General Information

[HarryDHo]

HarryDHo:

Thanks for the information! And yes, your are right, beware of foreign crooks!

Cheers - Hesekiels

and Expats...

[Hesekiels]

... I escaped what was the beginning of a scam-job by the only US citizen I met living there. ...

HarryDHo:

Thanks for the information! And yes, your are right, beware of foreign crooks!

Cheers - Hesekiels

[HarryDHo]

I think I posted a couple years back when I first went to Ghana. When I was in Ghana, I tried to set up a tour into the Volta River. I escaped what was the beginning of a scam-job by the only US citizen I met living there. I suspect strongly that I was in some degree of danger. In short, take me someplace remote, take my money, leave me stranded or worse. There's no small number of criminal refugees hiding in Ghana. Assume al the ones living there without any business are exactly that.

[Hesekiels]

... And I would definitely go to Africa, not to Asia ...

Schuerzenjaeger:

Why not go to both places? I travel regularly to Africa AND to Asia - and I love it everywhere! Simply give it a try! IMHO, of course!

Cheers - Hesekiels

[Hesekiels]

If you want to get away in Africa, the safest English speaking country is Ghana. ... Warning: Don't talk business with them.

HarryDHo:

No doubt, Ghana is an excellent country to visit! BTW, what exactly is the reason for the warning you gave us (... business ...)? It would be very interesting to know a little more about the background!

Cheers - Hesekiels

[HarryDHo]

Sky High,
It wasn't intending to be rude, I thought you might have been someone who's been PMing me.

If you want to get away in Africa, the safest English speaking country is Ghana. I recommend Takoradi, Ghana. When you arrive in Ghana, I recommend you take a cab from the airport straight to the Poloma Hotel in Accra. Its located in the Poloma Hotel Complex. Champs Bar is also within the complez and westerners like to hang out there. Warning: Don't talk business with them. Maybe visit the University of Ghana. Then, once you recover from jet-lag; get away from money-dumping Accra and take the bus to Takoradi to the Africa Beach Hotel late week and weekend. Then, you will begin to have a better plan. Take precautions from Malaria.

[Schuerzenjaeger]

Sky High,

Sounds like a good idea to me. And I would definitely go to Africa, not to Asia.
I find people in general and the girls in particular much closer to our western way of acting (not thinking!) then in Asia. Have been in Asia about ten years ago for two years and didn’t like the farang attitudes at all.

Said that, Africa can also be far away from us when it comes to witchcraft and all that bullshit, but that does not really affect you as a white person.

Personally I would suggest you a country that is quite well advanced, where you can actually easily meet decent educated people with money. They will have interest in you, not your wallet. What comes to mind are Ghana and Uganda. Can’t comment on Kenya. Forget South Africa, too much crime. If you speak French, Cameroon and Senegal are great, though the exchange rate of the CFA makes it more expensive. Fancy learning Portuguese? Mozambique is top! A bit lower standard but still nice are Malawi and Zambia. I had a great time there. Zimbabwe is out of question as long as the moron is still president. And they have no beach anyway.

If you have health insurance covering repatriation you should be fine in any of these countries. Aids is everywhere, by the way.

The key is to find a safe, not to expensive apartment and good local middle or upper class people.

For the apartment, you can more or less only see the options once you are down there. Any deal beforehand is at 90% going to be a scam. But once in Town, let us say Accra, you ask your way around to residences with apartments that are well secured. You don’t want to bother for three months with security, generator etc. These residences offer all-inclusive service, meaning the security company, the maintenance etc. are being taken care of.

For 1000 $ a month, you will find something nice.

To get the contacts, approach Companies or NGOs that work in the country you choose. Get in contact with some expat working there and once there have a beer and he will be able to provide you with info. All NGOs list their country offices, most international companies like Maersk, BAT etc. also. They can also advice on transport. A car or a stand by taxi/driver makes life so much easier! If you have enough money to spare, Hertz, Avis etc. all offer long term rentals. You might as well just phone your embassy and see if somebody can tell you where the expats go for drinks/dinners so you know where to find them.

As you consider going for three months, you would get to know a place well enough to really have some good time without relying too much on the usual tourist / monger traps. Key is the educated well heeled local class. Good starting points: Take your tennis rack, golf clubs or boat licence. These sports/memer clubs are really nice. See picture. Are you in Rotary or similar? Exists all over Africa. But even the better nightclubs offer good starting points. People are much more open then in the northern wolrd, so you can easly talk to any guy in a club. Just remember that everybody who is not well off will try to take you for a ride.

The arts/media world is quite a good starting point too. Try jazz clubs, theatres and journalists.

Well, and for the mongering, all the info is on the forum anyway.

[Schuerzenjaeger]

I am not sure Jackson agrees to this but I would like to post a link to some pretty good African tribal amateur pictures. You do not need to pay or register so I would say it is not commercial. And no competition anyway to ISG:

www.imagefap.com/gallery.php?gid=106560

[HarryDHo]

As far as living quarters go, I would be looking for cleanliness, air conditioning, and internet access, and being in an area where there are beautiful beaches would be great but not a necessity. Thank you in advance for any suggestions or advice.

Unless I'm reading this wrong, your answer is: Absolutely, no place in Africa. Go to Thailand. So many American Suburbanites think they want to travel someplace different yet stay in someplace that's the same as their own home. Do yourself a favor; go to Disney if you want what you already have. To go to a beach in Africa to think about a career is almost an as absurd thought as one can have. By the way, don't invest in someone else's bar. Bar owner's, especially in the Philippines, have made a good living scamming small time, single investors, several per year.

[Schuerzenjaeger]

So true:

It's real, it's lovely, it's heartbreaking (not in a private sense), it's melancolic.

Once you go black you never look back.

[AfAsia]

Mate,

Wonderful post. Africa to the fore, it`s people wear their hearts on their sleeves. Their friendly smiles most welcoming, i truly miss my Africa. I`ve still to travel Asia and South America, it`s going to be pretty tough to top Africa though.

[HarryDHo]

I've been to Asia, North America, South America, Carribean, Europe, and Africa; Africa is the best.


Tourists on a schedule love Asia and latin America. International tourists generally work hard, have poor social schedules and therefore poor social experienc. They can meet someone who is unlike anyone they meet at home, someone model-like and better than life, fast, ready to go, give their hearts to you. Real life relations don't work like these children's nursery rhimes. People need common-life persons.

Asians:
I love the Go Go, especially in the PI. You can watch and have any woman on the stage. Filipina generally have so beautiful body and heart. Tiny brown island girls, hairless, clean, and love sex and family loyalty. You just can't go wrong unless you marry a bar girl / actor. Then you discover they've been immitatating a personality of a relative or model they've chosen that all their own countrymen love... divorced men of Filipina can relate. As far as Asian women go, Thailand has so many beautiful women of all looks and colors. Thailand is where you meet hot Asian women. Of all Asian cultures, the only Asian culture which woman have no idea how to manage money, but who's culure requires them to mismange money... beware.

Latias:
Latinas are so sexy. They are loyal but, tourists find that they are loyal against the outsider unless they eventually allow you into their "family". The "family is not consistent and includes some but not all family and non-family members. Brazilians have the 2nd greatest asses on earth. Yes, its hard to believe that there are women with better bodies but, Colombia has the most beautiful women in the world. The problem is that the Colombian culture fosters the most dangerous beliefs in the world. Loyalty is extremely stong but, you will be a newcomer. It shows as you get to know her longer. For other reasons, I think a Dominicana are likely better matches for Western men.


The reason for this post is that after all my destinations, after visiting Africa, I don't want to go anywhere else except Africa. Its all "old hat". Asia, especially Thailand is fun; lotsa lights and sexy women. In Latin America, you can have a highly emotional latin woman with veluptuous features but you are likely to bring someone home who bolts to another pre arranged destination. In Africa, as far as a woman goes, you can have it all... and plus some. The women are veluptuous and loyal, most African women are polite and nice. As apposed to American black women who for some reason think they're strong and somehow proud of their ignorance. In Africa, just pick out anyone and strike a conversation. If you want to meet someone else, talk to someone else. No night life crawlers needed. If you want nightlife, its there but, compared to normal meetings, anti-climactic. Africa is real. More than any other place in the world. Which country in Africa? All of them!

Go to Thailand; go to Brazil. More for me in Africa.

[Zde]

Hello,

I got an offer to fly to the following destinations:

Bangkok
Singapore
Tokyo
Bombay
Johannesburg
Nairobi
Sao Paulo

I was wondering whether I could get an advice as to what destination to choose. My criteria are as follows: since I live on a fix income I am looking for a reasonably cheap place, since I am disabled I am looking for a place which might be friendly towards people with disabilities, for a place with relatively low crime and cheap accommodation. I am looking for a place with low std rate and cheap service providers, I am willing to branch to other cities or countries from the destinations mentioned above so I am looking for a place which can be interested in a traveler as well.

Thank you very much for your help.

[Mauritz 63]

Where, in which country are they clitless?

[RodneyRude]

Hi guys,

I'm currently in Paris and wondering what the cheapest way to get to Kenya is. Fflying direct loos expensive but if I fly to Marrocco then get an internal flight to Kenya would it work out cheaper.

Thanks in advance