Ever since I was little, I dreamed of being a missionary in Africa. Then I realized that I did not fit the description of a religious missionary. I relinquished that dream many years ago. After my early retirement in 2011, the idea of an African journey rekindled. Perhaps just to satisfy my curiosity, I should give the African continent a whirl. Even though much of Africa has come a long way in the past few decades, abject poverty is still evident in many African countries. When I visited Eastern and Southern Africa in 2015/2016, tourism in most of the African countries was still not well developed.
Transportation is the biggest issue. For instance, the main north-south "highway" in Mozambique was in very poor condition. To travel a distance of 1400 kms, the minimum travel time is 25 hours of non-stop driving. The highway is full of potholes and frequent checkpoints with corrupt police. Another issue is the lack of tourist accommodations. Okavango Delta is a well-known tourist spot in Botswana; however, budget travellers have no choice but sleep on the ground in tents on campgrounds. Thirdly, public health issues could at times be of grievous concern. For example, the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa prevented me from completing the circuit around sub-Sahara Africa.
Now that the Ebola epidemic is under control, I would continue my African adventure. In addition to the three issues present in Southern and Eastern Africa, West Africa has two more issues. The first one has something to do with the travel visas. For most Western country passport holders, Senegal and Gambia are the only two countries that require no visas to enter the countries. Last but not least, terrorist activities and robberies are common in many of the West African countries.
Many of the globetrotters would only travel in certain parts of the world, forsaking the less known places altogether. I, however, think that I should visit these places at least once and try to understand why they are not popular with the travelers. Many a times I got transported back in time when traveling off the beaten path. There are places that are unaffected by urbanization or modernization. I uncovered the kind of primitiveness that I would otherwise not be able to experience.
God willing, I hope to visit Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. If it gets to be too challenging, I would just turn around before Benin. As always, I want to travel like a local tourist. This means riding in a lot of bush taxis which are often time consuming. I have allocated roughly eighteen weeks to complete this journey. I would save Cape Verde for last because I might not have enough time and it is the easiest country to travel in.
