This is a satellite image of the Kibera slum, one of the (if I may use the term) most famous slums in Africa (it is the second largest) and the world (it is the third largest). We passed by it a few days ago on the way to the elephant orphanage. It is so dense you could probably walk across the whole thing by simply walking from roof to roof.

To be honest, I desired to take photographs, but another part of me said it would be wrong.  Besides, there are plenty of photos of it already on the internet:

The vast majority of the residents do not have electricity or running water. Their ground is filth and trash. I am not intending to demean the people that live there, simply trying to give facts. It is not a stop one would necessarily think of making if one flew thousands of miles to visit Kenya.

But people do.

Check out the following links when you get a chance. There may be others:

http://explorekibera.com/index.html
http://kiberatours.com/

I am a little thrown off by the one website which describes Kibera as "the friendliest slum in the world."  Maybe it is, but it just feels funny to me.

Are such "slum tours" ethical? Do they help or hurt the local community? Are there better ways to fuel the economy of a slum or is money earned by any means helpful? At the end of the day is the tour about the local community or the tourist? Am I any different if one day I take my camera (only with permission) on a home visit with JRS?

I am wondering what people think.