Latitude: 6° 28.1006′ N Longitude: 2° 23.4704′ E As I mentioned yesterday, the port of Cotonou, Benin was closed for Easter. Technically speaking, we could have gone to Benin on Easter because the Benin navy had offered to transport people to shore for the low, low price of €350 per person….each way! It also would …
The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the lowest, hottest places on Earth. Geographically, it is part of the African Rift which extends from the African rift lakes of Malawi and Tanganyika, up through the Red Sea and into the Dead Sea of Jordan and Israel. Politically, it is part of the Afar region, …
Latitude: 21° 05.20′ N Longitude: 17° 51.30′ W As the cruise is winding down, I thought it was worth it to take a moment to talk about the passengers on the ship. Prior to boarding the ship in Cape Town, I suspected that the other passengers would be well traveled people. West Africa isn’t the …
Latitude: 0° 20.9204’ N Longitude: 6° 45.7471’ E On day 12, the G Expedition pulled into the tiny island of Sao Tome. I’ve spoken previously about the poor conditions and lack of a tourist infrastructure we found in Angola and Congo. On paper, Sao Tome is poorer than either of those two countries (primarily because …
Latitude: 13° 18.1922’ N Longitude: 16° 36.9651’ W The Gambia is the smallest non-island country in Africa. It is also one the rare countries which borders only one other country: Senegal. In fact, on a map, The Gambia looks like a finger being stuck down the throat of Senegal (if you don’t believe me, go …
Latitude: 8° 14.4182’ N Longitude: 13° 09.7768’ W For the first time on the trip, we woke up in the same place we were the day before: Freetown, Sierra Leone. We were supposed to be in Guinea-Bissau today, but for reasons only known to them, they would not let us land. So, to compensate for …
Latitude: 8° 25.1932’ N Longitude: 13° 12.38.52’ W I had no idea what to expect when I visited Sierra Leone. The only thing you hear about Sierra Leone was its civil war which took place in the 1990’s and the horrific crimes which were committed. Children being used as soldiers, amputation as a form of …
Latitude: Longitude: We had a very short trip between Accra and Takoradi, Ghana. Probably the shortest sailing we had since the trip began. It was also one of our shorter excursions on the trip, because we had to set sail early in order to get to Freetown in Sierra Leone in time. Our objective for …
Latitude: 5° 38.1051’ N Longitude: 0° 00.0001’ W Accra completed changed everything I thought about West Africa. Since we left Swakopmund, we’ve visited a series of very poor, developing countries. The levels of development differed, but there was a certain commonality they all shared in terms of infrastructure and sanitation. Accra is at a different …