Doesn’t that name just say it all? Ouagadougou (which I had to practice spelling), pronounced Waga-Doo-Goo or more affectionately known as Ouaga, is the greatest city name is history and capital and largest city in Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta. Ouaga is at the crossroads of a lot of different places and most people, me […]
To Timbuktu and Back
January 11, 2009 by 8 Comments
Timbuktu, that most rhythmical of African names, has for centuries been synonymous with Africa’s mysterious inaccessibility. With an end of the Earth allure that some travelers just have to reach and clearly I am one of them. It’s the name we all knew as kids but never really knew where it was. More than just […]
Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire
January 9, 2009 by 4 Comments
Cote D’Ivoire or Ivory Coast was once the shining light in West Africa and was an example for other nations to follow. An intricate part of the French influence of West Africa, Ivory Coast had fluorished financially as the center of business in the region and was home to a huge amount of French and […]
Post-War Monrovia, Liberia
January 8, 2009 by 12 Comments
Liberia is the only place that I was a little nervous about visiting this trip because of the conflict that was so recent and so violent. You can see remnants of the war everywhere and the former child soldiers make up a good amount of the touts and beggars on the streets of Monrovia as […]
Freetown to Monrovia Overland
January 8, 2009 by 7 Comments
Think of the countries that you probably wouldn’t want to visit in general. Now think of the countries that you would definitely not travel overland between. If you’re like most people, Sierra Leone and Liberia probably rank right up there at the top of both of those lists and that is exactly what I did. […]
Overland From Guinea to Sierra Leone
January 5, 2009 by 13 Comments
I arrived at Conakry airport after spending the night in Dakar. Conakry airport kind of set the mood for Guinea-hectic! First, after landing, the bus met the plane to drive us to the arrivals area-keep in mind this airport probably gets 2 or 3 flights a day, period. Anyway, the driver was a maniac and […]
Guinea-Bissau
January 3, 2009 by 2 Comments
Guinea-Bissau is the red headed stepchild of West Africa. Most people have never even heard of it, it doesn’t have much representation abroad including in the United States and it is difficult to get there and to get out. That said, it is an enticing place to visit in the dry season (right now) with […]
Happy New Year From The Gambia
January 2, 2009 by 4 Comments
Well it took me a while but I was finally able to get onto the Internet once I finally left the Gambia as they apparently had a nationwide cyber-blackout for a few days, or so they say! The news showed that the prominent IT companies there had already contacted Netzen, an IT Support company based […]
Cape Verde Islands
December 30, 2008 by 4 Comments
The Cape Verde Islands are the forgotten islands of the Atlantic if they were ever heard of at all. They are located about 500km to the west of Dakar, Senegal and are made up of 9 or so islands. The largest is Santiago, which has the capital Praia and is where I am staying. The […]
Dakar By Mistake
December 29, 2008 by 2 Comments
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 […]
