Transport Adventures – West Africa

Yes, back to West Africa again. Transport in West Africa is possibly THE reason to go if you’re seriously into adventure. I say this because every journey in West Africa is a major adventure. From tro-tros to share-taxis to buses and even the occasional train, West Africa is not for the feint-hearted who like smooth …

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Little Places – Saint Louis, Senegal

A few hours by bumpy transport from the Senegalese capital Dakar (320km), out on its own couple of islands, is the sleepy fishing town of Saint Louis. Interestingly Saint Louis was the capital of Senegal as a French colony from the 17th to late 19th century, and so yes, it certainly is a ‘colonial town’. …

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City Rumble – Cairo Versus Amman

Let’s head to the Middle East for today’s ‘City Rumble’, I am surprised I haven’t included Cairo in a City Rumble before, and I don’t think I’ve really posted about Amman before at all. So anyways, here we are with the capitals of Egypt and Amman facing off against each other. They are, on the …

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The Incredible Churches of Lalibela

Somewhere in the mountains, north of the capital Addis Ababa, is a very special town called Lalibela. As a traveller to Ethiopia, you’re probably going to put this town on your itinerary. Why? Because it has 11 of the most amazing churches you are likely to see, built/created/carved in the late 12th and 13th centuries. …

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Little Places – Ouahigouyah

Border town. (well, actually still a wee bit from the border) Dry. Dusty. Hot. The last town in Burkina Faso before I moved on to Mali over ten years ago now. I don’t remember much, perhaps because there wasn’t much to remember, but I do remember that the streets were wide, and I didn’t see …

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Small Places – Djenne, Mali

Djenne is a pretty special place. A small town on the less-populated side of the Niger River. As I wrote in my recent post on Mopti (Sunday Spotlight – Mopti) I visited on a longish day-trip from Mopti. Actually, half the fun of the day was the amazing journey from Mopti to Djenne and back, …

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