A great continent that can be dangerous.
Two days ago a group of British Embassy staff was kidnapped in the remote Afar Desert in North Eastern Ethiopia. they had been on their way to salt mines in the Dalol region. Why they, we presume supposedly informed, were venturing into unknown (and desolate, hostile), territory we shall probably find out soon. However, they were held up by people who are probably rebels for the Afar cause (independence from Ethiopia), and could be anywhere.
What is worrying is that their vehicles have been found, one riddled with bullets and the other burnt -out. I have warned before, as an African, that any remote area of Africa is not to be taken lightly. I had a taste of this when I was kidnapped by police in Angola in 2001 (only for 3 hours---yes, the police there kidnap too, for money), but it brought home to me the fact that anything can happen in Africa.
13 Ethiopians are supposedly with the group as translators etc. and the SAS are apparently on the ground looking for the hostages.
I hope they are all safe, but you cannot play Humphrey Explorer in a remote area of a Continent that has vast areas ruled only by the AK47. And there are many areas in Africa still under that rule.