Terror alerts spread around the world today, with Australia and New Zealand warning their nationals to be on their guard in Southeast Asia, a region still haunted by last year's Bali bombings. Today, Saudi, FBI and CIA agents hunted for the masterminds of suicide bomb attacks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Britain banned flights to Kenya, where people have been killed in the bombing of an Israeli hotel in Mombassa last November.

Might our trip have hit a snag before it even gets started? This was posted on British Airways' website this evening:

Suspension of flights to Kenya
British Airways will suspend its daily scheduled service today, Thursday 15 May, between London Heathrow and Nairobi, Kenya from 10 pm British Summer Time until further notice.

The move follows instructions from the British government's Department for Transport that all UK registered airlines which fly to Kenya are to suspend flights with effect from 10 pm tonight due to heightened security concerns in the region.

We are supposed to be taking British Airways to Kenya from London on July 3, a mere seven weeks from today. Obviously, if we can't get to Kenya, the first stop on our One Year One World trip, we're not going to be going on the safari trip that we have planned and paid for. We are actually traveling there with our friends Anne and Dave from Vancouver, so the four of us might have our safari plans in jeapardy.

For now, all we can do is sit tight and see how things develop over the next few weeks. We did go to Malaysia three days after September 11th, and it is quite possible that one of the safest places we might be in the case of a terrorist attack is out the middle of the African plains with nobody around but animals. In addition, we were in Nairobi, Kenya, three years ago, which was only two years after the U.S. Embassy was hit by a truck bomb; there were no visible repercussions at the time.

However, this is indeed a somber reminder of the bizarre times we live in. We will continue to be alert and flexible with our travel plans.

Update: May 16, 2002

Kenya Minister Says Specific Al Qaeda Threat to BA
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's National Security Minister said on Friday that there was a specific al Qaeda threat against British Airways planes flying to Nairobi.

"It's a specific al Qaeda threat to British interests," Chris Murungaru told a news conference. "The threat was more specifically on British Airways flights to Nairobi."

British Airways suspended all flights in and out of Kenya on Thursday, citing "terrorist threats."

Update: May 17, 2002

Terrorists detonated several bombs in Casablanca, Morocco earlier today, killing 28 people. We are supposed to be visiting Morocco at the end of August. Another Palestinian suicide bomber killed seven people on a Jerusalem bus.

We're currently discussing our Kenya/Tanzania safari plans with our friends Anne and Dave, and the tour company, Sagawa.