To make a long story short, I ended up in Dakar, Senegal for a day and a half by mistake when the flight I was booked on from Dakar, which was a connection from Mauritania to the Cape Verde Islands, was apparently non existant. I am still unclear about who’s fault it actually is but […]
Life in Nouakchott
December 27, 2008 by 6 Comments
Nouakchott, Mauritania is a sleepy, dusty, very pleasant town 5 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Africa. I am staying with my friend from school, Alberto’s, buddy from the Peace Corps, who lives and works here in Nouakchott. Damian and his wife Mary have been so wonderful in their hospitality and […]
Like Visiting an Old Friend
December 26, 2008 by 4 Comments
I was fortunate enough to have an eight hour layover today in Paris. It was my first time in Paris since December 2001 and my seventh time overall. It was like visiting an old friend because I know the city so well and although I haven’t seen it in a while-not much has changed and […]
A Busy Winter
December 24, 2008 by 3 Comments
Happy holidays everyone and thanks as always for your emails and comments. I just got back from a Caribbean trip where I racked up 10 new countries from Curacao to the Bahamas and I am leaving tomorrow for a 16 country (14 new) West African tour starting in Nouakchott, Mauritania and ending in Lagos, Nigeria. […]
St. Martin and Anguilla
December 19, 2008 by 6 Comments
The island of St. Martin is divided between two nations, Dutch (St. Maarten) and French (St. Martin). The French side is where I stayed in a place called Grand Case Beach at a hotel called L’esplanade which was very good and the people were very helpful and friendly. The French side is way more islandy […]
The Scoop on Guadeloupe
December 18, 2008 by 7 Comments
Guadeloupe is an overseas French territory much like it’s sister island Martinique. However, Guadeloupe is clearly the ugly twin and cannot be held in the same breath as the much nicer, classier and safer Martinique. Guadeloupe is not without some virtues of course but I have to admit after being in Martinique and having a […]
Magnifique Martinique
December 17, 2008 by 4 Comments
I first heard about Martinique when I was a kid from that old Beach Boys song, Kokomo, and I thought it sounded so exotic and cool and I knew I always wanted to go there. It didn’t disappoint. Martinique is really everything you would want in an affluent island as you cannot compare it to […]
St. Vincent and Bequia
December 16, 2008 by 7 Comments
After leaving Grenada for that early morning flight up to St. Vincent, the plane flew straight over the gorgeous and untouched Grenadine Island chain. It is a chain of mostly forgotten islands and their slogan is “the Caribbean the way it used to be”. The view from the small prop plane made me excited to […]
Blue Curacao
December 14, 2008 by 4 Comments
Curacao is the last letter in the Dutch ABC islands of the South Caribbean consisting of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and certainly its most dynamic. Aruba possesses the best beaches by far, Bonaire the best diving by far and Curacao has decent of both but more importantly it has a cool, cosmopolitan vibe to it […]
