BabakFakhamzadeh.com

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accountability.or.tz

2 September 2010 new | Assignments | 64 views, 5 clicks

A quick fix up for an existing Wordpress-based website.

Tagged with: Wordpress, Tanzania, accountability

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Don't worry it's safe to browse the web in Sierra Leone

29 August 2010 new | Blog | 143 views, 1 pictures

Antivirus producer AVG recently released a report which revealed that seven of the ten safest countries to surf the web in are in Africa, with Sierra Leone being the safest of them all. The numbers seem impressive, with the chance of being attacked in Sierra Leone a meagre 0.14%, a far cry from Turkey, which tops the overal list with a chance of being attacked at 10%. AVG didn't put a time frame on these chances, but one of their bloggers implies... read more

Tagged with: Sierra Leone, antivirus, software, Turkey, nonsense, Africa, Mongolia, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, internet

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Where not to book your hotels

24 August 2010 new | Blog | 246 views

Always on the lookout for places to book affordable accommodation for when traveling, I still only use the BookHostels booking engine, as well as the HotelsCombined comparison engine, both available on this very site. Nevertheless, I try to find alternatives, specifically because for some more out of the way places, it's not always easy to find affordable places to stay before you go there.

So I checked out the fairly new and most certainly purdy looking roomstays, which claims to offer discount hotel reservations. Not wanting to throw it off the deep end, I first looked

... read more

Tagged with: hotel, reservation, accommodation, travel, review

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Apes, not monkeys

21 August 2010 new | Blog | 175 views, 11 pictures

We visited the Tacugama chimpanzee reserve, in the hills of Freetown. Started in 1995, during the civil war, to safeguard the survival of the small chimpanzee population in Sierra Leone, the reserve is currently a safe haven for some 100 chimps.
Quite commendable an undertaking. Strapped for cash, the reserve survives on charging entry fees as well as NGO grants. Major sponsors include the European Union, USAID and the cosmetics manufacturer Lush.

And the sponsorships are needed, the reserve claiming that feeding one chimp for one year costs 1000 USD, making the daily cost of feeding all the chimps a cool 300 USD or so. It also means that feeding one chimp for one year costs

... read more

Tagged with: monkey, Sierra Leone, Freetown, party, GDP

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Things are not what they seem

17 August 2010 new | Blog | 291 views

Pretty much every day in Africa, you're forced to realise that *everything* is more difficult. At the same time, it's often hard to really convey what that means in practice, to those who haven't experienced it, but here's an example.

I need internet access to be able to work. There's a few internet cafes here and there, but it's inconvenient to use that as my main source of access. They're not too expensive, about a euro or so per hour, but access quality varies.
The obvious choice is to use 3G, or whatever passes for 3G in this neck of the woods.

Niamh, through her country director's boyfriend, learnt of cellphone company Comium offering internet

... read more

Tagged with: struggle, internet, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa, connectivity

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Arrival in Freetown

15 August 2010 new | Blog | 256 views, 1 pictures

Flying in to Lungi, Sierra Leone's airport and the only commercially operating airport in the country, treats a window seater to stunning views. Well, if you're lucky enough to sit on the correct side of the plane.
The airport and town are on the two sides of the bay of Sierra Leone, which also is the third largest natural harbour in the world. Not that that's in any way convenient, because to get to or from the airport, you'll have to cross the bay, somehow. Choppers, at 80 USD for a one way trip, are an often used mode of transport (and have known to fall from the skies), but the best balance between cost and speed are the speedboats, which put you across for a still pricey 40 USD. Slower and cheaper options are available,
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Tagged with: Freetown, Sierra Leone, travel, Cape Town

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It's time for the African renaissance

14 August 2010 new I must be on my way | Blog | 330 views, 44 pictures

The flight to Senegal had about 98% Africans, all traveling with, what seemed to be, way too much baggage. Then again, it seemed they knew what they were doing, as the MeridianaFly lady who was checking carry on luggage at the gate, didn't pick out anyone I noticed.

The Meridiana flight to Dakar leaves at the ungodly time of six in the morning. My eticket didn't mention it, but checking the carrier's website, specifically this flight was said to have its check in desks closed no later than 75 minutes before departure.
I had planned to take an airport shuttle in the middle in the night, going to bed early and catching some sleep. But as I still wasn't snoozing at 12 midnight,

... read more

Tagged with: Senegal, Dakar, renaissance, art, Iran, train, travel, Mali, Goree, slavery, China, Sierra Leone, North Korea, Lusaka, Dar Es Salaam, Gabarone, art nouveau, Maputo, Ramadan