April 18th, 2022 Paris, France to San Francisco, California

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.

April 17th, 2022 Algiers, Algeria to Paris, France

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.

April 16th, 2022 Algiers, Algeria

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.

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.

Casbah, Algiers

Algiers center

April 15th, 2022 Timgad, Algeria

 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. 

Mosaic in the Timgad Museum

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.

Barbershop hair wash

April 14th, 2022 Milan, Italy to Algiers, Algeria

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.

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.

National theatre

Martyrs' Memorial

April 13th, 2022 Sal, Cape Verde to Milan, Italy

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.

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.

Salinas de Pedra de Lume

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.

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.

Goose barnacles

6PM I had some goose barnacles there and some white fish for 1750 CVE. I went home and the cab was there waiting. We got to the airport in 15 minutes. The airline representative gave me a hard time for having the vaccination card without a certificate. I just pulled up my California QR code and found another man, who let me through.

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.

April 12th, 2022 Sal, Cape Verde

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.

Lobster at Americo's Restaurant

6PM The lobsters were a little dry and I had a ice cream at GiraMondo. I went to bed at 10PM.

April 11th, 2022 Lisbon, Portugal to Sal, Cape Verde

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.

April 10th, 2022 San Francisco, California to Lisbon, Portugal

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.

April 20th, 2022 Nigeria, Central African Republic, Niger Locale Ranking

 

As expected, there is nothing great here. With very little available for tourists, I don't expect the likeability to improve any time soon.

April 20th, 2022 Financials

 

I spent 3399.5 USD on this trip. I am glad I got in 3 countries in such a short period of time, though it was still very costly.