Jul 1, 2019
Welcome to the third and final episode from Antigua in the
Caribbean.
Here you can join us on a so-called Triflexcursion. It's a
small startup company run by Mark and Giles.
TRIFLEXCUSION
We're going on a 2-hour biking, hiking and kayaking
tour.
First, we ride 15 minutes through St. John's to a beautiful
beach, where we get into a kayak – two people in each – and paddle
through a mangrove reserve for 30 minutes.
Then we get back on our bikes and ride a further 10 minutes to
Fort James National Park. But before we go up there, we make a rest
stop at the beach.
I MET MISS ANTIGUA
Here on the beach, there's a small restaurant in a shed. When
I enter, there's an older woman with the back to me. She's singing,
and I see her being on the phone.
Somebody tells me that she's live on the local radio right now
on a program is called "The Shut-in Show" – and that this is
something she does every Sunday.
Her name is Yvonne, and after she hangs up, I chat to her. She
shows me a small picture of herself in an old book.
The text beside the picture reads:
"Former model turned restaurateur. Yvonne "Candy" Pilgrim
has run the Candy Lane beach bar and restaurant since 1976. Located
near the historic Fort James, the venue is popular with locals and
tourists alike."
She tells me that she was Miss Antigua in 1967.
FORT JAMES WITH CANONS AND A DISCOTEQUE IN
RUINS
We finish the Triflexcursion up a hill at historical Fort
James. It's a place where there are some old canons and a house
that some years ago it was used as a discotheque. Now it's
abandoned and in ruins. But an exciting place with a great
view.
And that was all from my fantastic trip to Antiqua.
LISTENER RESPONSE
I received an email from Daniel, a listener in Dubai:
Hi Palle,
I have just been listening on my earphones while out on my
morning run. It was the Conakry Podcast, so the
background traffic noises had me looking over my shoulder thinking
it was errant motorcycle or taxi!
Your podcasts are quite addictive and a great way to get a
dose of vitamin 'travel' in between the two long stretches of the
real thing for me.
If you're ever in Dubai again let me know. I have met up
with many , including Torbjørn Pedersen and Ric Gazarian on their
travels passing through the city.
Looking forward to your adventures around the world to
come.
Cheers,
Daniel Whitfield
Thank you, Daniel. I'll be coming to Dubai in December, so I
hope I'll see you then.
Daniel mentions Torbjørn Petersen and Ric Gazarion. Tor
is an amazing traveler. A Dane who is traveling to every country in
the world without flying in one single unbroken journey. You can
follow his project on onceuponasaga.dk.
And Ric is also a good friend of mine. We've met so far in
three different continents. In fact, I met him in London just a few
weeks ago.
He does a podcast called Counting Countries - where I was a
guest recently. He also does another podcast called The Nomad Mania
Podcast, where he interviews some of the worlds most extreme
travelers.
Nomad Mania is a website that divides the world into regions.
It's founded by the man that arguably has been to most places in
the world, Harry Mitsidis. I guy I also met in London recently for
a chat – and that's going to be the next interview here on The
Radio Vagabond.
Ric Gazarian has also been on The Radio Vagabond when I met
him in Chicago. I called that episode: "Gaz is Global Country
Counter." All the links are below.
If you also want to drop me a line and tell me where you are
and what you're doing right now, please use this special email
address for this: listener@theradiovagabond.com
You can also send me a voice message on WhatsApp.
The number is +4540105105.
NEXT: BACK IN AFRICA
The episodes from Antigua was a bit of a detour from my
journey. And in the next episode, we're back on track with my
adventures in Africa.
When I left you, I was in Conakry and about to leave western
Africa after having visited Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania,
Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Guinea.
Traveling through these countries over three months was
exciting, an adventure and very rewarding with all the exotic
places and interesting people I met.
I made so many interesting people, and both made a lot of
friends.
It was exciting but also rough. Physically and mentally
challenges, especially when going from one place to another
overland in small beat-up crammed minibusses or shared taxies on
bad roads. So after three months, I decided that I wanted to get
down to Cape Town, which has a very special place in my
heart.
I'll spend two months in Cape Town, my longest stop on the
trip so far. But I still carry my microphone everywhere, so I have
so many recordings that I'm going to be sorting through and sharing
with you in several episodes.
To name a few things:
There's going to be a full episode only with Cape Town Uber
drivers.
I find out that Cape Town is the gin capital of the world and
I speak to the young owner of one of the many a small
distilleries.
I go searching for Sugar – the owner of a legendary small
vinyl store and the guy who found Rodrigues in the Oscar Winning
documentary Searching for Sugarman. If you haven't seen this film
yet, I suggest that you do before you listen to my episode with
Sugar Segerman from Cape Town.
After Cape Town, I rent a car and go on a road trip through
the country. I drive on the Garden Route and make stops in many
amazing places in South Africa. Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Port Elizabeth,
Durban where I do the worlds highest swing over their football
stadium, St Lucia where Hippos are roaming around in the streets at
night. I also go to Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique before
spending a few days driving around in Kruger National Park looking
for The Big Five and end up in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
But before that, I need to get down to Cape Town from Conakry
in Guinea, and I had a bit of luck as to how to do that.
I found a flight with Ethiopian Air that allowed me to have a
small stopover in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
And this is where you'll find me in the next episode. Even
though my stop was short, a lot of stuff happened here.
I end up in the middle of a parade during their most religious
event of the year. I made some new friends, I thought. Instead, I
end up getting scammed.
I promise you that I will share both my ups and downs from
this trip.
So I will also be brutally honest and share what went through
my mind when I think I'm going to die and I have somewhat of a
mental breakdown when I think I only had a few more months to
live.
That's when The Radio Vagabond continues in a few weeks.
Produced by Radioguru.co.uk. My name is Palle Bo, and I gotta
keep moving. See you.
DISCLAIMER:
The trip to Antigua was made
possible by Antigua and Barbuda Tourism and Elite Island Resorts,
but even though it was a sponsored trip, everything I've said is my
genuine opinion.
LINKS:
The Radio Vagabond is produced
by RadioGuru.
See pictures on TheRadioVagabond.com