This is a week trip for two countries off the list. Milan was a mere stop. Paris had the best weather, though the 2-star Michelin restaurant was pretty disappointing. Timgad and Djémila were both pretty impressive and did not have a lot of tourists. Sal was okay for an island but it isn't something better or worse than the Caribbeans. It was more European. That is for sure.
7:05AM I woke and went to the bakery that Paoula wanted to take me to. It was closed today so I went directly to CDG. The bus didn’t get there until 9:15AM. Just before customs, I was stopped and was told that I had to keep the carry-on luggage under 12 kilograms. I had to check in my luggage and was guided through a quick passage to the customs and got through security rather quickly. I was at the gate at 10:00AM and people were standing in line. I got a mocha latte at Pret A Manger before boarding.
1PM I arrived at SFO. Global Entry made it seamless and I took an Uber home.
12:30AM The tailor did a good job and I paid in full and went to sleep after.
6:30AM I woke to leave for the airport. I bargained with a taxi driver to the airport for 500 DZD. I arrived at 7:30AM but waited until 9:20AM, two and half hours before departure. I checked in with the fabricated PCR results and waited for 20 minutes to finally get my camera and lenses back after customs. The plane departed at 11:50AM for Paris.
3PM I arrived and took a bus and a metro to the hotel. We then went to the Palais-Royal Gardens before heading to the Peninsula. Paoula wanted to have more the tasting menu. It was disappointing for a 2-star Michelin restaurant. We then went to walk to the Eiffel Tower before taking an Uber back to the hotel.
6AM I woke and Zinou woke as a result. I ordered a Yassir taxi with Zinou to the Batna bus station. I then took a bus to El Eulma at the station for 210 DZD. It took 3 hours rather than 1.5 that was anticipated. I had to take another hour long bus to Djemila, which also took twice as long as expected.
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| Djemila |
10:30AM I arrived at Djemila. Even though perhaps not as famous as Timgad, I had a better experience there most likely due to the weather warming up during the day.
12:10PM I left to take a bus back to El Eulma. I feel like it took longer due to more traffic. I waited 40 minutes in a shared taxi before it departed for Algiers. It was comfortable but at least it's not as cold as this morning or yesterday.
5PM We arrived at the Algiers bus station. The lady who sat in front invited me to her taxi after I told her I was going to Casbah. Unfortunately the taxi costed more with her private driver, at 600 DZD versus what would have been 400 DZD with Yassir.
5:30PM I joined a French tour as I saw no group that had an English guide. I couldn't understand anything but at least I knew I was on the right path. I finished the tour around 6:30PM and walked along the bay until I reach Restaurant Arabesque. It was closed. A man there guided me to another restaurant for some fast food which included soup, bread, meatballs and sausage. I took a look at the hotel the man recommended next door and bargained for a night in a double bunk but with no other person for 1,400 DZD. The man working in the barbershop downstairs assured me that the tailor would be here by 10PM. I gave him my 3 pants and bargained down the price of tailoring from 2,700 DZD to 2,500 DZD.
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| Casbah, Algiers |
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| Algiers center |
6AM I woke Zinou and his wife to start driving like they said they would. They were still asleep. We started around 6:30AM and arrived at a mausoleum at 10:30AM. Zinou drove for one more hour to arrive at his home in Batna.
1PM He took a nap for an hour and half before taking to see Timgad. It was pretty good Roman Ruins. The weather wasn't kind but we managed with little drizzly and gusty.
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| Mosaic in the Timgad Museum |
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| Timgad |
5PM We returned and had iftar at 7:10PM. It was the same food as yesterday. He said he would wake up to take me around Batna but at around 8:30PM, I went out for an haircut so that he could sleep longer. I went to get a haircut at 8:30PM and returned at 10PM. Zinou woke to buy some groceries and then took me to register at the police station as demanded by AirBNB. It took half an hour. He grabbed some other food for midnight snacks for his wife and we arrived back at midnight. I took a shower and set my alarm for 6:30AM.
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| Barbershop hair wash |
6:30AM We arrived at Milan. Exiting was painless and I am now on a bus to central Milan.
7AM The bus took 2 hours to get to the center. It costed 10 EUR. I had to transfer to another bus to Linate Airport. It took a good hour as well. So I arrived at around 9:30 to check in. I spent 15 minutes in the lounge. The flight was delayed so I went back a second time.
10:30AM We left for Rome and arrived at 11:40AM. The layover was longer here and I boarded for Algiers at 2:40PM. I failed to recognize that I could have gone to the Plaza Premium Lounge as it no longer showed on the website for Priority Pass.
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| Prima Vista Lounge |
3:30PM I arrived at Algiers. At customs, they stopped me for having my camera. What's more upsetting was that the guy who had my passport lost my vaccination card. When he dropped the first time, I told him to keep it inside and he dropped it again! So it is lost!
5PM I asked my AirBNB host, Zinou, to come and help me. Zinou arrived at 6PM. His brother in law's friend worked here but wasn't able to convince the customs to let me keep my camera. We left.
7PM We then started driving to Algiers. It was raining so we couldn’t see much. The iftar that Zinou was going to take me to was happening the following week. We then went to his sister-in-law’s home for dinner. We stayed until 10PM and went out to see Algiers. We went to the theatre and Martyr’s square. We came back a little after midnight. I went to bed at midnight but they stayed up until 3 or 4AM.
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| National theatre |
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| Martyrs' Memorial |
7:45AM I woke and went down at 8:30 to find a French couple sitting outside with their backpacks. They were here for my apartment and I let them in to leave their bags. I went to the ATM to grab 8,000 CVE for the day and came back to start my tour. Lena, the AirBNB host, ended up sending them to another apartment without view.
9:20AM I came back to start my excursion trip. We first reached the parasurfing beach, followed by petting some baby shark at the Shark Bay.
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11AM We then went to the Salinas. The entrance fee was 550 CVE. You can float on it and it is not as salty and oily as it is in the Dead Sea.
1PM We then went to the Blue Eye Cave. The entry fee was 330 CVE. The waves were violent today so no one jumped into the water pool.
2PM We went to eat at Gata Fish and Yacht Club. At first, I was not going have anything but I was tempted by the barnacles. They were pretty good.
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| Barnacles |
3:30PM I got back and paid off the company. I then had an ice cream. Creperia Sol Doce was closed on Wedenesday like they claimed. George's didn't take credit card and I needed the 1,100 CVE and 1 EUR for the cab later during the night to get to the airport. I negotiated with a cab driver at Palm Beach Restaurant. I ended up going back to Americo's again.
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Goose barnacles |
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| SID airport 9PM I thought there was no food and drink on board and this was confirmed by the counter. So I got a coke for 2 EUR. I had to exchange 1 USD for 1 EUR at the gift shop. I found out only later that there was meal on board with drinks. There was no soda whatsoever though. |
11AM I woke to walk to the beach. I walked around Santa Maria during the afternoon. There were many tourists here.
3PM I bought a tour for 2,500 CVE for the next day. At the pier, I saw the woman who sat next to me on the plane yesterday and her 2 children.
4PM Creperia Sol Doce looked pretty good but I wanted to try lobster first. Farolim Restaurant at Hotel Odjo d'Agua was too expensive at 83 EUR per kilo of lobster and they only have lobsters that weight at or above 1 kilo. I ended up settling at Americo's for dinner. They had pretty good décor and reputation.
6PM The lobsters were a little dry and I had a ice cream at GiraMondo. I went to bed at 10PM.
11AM I arrived at the Lisbon Airport. I had to get through customs in order to get back into the airport. I stayed in the ANA Lounge until 8PM or so. The food was very carbohydrate heavy. I boarded for my flight and landed in Sal at 11:30PM.
11:30PM I had to pay the entry tax for Cape Verde. The taxi driver was asked by the AirBNB host to wait for me and drove me to it, which was in Santa Maria, the touristic area of Sal Island. The place was good enough but it lacked hot water. I emailed her and was able to a partial refund.
1PM I arrived at the airport and checked in. I spent some time in the AMEX lounge before boarding for my flight to Lisbon. I arrived at Lisbon, Portugal at 11:15AM the following day.
7:30AM I woke and returned the keys and sim card to the door man for AirBNB. I gave away some clothes and sandwiches to the kids that I walked by. I walked half way to the Musée National Boubou Hama before a motorist gave me a ride there.
9:30AM I grabbed a taxi to the airport for 1,000 XOF. I then helped a Chinese man get through security and he bought me a latte when he got a latte and a coke himself for 8,500 XOF. I boarded the plane at 12:30PM for San Francisco.
5:45AM I woke and walked to the Notre Dame of Bangui Cathedral and then to the Boganda National Museum, which was closed. I then picked up my bags and left 21 USD and 2,000 XAF for the restaurant owner. I kept 2,000 XAF for the taxi. Taxi drivers wanted 3,000 XAF to go to the airport. I took a motorbike and asked to go to La Grande Mosquee. I snapped a photo and stayed at the door for 10 seconds because I was getting close to the 1 hour check-in time mark. With just 15 minutes to go, I asked the driver to drive quickly to the airport. I got through without a problem but everyone was asking for money. Even the customs wanted 10 USD and a Chinese guy came to give me 1,000 XAF. We both got through and then boarded at 8:45AM. We stopped at Douala, Cameroon for a 40 minute stop to load new passengers before continuing to Lome, Togo.
11:20AM We arrived at Togo. I waited and boarded the flight
for Douala. I don’t think I have ever had 4 separate flights in 1 day. I have had
longer flights altogether but usually with much longer layovers. I arrived at
Burkina Faso at 10:15AM.
6PM I arrived at Cote Jardin. The garden was nice and so was the
lamb.
7PM I then walked to the Chamber L’hotes Bellevue where the AirBNB is. It took Charlotte the host 30 minutes to arrive but her employee let me in the room. We went out to get a surge protector for her room and a sim card for me. She paid 1000 XOF and also for my sodas. The sim card took a couple of tries to work but it did work eventually.
12AM I went to bed.
8:05AM I left for the airport. The Uber driver took a couple of wrong turns, but I still got there in 15 minutes. I tried to check in and had a scare when a guy went back and said I needed a visa for Central African Republic. There was a new Wikipedia page that I had never seen before which says US passport holders need visas, contrary to the other page that says US citizens are exempt for 180 days. Mr. Stanley who I met told me that I did not need a visa yesterday now says I do. He seemed not to have recognized me and asked if I was the same person from yesterday. The one who went to the back office to check whether I needed a visa wanted to let me through, but Mr. Stanley seemed to have other ideas. I first said I was the one from yesterday and then said no and was finally allowed to obtain my boarding pass.
10:40AM I checked out the Premium Lounge and the Oasis
Lounge and decided to go with the latter. I had some chicken sausage and
omelet. I then went downstairs for a 20-minute massage with my Priority Pass.
The man who checked me in earlier allowed me to pass, then stopped me again to
ask me whether I was going to Bangui. I had to show him my boarding pass again
and he got on the phone to ask again. I showed him the Wikipedia page which showed I should be visa
exempt and he finally let me go.
3PM The flight stopped at DLA for 45 minutes before continuing
to Bangui.
5:12PM The plane landed. I had no issues except the man who
helped a little bit with the process and pestered me for 20 USD. I refused. They stamped my passport. As expected, and
verified by Stephen Bracken from the American Embassy, US citizens may enter Central
African Republic, visa free, for 180 days.
6PM I hitched a ride from a Russian man to his hotel, the
Oubangui Hotel. They wanted 112 USD so I hitched a motorbike ride to Le Grand
Café. I then was directed to a Chinese restaurant just around the corner. I met
the owner and she said she could give me the room for 15,000 XOF. I walked to
Cafrina, which only took XOF and EUR cash. They looked like they had local food
unlike Le Grand Café. I walked to the Chinese restaurant and the owner was
happy to lend me 10,000 XOF. I then walked back to Cafrina for dinner. I got
the antelope with legume. The legume was fine but a little oily. The game meat
was too tough. It was 5,500 XAF. I walked back and gave my old clothes to a man
asking for food.
9PM I came back to the restaurant. The owner did not take my
money. I went to bed at around 10PM. There was no internet in the room.
11AM I arrived at Lagos Airport. Exiting the airport was fast and I had to walk out of the airport for about 10 minutes to grab an Uber. I had to do that because none of the Uber drivers wanted to pay for parking.
12PM I arrived at Choppers Hotel. I left my luggage there
and tried to take another Uber to take a COVID test. My driver was “arrested”
and taken to the police station to pay for driving in the wrong direction on a
one-way street. I then took a bus to the Ikeje area for the COVID test.
2PM They told me that my testing date is supposed to be 2 days from now. I
went to the Yellow Chili restaurant for a stewed fish and snail. I went back to
the testing site at 3:30PM. I worked with someone there and she finally modified
the arrival date to 2 days ago so I could get tested.
Cathedral Church of Christ6PM I started heading back but the bus was stuck on the Third Mainland Bridge, the longest bridge for an hour and I spent over an hour on the bus before arriving
at Oshodi. I fell in a ditch and got a small scrape on my right upper arm.
8PM I got some ice and finished the soft drinks I brought
from Turkish Lounge in IAD. I bought a Fanta and started listening to the
Regulation Chapter. I went to bed at 1AM.
5:30AM I woke Paoula up and took an Uber to the airport. I checked in with United Airlines and walked from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 where she was waiting. American Airlines let all the Miami passengers who were close to their departure time to cut in front of her. We finally checked in and ran to Terminal 3 to go to the Centurion Lounge. We spent 10 minutes there and I sent Paoula back to her terminal. We both made our flights leaving around 8:30AM.
5PM I arrived at Dulles Airport. I went to both the
Lufthansa and Turkish Lounge. They were both mediocre in quality and I departed for
LOS around 7PM.
I had a surprisingly better time on this trip than expected. The people here, though reserved, are so generous and kind. We wouldn't have been able to visit Hegra at Al Ula without the kind people here. Obviously, this is where most of the relics and sights are. So thank you.
