A day at the voodoo fetish market of Lomè

Manu | 17 April 2013 | 3 comments
A day at the voodoo fetish market of Lomè

There is a bit of everything at Lome voodoo fetish market; there is what you expect, like cows’ head bones or horses hair tails, and there is what you don’t expect, like dead cats’ heads, or even what you have never seen in life, like cobras’ or antelopes’ heads. Once you enter it, you enter […]

Shantaram, a book for travelling Africa

Manu | 15 April 2013 | 3 comments
Shantaram,  a book for travelling Africa

Before I left Italy, early in January, I was looking for a book to bring with me to Africa. I didn’t have a lot of space and I knew I could bring only one, so I had to choose the one, the book who would have enlight my Africa days of dreams. I spent almost […]

Elmina, lights and shadows of African history

Manu | 8 April 2013 | no comments
Elmina, lights and shadows of African history

It doesn’t seem possible that this tiny lovely fishermen village in the Southern coast of Ghana, in front of blue open ocean, with the most colourful harbour of the entire West Africa, has been the scenery of the darkest chapter of history of the entire Africa, of its people, of our history as well and […]

Ezile Bay, Ghana’s step to paradise

Manu | 3 April 2013 | no comments
Ezile Bay, Ghana’s step to paradise

After so many days in the jungle, without having a proper shower, sometimes without showering at all, and often without a lot of food, especially when we were in Guinea, it has been not only a relief but pure happiness to get to Ghana and rest on the peaceful and breathtaking shores of Ezile Bay. […]

A week in the mighty jungle: football and people (Part #2)

Manu | 27 March 2013 | no comments
A week in the mighty jungle: football and people (Part #2)

It has been in the jungle that I have finally watched a football game with the locals…and, apart for the fact that my team lost, it was an experience itself. Football in Africa is like daily food. The most common t-shirts guys wear in the street are football shirts, of all times and of all […]

A week in the mighty jungle (Part #1)

Manu | 25 March 2013 | no comments
A week in the mighty jungle (Part #1)

  Leaving the heat of Conakry and slowly approaching the jungle has been refreshing. I rejoined the truck in Coyah after a week in the Guinean capital and found out that Jen, the Candian girl, was gone and Britney the American one was still there but had messed up and confused a lot of people […]

Conakry, crazy capital of Guinea

Manu | 20 March 2013 | no comments
Conakry, crazy capital of Guinea

Conakry, the capital of Guinea, is so far the most African of all the places seen till now. In order to get to know a bit how everything works you need at least a week, as at the beginning you will be wrapped by its mess and confusion and finding a reason or a rule […]

A ride with the Africans

Manu | 11 March 2013 | no comments
A ride with the Africans

  Getting to Conakry has felt like getting a deep dive in the African vibes. While Senegal had been shocking bus also welcoming, with its sandy and blue shores, the African vibes with an European twist of places like Dakar, Conakry has been a full and deep immersion in Africa and its daily life. And […]

The desert, its end and Mauritania

Manu | 25 February 2013 | no comments
The desert, its end and Mauritania

So it’s over. We are at the opposite edge of the Western Sahara. We made it. We crossed it all while it left a trace on this trip and in our hearts. It was good to spend 10days in the desert. I didn’t expect it so beautiful and alive. Yes, the Sahara is full of […]

Mauritania and the real cultural shock

Manu | 17 February 2013 | 1 comment
Mauritania and the real cultural shock

FEBRUARY 12TH, 2012 Mauritania has been the turning point of this Africa trip so far. Entering it costed us an entire day at the border, first of Morocco and then of this country. Between the two borders there are 3 kilometres of land called “No man’s land”, filled with mines on both sides. We were […]

If now you ask me about Morocco…

Manu | 13 February 2013 | 1 comment
If now you ask me about Morocco…

    Warm breeze, people in the streets, talking loud, smiling, greeting, people thinking I am Moroccan, tajine, couscous, no pork, no beer, hashish, ice cream, Chefchaouen, the Rif Mountains, many people called Mohammed, old Medinas and new towns, football, Africa cup, Fes, labyrinth streets, tea with tons of sugar, tea served in small glasses, […]

My 1st night in the Sahara

Manu | 10 February 2013 | 2 comments
My 1st night in the Sahara

FEBRUARY 5TH, 2013   It is almost emotional the moment that the Moroccan landscape turns from green to brown and slowly start to loose it’s vibrancy to become spoiled, unveiled…. desert…Sahara!!!   The Sahara desert, whose stories you have been hearing about for years, since your memories go back to school, is laying just in […]

Morocco, so far so good

Manu | 5 February 2013 | 1 comment
Morocco, so far so good

  Morocco is revealing itself slowly and a charming warm place that loves to steal your heart and keep it hidden the labyrinth of its beauty forever. We left Fes at the beginning of the week, destination Rabat, where a lot of burocratic works need to be done. At the moment of writing we are […]

Fes, the charm of ancient Morocco

Manu | 30 January 2013 | 4 comments
Fes, the charm of ancient Morocco

  Arriving to Fes the day after the celebration of Mohammed’ birthday, basically the Arabic Christmas, and entering the labyrinth of its old Medina, getting lost among its narrow streets, absorbing unknown scents, getting under the attentions of the people standing there, admiring the Arabic art of some of its most beautiful buildings and hearing […]

Entering Africa from Chefchaouen coloured doors

Manu | 24 January 2013 | 1 comment
Entering Africa from Chefchaouen coloured doors

My first step in Africa and in Morocco has been just glorious. Chefchaouen, the blue town, lost and hidden in the middle of beautiful mountain rages, has given us the best welcome ever to this country that I already love it a bit.   I felt almost like an invisible ghost last night when we […]

Leaving Europe: Malaga

Manu | 21 January 2013 | no comments
Leaving Europe: Malaga

Malaga has been a warm and nice stop over with a lot of surprises. Its Mediterranean style didn’t astonished me too much, as I found it too touristic for my tastes, with a multitude of narrow streets packed of tapas bars and clothes shops. It was like a trap for tourists, and the whole town […]

In the Sun! Spain, finally!

Manu | 19 January 2013 | 2 comments
In the Sun! Spain, finally!

Finally in the sun! Getting to Spain has been definitely one of the best moment of the trip so far. Since we entered the country, together with the landscape and the language changing, the temperatures have started to high up as well. The cold wind has been taken over by a mild breeze that keeps […]

Crossing Europe, through cold and snow

Manu | 16 January 2013 | 6 comments
Crossing Europe, through cold and snow

We thought the cold was gonna be ended when we have left the ship, in Hirtshals, and that from there on it would have been better and better, crossing Europe and heading finally South. But we were wrong.. Since Saturday it has been a constant drive into the cold and snow. Everyday we say to […]

Far Oer: hidden pearl of the North!

Manu | 14 January 2013 | 2 comments
Far Oer: hidden pearl of the North!

  What can you do for 3 nights and 2 days on a boat from Iceland to Denmark, stopping over the Far Oer Islands only for six hours before starting to sail again? We were all wandering this in the ghost town of Seydisfjordur, on the East Coast of Iceland, on Wednesday, when we were […]

Day 2: from Vik to Hofn across the glaciers

Manu | 8 January 2013 | 5 comments
Day 2: from Vik to Hofn across the glaciers

Simply glorious! If I would have to use a word to use to describe such a great day, it would be this one. The sun started to shine early this morning, and even before it was right in the sky, we were all already on board of the truck, hitting the Southern road of Iceland. […]