well the "Pole, pole" attitude isn't the greatest in certain situation, TZ really does have the warmest people n the region as a general group IMO. Hopefully this situation does not get truly bleak, but I see no reason to hope for a turnaround before a lot of carnage.
Zanzibar has a more reasonable government and have enough autonomy to potentially avoid the worst of this, but as Lucky says, do not travel to mainland TZ for the foreseeable future.
I have a friend there right now. She's a doctor and the situation is terrible. You cannot even diagnose covid as its essentially not allowed. They have relabeled covid deaths as heart attacks (for elderly) for example. The few deaths acknowledged are in Intl hospitals where there is foreign aid and you can only ... lie a little.
I hope this does not turn into a humanitarian crisis.
LOL @ Ben D's name, I did not catch it until I saw Lucky's reply
Binyamin,
What is your problem with my friend Magufuli? I take Lemon & Ginger and had a transcendental experience. On the other hand it could have been because, I dropped acid before drinking the Lemon Ginger elixir. Anywho, I think Magufuli was about to come out of closet, now you him spooked!!! Not cool Bro.
Moto zalof, or mazel tof, with a side of humus, or whatever!
As a gay man with full recognition of and agreement with the the serious concerns you provide in this posting, I still laughed out loud when I saw "Bottom Line." I know, and I'm ashamed of myself too. That said, thank you for sharing issues like this.
@ Thomas C Newpher -- Fair. :p
But.... the 787. :D
Inaccurate headline, conflating two separate stories. Stick to the airline reviews not political commentary, please.
@ Ben Dover -- A) Just because something conflates two separate stories doesn't make the headline inaccurate B) Mentioning the extent to which Tanzania is currently persecuting gays isn't a "political" opinion, it's something that's real and impacts so many people in an unimaginable way, and I'll share my opinion if I want to.
I don't usually make political comments, but I will make an exception here since the situation in Tanzania is something that really concerns me given the proximity of my family right next door to them.
Magufuli is dangerous and Tanzania's COVID situation is way out of control by every account from people actually on the ground there. One dares not say this within the country because Magufuli can be brutal against those who disagree, using...
I don't usually make political comments, but I will make an exception here since the situation in Tanzania is something that really concerns me given the proximity of my family right next door to them.
Magufuli is dangerous and Tanzania's COVID situation is way out of control by every account from people actually on the ground there. One dares not say this within the country because Magufuli can be brutal against those who disagree, using his emergency powers to detain and silence those who "spread false news about COVID".
However, just look at the number of cases that Uganda and Kenya have reported at land borders entering from TZ. If those numbers are correct, then pretty much only truck drivers seem to be contracting COVID in TZ, and they all try to drive to UG/KE immediately after contracting it without spreading it locally.
Magufuli has also mocked those who wear masks in public, saying that it shows they do not have faith in their God to protect them. He has not only exempted religious gatherings from social distancing requirements ("COVID cannot survive in a house of God"), but also claims that his declaration of 3-days of national prayer in April were what turned the tide against Coronavirus.
And to keep this aviation relevant, Air Tanzania is well, yeah... 'nuff said.
@ Sean M. -- <3