Coming and Going: Obama Ancestry Tours in Africa, New Visa Regs for Visitors

TREND WATCH

Rookies of the Year

When TripAdvisor.com released its list of 2008's "Break-out Places" recently, we weren't surprised to see that it mentioned Wasilla, Alaska (courtesy of Sarah Palin), the French provincial town of Le Val (where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie holed up last year while awaiting twins) and Beijing (something about a bird's nest).

Noticeably absent from the illustrious group, however, was Kogelo, a small town in Kenya about 267 miles west of Nairobi. It's there that President-elect Barack Obama's father was born and there that a poor fishing village on Lake Victoria is struggling to come to terms with hitting the tourist jackpot.

"Being African, I see it from a very funny point of view," said Kenneth Hieber, whose company, 2Afrika (866-462-2374, http://www.2afrika.com), is just one of many seeking to capitalize on the intense public interest in Obama's family history. "It's a place so sleepy, so rural. How on earth are they going to deal with what will happen next?"

What will happen next is anybody's guess, but it's safe to say that while the proposed Obama stimulus package has yet to affect our own shores, it has already hit Kogelo with a vengeance. Roads have been built, infrastructure has been improved (or in some cases created) and souvenir stands have sprung up as if by magic, all in hopes that, as Hieber put it, "people are going to descend upon the town just for the value of saying, 'Oh, my goodness, I saw it.' "

Kogelo, a stronghold of the Luo tribe, is a village of fewer than 1,000 inhabitants where "people live from hour to hour, as opposed to day to day." Draws include the home of Obama's step-grandmother, Mama Sarah, where you might see "her mud hut and her feeding chickens in Kenyan garb," Hieber said, or at the very least "a little patch of green with her eucalyptus trees."

It's a day trip, in other words.

Hieber's Obama ancestry tour comes at the end of an 11-day Kenyan safari with prices starting at $2,999 per person (including airfare from Washington). The trip begins with a night at a treehouse-style hotel on the slopes of Mount Kenya; subsequent days feature six-person groups visiting Lake Nakuru, with its famed pink flamingos, and the world-renowned Masai Mara game reserve. Then it's on to Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city, your home base for the 30-mile trip to Kogelo.

"You don't want to be sleeping in Kogelo," Hieber said, a bit ominously.

VISITOR ALERT

New Visa Regulations

Starting Jan. 12, visas or electronic travel authorization will be required of all foreigners visiting the United States except for citizens or nationals of Bermuda, Canada, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

The change will affect mostly those from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program. Previously they were able to enter the United States without a visa but now must obtain a visa or a travel authorization. That's not as complicated as it might sound: Travel authorizations are free and available by registering online at http://www.travel.state.gov at least 72 hours before traveling here.

The affected countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

For more information, contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection at 877-CBP-5511 or http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel.

TRAVEL TICKER

If you're on the other side of the pond on Inauguration Day, you can still catch a glimpse of Obama. Americans in London receive free entry to Madame Tussauds museum. Its newest inductee: our 44th Mr. President. To get the deal, bring proof of citizenship, or else you'll have to pay about $37. For more information, http://www.madametussauds.com/london.

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

British Midland Airways (BMI) is offering sale fares starting at $542 round trip, including taxes, from Washington Dulles to Scotland's Edinburgh or Glasgow. Fare on other airlines starts at $817. Lowest fares available for travel through March 22 and Oct. 23-31; higher sale fares apply March 23-Oct. 22. Some dates are sold out. Overseas flight to the connecting city of London is operated by BMI's codeshare partner, United. Book by Jan. 31 at http://www.flybmi.com, or call 800-788-0555.

Reporting: Scott Vogel, Christina Talcott, Andrea Sachs

Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to: cogo@washpost.com. By fax: 202-912-3609. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.