Bonangst Cogagu Carbuta

I'm organizing my travel in trips, chunks of 2-10 weeks of travel in one region or around the world. To differentiate them I come up with original easy to remember names like: Togobinblah, Beguahosni, Romargeaz Soni, all earlier in 2026. For the fourth trip of this year, I had a bad name, Nomadmania 6-11 so last week I decided to change it to Bonangst Cogagu Carbuta. Easy, catchy, logical.

In red, the countries visited on this trip

This whole trip was determined by two events. Okay three. First was Ioan's wedding scheduled for

June 7, it was decided last June. Second, in September 2025, Nomadmania announced its conference number 6 on June 10 in Ouro Preto. Ioan gave me permission to go, Ileana Ruxandra agreed as well. The ticket from JFK was $346 (I bought it in September for June 9). Over the next 6 months all sorts of possible follow up plans went through my head.  But, as I'm trying to get to all the countries in the world, my strategy and my priority is to visit African countries first. When I started this, two years ago, we were at 5 out of 54, at the end of May I was at 31. Improvement, but not good enough. Still 23 countries to go, plus Lesotho where I want to go again (link to our day trip in 2012). And, as everyone knows, there is only one airport that connects Latin America to Africa, Sao Paolo, with two choices, Luanda or South Africa. I've been monitoring the cost of flights from Sao Paolo to Luanda for almost a year, always at least $800, but if I chose to go to Johannesburg (through Luanda) the cost could be $430. I couldn't resist.

Then on March 11, the third event happened, so illogical and unbelievable that I still cannot make sense of it. Angola Airlines (TAAG) flies to Sao Tome (2.5 hours) 3-4 times per week and the return flight costs $900. It also flies to Windhoek in Namibia, 2 hours, $300 one way, and three times per week it flies to Kinshasa, 90 minutes, $400 one way. It is very time consuming and very expensive ($300-500) to get a visa for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but someone said that in Namibia it costs only $80! 

To the $900 return flight to São Tomé, I added the $300 flight from Namibia to Luanda, and I got a $656 ticket. Then, I added the $400 flight to Kinshasa, and the total cost came to $577. What? Ileana Ruxandra was next to me and she told me to get it, "Buy the Ticket!" I hesitated,  it didn't make sense and I didn't have any plans yet. I bought it though and from there I started to add everything before and after. This magical ticket, made of four legs, got changed multiple times by TAAG. It forced me to change a flight in Sao Tome and it limited my options of what to visit Angola. The most significant problem was checking in on the first leg in Windhoek: the lady at the counter told me "you're not on this flight, go to the airline counter". They were selling tickets in the airport and there were two ladies on a Sunday afternoon. With two hours to go they actually managed to "find me" by talking with the main office and "put me back" on the flight! The second leg, to Sao Tome, I found out at the airport that the flight is going to be ten hours late, I just had to wait. It was annoying that all the flight monitoring apps were showing the flight unchanged and taking off in a few minutes, at 2 pm, while I, at the airport, knew that it is rescheduled at 11.50 pm. The third flight was delayed for a couple hours and the fourth by only one hour. It was my sixth flight with TAAG and the last one for the foreseeable future. 

This trip by numbers: 

• 56 days
• 14 countries (12 new), 10 capitals, 3 former capitals (Malabo, Bujumbura, Dar Es Salaam)
• 27 flights
• 39 hotels
• 11 new World Heritage Sights 
• 6 Tentative World Heritage Sites 

I started after the wedding with a day of driving to Newark (where I dropped off the newlyweds going on the honeymoon), then to La Guardia where I dropped off my daughter and her boyfriend and then I drove to JFK for my flight to Sao Paolo and then Belo Horizonte. The Nomadmania conference, a meeting of more than 100 of the most traveled people in the world (plus a couple of beginners like me) was interesting and somewhat surprisingly we made important decisions. The town of Ouro Preto (Black Gold), my 399 World Heritage Site, is old and touristic, very nice. We also visited Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas (400) and the Pampulha Modern Ensemble (401).

One of the richly decorated churches of Ouro Preto

The little controversial church in Pampulha (cross is outside the building)

After four days we spread in all directions. I crossed the Atlantic, flying to Luanda, funny the flight screen showed “destination unknown” probably because there is a new airport and it confuses the Boeing entertainment systems. Then on to Johannesburg and Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. I spent the night in a nice hotel and next morning with all my luggage I started walking. I wanted to see the capital, the national museum, the monuments. Nobody goes there, for good reason, not even the workers at the museum bothered to come to open it. Google said it opened at 7.30 am and the main section was supposedly opening at 9 - it didn't. I got in nonetheless and I saw what I had to see.

Fly 7 hours and 10 minutes with destination unknown

the three Dikgosi monument to the three important people who created Botswana

A sculpture in the airport in Gaborone

Visiting Botswana is actually about visiting the Chobe National Park (hopefully next time) and the Okavango Delta, one of the most special and important ecosystems on this planet. I flew to Maun, the gateway town. There I rented a car and starting at 5 am I drove 8 hours to visit Tsodilo World Heritage site (402), considered a sort of Louvre of the desert. Slightly disappointed, I will have to summarize one day how many hours I drove to see petroglyphs and rock paintings all over the world. I took a boat ride in the Okavango delta (403), a 10 hour safari trip and a short scenic flight. It is unique, this massive river feeds millions of animals and disappears in the desert in the biggest inland delta in the world. I was very happy to see it from all angles and to finally understand how it works.

Sunset in Okavango Delta

A couple of elephants are ignoring me

Then, on a Sunday evening, I flew 2 hours to Windhoek, pronounced Veendhook, in Namibia. In the morning I went to DRC embassy and then on to visit. Windhoek is a nice little town, it has a church (where I met a Romanian lady with 3 little boys who asked me lots of questions), two monuments and one impressive national museum (in need of some cleaning and maintenance).

Miraculously, I was able to get the DRC visa in two days ($110 with the rush fee) allowing me to visit most of the country in the remaining 5 days. The attractions in Namibia are not in the capital. They're out in the Namib desert, by the coast and in the North, the extraordinary Etosha National Park. I managed it with time to spare. I was lucky to book a lodge for two nights, within minutes I got an email detailing their cancelation policy, cancel less than 12 months ahead and receive 90% back, less than 6 months ahead get 50% back. No refunds for cancelations 90 days before arrival. I was going in two days and indeed the Namib Nauklub Lodge was one of the best lodges I ever stayed at. An hour away, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei are incredible places and the highlight of the Namib Sand Sea World Heritage Site (404). It is special because of the unique ecosystem (the water that feeds life comes exclusively from the ocean fog) somehow it looked like it just rained and the lakes were full even in the place where the forest died because it didn't rain in 900 years! Weird. Eerily beautiful. 

Deadvlei

Climbing the Bid Daddy Sand Dune above Deadvlei

Then, another 8 hour drive, this time to see petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein (405). I did stop in Walvis Bay to see flamingoes and in Swapkomund to visit their great little museum. Then there is the Skeleton coast with many shipwrecks and beautiful empty beaches for hundreds of kilometers. Most of the time I was the only car on the road, especially on the inside unpaved roads, hours of driving without seeing another vehicle. Occasionally I would pass by a tribal village, people just stayed in their huts, a few times they were in the road begging for water by banging on empty canisters. Etosha National Park was established in 1907 and it lost big chunks of land over the years, I assume at least some because of the apartheid policies, but that's another story. The park is impressive and different from others, it has water holes, you find one and hang around for hours watching animals come and go. 

Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site

And then I started my "magical ticket" mentioned above. Angola was closed for many years but now is open for tourists, no visas, new airport, huge modern constructions, large boulevards, restored fortress, and most importantly functional Yango (an Uber like app). Luanda, especially in downtown is a nice, walkable city. It has a "cute" sand island in front of it, Ihla de Luanda, I stayed there for 3 nights at a decent hotel. I saw the sun on the first afternoon and then it was gone. 

The Iron Palace in Luanda, a beautiful empty building that might be a lost Eiffel creation (or not)

Just one of many interesting buildings in Luanda, the bank

São Tome continued with the same clouded sky. I'm happy I went, I've dreamed for ages of going to São Tome or Principe (I went to both), it's okay, barely passable, I wouldn't advise anyone to go there. Finally I can say I found a country that is overrated, people have reported a sort of paradise but it’s not, it’s a poor country with bad roads, nice people, a couple of decent or overpriced resorts, some beaches and some ruins. I drove the whole main island, I got to the southern tip, I hired a boat for 10€ and I went to Ihla Rolas to see the equator sign. When I returned my boat was gone. After a few minutes a local offered to take me back for 15€ (I refused, assuming correctly that my guy would have to come back at some point). 

The nice Equator monument, unfortunately crumbling now

Returning to Luanda I got my Romanian passport from the Republic of Congo (ROC) embassy and took off for the Congo-es. I joined a group of eight people. Most of them knew each other from previous travels, but the organizer couldn't make it because of how Ebola interfered with his job. The local guide was okay but probably not having a group leader caused some minor issues. But these were the Congo-es and my expectation was that 1% of our goals would be met. It was fantastic. Amazing countries, surprisingly different and we speculated on what could explain that. Congo - Kinshasa (or DRC), has 120 million people and a GDP per person of $800, Congo - Brazzaville (ROC) has 6 million people and a GDP of $2500 per person. Also it has a much more stable dictatorship (still on), as opposed to Kinshasa which had Leopold, Mobutu, multiple civil wars and now has a caricature of democracy, another Ebola epidemic, and a never ending war in the East. It is not my place to go here through the colonial or post colonial history. We visited Zongo Falls, Tata Gonda (a religious cult) and the unique Bonobo sanctuary. Driving 100 km (60 miles) in 5 hours to get back to our hotel was the unique memorable experience that you could only have in Congo. We also had a couple hours visiting the nice parts of Kinshasa, the museum, monuments, we saw brides and grooms getting photos with their fancy wedding parties. Six young ladies posing for me full of joy and hope was the special crowning moment of this trip to DRC. Next morning we crossed the river into a different Congo. Wide clean streets, trucks and bikes waiting at stop signs, gorillas, a queen, a king, a group of sapeurs. A night in a very nice place next to the Congo river, made me think that it would be ideal to organize here our 50 years high school reunion.

Bonobo adult

Bonobo baby

I asked persmission to take a picture and I got songs and dancing

Kinshasa in the background, from Brazzaville

the whole village is dancing

The sappeurs of Brazzaville, a unique culture who's members are very proud of how they dress

Next our group parted ways and my trip continued with a few days in Gabon, another former French colony but different from Congo. Someone could spend weeks here, I actually met a couple of parents traveling for 3 weeks with their 22 year old daughter. For me it was a just Libreville and a couple of days in a nice resort, in Nionyé. I crossed again the equator, I saw forest elephants (they are about your size), I walked for miles, alone, on the probably best beach in the world and took a dip in the Atlantic. 

Miracle car

This is the equator monument in Gabon and a screenshot of my compass

the forest elephant is small and shy

The Atlantic coast, beautiful and empty for many miles

Then it was on to Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea. Despite being a petrol country it was in the middle of a fuel crisis and whatever trips I wanted to do couldn't happen. I was happy visiting the town and a 130 year old cocoa plantation and chocolate factory. It rained a lot. 

this tree was planted 130 years ago when they started the cocoa plantation

Pope Leo was here in Malabo just a couple of months ago.

I made the plans for this trip in March, as I described above but by this time my travel plans unraveled. In Brazzaville I learnt that because of visiting DRC during this Ebola outbreak, I can enter United States only through four airports. I had to change my flight and had to cut my trip short by a couple of days (Burundi would have to wait for another time). A week later, in Malabo, I learnt that I cannot return to US for another 14 days. So I had to stay away, where could I go? For a few hours any destination was a fair choice but after that it became clear that the only logical choice would be to go to Burundi and its neighbor, Tanzania. I was thinking of visiting it next July, there is too much to see and do there for just a few days of an impromptu trip. But I did figure it out. I looked for a safari, there is a wonderful resource, safaribookings.com. Out of 17250 choices, there were two which met my requirements and talking with one agent, Pritika, I signed up to join a group tour. It was a good plan, except that one person was missing. We talked and she accepted to join me. In 40 hours Ileana Ruxandra packed her bags and after stopping to see Maria for a couple days, she crossed half the planet flying two nights to wait for me in Arusha. Pritika arranged a private safari and then I booked the flights and hotels to visit other parts of Tanzania and for us to return home together.

On the last day in Equatorial Guinea, on Sunday afternoon there was no taxi available and barely any cars on the road. I started walking the 7.6 km to the airport and a nice young man stopped to give me a ride. He refused to accept any payment!

How could Cameroon top this? Just a few hours later a young lady in a shop didn't have change and gave me a bread for free. I did return to pay her when I got coins (0.2$). Douala is a big crazy city, it has one old German building, one cathedral, a park, some residential quarters. I was going to spend three nights here. I settled to watch the world cup final and checking my email I learned that my next flight was canceled! 

I had to leave early now and the hotel surprised me by returning my money. 

The palace in Douala

Another impressive church, this time in Douala

I arrived in Central African Republic's capital, Bangui. The poorest country I've ever been to, you could tell in the first five minutes, but here I had the most fantastic time. It has few embassies abroad and it's hard to get a visa. The alternative is to get an official invitation (message porté) from an official through a travel agent/fixer. With that you can enter the country and then you go pick up your passport from the Immigration office. My agent charged me 243$ for the message porté and assured me that everything would be fine at the airport. It wasn't. They took my passport and gave me a piece of paper to go pick it up next morning at 8 am. I walked an hour to find the place, I spent 4 hours there, two in the morning and two in the afternoon and paid another $105 as my application for the visa. My agent wasn't replying to any messages, but eventually sent a text late in the day and one of the guys pulled my passport from a big pile. One hour later I got it back. In the process I also got robbed in the market, I had 20€ and 35$ handy in case it might be "needed", obviously it wasn't meant to happen. I felt privileged to spent these hours in the middle of these police officers and bureaucrats. They were all nice, without exception, offering me a chair to sit, listening to me, sympathizing, we were even joking at times. They clearly felt they had an important job. I think I (or anyone) could do in one hour the job these 12 people did in 8 hours. They were constantly interrupted (by fixers and vendors of everything under the sun) and there was the most stupid work flow in the movement of documents that you could ever imagine. There is an Asterix and Obelix book they reminded me of. 

Alternatively my fixer offered to arrange for me a trip to a waterfall, a boat ride, a visit to a pigmy village and a traditional dance for only €811! The schedule I made for myself will be one of the highlights of my trips for years to come. Next morning I went to the little national museum in Bangui. Again Google said they open at 7.30. The big sign in front said 8.30. The workers thought it was 9 or later, I got a guided tour through the 3-4 rooms with dusty exhibits and I paid half the admission price because I told them I’ve been robbed in their market. By this time I ran out of Central African Francs the money I’ve been using in the last 5 countries. 

Bangui, Central African Republic

The Ubangi River in Bangui and the Democratic Republic of Congo on the other side

Travel to Africa would be much harder without Ethiopian airlines. They seem to connect everywhere and if you change flights in Addis Ababa you get an overnight hotel and meals for free. The ticket prices are exorbitant, though, it's not a good deal, it's pretty much the way it is.  

That's how I got to the poorest country I've ever been to, one place behind CAR. But Burundi is different, different history, different landscape, different peoples. It looks similar to Rwanda, full of hills and mountains. Unfortunately it has similar tragedies, including a “smaller” genocide that nobody talks about. I went to the shore of lake Tanganyka and I visited the new capital Gitega, the biggest city Bujumbura and the Unesco recognized Drummers of Gishora. The last morning I just waited at the hotel, Ileana was already in Arusha at her hotel, getting some rest. I arrived at 3.30 am after another flight through Addis Ababa. 

We met 47 days into my trip. We then had a full and wonderful week in Tanzania, one of the top touristic destinations of this world. We did safari in Serengeti (407), witnessed the great migration, descended into the Ngorongoro crater (406) and took a hike in the Kilimanjaro National Park (408). Then we went to Zanzibar where we visited the Stone City (409) world heritage because of its renowned old buildings and narrow alleyways in a mix of Arab, Persian, Indian and European styles. 

My 63rd flight of this year was also the shortest of our lives, 13 minutes and 51 seconds from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam. I was very happy to have the chance to visit this city for a few hours and then, 3 flights and 30 hours later we landed in New York. This was an extraordinary trip, a little challenging at times but overall a phenomenal combination of unforgettable experiences and fulfilled lifelong dreams. I have 3 nights and two full days at home before starting a longer and slightly more challenging trip. 

Bonangst Cogagu Carbuta is now behind us, but like I said easy, catchy, logical, right? Botswana, Namibia, Angola, São Tome, Congo-es, Gabon, Guinea (Equatorial), Cameroon, CAR, Burundi, Tanzania. And, not that I’m counting, but I’ve been now to 43 African countries. 

On my way to visiting all the countries in the world, 122 down 71 to go