The Venice of Poverty And Last Days In Lagos — Nigeria Part 3
My 10-day trip to Nigeria was a rollercoaster of ups and downs as I came face to face with ancient cultures and even faced my own mortality when I was nearly killed by a local soldier whose job was to protect me. I learned a lot about the history and culture of the country and…
Onshoring And Offshoring A Surprising African Country — Equatorial Guinea Part 2
You’ve already gotten a taste of volcanic island life in Equatorial Guinea, but you’ve yet to get the full lush green volcano jungle experience. That is coming up at the end of this Equatoguinean adventure. But first we’ve got to onshore and then offshore this journey while exploring more nature and mixed Spanish culture and also getting a…
Volcanic Island Life Without Permit — Equatorial Guinea Part 1
You’ve probably never been to Equatorial Guinea. So you might not be aware that its capital is located, not on the African continental mainland, but on a volcanic island situated off the coast of Cameroon. It’s actually much closer to Cameroon than to mainland Equatorial Guinea. To say the least, Equatorial Guinea has some interesting…
On Safari South Of The Sahara In Chad
One might not know that just south of the Sahara Desert in a remote location of Chad you can find the Big 5 and all kinds of amazing untouched wildlife. But this truly is a remote location, and as you will see, it is not easy to get to and from it. So is this…
A Coastal City And Consternation In Congo — Republic of Congo Part 2
We last left off halfway through my trip to the Republic of Congo, where I had toured the capital city of Brazzaville and sacrificed some sweets in a sacred cave at sunrise. I had also experienced the highlight of my West Africa trip by visiting some massive gorillas in their natural habitat. While it was…
Visiting Massive Gorillas In The Other Congo — Republic of Congo Part 1
Having already seen gorillas in the wild in multiple parts of Africa, stumbling upon more of these large primates might not impress me so much, or so you might think… But in the Republic of Congo, one can see gorillas of distinct size, if not habitat. And you can visit these primates in close proximity…
Going On Safari In Gabon — Part 2
You ready to go back out into the Gabonese wilderness and this time go on safari with some more enticing wildlife? For instance, hallucinating elephants (yeah, that’s a thing) and swimming elephants, as well. Plus we can head deep into the jungle to find gorillas in their natural habitat. We last left off in Gabon,…
Staatenlos Meet Up in Bali
I arrived in Bali absolutely hungry! I was fasting for 30h after my trip in South Korea. And of course whenever you are hungry, everything seems like to take longer 🤯 When I arrived in Bali, there was a huge queue for the immigration at the airport. I was already choosing my order at the…
Going On Safari In Gabon — Part 1
After making it away from the voodoo serpents of Benin, I was ready for a more traditional African animal experience. It was time to travel to Gabon, yet another one of those Atlantic Coast countries in West Africa. Gabon has some interesting twists, including surprising prices, but also some quite accessible wildlife, which was very…
Skeleton Coast: The sailors didn’t see this coming!
This story is the continuation of my adventures in Namibia in June 2021. You can read the first part here 📖 After having an amazing Savannah experience in the Etosha National Park, we were headed to the coast to see some sea safari. At the coast we have the “The Skeleton Coast”, which is part…
Namibia: where the only rule is to be wild.
This time I will talk about my amazing experiences in Namibia. I am a huge fan of the wild life and enjoy seeing animals in their purest form in the nature. So of course, I should consider coming to this southern African country to see its beauty with my own eyes. And this is exactly…
On Safari With An Army-For-Hire In Niger
You’ve heard all about my safari successes and trials and tribulations. It’s time to step it up a notch… from spotting big game like a capable Maasai man to dodging Boko Haram while mixing and mingling with giant giraffes. For this I’ll need to hire my own army. Welcome to Niger! Getting to Know Niger…
Getting To Know Burkina Faso
Are you ready for mud mosques, crocs, rock outcrops and waterfalls? And odd, more so than awe-inspiring, monuments? That might not be what comes to mind (if anything does) when you think of Burkina Faso. But that’s on our itinerary as we get to know this little-visited, landlocked West African country — and do so…
Cruising Cameroon And Going On Safari In The CAR
Let’s take a step up in West African wildlife watching from monkeying around in Ghana to hanging with habituated gorillas and buffaloes in the Baï of the war-torn Central African Republic. Also, get ready to canoe in and out of the CAR and check out city life in neighboring Cameroon. Plus, you want to see…
Keep Calm and Celebrate Life in Colombia!
Cartagena de Indias (or simply Cartagena) is a nice fishing village on Colombia’s Caribbean coast with a strong colonial architecture. It’s famous to be one of the safest places in the country and – due to its location – it’s a popular and strategic port for ships. This is the place where I chose to…
Galápagos: the Charles Darwin’s Living Laboratory
This post is about one of the most unique places on earth: the Galápagos Islands. They compose a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean and are extremely rich in wildlife diversity. The 19 islands are considered to be a province from Ecuador and are currently under the country’s administration. Galápagos is around 9000km far from…
Somaliland and Djibouti – Volcanoes, Salt and History!
I had a great time in Somaliland and Djibouti – but to get there I needed to push a little bit beyond the means. Still the sun’s good lightning, the volcanoes, the brown and yellow landscapes and rocky hikes made every effort worth of it! The chance to experience one of the most colorful coral…
Nanga Parbat’s Breathtaking Beauty And Danger – Pakistan Part 5
After spending a few good days in Passu, we had a long journey ahead to get to the mountain, Nanga Parbat, where we would spend the next three days. We left early in the morning and began our long drive all the way back down the same road that had previously taken us through the…
French Guiana: Not the Shit-Hole I Expected
This post picks up right after my layover in Paris. I’d made my way to French Guyana and made my way to the boat, which was waiting in the waters near Kourou. Back with my crew in Kourou The crew received me with a nice welcome dinner, and I woke up early the next day,…
La Digue and Praslin: Seychelles pt. 2
This story picks up right at the end of my time on the main island of Seychelles. I had just spent a few days road tripping through Mahé, and I was ready for new horizons. So, I gave back the car rental shop and walked onto a ferry to La Digue. La Digue 101 La…
My lonesome honeymoon in the Seychelles pt. 1
After three weeks of roughing it in Afghanistan and Iraq, I decided to reward myself with a lonelymoon in Seychelles with me, myself, and I. I’d never been to the Seychelles before, meaning it was still on my list. So when I found a direct, three-hour flight from Dubai, it was a pretty obvious choice.…
Crossing borders to the Casamance Region of Senegal
By now, our time in West Africa was coming to an end. As you know, we’d spend our time learning about things like the West African Slave trade and Islamic Polygamy. We also visited the smallest country on the African mainland. Lastly, it wouldn’t be a proper trip to West Africa without having our fair share of wildlife…
A two-day pitstop in the smallest country of Mainland Africa
This post is a continuation of the time I spent visiting my first two West African countries. Senegal and the Gambia. After a few days of exploration through Senegal, we were finally due to cross borders into the Gambia. The morning of, we woke up early and hit the road right away. It was only…
Breathtaking Beauty And Blown-Up Buddha Statues – Afghanistan Part 2
You’ve already heard about my just-in-time arrival in Afghanistan. And I know you’re presuming I got out in time as well. But before we get to my Afghan exit, we still have a lot of ground to cover in this crucial and complex country — home to everyone from Pashtuns to Uzbeks to Tajiks to…
Islamic Polygamy and the Holy City of Touba
During my time in Senegal with Alana, we had quite a bit planned. Since you already know about our sightseeing day in Dakar and Goree Island; on this post I’ll tell you about the other parts of the country we visited before crossing borders to The Gambia. The plan was to head to The Gambia…
Vacationing in Senegal: Slave trade tourism in Dakar and Goree Island
After a long hiatus, from this blog – it feels really good to be sharing my adventures with you once again. Africa is the theme for this comeback season. I’ve already begun telling you about Libya and my troublesome trip to Tripoli. For this post, I wanted to change gears a bit. Keep it light-hearted…
One month land-bound Part 4: Boat Days in Lampedusa and Linosa
In this post, I want to tell you all about my Italian escapade’s grand finale, the time I spent hopping between the islands of Lampedusa and Sardinia. As you know, at the end of the summer, I spent about a month land-bound. During this time I road-tripped from Switzerland to Germany and then spent 2…
One month land-bound Part 3: Volcanos Galore in Mount Etna and the Aeolian Islands
This is the third installment in the land-bound series, which has been recounting the time I spent off my boat at the beginning of the fall. In previous chapters, you learned about my love for world-class mountain passes as I raced through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. In my last post, I spoke about my first…
One month land-bound Part 2: Road-Tripping Through Sicily and Exploring the Aegadian Islands
In the first part of this story, I recall the first week of my month-long stint on land. During that week I road-tripped from Switzerland to Germany, through Italy and Austria. I managed to see friends, meet clients, and attend the annual TCC meeting in Nuremberg; all this before going home to see my family…
One month land-bound Part 1: Mountain Passes Galore
This next saga is all about the month I spent land-bound and crossing borders all over Europe. This first installment recounts my time road-tripping from Switzerland to Germany through Italy and Austria. We begin after my most recent time in Montenegro. Side Note: While I stayed on land; the Staatenlos remained in Montenegro for 10…