Category: Africa

Backpacking in Africa Jonny Blair

Thirsty Thursdays: Drinking Local Liqueur Bilibili in Central African Republic🇨🇫

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“Best under pressure, with seconds left, I show up” – Usher. Central African Republic was certainly a wildcard country addition to my travel jigsaw in January 2025. After three visa refusals/failures (in Poland, Burkina Faso and Abidjan), we finally were granted a visa with 7 minutes left to board our flight from Douala in Cameroon Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: Drinking Local Liqueur Bilibili in Central African Republic🇨🇫[…]

The Poolside Bar (Hotel Univers 3 Aeroport Luxe)

Thirsty Thursdays: The Only 5 Bars I Visited In Niamey, Niger🇳🇪

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“Stand by me; nobody knows the way it’s gonna be” – Noel Gallagher. I certainly didn’t go to Niger for a booze up or even to pub crawl it, nobody does that do they? But somehow in the madness of it all we actually still managed to drink in 5 different bars in 4 days Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: The Only 5 Bars I Visited In Niamey, Niger🇳🇪[…]

Departure tax - shocking Sierra Leone - nothing at the airport works - no Wi-Fi, no cash machines that work, no card payments.

Backpacking in Sierra Leone🇸🇱: Scrap Your Departure Tax and You Might Get More Tourists

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“We are not born for departure, but we do learn to take it” – R.E.M. In the last 20 years of backpacking the world, only TWO countries charged me for departure tax to be paid in cash at the airport when leaving…and the shitlist reads… 1.New Zealand🇳🇿. 2.Sierra Leone🇸🇱. Of course they are not my Read more about Backpacking in Sierra Leone🇸🇱: Scrap Your Departure Tax and You Might Get More Tourists[…]

Backpacking In Niger🇳🇪: Top 9 Sights In Niamey, The Capital City

Backpacking In Niger🇳🇪: Top 9 Sights In Niamey, The Capital City

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“It really really really could happen” – Damon Albarn. Niger’s mainstay, Niamey is a lesser ventured capital city. I didn’t know a lot about it before my visit. We heard that boating on the Niger River and heading out to a giraffe zone would be the highlights and the normal things for backpackers to do Read more about Backpacking In Niger🇳🇪: Top 9 Sights In Niamey, The Capital City[…]

Backpacking in Niger 🇳🇪: Top 17 Memories of Niamey

Backpacking in Niger 🇳🇪: Top 17 Memories of Niamey, The Capital City

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“I want to be wild because my life is so tame” – Noel Gallagher. I thought I’d do a different post on Niger, as opposed to my usual textbook top 7 sights posts. So here I’ll share my top 17 memories from my time backpacking in Niamey. Niamey is the capital city of Niger, and Read more about Backpacking in Niger 🇳🇪: Top 17 Memories of Niamey, The Capital City[…]

Friday’s Featured Food: Beef🥩Pepper🌶️Onion🧅Rolls🥖At Breakfast At Eto'o Restaurant in Abidjan, Ivory Coast 🇨🇮

Friday’s Featured Food: Beef🥩Pepper🌶️Onion🧅Rolls🥖At Breakfast At Eto’o Food Restaurant in Abidjan, Ivory Coast 🇨🇮

Posted on by Jonny Blair

This edition of Friday’s Featured Food will take us back from Ivory Coast in December 2024 to Cameroon 9 months prior via a visa quest for the Central African Republic. In March 2024 when backpacking in Douala, Cameroon, I asked my guide Mebah Markdonald (of Discover Cameroon Tours) if I could attend a top division Read more about Friday’s Featured Food: Beef🥩Pepper🌶️Onion🧅Rolls🥖At Breakfast At Eto’o Food Restaurant in Abidjan, Ivory Coast 🇨🇮[…]

Backpacking Simultaneously In Mauritania 🇲🇷 and Spanish Sahara 🇪🇭: Visiting Cap Blanc, The Most Western Point Of Saharan Africa

Backpacking Simultaneously In Mauritania🇲🇷and Spanish🇪🇸Sahara🇪🇭: Visiting Cap Blanc, The Most Western Point Of Saharan🏜️Africa

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“Go West, life is peaceful there” – Pet Shop Boys. In December 2024, Marek Bladowski and I had a wild dream to backpack to the western most point of Saharan Africa. What even is that? Is there even a point where such a place exists and publicises itself? We dream up the wild things. Life Read more about Backpacking Simultaneously In Mauritania🇲🇷and Spanish🇪🇸Sahara🇪🇭: Visiting Cap Blanc, The Most Western Point Of Saharan🏜️Africa[…]

Thirsty Thursdays: My Top 10 And Bottom 2 Bars In Central African Republic 🇨🇫

Posted on by Jonny Blair

“Love’s a hide and hate display” – Nicky Wire. I never expected to visit 5 bars in the CAR, nevermind double figure it, but here we are, there we were. In my previous few countries – Niger I drinkpacked only 5 bars and in Burkina Faso just the 9, with Mauritania limited to 5 non-alcoholic Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: My Top 10 And Bottom 2 Bars In Central African Republic 🇨🇫[…]