Francis Tapon … Traveled Africa With 3000 Friends
Francis Tapon Counting Countries has traveled to 120 countries Francis popped up on my radar about a year ago, when former guest Fabio Cao brought him to my attention. I hit google up and quickly realized Francis was an accomplished traveler, including a five year continuous journey across every country in Africa. He seemed like a great fit for Counting Countries, but I neglected to reach out. Then a recent email from listener, Francois Xavier, suggested that I have Francis on the podcast. This email served as a catalyst for me to finally reach out to Francis and we promptly agreed upon a time to speak. And I was really happy I did. We recorded this episode back in February and obviously so much has changed since then. I have been self-sheltering in Bangkok since my trip to West Africa was prematurely canceled on March 17. This opening bumper was re-recorded on May 5 and things in Bangkok will be slowly opening up this week. I hope everyone who is listening is safe and sound. Also, [...]
7 Off The Beaten Path Natural Wonders Of The World
You might have seen my previous posts on 7 Off The Beaten Path Wonders Of The World and 7 Off The Beaten Path Wonderful Experiences In The World. Lists to be sure that will cause some debate and maybe even an argument or two. I will now be tackling the 7 Off The Beaten Path Natural Wonders Of The World. Currently, there is no universally accepted list of the 7 Wonders Of The Natural World today, but there are several competing lists. I have highlighted two of them. CNN compiled their list in 2007 with some extremely popular and beautiful locations. • Aurora (northern lights) • Grand Canyon • Great Barrier Reef • Harbor of Rio de Janeiro • Mount Everest • Parícutin Volcano in Mexico • Victoria Falls And the New7 Wonders of the World group also compiled their own list in 2011 along with their man-made version, which I highlighted in this previous post. • Iguazu Falls • Hạ Long Bay • Jeju Island • Puerto Princesa Underground River • Table Mountain • Komodo Island [...]
7 Off The Beaten Path Wonderful Experiences Of The World
7 Off The Beaten Path Wonderful Experiences Of The World. Have you put together your bucket list for incredible travel experiences? Many people dream of visiting New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Rio for Carnival, or Pamplona Spain for the running of the bulls. All truly fun and memorable experiences, but these events have been recorded ad nauseam. In this post, I have created an alternative list. A list that is not as well-marketed or well-known, but maybe even more rewarding. One of the other major benefits or attending some of these events is you might be the only foreigners in attendance. Talk about a command performance. Royal Drummers of Burundi When putting together bucket lists in Africa, Burundi does not often come to mind. This diminutive country in East Africa is not often visited by tourists. The true highlight of visiting Burundi is a performance by the Royal Drummers of Burundi. The drummers have been performing for centuries in a tradition that is passed down from father to son. These performances historically are part of ceremonies such [...]
7 Off The Beaten Path Wonders Of The World
7 Off The Beaten Path Wonders Of The World. Everyone loves lists. Why? Because every list is incorrect, and you can chime in with your opinions, suggestions, and corrections. And when it comes to travel, people are continually creating lists and then debating their merits. People love to rank everything, whether it is the best beach, wildlife, trek, museum, or sunset. Lists do perform a function since is spurs debate and interest and invites one to explore that which might have not been considered previously. And list making is not just an exercise of present-day man, but dates backs centuries. Travelers created travel lists over 2000 years ago in Ancient Greece. The wonders of the world at that time were limited to the known world of the Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, and Greek civilizations. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was a list that captured the wonders of the man-made structures built by man before Christ. Here is the list of those ancient wonders: Temple of Zeus at Olympia Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Mausoleum at [...]
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 [...]
