After much time spent in modern Mexican cities and touristic sites during peak season on the pacific coast, it was time for a more authentic expérience with the culture rich city of Oaxaca. I had long wished to visit this amazing place but had fallen short every time I was in the country. But this was the perfect time and for the occasion, and I had planned to spend a whole week exploring the capital region of the ancient Zacatecas empire! End of march was still in spring break, and I met again with the school holidaying Americans. But this time, it seemed to be a more refined tourist, or maybe even hippie style, who had the courage to venture out of the typical spring break strongholds of Cancun and Cabos. Oaxaca is known to attract a craft loving crowd, with its culture and thus, a more hippie bohemian traveler. That made for an interesting change after Cabos. End of march was still in spring […]
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Panama under strict lockdown feels weird !
I spent an extensive amount of time in Panama over the past 6 years, a country that I personally love and a great base to come back to as a digital nomad. The country has constantly one of the best yearly growth out of all the Latin American countries, and every time I come back, I am amazed how fast things change, from new restaurants opening and closing to new sky-scrapers popping everywhere! But this time around, arriving in February 2021, amidst the second lockdown the country had imposed, it totally felt like another country. I just couldn’t believe it. Just the ride from the airport was an adventure. The highway is usually packed with horrible traffic, and this time, not a single car could be seen on one of the main highways called “Corredor Sur”. Arriving near my hotel in a Uber, a cop stopped us at gunpoint, confused as to why we had broken the lockdown, all for us to have to explain […]
Read More...Overnight in Varadero from Havana
Most people who go to Varadero will be in an all-inclusive hotel and arrive straight at Varadero airport. I wasn’t in Cuba to be in this sort of hotel so Varadero was not my first choice of place to be as a base, I had chosen Havana for that. But I still wanted to see it so a 2 day visit was enough. Now that I’ve been, I can honestly say that even if it’s a tourist behemoth, it is a very beautiful beach. Even though it’s super touristy, it was really built on an amazing piece of Beach and the water is one of the clearest and bluest I have ever seen around the world rivaling with the Pacific ocean and even the Red Sea. A two-day trip to Varadero. This time around I wasn’t really into just hanging around all day at a beach and sipping mojitos and piña coladas all day. I had done that in 2002 and quite frankly I wasn’t […]
Read More...Exploring Niamey in Niger – An Example for African Development – (My 192nd of 195 Country Visited)
Back to French-speaking Africa this time in a west-African nation. It was the peak summer season in Niamey, known to be one of the hottest cities in the world, situated in the middle of the Sahara desert! We landed at night and as soon as the airplane doors opened, we felt a wave of dry hot air invade the interior… Just a preview to what I could expect the next few days, with a thermometer over 47 degrees during the day! In General, my expectations for Niger were totally off target from what I had heard and read through my pre-travel research. It was much better than I had imagined. And here’s why… In This Article…1 One of the Poorest Nation in the world… Really?2 The 4th largest producer of Uranium in the world3 Was Wakanda in the movie Black Panther inspired by Niger?4 Enjoying Niamey with local friends5 Top 10 Things to do in Niamey & Niger6 In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest One of […]
Read More...Guide to Sudan: Land of the Real Pharaohs?
My first taste of Sudan felt like a melting pot between Ethiopia and Egypt! Sudan is Muslim, they speak Arabic as a first language, they dress with traditional Islamic thawb, and physically they look much more African where the Egyptians look more Arabic. there are however many tribes around Sudan and I could easily tell who was from South Sudan, while my friend Yassir originally from Khartoum could just as well distinguish people from western regions close to Chad, and eastern borders too. Sudani Village through the country side I was very surprised by my first encounter with the Sudanese on the bus entering the country. everybody was so friendly and helpful, taking full charge of me and the older men making sure that “Canada Man” as they would call me, was always alright and aware of what was happening. Always very a friendly attitude, these old men really felt like they were responsible of the whole bus, even though they were only passengers! They […]
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