A few months ago, every major world newspaper was covering the story about pirates off of Somali's lawless coastline. And then it seems as if they just disappeared. Where did they go? Well, nowhere is the answer, they're still quite active despite the heavy monsoon winds this time of year.

Just last week pirates captured a Turkish crew, 23 men in all, and are holding them for ransom. The world's press has moved on, but the vigilantes remain and the reason why these fishermen turned into pirates in the first place is still very much an issue. One of these being the illegal dumping of toxic waste, by many first world countries, off the Somali coast for the past two decades.

I'm curious if the head of Somalia's navy will be able to help. His first step should probably be to procure a boat, the Somali navy doesn't have one. And some of the officers apparently joined the pirates. The money is very good.

The pirates are also widening their area of operations to include the entire Somali Coast. Some cruise ship companies are changing their routes entirely to avoid pirate attacks. In April (2009) cruise passengers had to fight off pirates by throwing deckchairs at them, not a very relaxing way to spend a vacation.

More About the Somali Pirates ...

_{Somali Pirates in Action -- © Getty Images/US Navy}

The Obama family has arrived in Ghana, they'll spend the next 24 hours visiting Accra and the Cape Coast. Obama print dresses, t-shirts, key rings and all kinds of paraphernalia have been doing a roaring trade. Many Ghanaians won't actually get to see the President and his family since security is fairly tight, but the nation is excited to be the first sub-Saharan African country to be hosting a visit.

The fact that this President has roots in Africa makes it all the more exciting. Naturally the Kenyans would have liked to be the first to host a visit by Obama as President, but the violence that came after their elections last year made Ghana the more politically attractive option. Oh, and Ghana has oil as well.

Many American visitors to Ghana come to pay their respect to the millions of slaves who were shipped from Ghana's coastal forts. The Obama's are no exception and they will visit Cape Coast Castle. The Cape Coast Castle is a World Heritage site, it played a prominent role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Daily guided tours, which the Obama's will no doubt be taking, include the slave dungeons, Palaver hall, as well as the grave of an English Governor. The castle was the headquarters for the British colonial administration for nearly 200 years.

More About Obama and Ghana ...

• Ghana Excitement Builds for Obama -- BBC
  
• West Africa Slave Tours
• Accra
• Ghana Travel Tips

_{Image of Cape Coast Castle -- Photo taken by David Ley/GNU Free Doc}

Reports about Africa that caught my interest this week:

• Ghana is cleaning itself up, Accra's beggars and homeless will be relocated for a few days because the Obama's will be arriving in town at the end of this week, read more ....

• The African Union Summit took place last week in a far flung Libyan location. Representatives and leaders of 50 African countries attended the colorful affair, the theme of the summit was agriculture and food security. Gaddafi presided over the summit, enjoying his power as head of the AU for 6 months, I'm sure he traveled there with his usual entourage of 50 female (virgin) bodyguards, dressed in army fatigues and trained to kill (see photo). The rest of the gathering struggled to find hotel rooms and Iran's president didn't show up at the last minute to deliver the opening address. More about the AU Summit ...

• I love Bollywood movies and was excited to read that Northern Tanzania may soon crop up in some blockbusters as background to romantic song and dance numbers. A high-flying contingent of Bollywood actors and directors have recently enjoyed their safari experiences (and who wouldn't) and are said to be enthusiastic about filming future movies there. Personally I'd love to see the Swiss countryside replaced with the savanna, read more about this story ...

• Guinea-Bissau held its Presidential elections on Sunday to replace their assassinated President Joao Bernardo Vieira. Looks like it will head into a second round of voting. Fingers crossed for this little nation that's incredibly poor and struggling as "Africa's Cocaine Warehouse".

• Zambia is ramping up its production of high-end bamboo bikes and plans to sell them to outdoor enthusiasts in the US. It would be nice if they could make cheaper versions for local use, but they do look very cool. More about bamboo bikes...

_{Image © Getty Images/Norbert Schiller -- Gadaffi Body Guard}

August Festivals and Events in Africa include a wine festival in South Africa; a harvest festival in Ghana; a marriage festival in Morocco; a fashion show in Cape Town and a Camel Derby in Kenya. You may not be aware that Kenya has camels, but this particular derby seeks to raise awareness about the Kenyan camel and people like the Samburu (pictured here) who rely on this lovely, useful beast for their survival.

Find out more about each of these festivities from my article about August Festivals and Events in Africa.

_{Image © Getty Images/Don Farrall}