BEYFlyer

Amazing trip report (as usual). I really envy your EXTREME sense of adventure Street food in Africa (indeed in some other parts of the world) can be tricky but OH SO delicious

Narra

Wonderful trip report and great pictures.

flying_blue_white_red

Gotcha haha, well done!

Yes you are very right, many African airlines (mostly state-owned) collapsed a few years after their launch due to mismanagement and widespread corruption. Unfortunately at the end, customers/travellers pay for the mistakes with little or no choice for routes!

ironmanjt

Well, if they ever decide to, I'm happy to provide what I consider to be the best princess-standard accommodations in each locale!

I was seriously impressed...I'm fairly adventurous, but not nearly as adventurous as Daniel! You must have a stomach of steel!

Things are getting so much better, however, in West Africa. Both ASKY and Air Cote d'Ivoire are expanding rapidly, and provide pretty comfortable and reliable service. However, it comes at a pretty huge price most of the time.

Thanks again for joining the trip, the people who mentioned that trips like this are so much more fun when you have others to do them with are really spot on. This trip wouldn't have been anywhere near as fun with out Daniel and Jordan!

lb8001

Oh yawn - just another amazingly awesome TR. Kudos to all three of you for letting us join you on the trip. Great photos as usual - particularly of all the various people and the adorable monkeys and chimps.

worldtraveller73

Absolutely fascinating street photography once again. Thank you for sharing.

I would love to know your secret about keeping your camera safe when you are in these places and steps you take to avoid getting "relieved" of it. Do you keep it hidden inside a jacket or what? I am guessing by the quality of the light metering that it's not a simple point and shoot camera that you are using. . .

The story about the border experience was very entertaining.

ironmanjt

My take is that he just exudes a confidence. I was amazed that such a fancy camera has never been poached, but at the same time I'm jealous of the great shots he gets because of it! Much better than my iPhone trip reports!

DanielW

Thanks, fivevsone, had a really awesome time!

Thank you, hirohito888. I hope they asked you politely. Luckily we had no issues at DKR.

Cheers, stevie. A part of the world I hadn't really heard of until a year or two ago, so was great to see it without much preconceptions.

Many thanks, BEYFlyer. I figured you have to sample the local cuisine at least once or twice. Fortunately managed to dodge any food bugs too!

Thank you, Narra.

I was just reading about Air Afrique, apparently it collapsed with 4,600 employees for the just 6 planes!

I'm sure there's a guidebook or two worth of knowledge from all your trips for the discerning traveller, maybe you can write it after your 196 countries memoir?

Not sure if my stomach is tougher than anyone else, maybe just luckier at dodgy food roulette though.

Thanks for letting me join along, and for your travel knowledge and expertise, linguistic & negotiating skills and for being a very fun guy to travel with!

Thanks, lb8001. Yes, it was interesting how people reacted to the camera. Some were fine, some were hesitant and some were even half-angry. The people often make a place though so have get a few photo's of the locals, despite if they may not be too keen on it.

Many thanks, worldtraveller73. I just shoot with a Canon 5D3. I don't really hide my camera at all. I put it in my camera bag sometimes when not using it, but the Canon straps still hang out so its still quite obvious. It's almost 4 years old and has been to 78 countries now so its definitely on borrowed time though.

And maybe a bit of luck and a generous amount of naivety. A big bulky camera is not the easiest thing to travel with, especially with corrupt policeman looking for a reason to do some 'investigations'. Taking pics is one of the main reasons I travel though so the extra hassle is always worth it.

camsean

Thanks for another amazing TR.

I'm always surprised at how expensive African countries can be.

halfcape

Thanks for sharing another adventure. Your reports are fantastic and I enjoy always seeing your unique destinations. As other posters have mentioned, I am impressed with your digestive fortitude. I fear I would not fare well.

flyr16

Great TR as always, fascinating to read. I am happy you did not opt for the sushi. Great foots again. They really bring the locations to the reader, thank you for posting.

DanielW

Thank you, camsean. Yes, some of the countries definitely weren't cheap. Liberia I guess because of all the UN workers and their US dollars, and Nigeria which until recently enjoyed high oil revenues. The Gambia and Senegal were not too bad though. Not SE Asia cheap, but still very reasonable.

Many thanks, halfcape. Yes, I figured if I can't see the bugs, they can't hurt me. Seriously though, I have never had GI problems in Africa, and don't think it is a big problem in other travellers to the continent also.

Thanks, flyr16. Yes, I figured eating raw fish in Africa may have been pushing it too far. The visiting Japanese journalist seemed to have survived it ok though.

Mightymouse

Just spent 3 hours reading this. One of the best, if not THE best trip reports I have ever read! It may rain all day here, London, later this week, so will read all your others.

Thank you so much!

DanielW

Many thanks, Mightymouse It took me a while to get this TR together but was great to see it all finished. A good way to look back and reflect on a very eventful and exciting trip.

im.daniel

So it turns out that we had the same driver in Lagos! He was talking about some of his previous clients, and showed me a card with what appeared website address on it - I had to come back onto FT to double check that you had indeed written a TR on Nigeria

And the other week in Lesotho, I met a guy who said that his friends were all going to Iceland to celebrate reaching every country in the world - I think we all know who that person is!

Small world