Day 25, West Africa Cruise – Dakar, Senegal

Latitude: 14° 41.7956’ N Longitude: 17° 27.9840’ W In Senegal, we were given two different options. The first was to visit the Bandia Reserve and have lunch at the Pink Lake. The second option was a tour of the city and a trip to Goree Island. As Goree Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site, …

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Day 14, West Africa Cruise – At Sea, In the Gulf of Guinea

Latitude: Withheld Longitude: Withheld In theory, day 14 was supposed to be our most ‘dangerous’ day at sea. I put dangerous in quotes because it wasn’t really dangerous at all. Nonetheless, it is worth talking about some of the issues the G Expedition has to face in this part of the world and the security …

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Day 16, West Africa Cruise – Cotonou, Benin

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 …

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The Danakil Depression: The Most Hellish Place on Earth

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, …

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Day 26-27, West Africa Cruise – At Sea, Off the coast of Mauritania

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 …

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Day 12, West Africa Cruise – Sao Tome

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 …

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Day 24, West Africa Cruise – Banjul, The Gambia

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 …

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Day 22, West Africa Cruise – Freetown, Sierra Leone

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 …

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Day 21, West Africa Cruise – Freetown, Sierra Leone

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 …

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