I wanted to write a quick post and remind everyone that I leave for Chad on Sunday on a 6+ week trip that will cover at least 18 new countries including some of the most (Seychelles, Mauritius) and least (Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Congo’s) desirable places on Earth. I am virtually all prepared except for a bunch of errands before Sunday morning and many of you have asked me about Angola. As of now I will not be going to Angola after a long and drawn out process in which I did everything I could’ve done but they, because of a combination of apathy, bureaucracy, stupidity and laziness did not grant me a visa in time even though they said they would. So I will not be visiting Angola or Cabinda this trip unless a miracle happens while on the road. Also, I want to thank my friend Carlos for trying his hardest to get me that visa and I only wish I called you earlier as it would’ve made life easier but certainly next time.

As the Angola visa situation has prevented me from planning an exact route of travel, here is a list in somewhat of a chronological order of where I will be going. Chad, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, Reunion Island, Mauritius, Rodriguez Island, Seychelles (Inner and Outer islands). Aside from those countries I will most likely be crossing through several others en route such as parts of Tanzania and Zambia along with possibly Zimbabwe and Botswana. I haven’t decided if I am going to Namibia yet and I will certainly spend a few days in South Africa as well. However, nothing after day 5 is set in my trip so we shall see!

As you can see, it will be a very involved trip with little downtime inbetween journeys. I will be mixing flights and overland travel where it makes cost and distance sense. Some places I will stay just one or two days and some places I will spend several. Much depends on reliability of flights and ground transport assuming no major issues at any border crossings as I am trying to quell major shakedowns, bribes, robberies and hassles (good luck I know) which are virtually unavoidable.

Aside from that, everything is a go and I will be bringing a laptop and blogging the trip and I also got a video camera and will be filming and will perhaps try to upload some video if I can figure out how. I am filming the video for a pilot television show about my travel quest so it should be fun and interesting. Feel free to email me and I will get back to you when I can as I doubt my blackberry will work in many places, but you never know. Thanks for all the support and check back with me soon to read about Chad!

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