africa Archives - Global Travel Authors

October 21, 2022October 22, 2022

Africa Through the Eyes of a Jewish Explorer

Face-to-Face with Africa Through the Eyes of a Jewish Explorer

Virtual Lecture: Irene Shaland

Sunday, November 13th, 2022 7:00 PM EST Via Zoom

Hosted by Temple Emmanuel of Wakefield, MA

For more information and to register for this lecture, please email the Sisterhood President Susan Hochberg: shochberg.sh@gmail.com

Encounter Africa – a never-ending journey of mystery and discovery!

Join Irene Shaland, a Jewish historian, book author, and educator, as she leads us on a unique journey to Africa seen through the eyes of a Jewish explorer. As a writer focused on the past and present of Jewish communities around the world, Irene shares personal Jewish stories she discovered in Africa.

Nairobi Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, Kenya

Sanctuary, Nairobi Synagogue, Kenya — Inside the sanctuary, Nairobi Synagogue, Kenya

The mysterious continent of Africa remains one of the most enchanting and fascinating destinations for both Irene and her husband Alex, a travel writer and photographer.

Through Alex’s photographs and Irene’s story-telling, you will journey to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. You will meet Africa’s Big Five (five African animals most dangerous for a hunter on foot), visit the Nairobi Synagogue and its energetic community, go to a Masai Tribe village to learn Masai Old Testament-like legends, the Great Rift Valley (where life on Earth began) and follow the Great Migration in Kenya and Tanzania.

For more information and to register for this lecture, please email the Sisterhood President Susan Hochberg: shochberg.sh@gmail.com

Find out more About the Presenter

Find all Shalands’ books on Amazon:

Link to Irene Shaland’s Books.

Link to Alex Shaland’s Books.

June 11, 2020December 8, 2020

Jewish Diaspora Book Review

Book cover The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories

We came across a recent review of Irene Shaland’s book “The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories: Tales of Jewish Diaspora, Persecution, the Holocaust and Rebirth in Europe, Africa and Asia” and want to share it with our readers.
Reviewed by Beverly Friend, Ph. D., Professor of English at Oakton Community College, Executive Director of the China Judaic Studies Association.

April 21, 2019December 8, 2020

Review of Suburbanites on Safari by Marcia Polevoi

“I have always wanted to go to Africa to see all the wildlife. However, we are of an age that now prevents us from going on a Safari. But reading Alex’s book took me right there and I met lions, and elephants and big cats and more.

March 27, 2019December 8, 2020

Elephant in Amboseli National Park, Kenya

The photo of this elephant is my entry for the 2019 AAWR Members Annual Exhibition. I took this photo during our 2013 Great Migration trip to Kenya and Tanzania in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The sun was setting down, and dark clouds were rapidly moving in. On the way to the lodge, we passed this majestic animal rapidly walking along the side of the road. The plains, the dark clouds, and the walking giants were too dramatic not to snap a photo.

March 24, 2019December 9, 2020

Suburbanites on Safari Ranks #1 New Release on Amazon

Buffalo stands in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Fantastic News from Amazon!

Recently, Amazon ranked Alex Shaland’s upcoming book ” Suburbanites on Safari ” as Amazon #1 New Release.

February 5, 2017January 23, 2021

Book of Jewish Short Stories: The Dao of Being Jewish

Cover image and about The Dao of Being Jewish book, a collection of Jewish short stories — Our new ad for Irene Shaland’s book “The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories”

Introducing Irene Shaland’s latest book, a collection of Jewish short stories:

“The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories.”

Link to eBook Edition: https://amzn.to/2HhwSng

Link to Paperback Edition: https://amzn.to/2T1u5kK

Link to Large Print Edition: https://amzn.to/2Cqhi6l

This book is full of Jewish survival stories and fascinating tales. It shines the light on the history of Jewish communities in ten countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa.” – GTA Books.

Two and a half millennia ago, a small party of Jews explored new trading routes for King Solomon, settled in the south of India, and lived there peacefully until today. Similarly, during the ancient Roman period, many Jewish merchants traveled to China over the Silk Route and some made it their permanent home.

Also, before the Edict of Expulsion in 1492, Sicily was home to over 50 Jewish communities, possibly numbering 50,000 people. So, how did the Diaspora bring these wandering Jews to so many places around the globe? And why did Jews live happily in India and China for centuries and not experience antisemitism, while the story of the Jews in Europe went from persecutions and massacres to unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust? Finally, why do we see the rise of antisemitism and violence again in the 21st century?

You will find answers to these questions and much more in the current edition of Irene Shaland’s artfully illustrated book The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories. She collected these fascinating stories while visiting ten countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa and interviewing the locals in their homes, synagogues, and even cemeteries. Now, Irene Shaland’s book, replete with her husband’s photos, takes you on your own exciting journey of discovery from Austria and the Czech Republic to Scandinavia, from India and China to Sicily and Sardinia, and from East Africa to Stalinist Russia.

Learn more about Irene Shaland.

February 1, 2015December 10, 2020

African Safari Tips: The Importance of Good Company

Text and photos by Alex Shaland

Going on an African safari by yourself or in a small group is not advisable. Suppose, you are standing in front of a lion or a rhinoceros and trying to calculate your chances of getting out of this situation in one piece and hopefully not perforated in too many places. You are staring at the whatever it is that is going to do a very bad thing to you and all that is going through your mind is “o sh….t”. But look at the situation from the lion’s point of view. It has to charge you, yes you. Who else is there to eat? You are the protein!

January 1, 2014September 30, 2022

Masai – the Lost Tribe of Israel

Masai Warriors – “God’s Chosen People”

This is a Jewish story of Africa that I found in the most unlikely of places: the vast plains of Masai Mara and Serengeti reserves. As we drove there, we saw the light-skinned, tall, slender people dressed in red, who were as ubiquitous to the landscape as sky above and earth below. Surrounded by their herd of cattle, they leaned on their long spears or stood on one leg in a stork-like pose. Bearing remarkable similarities to ancient Romans from North Africa, most had classical profiles, wore red togas and sandals, and were equipped with Roman-style short stabbing swords. Women had shaved heads, while the young men’s hair was plated and stuck together with red clay. To us, they looked like young mythical gods. These are the proud Masai (sometimes referred to as Maasai) people of East Africa, whose mysterious past is enveloped in legends of being one of the lost tribes of Israel.

September 8, 2013December 10, 2020

Finding Home away from Home – in Africa

We were travelling all day: through the exotic strangeness of the Zanzibar Stone Town to the Nairobi airport’s thick mess of people and suitcases, sickening smells and deafening noises. Then again, through the traffic and dust and darkness of Nairobi streets, until all of sudden, like a mirage in the wilderness, we saw a brilliantly lit Jewish star. “Are you meeting with Barbara?” a voice asked. We were.