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…
Dodging Death In A Sacred Grove — Nigeria Part 2
In my last entry, I began my trip to the most populous Black nation on earth: Nigeria. I spent some time in the capital city of Lagos and visited an old slave town, the beach, a sacred rock, a fetish market, and some villages. I also got to explore Idanre Hills, the very underrated “Macchu…
Lagos, Slavery And A Lovely Lost City In The Hills — Nigeria Part 1
At the point I’m writing this, I just have four more countries left to travel to until I’ve reached my goal of visiting every country in the world. 🌍 My last four countries will be Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Mauritius, and Japan. I’ll knock Mauritius off my list in early November, and I have an invitation to…
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,…
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…
Seeing Benin — From Voodoo Serpents To Lake Living
Do you know what’s the birthplace of voodoo? Let’s pay a visit to Benin (😉) to check out everything from the serpent temple, where we’ll get to hang with pythons, to the Venice of West Africa, where we’ll get to experience life on the water in Africa’s largest lake village. Let’s do it… Getting to Benin…
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…
Mud Mastery And Surviving The Elements — Mali Part 2
Mali has much more to see than merely Mopti and Timbuktu. But again it doesn’t come without danger. So let’s get ready to hide in the backseat of a blacked out car (not all the time) and continue our travels around this West African nation, where we’ll get to see the largest mud building in…
Executing A Visit To Timbuktu — Mali Part 1
Have you ever wondered where Timbuktu is? Of if you’re a more adventurous type like me, have have you wanted to visit? Well, Timbuktu is long past its golden age when it was a center for learning and culture in in the Mali (😉) Empire. And in its present state, it is surrounded by danger…
Monkeying Around In Ghana And Togo
It’s not quite like being in the Serengeti, but there is more to do in West Africa than visit beaches and sightsee in capital cities. So on this two-country trek, let’s do a little monkeying around and see some animals — both alive and dead. 😱 I flew from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Accra, the…
Making The Most Of The Ivory Coast
Bags in hand or not, it’s time to tour the Ivory Coast and see the crocodiles, cultural dances and gigolos (not for me 😂) this rather developed West African nation has to offer. After a few days in Liberia, I was ready to move on to the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast, also known as…
Freetown And Freedom In Sierra Leone
Ready to go road tripping, canoeing and even sailing on a catamaran (not SY Staatenlos) through a country founded for freed slaves to return to Africa? Let’s go! On this West African adventure, we left off heading south overland to Sierra Leone after a great three days of traveling through Guinea. I was permitted to enter…
Life, Liberia, And The Pursuit Of Happiness
Though liberty is enshrined in the name of the country, Liberia hasn’t always been such a free place. Let’s explore this America-esque West African nation and see how it is overcoming war, warlords, poverty, and decay… and maybe find a little sanctuary along the way. After a few good days exploring Guinea and then Sierra…
Simple Living In Guinea
Our West African adventure now continues with a look at a dirty yet scenic capital, nearby island life and a surprising waterfall — all in the country of Guinea. After parting ways with Alana in Guinea-Bissau, I flew back to Dakar, Senegal, and from there I flew onward to the country of Guinea, which was…
Quaint Island Life In A Narco State – Guinea-Bissau Part 2
Join us as we continue our travels through Guinea-Bissau, a country that just weeks ago experienced a deadly coup attempt that aimed to kill the president, prime minister, cabinet, and army officials, and succeeded in killing almost a dozen people before it was stopped. The president describes the coup attempt as an attack on democracy,…
Seeing Bissau & Bouncing Around The Bissagos Archipelago — Guinea-Bissau Part 1
Think there’s nothing to see in a poor West African country that you’ve hardly, if ever, heard of? Think again. It’s time to go sightseeing, island hopping, hippo watching and more in Guinea-Bissau. And keeping reading until the end as we will travel to a previously renowned matriarchy to meet a soon-to-be-king. 👑 From Mauritania…
A Troublesome Trip To Tripoli, Libya
A couple years had passed since my visit to Mogadishu, Somalia. As time went on, I found myself chomping at the bit to visit another failed state on the African continent. This one wouldn’t be so easy — not in the sense that I might come under actual gunfire, rather than merely getting hit by…
Making The Final Preparations In Praia
I had just survived food poisoning – well sort of – on the final stop of the sailing adventure around Cape Verde prior to the SY Staatenlos’s grand crossing of The Atlantic Ocean. Having recovered from this near-death experience, there were still sights left to see on the island of Santiago, which you may recall…
Final Cape Verdean Destination: Santiago Island
Have you ever wondered how a seasoned sailor could be killed by a fish? It could happen in more ways than one. And it nearly happened to me. 😵 The location was Cape Verde, specifically Santiago Island… Sailing to Santiago The final destination on the SY Staatenlos’ Atlantic island hopping voyage around Cape Verde would…
Exploring Wreckage From The Volcanic Island Of Fogo
Would there be an eruption during the SY Staatenlos’s visit to the Cape Verdean island of Fogo? I’ll spare you the suspense. The volcano will not erupt during our stay, and lava will not destroy the SY Staatenlos. However, we will encounter wreckage both at sea and on the island, due in part but not…
Braving The Sea To And From Beautiful Brava
In sailing as in life, there is often a calm before a storm. Cape Verde’s little luscious green island of Brava would make for a calm few days in the SY Staatenlos journey around Cape Verde. So what would come next? A storm, or a volcanic eruption perchance? Let’s just explore beautiful Brava — from…
The SY Staatenlos Sails To Sal
We escaped Cape Verde’s island of São Nicolau just in the nick of time. After being hauled off in a police car to get our covid-1984 tests done, we left the marina of São Nicolau. We had been having a nice time on the island up until we were forced by police to be subjected to…
Sailing Into The New Year On The SY Staatenlos
Do you think sailing into the new year was a breeze? It kind of was. We traversed the Atlantic waters that separate the islands of Cape Verde, successfully navigating a channel effect and discovering a mountain village paradise. But traversing this African archipelago did involve circumventing covid-1984 restrictions that eventually landed the SY Staatenlos crew…
Naked Wrestlers And Africa’s Greatest Lake: My Travels In South Sudan And Uganda
Right after experiencing the most frightening moment of your travel career — being held hostage in terra nulius by machine gun-toting Bedouins — what do you do? Do you take a break from it all and go lounge on the beach in Bali with rainbow nomads? No! You carry on to one of the world’s…