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The Department of State still warns against travel to Afghanistan. All areas are unsafe due to military combat operations, land mines, banditry, drug-related activity, armed rivalry between political and tribal groups, and/or the possibility of kidnapping and insurgent attacks.
On Aug. 5, a group of doctors and nurses was shot and killed in Badakhshan province after completing a medical aid visit to Nuristan province.
The US Department of State warns of the risk of traveling to Mali and against all travel in the north. The extremist group AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb) has an “ongoing interest” in kidnapping Westerners in the Mali-Niger-Burkina Faso border area and as far south as Bamako.
On July 24, AQIM executed a French hostage in retaliation for the killing of six AQIM members during a Mauritania-launched hostage-rescue operation with French assistance in northern Mali. AQIM may attempt additional retaliatory attacks against Western targets of opportunity.
Violent crime in Nicaragua is increasing, the US embassy announced.
Nearly a dozen taxi kidnappings were reported in July. In six cases, tourists each were befriended by a stranger on a bus who offered assistance in locating or sharing a taxi at their destination. In the taxis, the tourists each were held at knifepoint or gunpoint, threatened with injury and/or rape, robbed, taken to ATM machines to withdraw funds from their accounts, then left in remote areas.
Among the assailants were a young pregnant woman and men and women of various ages.
Europe heat wave — Two months of record scorching heat ended for Eastern Europe in mid-August.
In the Moscow area alone, over 4,000 deaths were attributed to the heat wave, with 50% more deaths in July 2010 than July 2009. Temperatures hit 104ºF, the highest there in over 130 years.
At the same time in Russia, months of drought contributed to wildfires over 2,900 square miles, blanketing Moscow in smoke for days.
17 days/15 nights, departing Feb. 18, July 11 & Oct. 21, 2011. Highlights: In CHILE, Santiago, craft village of Los Graneros del Alba, wine district, lake district/in ARGENTINA, Bariloche, Buenos Aires/day trip to Colonia del Sacramento in URUGUAY/Argentinian and Brazilian sides of Iguassu Falls/in BRAZIL, Rio de Janeiro, Petropolis. Land, from $6,549. Single supp., from $2,239.
Goway Travel (Los Angeles, CA; 800/387-8850).
Eight days/seven nights in Oaxaca, MEXICO, Dec. 21-28, 2010. Highlights: Radish Carving Festival (radishes carved as nativity figures, politicians and street scenes)/cooking class/colorful floats in the Calenda Parade/Ocotlán craft market/weavers in Teotitlán del Valle. Land, $1,785. Single supp., $315.
Tia Stephanie Tours (Ann Arbor, MI; 734/769-7839).
Five days/three nights in Baja California Sur, MEXICO. Departures through March 4, 2011. Highlights: Magdalena Bay is one of the major calving lagoons for gray whales. Observe whales from motor skiffs. One night camping on bay island, two nights’ hotel. Land, $995. Single supp., $85.
Sea Kayak Adventures (Coeur d’Alene, ID; 800/616-1943).
12 days/11 nights. Highlights: In SOUTH AFRICA, Cape Town/kayak Boulders Beach; see penguins/10,000-year-old rock paintings in Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve/in NAMIBIA, Sand Dune Sea/seals, seabirds at Walvis Bay/lions, cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos at Etosha National Park. Land price, from $4,590. Single supp., $2,657.
Culturious/Tauck World Discovery (Norwalk, CT; 888/840-1852).
27 days/24 nights, Sept. 19-Oct. 15, 2011. Led by ITN columnist Randy Keck. Highlights: Visit all Australian states and territories (including Tasmania), Kangaroo Island, all capital cities (including Perth), the Outback and the tropical north. Land and air from Los Angeles or San Francisco, $9,295. Single supp., $1,595.
ASI Tours (Jamestown, RI; 800/944-3021).
Nine-day/seven-night tour of CHINA. Highlights: Shop Cheng Huang old city in Shanghai/gondola ride in Tongli/Tai Lake in Wuxi/special snack dinner in Yangzhou. Land only, from $699. With air from San Francisco, from $1,199. Single supp., from $280.
China Travel Service (San Francisco, CA; 866/244-6287).