One Week Agenda Senegal
One Week Agenda Senegal. Here is my "perfect" agenda for a one week itinerary for the northern part (north of Gambia) of Senegal. Dakar My plane touched down from Lisbon in the wee hours of darkness. Despite the early days of Covid-19, I sped through immigration and received my entry stamp on arrival. My driver was waiting with my car to take me to the hotel. Leaving the Dakar airport in the early morning The ride is a long one with the airport being located on the outskirts of the capital. While this 60km long ride can be as long as 90 minutes, mine was under an hour since there is no traffic at 1am.I checked into my beachside hotel, La Maison Abaka, in the N’Gor area of Dakar. But in darkness I was none the wiser. I woke after a short sleep and shuffled to a patio which hung over the busy and narrow beach. This was a hectic beach, not for sunbathing, but for commerce of fishermen and an apparent cottage industry of [...]
Melissa Roy … Dreams From Her Father
Melissa has traveled to every country in the world. This episode with guest Melissa Roy was recorded back in late February. While there was ample concern in regard to Covid-19 at that time especially in a place like China, in much of the world business went about as normal. In fact, I left Bangkok on March 2nd to start a 8 week trip that would take me to Berlin for two conferences, West Africa for a month, and then a couple of weeks in Yerevan for my annual visit. All of these plans were made in vain. My two conferences in Berlin were cancelled, including the Travel Massive Forum as I was on my flight. After Berlin, I then went and met my friends in Dakar for the start of our road trip. On March 15 on our first day in Gambia, we had a team dinner where we decided to cancel the trip and to leave Banjul the following the day. While I was very disappointed, in just several more days this looked like an astute [...]
Boy Interrupted, Travel In The Time Of Covid
Boy Interrupted, Travel In The Time Of Covid. The spreadsheet had been tweaked and edited for months. Reviewed and rewritten. I had planned all my travels from January through October of 2020. And it was only October of 2019. I had set high ambitions for the year with a list of 19 new countries. And of course, a handful of repeats. The new countries were broken into three trips. February/March – West Africa Senegal Gambia Guinea-Bissau Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia May/June – The Pacific Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Nauru Kiribati Marshall Islands August/September/October – Southern Africa Malawi Comoros Madagascar Mauritius Mauritania Eswatini Lesotho Botswana This was to be 19 new countries … and I was hoping for a 20th in either October or November. If you are a reader you might know I am trying to visit every country in the world. And at the start of 2020, I had traveled to 140 of 193 countries. A sample of my travel spreadsheet And then Covid-19 arrived. I am partially living in Bangkok. And the [...]
The Gambia – 142nd Country
The Gambia – 142nd 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. The Gambia is my 142nd country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! The Gambia located in West Africa centuries ago was part of the Mali Empire. The Portuguese were the fist Europeans to take interest. Then the British and French jockeyed for power, until Britain gained control of these lands. The Gambia gained its independence from the Brits in 1965. The Gambia is the smallest country on continental Africa with less than two million citizens. It is a skinny enclave completely surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia River which divides the country is a focal point for the nation. English is the official language with 95% of the nation practicing Islam. I crossed overland from Senegal into The Gambia. I was in the midst of a month-long overland trip with two friends. The Gambia stated that US citizens [...]
Senegal – 141st Country
Senegal – 141st 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. Senegal is my 141st country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Senegal is a country located in West Africa numbering 16 million people. Senegal was the focus of European powers, including the Portuguese, the Dutch, French and the British. France consolidated its dominance in the 1850s. Senegal gained its independence in 1960 and is a democratic nation. The country is predominantly Sunni Muslim with approximately 5% of the nation following the Christian faith. Its official language is French but there are many ethnic groups who have their own language as well. I touched down in Dakar, the capital on March 8th, when Senegal had just a few cases of Covid-19. This was the start of a month-long trip across West Africa. I was traveling with my friend Marlon, who I had already been on two roadtrips with as well as my travel [...]
Lorenzo Riccardi … Marrying Economics And Travel
Lorenzo has traveled to every country in the world I had the great opportunity to sit down with Lorenzo during his visit to Bangkok. We had known of each other through the EPS community on FB as well as through some mutual friends. After the interview, Lorenzo joined me at a travel networking event I host in Bangkok where he was the featured speaker. It is always great to do the interviews in person. Counting Countries is offering its first group tour to Madagascar in August of 2020. Please reach out to me with any questions on this trip. In addition, if you are planning trips to places like Antarctica, Svalbard, Galapagos, please consider my partner G Adventures and use my link. I am reminding you that Counting Countries is partnered with Patreon. Patreon is a platform that allows patrons, that’s you, to support creators, and that is me creating Counting Countries. And thanks to my other patrons, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Ryan Gazder, Stephen Rothwell, and Adam Hickman. They get to listen to extra [...]
