Backpacking Tips for Hunting in Africa

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The backpack or rucksack is an item of the utmost importance for hunting. You wear it all day for exploration, preparation and the hunting itself. In choosing one, you detect your needs and select a model that is comfortable, waterproof, noiseless and convenient. A camouflage pattern color is preferable but not essential.

A thing to keep in mind when getting a backpack is that not all hunting backpacks are fit for all the types of hunting. There are several things to keep into account:

– the length of the trip. A day or several days, a week to a few weeks; whether you are going to return to camp every day; all that determines the type of backpack. For a weekend hunting trip, a backpack of 3,000 cubic inches may be enough. You’ll need a larger backpack on longer outings. Normally between 4,500 and 7,000 cubic inches.

– the time to carry the backpack in one go;

– the load that it has to support. Read the rest

A New Region 100% Frenchy!

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Inwent-Iij: Luc Escoute, you’ve come to take on an area of hunting in South Africa, Koedoeskop, can you tell us about this beautiful project?

Luc Escoute: I grew up and worked in Africa for more than 20 years. Lovers of nature and hunting, we wanted, with my two associated, French also, to open a territory of great African game to beginner hunters as well as experienced, in a totally unspoilt environment.

The field of Koedoeskop, [kuduskop], literally, in Afrikaans, “the Hill with Kudus”, acquired in early 2014, has not been used in a commercial manner for nearly 15 years which explains its exceptional diversity (and quantity) of game.

The most important thing for us is to offer an authentic African hunting experience, as close to the wild life as possible. Despite the substantial size of the area (3600ha) we favor above all a sports hunting, without locationing or terrain vehicles.

Unusually for a domain of southern Africa, we have several distinct habitats: wide river bed surrounded by acacias, bushland, hills and mountains with dense vegetation, each with their flora and their specific game. Read the rest

Journey to South Africa, part I

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So, me and my friend Jaime decided to take a reporting trip to South Africa. As we planned it, the need arised for good rugged backpacks to last us through the journey and beyond. After browsing the web for information, we stumbled on the Rangermade website, where a page was dedicated to how to choose the best tactical backpack https://www.rangermade.net/best-tactical-backpack/, which was exactly what we needed. After all preparations were made and our tickets purchased, off we went.

From the air, Pretoria and Johannesburg seem residential cities, American style, completely flat and square, with magnificent houses with swimming pools and surrounded by vegetation. But grey spots of illegal camps are also visible, with shabby shacks that resemble cemeteries from the plane. These are cities full of contrasts, where wealth and poverty go hand in hand.

We landed at noon time at the Jan Smuts airport of Johannesburg and it took us longer than is desirable to cross the customs. Read the rest

Inaugurating the ‘Photography’ category on our blog

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Photography implies being able to choose. Photography is a social phenomenon. From your passport photo to photographs of ceremonies or holidays, reports, postcards, advertising, art photography,… both the digital and analogue photography take on a great function of documentation, interpretation, of historical and social and anthropological memory. Photography is part of the collective and family life.

In families where there are children, we generally take more pictures. There are many occasions that find us camera in hand. In recent years, with the transition from film photography to digital, the use of cameras has dramatically increased. The digital camera is already part of a device we all hold in our pockets: the mobile phone.

Photography, unlike other artistic activities such as music, painting, etc, is affordable for everyone. However, in order to get results of a certain value, one needs some technical knowledge. Giving way to this newly found hobby of ours, we are opening a new category titled properly “photography” and will have frequent posts on news and general training in this area. Read the rest

UN refugee camp in Juba - financial needs of over one billion dollars
UN refugee camp in Juba - financial needs of over one billion dollars

Warning by the UN: 50,000 children in South Sudan under threat of starvation

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Experts from the UN warn of impending tragedy in Southern Sudan. If the international community does not quickly send emergency supplies, the threatening famine could cost the lives of thousands of children.

Juba – The world is torn apart by a bloody power struggle for South Sudan, thousands of children being acutely threatened by starvation. In the battles in the northeast African country, thousands of people were killed and more than 1.5 million people forced to flee, said on Saturday the United Nations responsible for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer.

“The consequences could be terrible – 50,000 children at risk of dying from starvation if they get no help.” Lanzer called on the world community to help, and estimated the outstanding financial need at about one billion dollars. This sum is necessary to help a total of 3.8 million people in South Sudan, “who are affected by hunger, violence and disease.”

South Sudan is the newest country in the world, gaining its independence only in 2011. Read the rest

Sidney Ocran journalist Liberia

Sidney Ocran: journalism as a tool for peace

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Sidney Ocran, Liberian by birth, left behind a country at war and a refugee camp to study journalism in distant Russia, whose government gave him an education grant. Recently graduated, Sidney expects to return to his native Africa, and use his journalistic expertise to help resolve armed conflicts on this hurt and forsaken continent.

Greg Simons – Peace correspondent

Sydney, you’re from Liberia, a country devastated by war in 1990, where some of your family were tragically killed. Having escaped with international help, you stayed for a time in Ghana, and decided to start a new life, even tried to do different types of work. In 1998, you received a grant from the Russian government to study at the Friendship University in Moscow.

What was it that motivated you to apply for this scholarship and go from Africa to Moscow? Why did you choose Russia?
Well, I have always craved knowledge, and I wanted to get more education by going to college. Read the rest

The uncharismatic rebel

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Al Bashir ruled with an iron fist for 20 years.

General Omar al Bashir, who was born in 1944 into a family of farmers, is a man of three faces. He has managed to play the military man, the Islamist, and to show a certain openness to the outside world when it suit him. The court’s decision finds him playing the latter role with some success after reluctantly allowing the deployment, highly conditioned, of an African peacekeeping force – only 9,000 of the planned 26,000 – and the establishment of dozens of NGOs that has turned Darfur into the largest humanitarian operation in progress.

The arrest warrant for the Sudanese President may be proof that international justice is gaining, albeit with difficulty. Since yesterday, a head of state (finally African) can be convicted when the crimes he is accused of have the severity of the crimes committed in Darfur since 2003: over 300,000 dead, as many refugees in Chad and Central African Republic and about three million displaced. Read the rest

Your own way is the best way

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More than a million Bild copies are published every day in spite of much criticism. I got closer to the reason of this success when I met the chief reporter of Germany’s best-selling tabloid in Berlin.

The story of Kai Feldhaus

Kai Feldhaus looks a little bit young for his position, but he quickly convinced me and my colleagues from 16 countries in Asia and Africa of his professionalism. For almost two hours in Bild’s headquarters in the German capital, Feldhaus showed us the way editors and reporters do their jobs. It was a great experience for all of us.

But that is only a part of the story, because the chief reporter even showed us more things, especially about himself, when he discussed with us in a conference room. Firstly, he answered all our questions about the tabloid paper. I was impressed with the way he answered the questions that related to moral issues of Bild. 

Read the rest

Nigerian Government Finalizes Creation of Nine New Universities

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The Nigerian government has approved the appointment of vice-chancellors (VC) and registrars (Reg) for its newly created federal universities, which cut across the six geo-political zones in the country.

According to Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, minister of education, the action was in line with the resolve of the government to ensure that the universities took off by September. “President Goodluck Jonathan has graciously approved the appointment of the vice-chancellors and registrars for the universities,” she said. “Council also aproved N1.53billion for each university to be sourced from the Education Trust Fund.”
Rufa’i explained that they were selected from the academia, especially from the rank of former vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, provosts of Colleges of Medicine, and distinguished Nigerian professors in the Diaspora.
The new appointees, whose appointment take immediate effect, include, Prof. Bolaji Aluko and Mr. David Suwari, VC and Reg, respectively for Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State; Prof. Chinedu Nebo and Dr.
Read the rest