Backpacking In Rwanda: Staying At The Discover Rwanda Hostel, Kigali I stayed in two different places in Kigali in Rwanda, as well as spending a night in Kigali airport on a layover on route to Kenya. Our first port of call was the Discover Rwanda Hostel. This is a textbook typical backpackers hostel in the…
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“Sleeper” – Louise Wener. The Maldives will never rank high on my travel odyssey. A country that caused me stress, heartache, fake news, bribery, corruption and theft of money. I won’t be back till ye. Close yer door on the way out, “The” Maldives, or send me £2,000 which won’t even cover your fakery. I…
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“I ain’t got no time for no monkey business” – Freddie Mercury. After a horrific time trying to get out of The Maldives through India and Ethiopia, I never thought I’d actually make it to Zanzibar, which was supposed to be new country two on the Rainy Summertime tour. In the end, I had 6…
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In The Maldives, I ended up backpacking 4 islands. I could have done more in 4 days, which almost ran into Day 5, but this was enough for me, and enough of The Maldives, for this lifetime. The fourth and final island in my The Maldives tour was Maafushi. It promised so much yet…
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“You might prove them wrong” – Del Amitri. Forget all the preconceptions that Male and The Maldives is a haven for rich suitcasers, business capitalists and shrewd money bankers. I blew that into oblivion by spending less than £15 Northern Irish pounds (“UK” pounds) in my first 24 hours here!! (£10 hostel, £0.70 coffee, £0.80…
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“All’s well that ends well” – William Shakespeare. I arrived into Mayotte in July 2025, and it was the last new country on my Rainy Summertime tour. The tour had many flaws, more downs than ups and some ridiculous hiccups that threatened to amalgamshake my entire backpacking journey and make me skip 3 of the…
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“Here is a sunrise. Ain’t that enough?” – Teenage Fanclub. First things first here – don’t even consider sleeping anywhere else in Bangui. Gust Hotel is your place to sleep in the capital city of Bangui, Central African Republic. This was my home, Marek’s home and should be your home in the enigmatic chaos that…
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Backpacking in Benin🇧🇯: Sleeping At La Guesthouse Etoile, Cotonou “Slight return” – The Bluetones. In December 2024, I found myself back in Benin! Benin is a wild one, with Cotonou being the country’s biggest city, the beast yet not even the capital. 2024 saw my second trip to Benin, this time for Christmas. On both…
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Backpacking In Mauritania 🇲🇷: Camping ⛺️By The Atlantic Ocean 🌊 At Villa Maguela In Nouadhibou I’ve camped out so many times in my life that I’d forgotten the charm of it the last few years. I ended up renting flats so lost the wildness of tent loyalty. It had been a long time coming. As…
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*** PLESE NOTE – the letters left of W,S,X on my lptop re broken. They don’t work – sorry bout tht but don’t blme me. If you see those letters in this post, I copied nd psted them in. 15th November 2014: 10 Years On From The Night That Turned My Life On Its Head…
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