Even I admit, attempting to travel multiple counties in Africa on a tight and fast schedule during the pandemic was silly, risky and maybe even dumb, no doubt. But I’d secured the perfect route and mileage redemption into the unseen (by me) disputed territory of Western Sahara nearly a year ago. I’d already canceled so…
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Note: This blog details my second and third visits to Senegal. For visit number one, please GO HERE. Soft Spot Senegal will always have a place in my heart. It was the first (mainland) country in Africa that I set foot in, just four years ago, although it seems like a lifetime. I use Senegal…
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Note: My first time in Ghana was actually part of my very first trip to Mother Africa–back in 2016–which today, seems so long ago. You can GO HERE to see the report of my first time in Ghana here. I’m Ghana Tell You a Little Story… I’ve been back to Africa too many times to…
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Life’s a Beach! I visited the incredible island nation of São Tomé e Principe in January 2021. It was the last of nine countries on an insane mid-pandemic end-of-year West African adventure that I was foolish enough to embark on. I almost didn’t even make it to São Tomé – numerous times! So once…
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Celebration Time (C’mon!) Landing in São Tomé on New Year’s Eve was nothing short of a miracle (many, actually), and serious cause for celebration. São Tomé and Principe was country #162 for me, and ceremoniously, the last of seven new countries on this end-of-year mid-pandemic West African adventure. I won’t spend time re-hashing the horror…
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I Walk the Line As I walked into the Sierra Leone border checkpoint, I breathed a sigh a relief to see the glass windows and booths where travelers present their passports to get stamped in – a sign that maybe this country was just a little more developed and had more of a normal “system”…
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Mission: Impossible My strut onto flight HC202 from Dakar, Senegal felt more like a victory lap, as I showed my ticket and took a seat among 100-plus Africans dressed in colorful dresses and boubous. I was the only gringo on the flight, and that’s just the way I like it. Flying into Guinea was nothing…
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I’m so Excited (and I Just Can’t Hide it) I have a ton of photos, but first, some text. I need to preface this blog by explaining why I was so amped to see Guinea Bissau. Of all seven new countries on this December 2020 mid-pandemic West African itinerary, I was most pumped up about…
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