Sierra Leone – 148th Country
Sierra Leone – 148th Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Sierra Leone is my 148th country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Sierra Leone is another West African country on the Atlantic Ocean. Over 8 million people live here with over 80% of the country practicing Islam. While this area was inhabited, the Brits established a colony in 1808 for returning Africans who were freed slaves. The country gained its independence in 1961. Sierra Leone was subject to a brutal civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s and then one of the centers of the Ebola outbreak in the 2010s. I crossed into Sierra Leone on my 6 country West African road trip and ended up in the capital Freetown which sits in the hills set on the beach. I was provided a introduction to the city via a tuktuk. I also visited both Banana Island and Bunce Island, to [...]
Guinea – 147th Country
Guinea – 147th Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Guinea is my 147th country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Guinea or Guinea-Conakry, not to be confused with its neighbor, Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is also located in West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean albeit much larger with over 12 million souls. Guinea was a former colony of France and it gained its independence in 1958. Over 85% of the population practices Islam with 24 ethnic groups. The official language is French with an additional 24 indigenous languages. The economy is driven by agriculture and mining. I entered Guinea overland from Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. The roads were brutal resulting in a 14 hour drive to Labe, a town of 200,000 in the Guinea Highlands. Bu luck, I was a guest of a wedding in a local and remote village. The other highlight was a private performance by a group of Griots, the minstrels of [...]
Guinea-Bissau – 146th Country
Guinea-Bissau – 146th Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Guinea-Bissau is my 146th country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Guinea-Bissau is a country of less than 2 million people located on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa. GB gained its independence from Portugal in 1973 being led by freedom fighter, Amilcar Cabral. GB per capita income is one of the lowest in Africa and its economy is primarily powered by agriculture such as fish and cashew nuts. GB is comprised of many tribes with the two biggest being Fula and Balanta. Portuguese is the official language, but the majority of people actually speak a creole version of the language. And there is a number of local languages also spoken. The top three religions are Islam, indigenous beliefs, and then Christianity. I crossed into GB via a land crossing after picking up the Guinea-Bissau visa in southern Senegal in the town [...]
Drew Binsky … We Are All The Same
Drew Binsky has traveled to every country in the world Drew made his first appearance on Counting Countries in 2017 when we both were Wanderers for G Adventures, the global travel company. We also crossed paths in Bangkok when Thor Pedersen passed through Thailand. Drew and I continued a correspondence over the years with some recent communications when Drew was visiting Saudi Arabia, his last country, while I was also in the KSA. This episode is Counting Countries’s 100th episode, and several months ago I pondered who would be a good choice for this milestone. I decided Drew was a great fit for this episode, timing with his completion of every country in the world. And also, Drew is arguably one of the most successful travel content creators, especially in the Chasing 193 universe. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons: Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of [...]
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #4
A Conversation With Harry Mitsidis On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania. We spoke with Harry Mitsidis on the last episode when he shared that the 2nd Annual NomadMania Travel Awards. Harry will also be hosting a trip to Armenia before the festival. So this is a great opportunity to travel w a legend and visit all 3 nomad mania regions of this historic country. You can check out the Extraordinary Travel Festival website to overview the trip. Please listen in and enjoy.
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #3
A Conversation With Harry Mitsidis And Julian Carnall Of Large Minority On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania and Julian Carnall, the founder of Large Minority. Harry has big news to share ... The Second Annual NomadMania Travel Awards will take place in person at the Extraordinary Travel Festival on October 16, 2022 in Yerevan Armenia. Large Minority is one of our sponsors and partners of the festival. The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be creating a Curated Trips of 2023. Large Minority will be contributing a trip to this list, which we will discuss during our conversation. This will be an awesome adventure, a tuktuk rally up the KKR in Pakistan. Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 At the Armenia Hotel Yerevan For the: Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun and unwind This is a great opportunity to meet avid & accomplished travelers from [...]
