Hey Reader!

This email lands in your inbox every Tuesday. It's all about travel insights, personal stories, and lessons from my adventures exploring over 90 countries thus far. Whether it inspires, entertains, or enlightens, let's celebrate the beauty and diversity of this amazing world we share, from a travel perspective! 🌍✨

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SPECIAL EDITION: COUNTRY #99 AND THEN ONE MORE… 😍

I’m breaking from my usual newsletter schedule because I have something rather special to share.

99 Countries 'Done'...

And if you’ve been following my travels for a while, you’ll know what that means.

There is now just ONE country to go to get to Country #100!!! 🌍

But before we get there, let me take you to Country #99 — a place that turned out to be nothing like I expected.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: The Africa I Didn’t Expect

Equatorial Guinea is one of those countries that many people know very little about. I certainly had some vague expectations before arriving (I don't research much before I travel), but within hours of landing in Malabo, I realised I had nooo idea about the place.

For starters, it is the only Spanish Speaking country in Africa!

Next, the geography is wonderfully confusing. Malabo, has been the country's capital since independence in 1968.

It sits on Bioko Island, just 30 kilometres from Cameroon, but about 160 kilometres from the rest of Equatorial Guinea’s own mainland! 😮 My flight from Libreville even passed through Douala in Cameroon before landing in Malabo!

How did they get there? Apparently something about the colonialists (Spain, Portugal & Britain) swapping African territories like on Monopoly board. 🙄

Earlier this year, they (finally) announced a new capital by Presidential decree, one more centrally located, but as expected, will take a while to take off practically.

Moving on...

My first impression from the airport was equally unexpected. The roads were incredibly wide and quiet, grandiose government buildings, impressive landscaped spaces and modern housing estates. It looked like a country that had invested heavily in presenting a very different face of Africa.

I was keen to get out and explore, although a fuel shortage meant that moving around wasn't going to be quite as easy as I had hoped.

Then, as often happens when travelling, a completely random encounter came to my rescue.

I overheard a local speaking to another visitor in English and, I quickly seized the opportunity. That conversation eventually connected me with a taxi driver called Pastor, who became my official tour guide around the island.

Pastor spoke Pidgin English, which was helpful, but… communication was an adventure in itself. Pidgin no be English-o! 😂

Nevertheless, he showed off his island with pride. We drove through organised housing estates, apartment blocks and homes that surprisingly (to me at least) had been provided to citizens. Pastor explained that system was organised for residents to “pay small-small” to the government according to their ability. He even showed me the home he had been allocated five years earlier.

It was amusing to listen to him describe his home origins located in a village 'on the continent' because he relocated to the island looking for work. He would be travelling to 'the continent' soon to join the country's Freedom Day celebrations in Bata (City in Equatorial Guinea mainland).

On our way to Sipopo, we passed the by impressive new León XIV Campus, inaugurated by Pope Leo during his recent visit.

The quieter side on the East Coast of Bioko is the location of Sipopo, an extraordinary conference complex built to host international meetings, complete with a golf course and enormous ocean-view residences for visiting presidents. Spectacular!

But what struck me most was the contrast.

As we kept driving, the grand buildings gave way to markets, modest homes, farms and coastal communities. There were reminders everywhere that, despite Equatorial Guinea's oil wealth, this is still very much Africa.

And perhaps that was what surprised me most about the country. Equatorial Guinea felt like a glimpse of what a wealthier version of Africa could look like, without losing its African character.

Add the lush greenery, the cool island climate and the imposing Pico Basilé Mountain rising to 3000m in the cloudy background, and I found myself thinking:

This is absolutely nothing like I imagined.

And then, somewhere between taking in all those unexpected sights and trying to decipher Pastor's Pidgin, it hit me…

With the 99th country 'done', I had only one country left... Yikes!!

Wow, it took a moment to realise I had been so busy making slow but steady progress, just one at a time, I had reached an unbelievable milestone (even to me)!

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So how about you GUESS WHERE??

I can tell you this much:

It’s in Africa. 🌍

And it is not where I expected this journey to take me when I first started travelling waaaaay back in August of 1989... on a high school exchange program that took us to Germany!! Nearly 37 years to the day... 😲

Where do you think Country #100 is?

Take a guess. Don’t overthink it. Go with your first instinct.

Send me your answer by replying to this email, or share your guess with me on social media.

I’ll be revealing the answer very soon.

99 countries down. One to go. 🌍✈️

And honestly, I’m almost as excited to see your guesses as I was to get there myself! 🤩✈️

Please GUESS and share!

Exciteeeeed!! 😄

Your Travel Coach,

Maria Kamau (aka Mkay)

Travel Enthusiast | Bodacious Adventurer |Travel Writer

PS: If you are planning to Travel and could use some support, here are a few ways I can help you:

✅Book a check in chat so we can explore your travel plans and how I could help: https://tinyurl.com/check-in-chat-with-Mkay [FREE]

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✅✅✅Work with me 1-on-1 for 4 or more sessions to equip you with the skills of travelling as a lifestyle and watch your travel dreams come true! https://tinyurl.com/travel-support-options [Affordable and Transformative]

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