People Ask Me Why I Love Africa So Much? – This Is My Answer!

Posted on August 14, 2019August 14, 2019 by dev

There is a lesson for everyone in Africa. I can sometimes be sad about my life and the problems I have, and then go to Africa and see people with 100x bigger problems than me, smiling and enjoying their life.

Why You Can Learn So Much When Traveling Africa?

Appreciation of life (perspective): In my country and in many Western countries people love to complain. Life is sooo challenging, we don’t get the small pay rise we obviously deserve from our boss, why do we absolutely need to pay so much in tax, if I don’t live in the middle of Copenhagen I can’t live anywhere, tonight we’re having fish “badhrrr, I hate fish..” The list go on..

We have endless problems! This is why you can learn so much when traveling around Africa..

Problems?

Travel Africa and you feel like a massive douche bag complaining about some of these luxury problems.. All people have tough periods indeed, but some of the problems we create in the Western World aren’t really problems. In most African countries if you don’t have a job, the Government won’t pay you anything and you have two options: Find a job quickly/be an artists/create an income or go begging on the streets or die.

On the exact border of Congo and Uganda, 2016

Differences Between Western World VS Africa

Appreciation is everything: The appreciation I’ve been privileged to witness in Africa over more than 15 months of travel on the continent is authentic, honest and incredibly powerful in the way it constructs most African people’s life. I have learned to be much more grateful for the small things and I guess the saying: “you don’t see the rich people dancing on the streets” is a very powerful statement. Those people you see dancing on the streets are the ones who have appreciation of life. The happy ones. There are those that live in extreme poverty yes, and in the face of a large stereotype- there are also those that don’t. Not one of them is deprived of an appreciation of life that we may never understand or care to look for.

In Uganda, Kampala with my friend John Kennedy in 2015

The Search Of Happiness

Happiness: Most people I know are constantly searching for happiness in day to day life. The perfect career, the perfect relationship, the perfect car, the dream house.. If we have a Ferrari, we want a helicopter next! We keep wanting more and more stuff! People are yearning for the next event on the weekend that will distract them from their studies or uninspiring 9-5 job. But we forget living life right now! To be in the moment.. I thrive getting away from this environment here and there, to explore the World and the different mindsets that exists. I like to surround myself with people who value happiness as a rich part of life. The smiles, laughs and joy in Africa can be about the simplest things and sometimes we really don’t need to complicate things too much! Happiness can never be huge amounts of material stuff which limit us!

Happiness is the real key. Climbing Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Generosity Is Unreal In Africa

Generosity: Not generosity like buying our friends a drink, or buying them a meal, but generosity of the heart. Generosity that is not of monetary value, but consists of love, support, encouragement and respect. I witnessed children in kindergarten for those from underprivileged families in Arusha, Tanzania, literally share their food with those who didn’t have any at lunch time. Children, 3 or 4 years old, breaking up their own food, and genuinely passing it to those kids whose family could not provide them food this day. This generosity does not stem from privilege, it stems from values. It stems from understanding what it means to not have anything at all, either from your own experience or from that of people you are close to, and understanding the warmth received from passing on your kindness. I get a little emotional thinking about this kind of stuff, but there are a lot of lessons to be learned about generosity from all over Africa.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.. I love Africa for many reasons

Who’ll Help You The Most When You Need It?

A big challenge for me was getting a ride 1 hour in England from outside Portsmouth to London, because I was stuck there for hours with plenty of cars passing by. But when I arrived to Bissau, Guinea-Bissau with no idea where to go or stay, I was immediately welcomed as a complete stranger inside of a family’s house. They didn’t have anything, but offered me everything they had. I wanted to pay for it all, but they rejected me every time. Real generosity! Sometimes I had the most from the people who had the least.

Getting everything I need in the slums of Bissau, Guinea Bissau

Do You See Why I Love Africa So Much?

Yes, cultural shock may confront most people on arrival, and you’ll for sure meet good and bad people like anywhere else in the World, but once you understand the heart of Africa, you’ll never look back.

Gustav

gus1thego.com

A Super SHITTY Experience (Sierra Leone To Liberia)

Posted on June 21, 2019July 15, 2019 by dev

Sierra Leone

After some relaxing days in Sierra Leone visiting villages, beach hopping and enjoying the capital, Freetown, I thought it was time to make way to by country number 116, Liberia.

The Slow Way To Liberia

I prefered to move slowly from Sierra Leone to Liberia in order to see some new places on the way. I wanted to take my time in Sierra Leone and there were several reasons why. First of all because it’s a pretty relaxed English speaking country in this region, which is rare to find. Secondly because when I entered Sierra Leone from the north, I was almost not allowed to enter. I had to be creative and my quick way of thinking saved me in the last second, otherwise it would have been NO Sierra Leone!

Read ‘2 Seconds From Rejection To Sierra Leone!’

Climbing the Lester Peak with a nice view over Freetown, Sierra Leone

After having a fun time in the north of Sierra Leone in Makeni, I went to Freetown and the area around there for some days. After having seen the beaches in Conakry, Guinea, I was stunned to see the difference in the beauty of the beaches in Sierra Leone in such relatively small distance.

Dirty Beach in Conakry, Guinea

Most beaches in Sierra Leone

Tokeh Beach Resort in Sierra Leone.. Different class!

Hard to leave Sierra Leone

It was honestly nice to relax a bit in Sierra Leone, especially to get out of the capital Freetown and enjoy the small villages and lovely beaches. Also enjoyed to eat some of my favourite West African food, the ‘Sierra Leonean attiéké’, with fermented and grated cassava and a blend of various ingredients. Definitely a different supplement to the rice and fish you’ll get most places here, which can get boring in the long run.

Too late for Liberia

I wasn’t too far from the border to Liberia and wanted to do some more exploring before crossing the border from Sierra Leone to Liberia. What I didn’t think about was that the border from Sierra Leone to Liberia would close at 6.30 pm. I found out of this randomly mid day and thought it was maybe the right time to head down to the border. I had a strong belief I would make it in time, still with plenty hours to go!

In a southern village Gbongay, Sierra Leone

I found a shared car going to the border and negotiated a fair (cheap) price with the driver. There was just one thing wrong. I quickly found out this could be a big problem in order to reach the border in time. Something was wrong with the driver. Me and the other passengers were in deep sh*t literally!

The Driver’s Diarrhea (Mr. Poo Poo)

I sat next to a very funny guy in the shared taxi, who said he was the black Cristiano Ronaldo!

Me and the black Cristiano Ronaldo and another guy out in nowhere, Sierra Leone

We had several stops on the way there and in the beginning we didn’t understand why we stopped the car all the time, because we were in a bit of a rush. The driver kept running away from the car every time he stopped the car. We quickly found out something wasn’t as it should be with him. After a few stops the driver pointed to his stomach and signaled something was wrong. The black Cristiano Ronaldo said: “We have to drive now Mr. Poo Poo” and every one in the car laughed, including the driver, even though he was in pain. Really a shitty situation for all of us, most of all for the driver!

The clock was 5 pm. Only 1,5 hour to the border would close…

We had to keep on going!

“Mr. Poo Poo” in pain! He insisted to keep on driving.. Would we make the border in time?!

The Liberian Border Would Close Soon

The minutes were counting down. Time was now 6 pm, which meant we only had 30 minutes to go, before the border would close!

I talked to the black Cristiano Ronaldo about the possibility of the border still being open, when we arrived, but I could see on my offline Maps.Me that we had at least 40 minutes to go. Time on a map in West Africa is never correct and that’s a fact. We arrived 7.09 pm. 39 min after the border closed!

Border closed 18.30 sharp. We didn’t make it!

Mr. Poo Poo was off to a little home made African toilet immediately at the border, but it didn’t take away the shit we were all in right now!

Me and a Liberian guy at the closed border! Before we knew the consequences of this situation

It was getting dark and I was there with the black Cristiano Ronaldo, the Liberian guy and Mr. Poo Poo and we discussed where we could sleep and none of us had any clue. We really didn’t want to sleep in the car after an exhausting ride. We were out in nowhere and the heavy rain could come anytime.

Stuck at the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia. Rain hits really hard in the night in rainy season!

The driver called someone and the black Cristiano Ronaldo said we could maybe go on some muddy roads through the forest at night to a village. The roads were really muddy, maybe not as muddy as the driver’s underpants, but indeed muddy!

We drove over 4 small rivers during night to find a place to sleep. Driver wasn’t scared we would get stuck with the car in the dark forest

The Right Track

Mr. Poo Poo drove us the right way. We were now in this village the black Cristiano Ronaldo mentioned to him and me and the Black Cristiano Ronaldo and the Liberian guy went out to search for a place to sleep. It was really hard to find anything and there weren’t many people we could ask during the night, but we found a place with a small ‘Motel’ sign, which looked really creepy. They had two rooms available.

What to do!?

Inside the motel at the border. Straight out of a horror movie

We all agreed that I took the single room. Sounded good to me at first, until I found out the lights went on and off every 1 second, the window was open and couldn’t close (would someone jump in or would the mosquitoes bite me like crazy?!), no mosquito net, no toilet. Anyway it was time to sleep.. We were all too exhausted to thing about anything late at night now!

My $7 motel room at the border to Liberia

Good Morning And Hello Liberia

The border crossing went pretty okay, besides a lot of police check points when we entered Liberia, but I was happy to be with the black Cristiano Ronaldo all the way to Monrovia, Liberia. It went a lot smoother with him, because he small-talked to all the police officers and they seemed to like him.

He is honestly a guy I’ll never forget. He was so excited to go home to his wife in Monrovia, Liberia to have a special dish she would make for him. But he came 1 day too late and I saw his girlfriend was texting angry messages to him about him sleeping with his side chick in Sierra Leone. Ouch!

I can confirm he slept with a Liberian guy and I hope for him he had his favourite dish today in Monrovia, Liberia! Top guy!

Me and the black Cristiano Ronaldo in the morning ready to pass the border to Liberia

Will never forget my crossing to Liberia. What a crazy ride it was with great friends! I still can’t believe I had a Near-Death Experience When I Arrived To Monrovia, Liberia.

Liberia. My country number 116.

Take care!

Gustav

gus1thego.com

The Number 1 Thing About Bamako (Mali)

Posted on June 14, 2019June 14, 2019 by dev

Mali is currently not in a good state to say the least, and there was a big terrorist attack not far from where I was on my second day here, which was really sad, but there are still lots of positive things about the country and the capital, Bamako.

Mali Travel Advisory – US Government

The US Government has put a 4 on their travel advisory level, which is highest danger, which means do NOT travel to Mali at the moment, because there have been some really ugly incidents recently with kidnappings of Westerners, bombings, massacres and more..

The Capital Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali and is also the largest city with 2 million people. The place is near the famous Niger River. Located between the Sahara to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south, Bamako is very hot on average all year round with the hottest months being March, April, and May.

I wasn’t freezing during my time in Bamako! +40°C was the standard

Is Bamako All Bad And Dangerous?

No, Bamako is not all bad and dangerous. There are so many reasons to visit this city also. I agree it’s maybe not the best time to go to Bamako right now, but the capital still has a lot to offer.

Seydou, one of my new friends in Bamako, Mali

The People

Mali is the 4th poorest country in the world (UN Human Development Index). In Bamako and in Mali in general people is primarily Muslim, but there are also significant populations of Christians and animists. French is the official language and Bambara is the most widely spoken.

Women wear long skirts but arms, chests and heads are regularly exposed.

Colorful Malian ladies in a village outside of Bamako

Malians are poor and most people live for less than 1 dollar a day. No medical care, little to no access to education, weak infrastructure – But sometimes when you know the feeling of having nothing, that’s when you become more open-minded, wanting to share more with people..

I had the most from people who had the least to be fair!

Bamako might have people who wants to take advantage of you, but is also full of incredible kindness, hospitality and curiosity.

Two Malian guys chiling at a local market, Bamako

One thing I found interesting here was the fact that a lot of families practice polygamy. A man will live with 2-3 wives in a large compound, a hut or a small house with all their children. In Senegal it was 4 out of 10 men, who lived as polygamists and here probably around the same if not more.

The Sights

Bamako is a sprawling city through which the river Niger flows. On one end of the city is a hill formation (supposed to be an extinct volcano?) on which the President’s Palace is located. You start driving up the hill, you leave the hustle and bustle of the city, enter into green surroundings and the roads are great.

Bamako is not a knock out sightseeing city. There is no must see location, but I still found some very cool places here and even though it’s a large, noisy, crowded city, it has its charms.

*Monument* de l”Independance, Bamako, Mali

I really liked to see the crazy and colorfol Bamako City Center market. A great, vibrant and hectic experience, even though a bus smashed really hard into a car few meters away from me. Scary! The bus drove away right after leaving the car smashed and the car owner shocked and speechless. Not cool…

3 Best Sights In Bamako

My favorite places in Bamako to visit are: Monument de l”Independance, Bamako Grand Mosque and of course the obvious Bamako highlight, Le Campement.

Morning swim at Le Campement. So cool and you have it all by yourself!

The way to Le Campement was great, if you choose the bumpy, little used but well signposted road taking you through rural areas directly to the foot of the 3rd bridge. You’ll pass trough rarely visited villages, beautiful green countryside and have some excellent views over fields, canals and mountain side villages.

Having been all around the city of Bamako and the small neighborhoods, the city villages and their people are the real sights of this colorful city. In the suburbs you can see so many things, visit potters, blacksmiths, tailors and and colorful local markets or just grab a cup of tea and watch the daily life of a vibrant township pass by before your eyes. And if you stop for a look there, you will be met by big smiles and respect.

The Number 1 Thing About Bamako

It could have been the food, which is pretty amazing and cheap here, but IT’S NOT.

I like the Malian breakfast, which was a bit different to my oatmeal with raisins back in Denmark, I really liked the extremely cheap grilled meat sticks you can get on every street corner too and then ofc. the Timbuktu Toukassou. Yummy!

But food wasn’t what I liked the most about Bamako, even though it was up there among the best things. The thing I liked the most, and I actually can’t remember one capital city I’ve been to around the World, where this thing was so common and easy: Free motorbike rides.

Free Motorbike Rides (THE BEST THING)

I’ve done at least 30+ free motorbike rides during my time in Bamako.

I quickly found out the traffic here was really bad quiet early during my stay and there were so many people on their motorbikes, who drove past the queues of the cars easily. So what I usually did to beat the traffic was just jumping on random motorbikes. How in the world was that possible?

Crossed the Niger River several times a day. That was so easy to do!

It was so super easy here actually. I just pointed with my hand in which direction I was going to go, and the drivers then nodded if they were going that way, or showed with their hand they were going in another direction. I usually didn’t wait for more than 30 seconds before having a ride ready and no one did ever ask me for money after I said: “Merci beaucoup pour le voyage de mon ami.” / Thanks for the ride my friend.

People in Bamako loves to help you with a free ride

Excuse Moi?

My French is extremely limited, so don’t be afraid to do the same. It’s all about the attitude.

Even when I came back from hiking in Malian mountains several hours outside of Bamako, I had free rides, after our bus crashed down in the middle of nowhere, which by the way happens way too often in West Africa.. I even had some gifts on the free motor bikes in Bamako and a lot of appreciation. You probably wouldn’t get that in Bangkok, Manila or in any major European city. In these places most people would look strange at you or ask you to pay as much as possible, worst case even try to scam you.

In Bamako, it’s a different story.

– Gustav

gus1thego.com

The Scariest Border Crossing – From Guinea Bissau to Guinea

Posted on June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 by dev

After an amazing time in Guinea Bissau, it was time for me to start a new adventure. Off to Guinea, which I only knew from a big ebola outbreak 3 years ago before.

Staying in the slums of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Interesting stay in Guinea-Bissau

I left from Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau to Gabu, a city in the east of Guinea-Bissau and spend some time exploring Gabu, before making the decision to head to the bus station and see if there were any busses or taxis, which was going to Guinea in the afternoon.

I asked for Labe, a relatively big city in Guinea and a guy there took me to the ticket office in Gabu. I bought the ticket and was told to sit and wait with a bunch of other people on a small bench.

Waiting for the bus in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. One guy was wearing football shoes and a shirt, love the combo!

Different prices at the bus station

All people paid 14.000 CFA, including myself, but I had to pay 3000 CFA extra, because of my small extra bag, eventhough all the local people carried many extra bags + a lot of other things from their home, without any extra fees.

Love Africa sometimes..

Anyway, I didn’t want to discuss that further with the ticket guy and I accepted it, because I thought I would be one of the last persons to join the bus, and that we were then ready to leave the place and go to Guinea, my country number 113.

But no. We waited for one hour, we waited for two.. We waited for three.. Nothing really happened.

We were 11 people sitting there waiting impatiently and I counted the seats in the mini bus to 13 seats, if everyone was sitting super close, so I hoped a solution was going to be found soon.

The Rastafarian Guy

A Rastafarian guy from Guinea, who showed me some weird bar photos on his phone from his time in Germany

I was small talking a bit with a Rastafarian Guinean guy, (he didn’t speak any English though,) but we went for a nice omelette sandwich together while waiting. Very popular in Guinea-Bissau! He showed me some weird photos too from Germany, where he went to a bar apparently!

Lack of English and lack of patience

Nobody in the Gabu bus station spoke English, but I tried to tell the ticket guy that there were only two free seats, but he started to say ‘tomorrow’ and signaled to me that we would probably first be able to go tomorrow instead of today, because the bus wasn’t full.

My general impression, after having traveled to many places in Africa, is that time is never a factor. I’m used to it, but to say the bus would first be able to leave tomorrow morning, because of 2 people missing pissed me off, especially after having waited for more than 3 hours in an insane heat.

I could see people were losing their patience too like me and I told the guy that we would maybe meet two persons on the way. He rejected me again.

We waited 30 minutes more..

Waiting for many hours to go to Guinea at the bus station in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. The ticket guy to the right!

I then lost my temper and told him to give me back my overpaid money, and everyone at the station now had their eyes planted on me. I pointed out on the street and said I was going to find another solution.. He could understand my hand gestures and facial expression.

That’s when stuff got serious.

Leaving Gabu in a new bus

I could see he was now afraid of losing the 3000 CFA going directly to his pocket, and he said in a mix of Portuguese, French and English that I should wait 5 minutes and he would just go to the toilet.

When he came back, he had called someone else. That guy brought an even smaller, older and more crappy mini bus, with windows that couldn’t even close. Three people moved all of our luggage to the ‘new’ bus.

They put some fuel on it and a guy was trying to fix the brakes. After few minutes the ticket guy told us we were ready to go, looking at me directly. He smiled to me and I smiled back and we shaked hands and both laughed a bit. No bad feelings, I just love Africa sometimes! All of this for two free seats on the bus..

A beautiful girl waiting at the station in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau

Finally off to Guinea, my country number 113

When we got in the small mini bus with windows that couldn’t close, we were sitting there super close to each other and it was impossible to move. This was going to be a long drive! Everyone was smiling at me and greeting me, because people were happy to leave today and not tomorrow.

Right when we left the station, two local people were asking if the bus went to Labe, Guinea.. Really? So why did we need to change bus!? Anyways, in the bus with them too! The bus was absolutely packed now!

Some Of The Most Bumpy Roads Ever

We drove for hours on some of the most bumpy roads I’ve ever experienced driving on, even as an experienced African traveler, and then the Rastafarian guy told me that we were now at the border when it was late evening.

Me and the Rastafarian guy, both very tired!

We went out of the bus and there was this big lake we had to pass. We were standing in Guinea Bissau and on the other side of that lake was Guinea.

The big problem was there was no bridge.

I could see a small tree platform and some goats on the other side and nothing more, except for some pretty interesting observations in the water.. Crocodiles and other interesting stuff? Most possibly!

Standing in Guinea-Bissau, ready to cross the river to Guinea! Completely covered in dust, because the windows in the bus couldn’t close

We waited for three hours until night time, and then someone came to the tree platform on the Guinean side and brought it over to our side.

Passing the border on an old, shaky, tree platform

We then put the mini bus on the tree platform and me and 8 African guys had to pull a rope by hand power to get us over the river. We were all drained when we made it to the other side. Talk about an adventurous border crossing!

It was totally dark now on the other side and we went through 4 or 5 border stops, where we all had to get out of the bus each time, having our passports and documents checked, before we squeezed together again and continued on the dusty, narrow, bumpy African roads. I knocked my head into the windows several times and had to buy coffee on every stop we made, because sleeping on this route would leave you seriously damaged. And I hate coffee!

At around 3am in the night the Rastafarian guy, who apparently went to Germany, showed the pictures of him there to a lady in the bus and the lady didn’t believe him. They started to shout at each other for the next hours and everyone in the bus was suddenly taking part in the argument, except for me! Nuts!

Trying to stay positive in the drama bus

Good thing was the discussions helped me to stay awake. But damn, Guinean people can get angry, that’s a fact! Didn’t need to buy any coffee for these hours at least..

At 5 am it all culminated with a woman’s baby puking on my bag and on another Guinean guy, because of the crazy driving on the dust roads! The smell some African busses can have with lack of deo/perfume, motor oil and other ingrediens, just got even worse. When I arrived in Labe, Guinea at 10 in the morning, I was so super exhausted and relieved to have reached the destination.. It was great to get in a taxi!

When arriving in Labe, Guinea completely done with dust everywhere. I took a shared taxi to a guesthouse to sleep a bit!

But also happy to have taken part in such a cultural, adventurous, scary, off the beaten path bus ride from Guinea Bissau to Guinea, which I’m now thinking back on with a smile.

What a way to enter my country number 113!

Guinea

Real travel, always

Gustav

Gus1thego.com

Follow me on Instagram @gustavrosted